Desperation....

This evening Timmy and I attended an Inaugural Lecture. When an academic is christened "full professor" he/she, as is a Victoria tradition, will give an inaugural lecture. This gives the individual an opportunity to share his/her research with the students and staff at Victoria as well as the wider Wellington community. As you can imagine these gatherings are true nerd fests; so it will be no surprise that we often attend.

Tonight the lecture elucidated trends and patterns in New Zealand voting, specifically in the general elections. With one to be held in another two months a lecture on this topic given by a distinguished researcher seemed very timely.

Since we are neither New Zealand citizens nor permanent residents we are ineligible to vote here. Usually before an election I would spend time reading trying to figure out the candidates' angles and agendas. But it feels utterly bizarre to witness the buzz surrounding the upcoming election while being unable to participate.

After the lecture had concluded we made our way up to the mezzanine level where they were serving beer, wine and nibbles. Plates came around with offerings of egg finger sandwiches and zucchini/mint cakes of which we were happy to partake. As we chatted about the lecture I realized that when the servers came around with sausage rolls and finger sandwiches filled with some variety of meat that I felt a little self conscious in turning them down. I guess this is what happens when you've spent the majority of your life eating pretty much everything that is offered.

Between sips we noticed a server approach another group of people standing not far away. She was offering a plate of zucchini/mint cakes but there were no takers. Before she stepped away from them one of the women  in the group said, "Well, there's some vegetarians over there who would be desperate for some of these". Overhearing this we immediately burst into laughter which we tried to discretely contain. Apparently, people have interesting ideas about vegetarians. I know what you're thinking and yes, I realize, that this is just the beginning of understanding the wacky nuanced world of vegetarianism. More to come, I have no doubt. :)