The Unbound Kiwi

My name is Devin! After being raised in New Zealand for 14 years, I moved to the bizarre American town of Casper, Wyoming for college. Everything I thought I knew about the world has been challenged. These are my stories.

[theunboundkiwi]

Home

So it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, for a variety of reasons. For one, I’ve been crazy busy. Also, I had been doing these blog posts for a class project - a class that has now finished, thus I don’t feel as inspired to write. I think the biggest roadblock I’ve encountered in writing recently is finding source material. This blog has been about my experience in Casper, Wyoming, as a foreigner; it’s kinda hard to write about the place when I’m not there at the moment.

So, a recap of the last month: I finished my second semester at Casper College, and flew back to New Zealand to stay with my family and do summer classes until I have to fly back in August. This actually wasn’t the original plan - I was supposed to be staying in an on-campus apartment and feeding myself, but that proved to be too expensive. In other words, it was cheaper to fly me to the other side of the world - and back - than to stay on campus and cook for myself for three months. If that doesn’t tell you how fucked the cost of a college education is, I don’t know what will.

I’ve been back home for three weeks, and have managed to see most of the people I wanted to meet up with at least once (I’m still coming for the rest of you!). I have to be honest - while there are people in Casper that I miss dearly, thus far I’m not missing Casper itself. I can’t tell if it’s because I dislike the place, or if it’s because I love my home in Raumati Beach so much more. Maybe a bit of both?

Maybe these feelings are anxiety-based? After all, half of the people I know at Casper College - ranging from friends, to strangers I saw frequently - will be gone come next semester. There’s gonna be a lot of fresh faces, and with that some fresh, high school-level drama, similar to what I experienced in my first semester almost a year ago. I remember finishing my first semester, not liking my time in Casper, and dreading the idea of going back. Will this time be different?

Of course. For one, I know the place and some of the people well, so it’s not like I’m starting from square one. As it’s a 2-year college, I’m essentially a veteran there at this point; I’ll be that wise old man that the youngins will look to for guidance, and infinite knowledge. I’ve got two jobs there (one at the writing center, one as the president of the school’s honor society, PTK), as well as a little bit of scholarship money, some good grades, and a smaller class load. This last semester - my second semester that I never wanted to start - turned out to be completely fine, as I kept my eyes on the prize and never let teensy little dramas overtake my headspace. If I repeat the same process (and maybe climb out of my cave and make some more friends), these next two semester should be a breeze.

I’m hoping I can continue these blogs once I’m back in the states, or at least make them an occasional thing I do. Writing these, though I initially did them for good grades, has been therapeutic, and has helped me work through some of my frustrations with where I have been, both physically and mentally. Have blessed days y’all (yes, I say “y’all” now. God help me). ~ Dev (Pictured above, from left to right, is myself, my brother Davis, and my sister Rachel. She just turned 17 today, give her some love!)

[theunboundkiwi]

The Shape of Wyoming (It’s A Rectangle)

I’m writing about something that happened literally three hours ago, so apologies in advance if this week’s post seems rough around the edges. 

A couple months back I was elected President of the Zeta Alpha (Casper College) Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), an honor society for two-year colleges. Myself and seven other officers were elected into high-up positions in PTK. Today, seven of us attended an introductory meeting, where we learned about our roles and what will be expected of us. In walks Jared Bowden, an astrophysics instructor, who gave us an activity to help us learn about each other, and ourselves: a personality test, one that was slightly derived from the famous Myers-Briggs test. He handed four bits of paper to each of us, each one containing a shape and several personality characteristics. They were something like this: Circles - Dedicated, Serious, Conscientious. Diamonds - Critical Thinkers, Problem Solvers, Need Analytical Challenges. Hearts - Sensitive, Open, People-Oriented. Stars - Lively, Interactive, Non-Structured.

We were asked to arrange them in order, from what shapes we thought were most like ourselves, to least like ourselves. We were later told that the order we picked represented the many layers to our personalities; Our first shape represented ourselves in a normal situation, the second was who we desired to be (often inspired by people in our lives), third was who we are when under stress, fourth was who we did not desire to be. This was my order:

Diamond (Normal) Heart (Desired) Star (Under Stress) Circle (Not Desired)

Of six people, I was the only one who put diamond first - and who put circle last. One other person put a heart first. The remaining four, who are all from Wyoming, put circle first. Jared informed us that 70% of people are either a circle or a heart primarily. Now, there are no wrong answers in this test, but it still stunned me how many circles there were. These are people who, generally speaking, prefer order, organization, zero risks and zero changes in their lives, above all other things. I know six people is a small sample size, but everyone in that sample is an academic with a 3.5 GPA or higher (for Kiwis - they had mostly Excellences and/or A’s); shouldn’t smartasses like ourselves see the world in the different light? Shouldn’t we feel a bit more adventurous, more curious? Again, these people are not wrong in any way for choosing circle first, but I can’t help but wonder - why?

The fact is, I don’t know for sure. My best guess would be that people in Wyoming, a state with a booming agriculture industry, are family-centric. Many kids stay on their family’s farm, or in their mine, or in their oil field; as a result, many of those who are born here never leave, or at least never move away. This can result in a narrowed view of the world, and/or a desire to conform. If you’re comfortable with where you are and how you live, why change anything?

I don’t think I’m any better for being something uncommon like a diamond (they tend to be smug and very aware of their intellect, very “Mr. Spock,” as Jared described them), but a large part of me enjoys being different. Many people here unfortunately can’t help but remain a circle, often due to family/social pressures or a fear of running away from the “pack.” Jared said that he was once a diamond, but became a heart as he got older. Had I taken this test earlier in my life, I’m sure that I would’ve been a circle. As most people in this classroom considered themselves a circle first, that also means most of them desired to be something other than a circle - whatever their second choice was.

I enjoy being a diamond; if any of those four people ever change into another shape, I hope that they feel the same confidence and joy that I feel while being outside of the circle.

~ Dev

[theunboundkiwi]

“Cowboy Up”

United States Suicide Hotlines: 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255) 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433)

New Zealand Suicide Hotlines: 0800 LIFELINE (0800 543 354) 0800 611 116 (Healthline)

The phrase in the title is one that is thrown around in Wyoming, and in the Midwest in general. To tell someone to “cowboy up” is the equivalent of telling them to “man up” or “grow a pair;” it’s not the worst thing to tell your kid if you’re teaching them to have resilience, but in terms of addressing mental health... it’s a very different story.

There is a trend occurring in the United States, mostly in Midwestern states, as well as states that are primarily conservative or have a strong libertarian base - the “cowboy up” trend, the “suck it up, buttercup” trend, the “men aren’t supposed to cry” trend. Many of these states are loaded with farmers, ranchers, oil workers, coal miners - people who do physically demanding, “manly” jobs. The physical work is hard as it is, so why should they let something insignificant like their mental health bother them? They gotta cowboy up, just push through it! Man up! Tough it out!

Of course, I don’t personally believe this, but it is the approach that many take to the issue of mental health, and fortunately this approach is steadily being used less and less. Unfortunately, it does still exist, and can be linked to the high suicide rates in states such as Wyoming, which is significantly higher than the nationwide suicide rate. For those who need it, I put some suicide hotline numbers at the top of this post.

I put some numbers for New Zealanders as well, not just because I love them, but because they too have a mental health crisis, though the issue has been addressed in a bit more depth than where I’m living right now. Us Kiwis don’t cowboy up like some do in Wyoming, but we still like to pretend that mental health doesn’t matter. “She’ll be ‘right,” we might say, or we might just simply state that we’re “fine.” That needs to stop yesterday.

I’ll wrap this up by raising an idea to those who need mental health services, but choose not to get it: As physical injuries are usually visible, and mental injuries are not, we tend to think that cuts and scratches are a more important matter than depression. However, we use our brain to control the many physical activities that we engage in; if we can’t effectively use our minds, how the hell are we supposed to accomplish anything?

~ Dev

[theunboundkiwi]

“...Oh...okay.”

The above title is the usual response I get when I tell people in Casper that I study journalism; usually it’s accompanied by an uncomfortable glare, or a forced change in subject, or an awkward departure. I’m not sharing this because I want people to pretend to act interested in my studies, but I want to know - why? Why does my major scare you? Or make you uncomfortable? Or make you not want to talk to me? It’s totally possible that some of these people don’t know a great deal about journalism, and thus don’t know what to follow up with. However, I’m willing to bet it has to do with the current state of the industry, particularly in mass media.

In many of these situations, I can tell that some of these people genuinely like my company, but the energy shifts once they know what I’m studying. Even if I accompany the term “journalism” with phrases like “field reporting” and “investigative journalism,” my best guess is that they’re picturing me as a talking head on NBC News or Fox News, pandering to my audience and saying what I know they want to hear. That is not the future I want for myself. What if I say things like “I want to only report the truth,” or “I don’t like news with bias,” or “I wanna cut the bullshit, and get to the point”? Usually when I do that, I can tell that my presence isn’t as daunting, but I can still sense the distrust in the air. Why am I, a 20-year-old sophomore from the other side of the world, put on the same level as mass media outlets and reporters with bad reputations? Are people aware that Tucker Carlson has been in the industry for over 25 years and has regularly lied or shown his bias, meanwhile I only began studying journalism four years ago and have already sworn to only present the unbiased, unadulterated truth? This is just a hunch, but I think there’s a significant difference there.

Back in New Zealand, it’s a different story. All of my family and friends support my decision to pursue journalism, most especially my mom, who first inspired me to go into the field. Even strangers I’ve met at different jobs support my choice of study, and usually ask enthusiastic questions like “do you wanna report around the world?” or “are you gonna expose Trump?”. Very rarely have I heard such excitement over my career choice in Casper. It’s a cultural difference, I s’pose - America knows that their largest media outlets can be untrustworthy, whereas New Zealand knows that America’s largest media outlets can be untrustworthy. 

One country may assume that I’m going to become another corrupt, talking head. The other may assume that I want to become a force against said talking heads.

At the end of the day, the negative or ambiguous responses that I receive do not change my view on the career I am pursuing. If Michael Jordan couldn’t get on his high school basketball team, or if Oprah could be told that she didn’t have a face for television, then I’m damn sure that I could become a fucking good journalist. Know what stances your sources hold, know where their information come from, look for cited sources, and don’t be afraid to read what other outlets or reporters are saying about a story. If you can do that, then hosting Good Morning America or Fox & Friends would be way below your pay grade.

~ Dev

[theunboundkiwi]

Let’s Talk About Sex (Maybe?)

This week’s blog is a bit more explicit, so be warned. I don’t blame you if you decide to only read parts of this, things might get a little uncomfortable. Okay, here we go.

So I recently got a job at the Casper College Writing Center, which involves sitting with students who visit and helping them construct a paper, or build upon a draft they’ve written. Though I get a lot of satisfaction through helping others form kick-ass papers (I hope), I get even more through my discussions with the other tutors. We’re usually not that busy, so we have plenty of time to do homework, relax, or have deep and existential conversations; I have a hunch that some of my future posts will be about the crazy things we talk about. Yesterday the subject of sex came up, I’ll recount for you what happened and what I learned.

Most of my coworkers are politically left-leaning women in their 40′s and 50′s who aren’t afraid to talk explicitly (which is refreshing in a state like Wyoming). Tammy, one of the tutors, was sharing a comedy poem that talked about penises; one line that caught my attention was “... when I had my first orgasm at 18...”. Now, I’m not gonna go into any detail about my own sex life, but let’s just say that I was under the impression that most people had their first orgasm (not sex, specifically) well before the age of 18. I brought this up in conversation, but my tutor friends were initially confused. What I had forgotten, and what they had to remind me, was that the U.S. was built by puritans that firmly believed that men were vastly superior to women, and any sex-related activity that occurred before marriage or just for pleasure was sinful. In many parts of the United States, sex education is replaced by abstinence education; rather than being taught how to have sex without repercussions, some kids have solely been taught to never have sex until all the boxes are checked.

The tutors knew that I grew up in New Zealand, so they understood my confusion. I explained to them the sex-ed I received, and how it differed from the states. As far as I know, abstinence education is either uncommon or nonexistent in New Zealand. I was first taught about sex in Year 7 (6th Grade), and was taught even more in Years 9 and 10 (8th and 9th Grade). I had learned what constituted sex, what consent meant, how to use protection... basically everything I ever needed to know about sex, in the regards to having good morals and to avoid unexpected pregnancies. Again, I won’t share details about my own experiences, but let’s just say that learning these lessons at a young age have served me well. 

In my Gender Studies class, we did some reading on abstinence education and it’s implications. I could write a novel on where it misses the mark, but to keep it short and sweet, I’ll share just some of the common trends. Of those who have had that type of education, most have broken abstinence before marriage, and before the age of 18. Many of these same people believe that only “insertion” constitutes sex, and therefore have given or received oral sex and believed that they had still kept their virginity. The most damning part, unfortunately, is that most of these same people were taught to never have sex, but were not taught HOW to do it. This has led to many unsatisfactory sexual experiences, but worst of all, it has led to skewed ideas of what constitutes consent, and has led to unplanned pregnancies. 

I don’t want any of my American friends to read this and to think that they should go have sex, all because a foreigner who was taught how to use his tan banana said so. Just be safe, and know how it all works - how to do it without regrets, and how to give or receive consent. Happy dicking around!

~ Dev

[theunboundkiwi]

Spring(?)time

I’ve complained about the cold weather in Casper before, but what I’m gonna write about today is something that I’d argue is much, much worse than winter: spring. 

I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out - while the snowy days from December to February were much colder than they are today, at least they were consistent! I was able to adjust to the weather, then once the season was over I could move on and warm up again! But spring... ugggghhhhhh.... thou is a heartless bitch. Logic just goes out the window in spring. We had a week of sunny, slightly breezy weather with 15C (60F) highs; I could’ve worn shorts and a t-shirt outside if I wanted to! I felt like I was reborn, that my frozen, cold heart had thawed out and I could become a normal, functioning member of society again! But then, last Wednesday came around and I opened my curtains to see nothing but that godforsaken white powder covering everything; I wish I could tell you it was powdered sugar. Alas, we had returned to below 0C (32F) weather, literally overnight. I had seen weather reports beforehand warning of a snowstorm, but I was deep in denial about it the entire week building up to it. If anything, we only got a couple inches of snow while reports claimed that we could’ve seen a foot (30cm) of it! Class was almost cancelled that day and would’ve delayed a speech that I wasn’t super excited about giving, but wanted to get out of the way rather than prolonging it. 

If we all got snowed in and I couldn’t do my speech, or if there was no snow at all and I could deliver my sermon, then so be it. But did it REALLY have to snow so much, but little enough that I could still walk to class through the miserable cold? No, it didn’t have to. Spring has attacked me personally, and I’m speaking to an attorney about what steps I can take from here. Damn you, spring.

To summarize, if you don’t can’t stand the cold, Casper might not be the place for you. Honestly I can cope with the snow and the wind, but it should stay in winter where it belongs. Winter is trespassing on spring’s territory, I hope spring is seeking legal action. 

A friend of mine here has told me that it’s snowed in July before, smackbang in the middle of summer. In other words, snow. snow snow snow.

snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow

Why’d I write snow so much? Cause that’s literally all there is and there’s no escaping it in Casper!

~ Dev

[theunboundkiwi]

International Perspective

The image above is a compilation of a bunch of American stereotypes that people outside of the U.S. tend to believe. Obviously, this drawing is a massive exaggeration of the average American; most people I’ve met in Casper don’t own a gun (or at least open carry), don’t wave a flag around, and are not confined to a motor scooter. This drawing, and a situation that I’ll explain soon, got me thinking though. Even though I’ve already been here for 7 months, I only recently began to understand how Americans, at least in this part of the region, view everyday life and go about their days. Honestly, it shakes me a little bit.

Last week I talked about the Christchurch shooting and gun laws in the U.S., which to be frank got a lot more attention than I was expecting (mostly from gun rights activists), but that’s not what I wanna talk about today. Instead, I want to talk about how people think guns, among other things, play a role in their day-to-day lives. In NZ, before the shooting, guns were not often talked or thought about; in the U.S., you almost have no choice but to think about them.

Now to my story - earlier this week I was involved in a brief discussion with a classmate about arming teachers in public schools; she was in support of the idea, I was not. We agreed to disagree and no feelings were hurt, thankfully, but I found her arguments intriguing. She asked me “If a guy just walked in here and started blasting away, wouldn’t you want the instructor to be able to fight back?” Her hypothetical situation caught me off-guard; in my 13 years of going to school in NZ, the thought of a shooter walking in never crossed my mind. We never had drills to train for shooting situations, and we never heard stories of such events in the country. It’s not that NZ’s public schools are ill-prepared for such incidents, it’s just that they never happen, and thus never take up head space. 

In the U.S., however, it’s a different story. Remember, guns are far more prevalent here and I’m not writing to support nor oppose them, but rather to observe the impact they have on society. Gun violence is far more common here, and thus people are more on their toes in public, especially in states such as Wyoming, where firearms play a large role in the culture. I’ve never had to go to school and worry about some sort of violence breaking out; I honestly cannot imagine what it would be like to be a high schooler or middle schooler in the United States and having to go to school and ponder the possibility of being shot, especially if a shooting recently happened in the country. 

I have nothing to say about gun reform or responding to attacks this week, I just wanted to write off the top of my head about something that I only recently noticed in the culture that surrounds me. With this, I hope both of my families in the U.S. and in NZ have a bit more perspective on how each other’s societies behave differently, and that life here can’t be condensed into a single drawing of a fat guy rolling around, emptying magazines and taking oxygen through a tube.

~ Dev

[theunboundkiwi]

The Gun Talk - OPINION

It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve written something, sorry for the delays! Last week I was in Las Cruces, New Mexico, doing some humanitarian work with other students from Casper College (I may write about that in the future!), and the week before that New Zealand faced it’s largest mass shooting in history. I would like to talk about that today, after having some time to process it all.

50 people were killed and many more were injured by a gunman who attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. To compare, the Las Vegas shooting was the only American mass shooting to outnumber this. Talking about gun violence and gun laws can be controversial, but I wanted to focus more on how the home I know best reacted to this catastrophe, and compare it to how the United States has acted in the past.

Gun violence, or any violence in general, is rare in New Zealand. So much so that the gunman who did this attack came from Australia, to try and prove that NZ was not a safe place. He of course failed, as kiwis have become more united after this tragedy, similar to how Americans felt more united after 9/11 unfolded. The country is currently being led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (picture attached), a figure who is beloved by most and has been the source of controversy for some, as some do not agree with her political views and she did not win the majority vote in NZ’s 2017 election. However, she has received nothing but praise for her approach to these attacks. She met with the relatives of all of the victims, and within a week she and the rest of parliament banned assault rifles. The government took immediate action towards this violence; I’ve read online and even heard in person people sarcastically asking “did they try thoughts and prayers first?” 

New Zealand was quick on the draw to prevent future gun violence, which brings me to the United States, where reactions are much slower. I have to be clear though, NZ and the U.S. have very different perceptions on guns. A larger percentage of Americans prefer to own a gun (most of whom are responsible owners), and the U.S. population is almost 70 times greater than NZ’s. My point here is that it is quite unlikely that any of us will see guns of any kind banned in the U.S. during our lifetimes; if they ever were banned, it may not happen for a few more generations, when more people might hold more negative views on firearms. But what about new laws or restrictions? Now THAT is something we could see in our lifetimes. As previously mentioned, the U.S. usually acts slowly on mass shootings; there’s a “thoughts and prayers” stage, where the country feels unhappy about the attack but does not take any preventative measures, then the usual song-and-dance that happens is that Democrats demand more restrictions on guns, while Republicans argue that not enough evidence is there to put in said restrictions. An argument I’ve heard in person is that people who want to commit violence will find a way, therefore gun laws are useless. I would argue that while it is impossible to implement laws that guarantee no more shootings, it is very possible to reduce how often they occur. 

Many shooters, including the one in NZ, were found to have severe mental issues. Both countries are struggling to keep up with their mental health crises; more and more research is showing that mental health is as important as physical health, therefore we must be better at addressing it. Next is increased gun laws, to restrict people with potentially dangerous intent from purchasing a firearm. Barack Obama had this same approach while he was president, which many congressional Republicans interpreted as him wanting to ban guns, which began the whole “Obama wants to take our guns!” craze. Something many of us also forget, or may not be aware of, was when Donald Trump lowered restrictions on owning a gun near the beginning of his presidency, which made it easier for those with mental illnesses to obtain a weapon. The overall issue of gun violence is unbelievably complex in the United States, but I can say with certainty that if just these two aspects of the issue are addressed, the United States will see a significant decline in gun violence.

I don’t really have a way to summarize this post, so I’ll leave you all with a piece on gun control by Jim Jefferies, an Australian comedian. He makes clear in these two clips that he’s just doing a comedy bit, but honestly I find his approach to the issue to be fair, direct, open-minded and honest. Enjoy these clips, leave a comment and tell me what you think if you wanna discuss more!

~ Dev

[theunboundkiwi]

Tomorrow Never Knows

This post is late, and might be a bit messy, since I got an idea of what to write about just last night. I already ranted about country music last week and I think I got my point across, but something happened last night that made me want to touch on the subject of music again.

My drum lessons were cancelled last night, but I was invited to meet a couple of young musicians from Texas instead. These two gentlemen talked about their music, which they describe as alternative and experimental. They took lyrical influences from bands like Black Flag and Minor Threat, in other words they loved to be political and over-the-line in their songwriting. What stuck with me about them was how they described where they began in western Texas, where there are literal ghost towns and, as you might expect from a cowboy state, country music dominates the public’s ears. They said that the people they lived among “lived in a box” in terms of music taste, and they hoped to break outside of said box. This got me thinking about where I am now.

Like much of Texas, country music dominates Casper, Wyoming. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing, but it’s not hard to notice that many people listen to that genre and solely that one genre - they put themselves inside of a box. Some people are comfortable staying inside the box, and that’s totally fine. I believe that every person should have a say in what they do with their lives, and what boxes they choose to stay in or break out of. But I have to tell you, as an American-Kiwi who has seen the world outside of the US, who has shattered many boxes in their first 20 years of living, I absolutely love being outside of boxes - outside of cultural norms. I love listening to music that people may not like or appreciate the same; I love being different and I love that people often struggle to stick a label on me. Unfortunately, this can make it difficult to relate to people who like staying in boxes. I cannot and will not force people to go outside of their boxes, but how I wish I could. There’s so much you don’t see when you stay put, when you stay comfortable and at ease.

The photo I’ve attached is the cover art for the album “Revolver” by The Beatles, released in 1966. This is my favorite experimental album, and perhaps the only good thing I have to take away from my high school music teacher (he hated drummers, but LOVED LOVED LOOOOOVED The Beatles!) I love this album because the band behind it, to put it bluntly, just fucked around. They just went nuts in the studio, and produced a masterpiece - they didn’t just escape the box, they burned that shit to the ground. The title of this post is the same as the closing song to the album, “Tomorrow Never Knows.” This song features backwards guitar solos, a sitar and only one repeated chord throughout the entire song; it is remarkably left-field for 1966, and is often thought as the single origin of psychedelic rock. I’ll post a link to the song below, try listening to it and remembering that it came it over 50 years ago. It was so, so ahead of its time:

I think this album summarizes my thoughts about making music, and furthermore living life. I can’t force anybody reading this to go outside of their comfort zones, but I can’t help but encourage it. During my time in Casper I’ve found that most people here have never left the Midwest US, let alone the state of Wyoming. Once again, there is nothing wrong with that. Those are their choices, or for one reason or another it was their only choice. Nonetheless, I still hope everybody at least tries to break down some walls. Why? Because you’ll then find yourself in a larger, yet more spacious box, which may be layered within several more boxes. You’ll get to decide once again - do I want to stay in this more spacey, more compelling box? Or do I want even more?

~ Dev

[theunboundkiwi]

Country Roads, Take Me Home (Please God)

Let me just say, for the record, that I don’t dislike people based on their music tastes. As a musician myself, I think that any piece of music is “good” as long as at least one person enjoys it and finds a purpose for it, whether it’s to get pumped up before a game or to help you relax. Though I have music that I dislike, I try not to chastise people if they happen to like that particular type of music.

That said and out of the way, lemme tell you something about Wyoming and country music - oh lordy. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some country songs and artists that I really like, but when it’s the only genre of music you hear in public 90% of the time, it can drive you a little crazy (unless you’re a big country fan, then I’m envious of you.) The dining hall on campus, agriculture students blasting it from their trucks, both Walmarts in Casper and every music gig I’ve been to here is mostly country; I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a young, hunky cowboy sing about his dog dying, his girlfriend leaving and his truck not starting!

Also, being a drummer, there’s patterns that I pick up in many genres, not just country, that make me nuts. I’m more into alternative music, so I tend to like music that’s weird or bold, that’s made by artists who like to take risks and be different. I don’t know country music well, so take what I say with a grain of salt - of the songs I’ve heard, especially more modern country songs, I’ve heard some tropes that are repeated far too often. The classic “verse-chorus-verse-chorus” song structure, the storytelling (about dogs, girls and trucks), and the third chorus being sung an octave higher than the previous two are just a couple traits that I think are reused a teensy bit too much. Again, take lightly what I say - if you’re like most people and don’t play an instrument, you probably wouldn’t even notice these patterns.

Okay, I think I’ve been tough on the country genre, so I’ll leave y’all with this (I’m starting to talk like a cowboy now, the “Wyoming effect.”) If you like country music, keep blasting that shit! Nobody can stop you from listening to the music you love! If it’s the only genre you listen to, I’d recommend expanding your horizons; you can never love too much music, and you’ll never know what other music you’ll like until you try it! That being said, if any of my friends back in New Zealand plan on visiting Wyoming, or really anywhere in the US, I’d recommend picking up on some country music if you haven’t already. This is cowboy country and there’s no changing that. Becoming more cultured, rather than fighting the culture, will make you wiser and more liberal. Most importantly though, you’ll be able to empathize with those poor, handsome cowboys who’ve got dead dogs, broken hearts and broken trucks!

- Dev

[theunboundkiwi]

No College for Old Men (me)

The title is a bit of a joke - I feel like an old man at Casper College, as I’m an almost-21-year-old freshman, and many of the people at the same level as me are 18 or 19. I haven’t talked a lot about life on Campus, so I figured that I’d make this week’s post about how I’ve experienced college life in Casper, Wyoming so far.

Overall, the campus is really nice. I have plenty of positives to say - the dorms are nice (I have a room to myself), all the facilities are clean and relatively new, I have fun classes and great professors, and every building is relatively close to one another. I have no complaints about the campus itself (except maybe the location, I like seeing the ocean on the horizon); the only thing I can really complain about is some of the people I attend classes with, but it’s not so easy to just blame them for how they’ve affected me. 

I probably sound all “you kids get off my lawn!” when I say this, but as I said before most people here are younger and less mature than me. While most had left high school behind maybe nine months ago, I’ve been away from it for over two years - I’ve had more time to mature and figure out who I am and what I want. It’s also worth noting what sorts of people are at a community college like this (the equivalent of a polytech in NZ). I and many others are here because two years here is cheaper than the first two years at a 4-year university (I’m saving about $80K USD just by coming to Casper first), but many more people are here to complete their generals or, to be frank, to up their GPA for better odds at getting into a bigger university. Many people here will leave for a bigger university, but not until they make up for where they may have lacked during their high school days.

Something one of my professors pointed out to me is that community colleges, unlike 4-year universities, have cliques that are similar to those seen in high school. I think he’s absolutely right - every day at lunch I see the rodeo clique, the resident assistants clique, the volleyball clique, the men’s and women’s basketball cliques, the “weirdo” or “outcast” cliques, the theater clique, the dance clique, the Hispanic clique... the list goes on. Though I don’t doubt that there are friend groups at 4-year universities (not to mention fraternities), specific groups with specific themes still tend to be more common at colleges like the one in Casper. Many people here behave like it’s still high school - I get judgy looks from some groups and some people like to ignore my existence, even if we get along and I’m literally right in front of them (though I have been guilty of this myself). It’s not exactly wrong to act like this, it’s just the whole maturity thing again; many people are uncomfortable in their own skins and project their insecurities on to others - just like we all did when we were 16. 

I don’t want to put anybody in a box and label them as “bad,” cause hell I’m a different person than I was when I started here six months ago! People change, and it can happen freakishly fast in college. I’ll just end this post by saying to those who’ve had a negative impact on me - I’m sorry for what you’re going through, and I’m sorry if I’ve been the cause of any pain. We all have a path to follow, and in time you’ll find yours. Life will only get better from there.

~ Dev

[theunboundkiwi]

Stayin’ Frosty

Just a heads up, I’m gonna be talking a lot about temperature and I’ll be using celsius, as my friends and family back home use it (as well as most of the world). For my American friends, I’ve put a link to a temperature converter below to make this a bit easier to read. Enjoy!

https://www.unitconverters.net/temperature/celsius-to-fahrenheit.htm

If you’re in New Zealand right now, you’ve recently experienced a heatwave where most of the country had 30C heat or higher. Around the same time, it hit -20C in Casper, Wyoming - and it’s likely to get colder. Winter in Wyoming kicks in around November (though it starts snowing in October, in the “fall”), but it doesn’t reach peak chilliness here until April, when it’s supposedly “spring.” My friends here tell me that the -20C snowstorm we got a couple weeks ago was very cold for February, so I expect the temperatures to drop even more!

Most mornings, especially this semester, I look outside my window and check the temperature before leaving my dorm room. There’s a continuous cycle here when I open my curtains each morning - there’ll be days where I see snow covering anything and get a sinking feeling in my stomach, then in the mornings to follow I get more and more optimistic as I see the snow gradually melt away... until it snows once again, then that dread returns. I Usually I bundle up when the temperature’s below zero, but if it’s exactly 0C (or if I’m lucky, 1-2C), I get excited and wear a slightly thinner jacket, slightly thinner gloves and ditch the beanie and scarf! That’s something that never happens back home - getting excited at the weather being at least freezing temperature.

Something Kiwis almost never have to deal with is salting the paths in winter - that’s a phrase I’m sure most of my friends back home won’t understand. While New Zealand gets winters filled with rain and maybe a low of 0C, everything is so frozen over in Wyoming during winter that people literally pour salt on paths to melt them. Even the heated sidewalks on campus get frozen over, and need salting. 

Oh! I almost forgot, Wyoming has this thing called wind chill! If you Kiwis thought “Windy Wellington” was windy, think again! I’m a 90kg slab of meat, and not only has the wind almost blown me over, but it’s almost pushed me down a flight of stairs - just two days ago! The wind chills are usually colder than the actual temperature, so on those days where it was -20C... it felt more like -30C!

The weather’s like this about half the year, so it’s no surprise that many people here are skiers or snowboarders. Lucky bastards, being able to keep their balance and such. I have a history with skiing, but I won’t tell that story here (hit me up if you REALLY wanna know!)

So, to sum this all up I guess, I’ll be coming home over most of winter in New Zealand. Let me tell you, as someone who’s smack bang in the middle of Wyoming, winter in New Zealand is gonna be a goddamn treat!

~ Dev

[theunboundkiwi]

Privilege - OPINION

A brief warning - this post is strongly opinionated, but please note that my goal isn’t to offend or create division. I’m writing solely from my own perspective, and I welcome perspectives from others who disagree or want to share their thoughts and feelings. Thanks! Dev.

If you didn’t know, Wyoming is about as white as it gets - and I don’t just mean the people. 93% of people here are white non-Hispanics, one of the highest rates among all states, and 67% of voters in 2016 voted Republican (for Donald Trump) - one of the highest percentages among all other states. This is cowboy country. Remember when Marty McFly went back to 1885 in Back to the Future III? He may have just traveled to Casper, Wyoming in 2019.

Growing up in a place like New Zealand, where most people are white but overall it’s way more diverse, I have a better understanding of privilege. I’ll get this out of the way right now - men, whites and non-minorities, when someone tells you to “check your privilege,” it doesn’t explicitly mean that you should think about who you are, but rather who you are not. Women, people of color and minorities go day-to-day, fearful of what dangers their characteristics could bring them. Women have to remind themselves that they’re women. Blacks have to remind themselves that they’re black. Men, whites and non-minorities never have to think about how they are men, white and a part of the majority. They are privileged in that way.

This brings me to a “fun” story about college, from last year. I had two female friends, for the sake of their privacy we’ll call them Shannon and Becky. I knew Shannon for longer and met Becky through her. I dated Becky for a very short time, but we split on mostly good terms. Both women were younger and more conservative than me, but I never let our differing political views come between us. Until one day, when I saw five volleyball players, most of whom were black, approach a guy in the dining hall who was wearing a hoodie that brandished the confederate flag, a symbol most commonly associated with opposition to African-American rights. I sat in the hall with Shannon and Becky among other friends and pointed it out, out of fear that a fight might break out. Without a second thought, Shannon rushed over and gave a high-five to the guy in the hoodie and told the confused athletes that she “liked his hoodie.” She was under the impression that the flag represented “state rights” in the south; for cases like Shannon, I’m glad that the law in Wyoming requires all college students to take a U.S. history or Government class. Standing up for my own beliefs, I did not verbally defend Shannon, though if things got physical I would’ve intervened. Becky was upset that I didn’t stand up for my friend, and even argued that the black women who approached the confederate hoodie guy shouldn’t have done anything since “they themselves were never slaves.” I forgot to mention - both Shannon and Becky are white, have never left the United States and have lived most of their lives in Wyoming. Life experience outside of the USA and Wyoming could serve most Americans well. Looking from the outside in is a great self-reflective practice we could all do with a dose of.

New Zealand, though not perfect, is far more considerate of people’s differences and societal disabilities, as a heavily mixed-race nation. So as you can imagine, seeing racism play out in the field, right in front of my eyes, was quite a shock to the system. People I’ve met in Wyoming as a whole are not “evil” or “racist.” That’s not the message I’m wanting to put across, but they may certainly be some of the most privileged, which is ironic, as they don’t know it!

~ Dev

[theunboundkiwi]

Ocean Man

When you grow up somewhere and have lived in the same spot for 14 years, you never really appreciate what’s always there and not anywhere else. 

I lived on the Kapiti Coast (pronounced cap-uh-tee) in Wellington, New Zealand in a big house with a big family. I lived a mere 15-minute walk from the ocean (pictured below), though to be honest I hardly went there. On a small, isolated island like NZ, the ocean is just there. Most people there don’t understand just how fortunate they are to be living so close to such an insane natural phenomena as the ocean. In fact, you’re never more than 120 kilometers (75 miles) away from it when your feet are touching Kiwi soil. My newly found appreciation for the ocean didn’t actually happen when I moved to Wyoming, but rather while I was leaving it.

I wasn’t too phased by the landlocked-ness of Wyoming initially, I mean at the very least I could see the northern horizon from Casper College. There are eastern and western horizons as well, but no southern one - the Rocky Mountains in Colorado make sure of that. These horizons were made of dirt, dust, and more goddamn dirt. Did I mention that there’s dust everywhere here? Anyway, rant over - I actually wasn’t too bothered by the lack of water, not until I was flying back to New Zealand to see my family over Christmas. I was travelling with my brother Davis, who heard me literally gasp aloud when we flew out of San Francisco and I saw the big blue Pacific for the first time in four months. I see plenty of shades of blue every day, but there’s no words to describe the blueness of the ocean. I hadn’t seen such a deep blue in over 120 days, so my eyes essentially forgot what that color looked like. Seeing it again hit me, or rather hit my eyes, like a semi-truck. I almost wept; I had realized exactly what my parents meant those many times they told me I had no idea how fortunate I was, being able to live so close to something as invigorating and alive as the ocean.

I’ve met people in Casper who have never seen the ocean, people in their 30′s or older. Just do it. One way or another, get to California or Florida or Oregon... or hell, even leave the country! No photos or videos do justice for the ocean, you really have to be there to experience it. Life on this planet began in the ocean, we all have a connection to it. There is a spiritual link between us and it. If the opportunity arises, do not turn down a visit to the sea. We all started there, and we were always meant to return to it. ~ Dev