This is the start of my last weekend in Wellington for the foreseeable future.  I have nothing specific planned, just working at the museum, maybe some library time, and going out to lunch because Wellington on a Plate has started.  Think of it as restaurant week on steroids that lasts for 2 weeks.  So today Katelyn and I are going to Southern Cross for lunch.  There is apparently some form of halloumi in a salad and a white chocolate sandwich involved.  Needless to say I am excited and intrigued.

I already have official interest in my nascent thesis.  This is flattering and a little daunting.  Victoria, the most wonderful librarian I have occasionally raved about, wants me to send her my thesis so they can bind it and put it in the library at Te Papa.  She wants to put my thesis in with real books and doctoral theses that people use for research.  My thesis that is but a jumble of ideas and malformed paragraphs in my head and computer.  I told her I was honored, and that she should wait on that decision until she actually saw my thesis.  She was telling me that I simply must come back to New Zealand to do more research, and to write a thesis (what I might call a dissertation).  I said I was thinking about applying for fellowships to come back, and she was just pleased as punch.  I find this phrase 'pleased as punch' applicable only to certain people, and Victoria definitely  fits the bill.  She was telling me how there is so much more to do in Māori studies and there are so many opportunities to explore.  She had also asked me a few weeks ago if I was considering museum studies.  I had vaguely considered it, but am now considering it a bit more given all I have read and seen with Te Papa.
Te Papa is a very interesting beast, and one that many others have examined.  As the national museum, it must try to at least touch upon most everything in the country.  It must also strive towards biculturalism, a word that can be charged here.  Different people have different ideas on Maori identity and place in Aotearoa New Zealand.  Some people believe in a Canada/USA approach of a nation within a nation.  Then some people like a combination of Pākehā and Māori. Some people don't care.  IT is interesting to look at how hard Te Papa strives towards equal inclusion and an almost refreshing bias towards the Māori side of things.  I mean, this is coming from me, very much entrenched in my background in the US where history has kind of buried these types of issues or at least made them somewhat not applicable in today's setting.  Sure, years ago perhaps but not now.  Totally different situations.
I think my internet is going to be all done somewhat soon, so I think I'll just post this and get off it.  Whales are still amazing mammals.  In case anyone was wondering.