Some Hints for Newbies to NZ & the HIT Lab
Get this document as PDFBefore you arrive
You probably won’t get a student ID here because you are not officially student at Canterbury University (you are not enrolled and you don’t pay any fees). This means, your chances of taking advantage of bargains for students could only be preserved with an International Student ID, so get it beforehand in your country of origin!
If you plan to explore NZ and to take lots of photos bring as many films as you could. Normal films and especially slide films are extraordinary expensive (at least for my humble German standards). Processing films isn’t that cheap either. Better bring them back home (this has the additional advantage that you keep the weight of your baggage low). To remember where you have done all the amazing photos use a notebook to keep track of your trips and the places you have visited. Then it should be easy to tell everyone which photo matches what location.
For the addicted people J among us: bring as most cigarettes as you can, because one box costs between 8$Nz (national brands) and 12$Nz (international/overseas brands). Consult NZ customs regulations for maximal allowances (at present it’s one carton of cigarettes per person). Spirits are considerable expensive as well but better use your baggage allowance for useful clothes or outdoor equipment.
Everybody who comes via Singapore or Japan: you will probably have enough time to go shopping in this oasis for purchasing electronics. Consider buying your next digital camera or what ever you need there, you will make a bargain! The higher the value, the higher the saving compared to standard European prices.
As most of the people come from far away to be with the HIT Lab you should use this opportunity to join the frequent flyer program of your airline. Each mile spent in the air gives you additional credit on your account which could finally be spent for upgrades, free flights etc. And it’s a long way to NZ so don’t waste that advantage! In the case of Lufthansa or any Star Alliance member this would be “Miles and More”. Everyone flying with Qantas or partners is advised to join “Qantas Frequent Flyer”. Other program might be looked up on an appropriate site. If you have forgotten to join your airline’s program most allow the registration up to one month after the flight had taken place.
A place to stay
Have a look at the notice boards all around the university particularly in the central library right beside the main entrance and in the UCSA building in the middle of the ground floor between cafeteria and café Brasilia. A good first point of contact is the UCSA reception at the first floor. Every week on Friday an extensive list of available rooms is compiled. But be aware, the offers are really mixed: some are brand new others could be outdated. The Wednesday and Weekend issue of The Press holds the most current offers in town, but these are also the most sought-after. Thus competition is though - be quick! Our helpful administrator Anna-Lee might help you with this. If you want to search for yourself try in these well-known places for hostelling: Newnham Terrace (mostly Asian-Pacific nationalities), University Halls or Ilam Flats (mostly juvenile students). All are very close to university, latter one provides full boarding.
Filling your stomach
As we have the nice facility of a fridge/freezer combo and a microwave now, the easiest (and cheapest) way to keep your brain supplied with energy is to bring your food yourself. Otherwise the closest opportunity to fill up your stomach is the Engineering cafeteria (exit over the veranda, cross the creek over the bridge to your right and enter the building directly in front of you through the door 10m ahead of you in the Civil Engineering Building). Another opportunity which probably offers a little more choices is the James Hight Café in the basement of the library. Farer away but with the widest range of food (the only place where you can get a decent lunch, salad or Asian food) is the main cafeteria in the UCSA building. It’s opened all day long and you can even get something to eat (snacks like wedges or spring rolls) until 9pm in the evening. If you want to fill you stomach for only some gold coins the Hang Seng Food Bar - Independent Chinese Takeaway in the same building but next to the exit to the car park is the place to go. The queen among the cafeterias is the Café 101 in the Commerce building. It offers a nice ambience, all sorts of sandwiches, and a small range of hot food (e.g. quiche). It is the definite place for hot drinks, but on the down-side it has its price. All the option mentioned here are only available from Monday-Friday and have different working hours during semester breaks (e.g. cafeteria only until 3pm) or do not work at all (e.g. Engineering cafeteria). Thus don’t forget to bring your food yourself on weekends and during holidays!
Buying food for your flat or just yourself is easy around university. Three main shopping areas are scattered along Riccarton Rd: towards the inner city there is the Westfield Shopping Town (major bank institutes and heaps of other services), in Upper Riccarton the Bush Inn Shopping Centre (super markets, stationary) and at the end the Church Corner Mall (supermarket, small shops). The latter houses Countdown: perfect for everyday shopping and food, 24h and 7days a week and good value. Even nearer to uni in the Bush Inn Centre resides Woolworth with clearly up-market prices but a wide range of wedges, fruits - fresh & yummy. Pak’n’Save is the moderate average of the two. It offers a wide range of products for a reasonable price and is the best choice for those living at the city end of Riccarton Road.
Being on-line
Most importantly you will need an e-mail account. See Anna-Lee for this matter. You will probably get two accounts: one with the HIT Lab in the form of firstname.lastname@hitlabnz.org and one with the university in the form of userid@canterbury.ac.nz. Both are different and do not fill the same mail box! In the stated form the second one is only valid for internal mail traffic. If somebody outside the university wants to reach you on that one, s/he has to use firstname.lastname@canterbury.ac.nz. That’s because of the new spam filter system which would bounce back all e-mails from outside addressed to the userid@…. The e-mail to the HIT Lab address is managed through an Exchange server which you can conveniently access through Outlook. Both e-mail addresses are accessible through web:
https://exchange.canterbury.ac.nz (most of the functionality as in Outlook)
https://webmail.canterbury.ac.nz (web-mail only)
The university does not provide any newsgroups access any more. A reasonable substitution is Google Groups (you have to register for postings to newsgroups).
Internet access is not free. Each byte transferred has to be paid (normally by the HIT Lab), e.g. web, ftp, ssh, telnet etc. Accounting and routing is managed through a proxy server and firewall (“webgate”). Read the brochure “Standard Operating Procedure “ handed out by Anna-Lee to know more about going online. If you PC account should let you log in anymore there is the high possibility that your account is overdrawn. See Eric in this case.
It is possible to connect your laptop to the university network. If you have Windows XP Professional you should be simply able to select the right domain (“uocnt”) and connect to it once you have your password. Then every resource you can see on your HIT Lab desktop computers is available on your laptop as well (because it’s the same profile). If you can’t select the domain (e.g. with Windows XP Home) you should at least be able to map certain network drives (see Finding Software) providing your HIT Lab login name and the matching password.
Getting into the HITLab after hours
The Old Math building is opened about 7.30 am and locked about 7.30pm every weekday and locked for the entire weekend. If you want to enter after/before these hours you will need an ID card and a PIN which provides access. Go to the registry and get it (if there are problems get back to Anna-Lee). This is normally done in conjunction with the registration for the on-line services. Take attention to the period of time for which the ID is issued. Better overestimate your stay than being shut out in the last (and normally most important) weeks of your (possibly extended) time in the HIT Lab.
Finding Software
There are several official places and one unofficial place to get the software you need:
\\Hitlab04\ (subdirectories ‘ecw24’ and ‘uploads’ are mapped to your Y: and Z: drive)
\\cantwa\Staff\Software\ (standard Windows and Mac software)
\\canthd\ (the subdirectory ‘FTP’ is mapped to ftp://helpdesk.it.canterbury.ac.nz)
\\cantwa\ (your K: drive)
\\uocnt\staff\ (your N: drive)
\\cantwa2\ (your T: drive)
Some geeks have set up a file sharing network as part of the university intranet. It’s based on the Direct Connect Software, which you can get from http://dcplusplus.sourceforge.net. To connect add a new favourite hub with the IP 172.20.5.168. To use the same user id every time it’s best to register it and choose an appropriate password. From the file sharing network you can mostly get games, movies and standard software, but generally not any particular development software.
Socializing
A great place to get to know other people and probably meet new friends is the clubs of the USCA. I personally have experienced the Tramping Club (meetings Wednesday 7.30pm upper common room, USCA building) and can only recommend it. You will experience the beautiful landscapes of Canterbury, the Southern Alps and the richness of the south island. It’s marvellous, especially for people who can’t access mountains that easily at home. The great thing is that each club has a diversity of members (and even if you are not such, you can take part) with different backgrounds from diverse countries and cultures. The Recreation Centre is another good opportunity to mingle with people and to keep your body fit. It’s on campus, reasonable cheap (60$ for half a year) and definitely good value for money.
Getting student bargains
Even if the international student ID is not regarded as equivalent everywhere, e.g. you can’t get the student deal on the TranzAlpine with it, but at least most places offer some kind of special price for students, regardless if international or domestic. So have your International Student Card ready!
Further hints
Get the booklet “Standard Operating Procedure” from Anna-Lee. It explains in detail further issues around internet access, printing, recycling and much more. In the current issue the address for the automatic configuration script for web access is not mentioned. It’s http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/internet/webgate.pac. Stationary supplies, stamps, telephone and top up cards for your mobile are available from the shop in the USCA building. A cheap haircut without appointment is done by every “10$ Haircut Bar” in town. One is little up Riccarton Road between university and Westfield Mall, but you can get one from the hair dresser at the ground floor of the USCA building as well.
Cheers guys and enjoy your stay! J
Chris
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