I have to get my little mac hooked up to broadband. As long as I am living in a hotel, it's not possible. So patience, my friends.
I have taken photos, per your requests, but they are trapped in iphoto for now. Check back this weekend! Cross your fingers.
In other news, it was another perfect day in Kiwiland. Sunshine, 25. Celsius, that is. I have a ID badge for the University. Sigh. :)
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Can I apply for citizenship yet?
I'm on day 6 of my new life in New Zealand. I feel like a new person. It's unbelievable. I feel so alive.
Yesterday, I got myself a mobile phone. Now I can be a texting fool like the rest of the New Zealanders. Funny story about the guy in the Vodafone store: I was thinking about shopping around a little more and asked the him when he'd be closing and he said, "3:00, maybe 2:30 or 2:00 if it's slow." Can you imagine a store in the US doing that? So I just bought the darn phone and went on with my day.
To reward myself on the phone purchase, I took a 12 minute ferry to Devonport, a suburb just north of Auckland. I walked around and made myself rest in the coffee shop for a while (my calves are solid muscle now) before I headed up to the top of Mt Victoria. I saw a sort of steppish path going straight up the side of the mount. About halfway, I realised it was quite steep and tending to be on the clumsy side of things, I stopped and thought, "It would be really bad to fall down the hill. My family would not like it." So I leaned forward more and hurried up to the top. When I got there, I was greeted by a bench with two nice people on it, Michelle from Nova Scotia (working on her PhD here) and Dave from Papua New Guinea (civil engineer for Auckland city). We ended up hanging out all day and now I have 2 new friends.
Today I wandered into the Auckland Museum today, which was great, though I am pretty bad at museums. Carrie can attest (Deutsches Museum delirium), our family goes into an instant sugar low and blood pressures drop the second we enter a museum. They had a fantastic exhibit on volcanoes though, including a simulation of Auckland if one should erupt anytime soon. Hope not! This is the land of volcanoes, so you never know.
After that some kiwis I met walking advised I wander over to the Domain for some free live jazz. I sat in the grass amongst about 500 other Aucklanders (in the shade) and thought, this is really not too bad. Gee. I think I have converted in 6 days. There's always a friendly face for conversation or directions. I love it.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
NO PICTURES!
Hey, give me a few more days! I haven't had any time to lollygag around with my camera photodocumenting my new home. Just wait til this weekend.
Every day I've walked approximately 600 miles, in search of housing, phones, etc. I've rolled into my hotel after 10pm looking like I need a wheelchair assist. Maybe Grandma could loan me her motorized cart?
Today I secured a little mother-in-law studio in a nice neighborhood called Parnell. My new commute to work will consist of a 30 minute walk through the "Auckland Domain," a giant park or I can take the bus for $1.60. But I plan to walk. I kept going back and forth between roomates and living alone. This is sort of in the middle. It's all furnished. There is a nice fold out futon for guests. And a nice bathroom. Sort of reminds me of Molly's place at the Welleman's... only it's upstairs (above the garage).
They have a funny rental scheme here- you pay per week and only have to give 3 wks notice. So if it does not work out, it's ok. They are a nice family though- she's Canadian and has lived all over - several kids and a dog that I can borrow for walks if I like (he's not quite Oatie, but he's friendly). They have a fat happy outdoor cat too. I think it will be a good mix of living alone and not.
Yesterday I met my department at the University- they were all nice, laid back and professional. The other new person in my spot is a girl named Ursula from the UK. She's pretty cool.
My brain is mushy now. But I will get pics on the next post, I swear!
Oh one thing interesting: no one has asked me for money. I haven't seen a homeless person. I wonder if they have any?
Every day I've walked approximately 600 miles, in search of housing, phones, etc. I've rolled into my hotel after 10pm looking like I need a wheelchair assist. Maybe Grandma could loan me her motorized cart?
Today I secured a little mother-in-law studio in a nice neighborhood called Parnell. My new commute to work will consist of a 30 minute walk through the "Auckland Domain," a giant park or I can take the bus for $1.60. But I plan to walk. I kept going back and forth between roomates and living alone. This is sort of in the middle. It's all furnished. There is a nice fold out futon for guests. And a nice bathroom. Sort of reminds me of Molly's place at the Welleman's... only it's upstairs (above the garage).
They have a funny rental scheme here- you pay per week and only have to give 3 wks notice. So if it does not work out, it's ok. They are a nice family though- she's Canadian and has lived all over - several kids and a dog that I can borrow for walks if I like (he's not quite Oatie, but he's friendly). They have a fat happy outdoor cat too. I think it will be a good mix of living alone and not.
Yesterday I met my department at the University- they were all nice, laid back and professional. The other new person in my spot is a girl named Ursula from the UK. She's pretty cool.
My brain is mushy now. But I will get pics on the next post, I swear!
Oh one thing interesting: no one has asked me for money. I haven't seen a homeless person. I wonder if they have any?
Monday, January 7, 2008
Cheers from the other side! (Kiwis are great!)
Greetings all.
I've arrived!
Is that enough to say? Would you believe it's raining here too? I thought I just moved to summer. Ok, it's a warm rain. I don't mind at all. There is still light out and it's nearing 9pm. That's a summer sign.
The trip here was mostly uneventful. I had a lovely stop with Uncle Brian and Andrew in LA. Then survived the mass confusion of LAX. Air Pacific was a sweet airline. The guy at check in just weighed my bag and quickly pulled it off the scale when it was 2.5 Kg over... no fees. The flight crew was equally great. I managed at least 8 hours of sleep on the plane, helped by the fact that we sat on the runway for 2 hours in LAX due to rain. I thought I was leaving the rain in Oregon.
Fiji was hot and humid. They had a band playing while we waited to go through security clearance. Thank goodness, since they only had ONE lane and about 500 people. Luckily I was in line with a Kiwi couple - in their 20's who chatted and wrote in my journal a list of things to see in Auckland and around.
After a very simple customs clearance and shuttle ride, I checked into my hotel. It's set up to be more like a home away from home. With a large communal kitchen, fridges in the rooms, etc. I think I prefer hostels. They're more friendly and knowledgeable about the stuff I want to do. But I did make myself at home- there's clothes strewn all over the room now. (Had to find some lost items in the monster duffle bags.)
After creating a giant mess of my hotel room, I took a shower and headed out to walk around town. Auckland's quite manageable. Nice folks. I found out about Vodafone and wandered into a large grocery store. They were broadcasting helpful messages like, "Don't eat too much candy, it's low in nutritional value and high in calories" and "Even 30 minutes a day of exercise makes a difference." A little helpful non-subliminal messages in the grocery store. Makes you think twice about buying piles of candy.
I wandered down to Parnell, a very old section of Auckland, where I heard they had free wifi. I found it. In STARBUCKS. Sorry. I cannot believe I went in there. But there was a girl in the window with her computer, so I figured I would take a shot. I met a lovely barista named Kiki, who later gave me her cell to text if I wanted. And a German girl named Carolin who is here on a work visa also. I take back anything mean I've ever said about Starbucks. It's already made me 2 friends.
So far, I feel normal. It's fun just learning new things every day.
I've arrived!
Is that enough to say? Would you believe it's raining here too? I thought I just moved to summer. Ok, it's a warm rain. I don't mind at all. There is still light out and it's nearing 9pm. That's a summer sign.
The trip here was mostly uneventful. I had a lovely stop with Uncle Brian and Andrew in LA. Then survived the mass confusion of LAX. Air Pacific was a sweet airline. The guy at check in just weighed my bag and quickly pulled it off the scale when it was 2.5 Kg over... no fees. The flight crew was equally great. I managed at least 8 hours of sleep on the plane, helped by the fact that we sat on the runway for 2 hours in LAX due to rain. I thought I was leaving the rain in Oregon.
Fiji was hot and humid. They had a band playing while we waited to go through security clearance. Thank goodness, since they only had ONE lane and about 500 people. Luckily I was in line with a Kiwi couple - in their 20's who chatted and wrote in my journal a list of things to see in Auckland and around.
After a very simple customs clearance and shuttle ride, I checked into my hotel. It's set up to be more like a home away from home. With a large communal kitchen, fridges in the rooms, etc. I think I prefer hostels. They're more friendly and knowledgeable about the stuff I want to do. But I did make myself at home- there's clothes strewn all over the room now. (Had to find some lost items in the monster duffle bags.)
After creating a giant mess of my hotel room, I took a shower and headed out to walk around town. Auckland's quite manageable. Nice folks. I found out about Vodafone and wandered into a large grocery store. They were broadcasting helpful messages like, "Don't eat too much candy, it's low in nutritional value and high in calories" and "Even 30 minutes a day of exercise makes a difference." A little helpful non-subliminal messages in the grocery store. Makes you think twice about buying piles of candy.
I wandered down to Parnell, a very old section of Auckland, where I heard they had free wifi. I found it. In STARBUCKS. Sorry. I cannot believe I went in there. But there was a girl in the window with her computer, so I figured I would take a shot. I met a lovely barista named Kiki, who later gave me her cell to text if I wanted. And a German girl named Carolin who is here on a work visa also. I take back anything mean I've ever said about Starbucks. It's already made me 2 friends.
So far, I feel normal. It's fun just learning new things every day.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
It's 2008!
Last day of work. It went fine. I'll miss the wonderful people at Kaiser.
I got a link from Donna regarding a Northwest woman who has downsized:
http://www.katu.com/news/local/8499817.html
(I gave up trying to figure out the proper way to link, so just cut and paste it!)
Perhaps, I too could be happy in an 84 square foot place? I guess I have down-sized to squatting in my baby sister's room. Anything could be next. Watch out friends and family, here I come with my shed! Who wants me first?
I got a link from Donna regarding a Northwest woman who has downsized:
http://www.katu.com/news/local/8499817.html
(I gave up trying to figure out the proper way to link, so just cut and paste it!)
Perhaps, I too could be happy in an 84 square foot place? I guess I have down-sized to squatting in my baby sister's room. Anything could be next. Watch out friends and family, here I come with my shed! Who wants me first?
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