Christmas downunder

After several days of technical troubles, I'm finally able to bring you this post.

My first Christmas away from home was also my first Christmas in another country--and my first Christmas in the Summer. And while it didn't really feel like Christmas, celebrating the holidays in the Summer is fine with me. A couple of my coworkers had a big party at their house. Being Irish, they had a lot of other Irish friends there as well. If you've never partied with Irish, you are missing out.

One of our turkeys was cooked on the grill...delicious.




There was plenty of Diet Coke and lemonade for us to enjoy throughout the day.




Shorts on Christmas day? Better believe it. An impromptu cricket game even struck up.




And the night ended with a bonfire and drunken Irish songs. Happy Birthday, Santa!

Tis the season...?

Right now is the first time I've really felt like it was getting close to Christmas. I'm in a computer lab (hostel computers are not working) and there is Christmas music playing. Kiwis--at least those in Wellington--don't seem to get too festive. Christmas is celebrated here, for sure, but decorations and seasonal spirit is lacking. Not that I'm particularly festive this time of year--I don't care for Christmas music one bit. It's just that it's hard to believe the year is coming to and end without the constant reminders of the season--trees everywhere, garland, signs in shops wishing you a "Merry Christmas!" It's just not everywhere, in your face like it is back home. But nonetheless, it is almost here, and I will get two days off from work because of it--the 26th is a public holiday here too!

Bits and Pieces

Work Work is going pretty well. Starting to get lots of hours. Also have been given some more responsibilities. I'm just that cool. I think I might have to ask for a raise.

Sports I watched some more cricket yesterday. There's a stadium five minutes or so from the hostel where you can just go watch the games for free, sitting on the berm. Cricket is a really long, drawn-out game. There's no such thing as balls or strikes like baseball has, so the batsman can see as many balls as he wants before he hits one. Yesterday was day four of a four-day match.

In other Wellington sporting news, the city has been abuzz for the last week in anticipation of a visit from the LA Galaxy--David Beckham's new team. Becks and LA beat the Wellington Phoenix 4-1 last night. A private investor helped fund Galaxy's trip, which included a guarantee that Beckham would play at least 50 minutes of the match.

Celebrities Speaking of famous people, I had my first Wellywood star sighting last night (as I said in a previous post, Wellington is home to NZ's film industry). As we were enjoying a post-shift beer in front of the restaurant, Giovanni Ribisi (Phoebe's little brother on Friends) strolled down the street. He's in town, along with Sigourney Weaver and Michelle Rodriguez, to work on a big-budget James Cameron movie. One of my coworkers apparently bumped into Sigourney at the grocery store last week.

That's about all I have of any importance right now. My life consists of lots of work, sleeping until 10:30, staying out til 3:30 and trying my best to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having. I hope everyone is staying warm back in Omaha. I'm wearing shorts.

Life at Wellywood

Since I will be living at Wellywood Backpackers indefinitely, I thought I would give you a glimpse into my living situation. The name Wellywood comes from the fact that Wellington has become the center of NZ's blossoming film industry--It's also Peter Jackson's home town.

The outside of the hostel stands out quite a bit--it's painted like a zebra:




My room is small. Depressingly small. Two bunk beds in about 150 square feet.




But I don't spend much time there anyway. Most of my spare time at the hostel is spent in the upstairs lounge and kitchen. The kitchen is in the back, and it's quite big. There are two TV lounges and tons of sofas to lounge around on.



So that's my home for the next few months. Next week, I'll introduce you further to my neighborhood: where I work, where I play, where I drink. And it's all just a short walk away!

Doing my thing

Well, for now I have decided to live at the hostel. I am now in a "long-term" room that is smaller than my freshman year dorm, yet has two bunkbeds. It's tight. But there's a lot of fun people here (lots of Irish) and as I said before, it's extremely convenient.

I work my third shift at the restaurant tonight, and my first waiting tables. I've gotten to know the menu pretty well, but it's still going to be a test to keep up with the service expectations.

So now I'm just trying to get into a bit of a rhythm. It can get kind of boring with lots of people doing daytime temp work and me working nights. But I think I'm going to get some roller blades (they're freakin expensive over here!) once I get paid, so that should keep me a little busier. And once my computer gets here, I hope to do some freelance articles and sell some photos to online content stores like Associated Content.

I'm still alive

I know you were worried--more than two days without a blog post. Your finger must be hurting from clicking "refresh" so many times over the last 72 hours. Take an aspirin. Go ahead; I'll wait.


Better? Good. OK, so I've been enjoying my new home the last few days. I worked my first shift on Thursday--it's going to be interesting. It's a great restaurant, but it's very fast-paced. There's a lot of things on the menu that I've never heard of, and we do everything manually. That is, we don't enter the orders into a computer. Rather, we have an old-school triplicate order pad that we hand to the kitchen. I've noticed that this seems to be the way things work in restaurants here in NZ. I'm convinced that much of this country is stuck in 1989 America. More on that in future posts. Anyway, the job should be a fun challenge and should help me ease my savings account's pain.

As far as accomodation goes, I have been staying at the Wellywood Backpackers, casually considering my options. One is that I can get a weekly rate here for quite a bargain of a price. A lot of the flat rooms and house rooms available are only free for the summer, or until about mid-February, as they're pretty much all sublets from university students. And many of them cost more than it would cost to stay here. And at the hostel, I'm a three minute walk from work, a one-minute walk to many of the popular bars and five minutes from anything else I might need. It's hard to argue with that. So it's likely that I'll start with the weekly rate here and if something good comes up elsewhere, I'll take it.

Lastly, I probably will be having my laptop shipped to me. (I didn't take it initially because that's a hell of a liability to worry about when you're traveling constantly and sharing rooms with seven people you have known for less than two hours.) This (I hope) is good news for you, as I will be able to provide some enhanced content: more videos, gorgeous panoramic shots that I've taken, etc. And it's good news for me because I won't have to use dodgy shared computers that run Windows.

More exciting things to come soon--I've been sketching out a bit of an "editorial calendar" in my mind. And please don't lose hope if I go a couple days without an update. I have a lot of bars to hit and only six or seven months to do it in.

Sights of Wellington

Since I'm not working yet (some training tonight and first shift next Thursday), I've been taking the time to get to know the city I'll call home for the next several months. Every city has its iconic places that are must-sees. New York has Times Square, the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. Paris has the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.

Can you name any of Wellington's iconic sights? I didn't think so. But you can now:

Being the capital of the country, Wellington hosts New Zealand's parliamentary offices. Are the prime minister and her cabinet set up in some grand building of marble and towering pillars? Nope. They're in a Beehive.




Wellington is only half the size of Omaha, yet it feels at least twice as big. The downtown area is a buzzing place. Lambton Quay (say "key") is the heart of the downtown area.




If you want to get out of the concrete jungle, Wellington's got a great option. The city's cable car has been hauling people up the hill since the early 1900s.




At the top station is the city's botanical gardens. They make Omaha's garden look like an amateur's backyard.






There's all sorts of New Zealand flora to walk among, including many things that I've never seen before in my life...




So that's a glace at some of Wellington's important features. You'll hear plenty more from me on this awesome city over the next several months...but I won't let it get boring, I promise. Next week, I'll give you a glimpse at the odd things that Kiwis tend to find fashionable. Let's just say some of them seem to be stuck in the US in the late 80s/early 90s. Full House, anyone?

Job!

I applied for a job, had a trial shift and was offered the job all in less than 10 hours today. I think zibibbo will be a great place to work.

Looks like I will be on the schedule next week. Now I just have to figure out my living situation. Sweet as.

My new home

After much back-and-forth over the last three weeks, I've decided to live in...


Wellington!




And as you can see, the weather was much more hospitable on my return.

My journey to Wellington was quite fun. I opted to take the train from Christchurch to Picton, before hopping on the ferry. Much of the track runs right along the Pacific coast, and there's an open-air viewing car. Very cool.




So, I will renew my job search today. I think my employment prospects will be a lot higher here. That, and I get to live in one of the coolest capital cities in the world!