Eating Pumpkin Seeds in the Nelson Public Library.

Isn't it funny that pumpkin seeds are green? You'd think they'd be orange and slightly eery looking.

To business.

Well, I made it to the Rainbow Gathering--spent 7 days living out of a tent, bathing in a waterfall (and washing my hair in a bucket), pooing in what was termed a 'shitpit'--dude, it was totally a moat, not a pit, twas a big dug trench in the ground--, singing and om-ing and spending almost all of my time around a campfire talking to fellow travelers, (learning how to make one big trip around the world, talking to a woman who spend three months in Pakistan by herself!) and trying to avoid some of the hippie purists. There are extremists everywhere.

Things I've learned:

1. Never ever ever am I taking acid. The guy camping next to me had this violent, scary as shit trip and that was enough for me. Not that it had ever been on my quote unquote bucket list, but now it's damn sure never making it on.

2. Trust my instincts. Even if I hate them.

3. Conversely, there is such a thing as being *too* careful.

4. ...I'm not a hippie. I have hippie tendencies, (I like hippie chic, I like the social justice aspect) but I am not a full blown one. I like to bathe at least somewhat regularly, I prefer shaven legs, I like soap, I appreciate nature but I don't worship it, I don't really believe in crystals, (though I have a moonstone that is a 'traveler's stone' and stands for new beginnings that I'm partial too) or any form of paganism, I have no real desire to meditate no matter how good it probably would be for me, and I don't care if sunscreen or bugspray is evil, I'm using them.

5. Conversely, I learned a lot about all the things I think I need, that I really don't. But I have a hard time walking past an 'op shop' (second hand store) and not leaving with a new sweater or skirt. I no longer horde books, however. But I am reading like a maniac.

6. My ipod is not one of those things I can live without. I need that. At Rainbow, I missed that.

7. Being a lesbian woman like myself, with my characterists and preferences towards independence, selected isolation, and opting out of the party scene, will very likely be a bit lonely this lifetime.

8. David Mitchell is an incredible writer. See more below.

9. I miss acting. And I am THRILLED about this. This means I am healing from my last four years, and remembering that I love the art form and craft of performing separate from a certain destructive social dynamic.

10. Pushing myself to do something will probably make me miserable.

11. I am impatient.

12. I turn into a HUGE baby when I'm hungry, cold, or tired. Worse when it's all three. Thus, the wilderness living was rough.

13. Annie Hall and Being John Malkovich are excellent films.

14. I have some serious librarian tendencies. Also, I want to work as a book editor sometime. I also am an excellent book reviewer, and I know it. Knowing I'm good at something is key. It isn't pretentious to let a potential employer or partner know this. Turns out the 'go confidence' camp of folks was right.

15. I'm getting my nose pierced. And I *really* want a tazer for when I travel around the world by myself, which I'm going to do in 2011.

Alright, enough of that list. The point is this, I went to the Rainbow Gathering--traveling all the way with my friend Molly--and met along the way some of the most incredibly kind individuals I have ever ever met. My faith in people and human kindness has been completely renovated. The gathering itself was really quite an experience, and I am really really glad I went. I enjoyed it, but I was also really very ready and happy to leave. Being back in society is both a blessing and a curse. Things cost money here, but I really enjoy the nature/city balance. So where am I now, you ask? I am in Nelson City, bumming around for a few days till after New Years, and then I am searching rapidly and rabidly for seasonal work (aka fruit picking) in the surrounding areas, or going to Blenheim for vineyard work, or hitting up a connection I may have in Dunedin, or going up to Takaka to apply for a job at this really kickass cafe called the Wholemeal Cafe (Takaka is AWESOME) and then hopefully working at a festival called Luminate so I can get in for free. Basically, trying to make money so that after my mom's visit in Feb, I can take to the roads, traveling again all over the South Island, by myself or with some merry company if the opportunity presents itself. I am currently CRAVING a big traveler's van that I can put a bed and stuff in the back of. I want one SO bad. Anyway. Ideally, Mary, April, May I will get a steadier job, and then make my way to Australia for a month or so, then back to NZ (or maybe to Fiji?) and then home. Which reminds me--I definitely have to move my plane ticket to september (they couldn't book that far advance) and I have to find a way to do my taxes from New Zealand. Headache, yes, but I can do it. I can do anything.

My New Year's resolution is to learn to stop apologizing for myself. I've already made some progress. I've been wanting to do this for years and years, but something finally clicked. It's damn well time.

I am traveling with a German named Fabian, a guy from Australia named Cole, and a guy from Southern England named Sam. Fabian has a car, which is pretty helpful. We're a good group. This entry is REALLY scattered.

I've recently gotten into reading work by a British author named David Mitchell. I read his book Black Swan Green and it was quite possibly one of the best books I have read in the last 10 years. Actually, not quite possibly--positively. I'm now reading his book Ghostwritten and I'm already excited. He's most famous for Cloud Atlas. If you're a reader you must must MUST read these books. I've also got a Kafka book that I'm moving onto after that. Books, yum.

Which brings me to my next issue--there's a movement out that I discovered (I can't remember the website, but it's out there somewhere) called READ THIS BOOK: Reading Around The System, or RATS. The slogan is Be the RAT, which means to be someone who is part of the movement. This is all you have to do:

when you finish reading a book, open up the front cover. Write:

"read
this
book

and leave in public place." (i'm pretty sure you have to write it in that format, but i suppose it doesn't really matter?)

then you write underneath it: Your Name, the RAT.

And then guess what you do? (This is so crazy but cool, I'm so excited about it.) You ditch the book. ANYWHERE. The idea is to promote literacy by reading around the system--the system being the monetary exchange of money for books, and it also declutters personal libraries. Liberate your personal books, and someone else will pick them up, read them, and then pass them on. It's sort of like that movie Pay it Forward. Anyway, my friend Molly's friend Katie found out about it, and so I'm doing my best to pass it on completely.

Anyway, I think that's about it for me.... Christmas was good, but uneventful. Not festive enough for me, really. Well, the sun is coming out, and my computer time is running out....

if you read this crazy broken entry, congrats. I didn't mean to jump from subject to subject...

Happy New Year all you crazies--I love you each.

Be a rat,
Sarah

All You Need is Love: Life in Wilderland

If you hate spiders, you should probably not come here. If you need to shower and shave every day, you should probably not come here. If you love the taste of steak and can’t live without it on a weekly basis, you should probably not come here. If you need constant internet and have a favorite weekly television show, you should (you guessed it) probably not come here. If you need a toilet that flushes, an electric stove, a dish washer, cubed ice, soda, guaranteed hot water showers, water that’s bottled or purified, a microwave, a clothes dryer, alcohol and/or cigarettes, marijuana, (and any other substances even more illegal), indoor heating, air conditioning, a bathtub, clean nails; and if you have an aversion to peeing in the bushes—you should probably, really, honestly, and sincerely not come here.

A few days ago my friend Josh (another Wwoofer--Willing Workers on Organic Farms) asked me quite earnestly, "So. When did you discover you were a hippie?" Good question, Josh. I suppose I've always had an inner hippie...

Funnily enough, the main people who run Wilderland at the moment don't identify as 'hippies'--and they aren't, but they are fascinating, determined, and all around excellent individuals. Shaki and Avner are a married couple from Israel with two lovely (and hilarious) little girls, and they care deeply about making a life outside the typical expected system. From what I understand, they wanted to break the cycle most people get stuck in in their life--working and working and working to afford a place in a world that expects us to keep working until we die. They felt that there must be something better... so they bought tickets to New Zealand and embarked on an adventure--a quest, if you will... and eventually settled down here in Wilderland, keeping it going after the previous residents had retired. Avner and Shaki oversee everything along with a man named Russel because they are all residents--they deal with all the official work of the markets and marketing, sale of honey, land issues, etc, etc. There is plenty more to it than that, but I don't know the details because I'm simply passing through. It's a lot of work to be a full time resident, and although I admire them greatly--I don't envy them their workload. Truly inspiring people, though.

Sustainable living takes a lot of work, but when I look around at the place where we all live right now--it seems truly worth it. There are gardens and orchards all over, and if you want a salad--you can go pick it. Carrots, snap peas, beans, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, silver beet, rocket, mescuna, spinach, turnips.... you name it. For fruit, there are heaps and heaps of tangelos (a cross between tangerines and oranges--amazing, and the juice is honestly I kid you not the best juice I've ever had. Liquid. Sunshine. Liquid. Happiness), tangerines, mandarins, plums, apples, loquats, lemons, goldfruit (a sweeter kind of grape fruit), and avocados. They also grow nuts (do people 'grow nuts'?) and keep bees and bee hives. Wilderland is famous for their honey, and it's well deserved. I recommend the Manuka Honey--very good, and it has some medicinal qualities. People do some flax weaving too, and there's a current candle making enterprise taking off in hopes to bring in further income.

Here's a typical day:

8 o'clock we can do morning warm-ups (of the tai chi variety) with J.P. (from Israel, he's hilarious.)
8:30 is when we all meet in the hall and have porridge made from rolled oats, water, raisins (and I like to put peanut butter, honey, and cinnamon in mine.)
9:00 we start work. We can go to Hena Hena--a place of large garden beds and primarily tangelo and avocado trees. We work there digging beds, weeding beds, composting and putting mulch on the beds.... harvesting tangelos and avocados, raking left over grass clippings... pretty much whatever needs to be done. Other jobs we do usually take place at other gardens--the Hot House garden, and so on. It's pretty much the same kind of stuff, but we move around some times. Once a week, I work at the Wilderland Shop, which is a really cute little shop off the side of the road that sells honey and fresh organic produce... as well as freshly squeezed tangelo juice (squeezed by me.) Also once a week (unless there are a lot of people and I manage to weasel out of it... like this week, hopefully--sue me) I am responsible for cooking a big lunch for everyone here. Last Friday, I cooked vegetable curry, brown rice, salad (with home made citrus dressing) and a fruit salad with coconut. FOR 13 PEOPLE. It was rather successful, though the curry was a bit spicy. Some people liked this, others, not so much. Regardless, it was quite an accomplishment....
1:00 We stop work for the day (when we hear the loud lunch bell... or rather lunch gong) and head in towards the Hall for a big communal lunch. Our meals here consist of loads of veggies, beans and lentils, brown rice, raw sugar and organic honey, herbal tree, fruit (especially citrus right now, as it's in season...) and the occasional potato. Also, every two or three days someone makes fresh brown bread, and we go through that so quickly, it's ridiculous. But, well, it's very good! We have a refrigerator for individual food--for instance, I have my own rice milk, and when someone goes to the store, I like to get apples, or kiwi fruit, or tomatoes. I spend very little money here, but some gets spent because of special requests to the store--like for things like bug spray (I am getting EATEN up here) or...less necessary things... like dark chocolate. Cough.

After this... the day is free. I've spent afternoons doing crafty things (making a wall hang out of bamboo, string, gold foil, keys, shells, and purple ribbon that read Aroha--which is Maori for 'Love'. I gave this to my housemate at the time, Ilana as a going away present because she and three other close friends are going to buy some acres on the West Coast of NZ and name it Aroha... Ilana was seriously awesome. Still is... but she left, sadly. It's the traveler's curse--meeting cool people but having to say goodbye...) I've been reading a lot too. I read The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Pigeon (weird book), Little Johnny's Confessions (a book of poetry) and I am currently halfway through An Unexpected Light (Travels in Afghanistan) by Jason Elliot. I've spent a good amount of time making my living space my own, and for about two days I completely reorganized the Wilderland library--I made a cool Library sign out of canvas and glued on teal string, and then I redid all the labeling as well. It looks badass now, and Shaki and Avner were thrilled. I had dust in my nose for quite some time after, however... I've done some kayaking (always an adventure--I went yesterday and almost got stuck when the tide went in...oops. But I got quite the arm work out!) I wander, I read, I occasionally check my email, I explore, I talk to people, I listen to music...

That's a typical day.

On the Wilderland property, there are loads of houses (or more like Cabins), and I'm living in the Magnolia House because it's right next to a Magnolia tree. I absolutely ADORE the name of our house, and I also adore the house itself. It's wooden, dusty, and beautiful. I have a double bed that looks out through the windows out onto our porch that looks out over the whole property, including the ocean. Everything is so incredible green--and the pathway to the Magnolia house is pretty much canopied by trees bent over each other--it looks magical. It can get cold at night, and there are rats running around under the house and on the roof at night, but by day, it's not a problem.

Yesterday, I had to empty our compost toilet. That was hard core. And... kinda gross, but perhaps not as bad as I expected.

The shower here is communal, and sharing between so many people is hard... which pretty much means that most of us smell... some worse than others. I'm getting used to lots of smells, including my own. I'm getting used to dirt permanently under my fingernails, and not caring, because what am I going to do about it? I've got sun kissed skin, and my acne has been clearing up for the most part... I pee in the bushes all the time here. You know how they say that the bedroom floor is a shelf? Well, that idea can be changed to--the whole world is a shelf--so many places to put things. And then take it further from there to... the whole world can be a toilet. I'm getting a lot better, too. I don't fall over anymore... ;-)

The group of people here is pretty excelent. Occasionally I'll hear some what I like to call 'preaching' by some folks passing on through (people don't really stay here more than 3 weeks, unless they want to try for residency, like a lovely young Australian named Luna is doing) about yada, yada, yada. 95% of the people here are completely cool ALL the time... but occasionally, you can get some real pious few who are just as bad as "the man" they are against. Luckily, all those folks are gone at present....

Anyway....Wilderland has a good amount of wwoofers--Myself (USA-IL), Maria (Germany), Clara (Germany), Andy (UK), Tony (UK), Luna (Australia) Johnny (USA-Seattle), Molly (USA-Connecticut), Josh (NZ), Zach (USA-New York)... Ilana (Israel, France, UK, NZ) was here for two weeks, and there was Jim, an older man from the States who believed strongly in the power of homemade yogurt, and a man named Mike also from the States who (I've got to be honest here) really did not strike my fancy whatsoever. He didn't have much worth sharing, but he said it loudly. And he was also rather racist. I was not sad to see Mike go... Too honest? Perhaps, but I'm not apologizing.

Maria and Molly are considering taking off this weekend, and I intend to stay for a bit, but I'm really hoping to travel with either Molly or Josh around mid-December to a BIIIIIIG hippie event in the South Island called Rainbow Gathering. Apparently they are very popular in the States, but this is the first one here. I would go for a week, and then head up to Auckland for Christmas... we'll see what happens! I really do love Wilderland, but you know me, full of Wanderlust. Plus, Ilana gave me a long list of cool things to explore in the South Island. Around February, I intend to load up on actual backpacking supplies, and just going full throttle backpacking--I want to backpack through both islands, fruit picking, wwoofing, etc for money along the way. I plan to camp and the like at approved campsites.... should be fun :) And then ideally, in around April or March, I'd like to go to Australia to see my friend Chloe, in Melbourne. I intend to check out Melbourne and Sydney... and then I have *no* idea. But I'll probably stay North, because in the USA summer months, it will be wintery here, and we all know how Sarah feels about cold....

So that's my life right now :) I'm going to try and put up my pictures on photobucket or something... but if you're my facebook friend, check out all the pictures I took of Wilderland and the cool people I reside with.

Ah yes, and how could I forget? The Beatles are very popular at Wilderland. This is in part because they are simply awesome, and because the two little girls here--Zoe and Anna--LOVE them, and are particularly partial to All You Need is Love and Yellow Submarine, both of which they get someone to play daily if they can manage it. The girls like to alter the lyrics too--things like, All You Need is Glove, All You Need is Avocado... you get the picture. Anna is actually rather incredible--she can keep pitch like you wouldn't believe. And, um... she's THREE.

Well, I'm going to go see if I can get photo bucket working for y'all...

All is well here--and hopefully your lives are full and brimming with Aroha.

If you ever get down, remember...
all you need is glove.

I'm Off to the See the Wizard...

that title isn't really appropriate. I'm not off to see any wizard, but I am off. If I meet a wizard on the way, all the better.

This can't be long--I am currently chilling in Steve's room for my last night in Auckland. We had a HELLA awesome day. Walked all along the coast, starting in Takapuna and ending up in Devonport. We found a rope hung from a tree and swung from the rocks--and took awesome pictures. I also forged my way through the ocean to conquer some epic free standing rocks.

Anyway--tomorrow I am off to the Wilderland Intentional Community up in the Coromandel, and I am buzzing with excitement. I have loads of packing and tying of loose ends to do tonight, but Steve and I are also going to watch Arrested Development and Buffy, because get this--I'm leaving my Buffy at his place. I figure, I don't want to be glued to my laptop while I'm immersing myself in wilderness. Learning is about sacrifice, right? Maybe not, but I'm doing it anyway...

I've been taking a lot of risks (good risks, climbing trees, trying to ride unicycles, etc) and discussing things like fate, universal energy and God, etc.

In summary, I love my New Zealand life.

But, I may be rather incommunicado for the next few weeks/months. I'll have my phone and computer (for writing, I've got projects saved) but I doubt there will be wireless, SO if you message me and I seem to be flaking, I'm probably just climbing a tree somewhere or picking fruit or harvesting honey. But I will eventually get back to you.

I love you all!

PostSecret says it all.

Packing and Cleaning are boring.... blogging is less so.

Things I will Miss in Wellington:

• The Curry2Go shop. Oh, temptation.
• The Petone Artisan Spring
• Korokoro Walking Tracks
• Pak N Save bread--cheap as.
• The Riverside Market
• The kids: Bhaavia (Beady), Yasheka, Fionn, Jamie, Mikayla, Summer, Toby, Joey, Kiera, Emma, Annaliese tickling me all the time (from the Holiday program), Ribena, Kate, Peter, Dylan never eating his sandwich, Luka Bazooka, Kezia and I always beeing cold, Katie and how she is growing up too fast, JC and his teddy bear, Nadia, Jackie, Callahan sitting in the window and getting really excited when Jasmine gave him Nerds, and all the other kids of course.
• My co-workers: Jasmine, Terri, Adam, Jordyn, Carol, Sheila
• Jordyn laughing whenever I swore because he thought is was funny
• Carol and her hands full of rings and her obsession with pink
• Finding out on my last day that over half of the people employed at my work were Mormon and being flabbergasted
• Helpings the kids with their spelling
• Playing Freeze with the kids
• Playing Frankenstein with the kids
• The Foosball tournament: Melissa winning, Toby losing and crying, Summer comforting her brother and making me miss mine.
• Singing happy birthday to a kid with the other kids even though it was never together or in tune
• How well my job payed (just being honest)
• Going to see the Wellington Improv Troupe (WIT) perform at The Fringe Bar
• Cuba Street
• Norma Blue cafe and their chai latte's.
• During the Holiday program how the kids could NEVER figure out any of the pre-planned art projects so we just did something else.
• My space heater
• Jackson Street
• Flax Cafe's juices
• Running by the ocean and the smell of fish and sand
• The dock
• Seeing the moon in the day time. It looked like a round cloud.
• Jasmine saying "that's not normal," "f**king fruitcake" or that she's "unsure!"
• Our day at Paraparaumu and the CRAZY Perfumery lady
• Afternoon tea, and eating the left over food
• Bats Theatre
• Courtenay Place
• Wasabi Sushi on Cuba Street
• Walking around Wellington late at night searching for a bus stop, full of fear that I'd get mugged
• Kids holding my hand
• Fionn taking me Alien Hunting, pointing out imaginary AlienNeutrons and New Zealand Snakes
• Playing Superheroes with the kids and always being Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Joey always wanting to be 'Goop' (whomever that is) and counteracting EVERYTHING with "Well, I have all the powers possible, so you can't do anything to me/that." Me trying to explain that if he had no weakness, there was ZERO point in playing the game.
• My efforts being wasted on the above explanation.
• Doing art with the kids. The kids telling me I was a good artist.
• Jasmine saying, "F**k you, you are a good artist."
• Imali drawing a picture of a girl alien and drawing a speech bubble that read, "I kissed a girl and I liked it." Jasmine telling her to give it to me. Me cracking up.
• Mikayla thinking I was rich because I was an actor.
• Bhaavia thinking that me only having 200 dollars to my name made me "rich."
• Eran driving me NUTS with his talk of body functions and talking toilets.
• Playing "singing in the rain" with the kids
• My bed even though it was crappy on my back
• Yoga in Wellington, even if I only went once
• Kids telling me they have my same water bottle almost everyday, as if they forgot they had already told me this three times that week.
• Bhaavia telling me that Barack Obama was the King of America, and when I corrected her and said we had no Kings or Queens, her telling me that Michael Jackson had been our King.
• That guy who sold me coffee in the NZ Unique shop who was really friendly and who told me about the hidden grocery store (Middle Eastern and South African goods I think) and who told me about the Riverside Market
• Running through the train station with 30 kids to make a train and falling to my knees while running and skidding across the floor. Owwwwwww.
• The 'buskers'--street musicians--at the market.
• Steve coming to visit me in Wellington.
• Steve and I singing to the Bonnie Tyler 'Literal Version' youtube video at about 3 in the morning even when my flatmates were asleep.
• Rude bus drivers
• Nice bus drivers
• Bus drivers who drove like MANIACS and made me want to vomit
• Trying to keep the kids from playing in the bushes
• Giving up on keeping the kids from playing in the bushes
• Playing with the kids in the bushes
• The actual school banning playing in the bushes and having an assembly about it
• Finding this out
• Having to put kids in time out for playing in the bushes
• The kids playing "Vampires" but they shot each other instead of 'sucking blood.' Me trying to explain that vampires don't use guns, because they have fangs. Dur.
• Eran trying to eat me because he was a Zombie, and me telling him, "Nope, I'm Zombie-immune," just to be difficult.
• Cheering up Peter when really mean kids had picked on him at school.
• Bhaavia always noticing my tiny ounce of patronization/sarcasm when I was trying to keep my temper with Michelle and giggling quietly.
• Bhaavia telling me I was her favorite teacher.
• Seeing 500 Days of Summer with Jo. Telling everyone after that how much I loved that movie.
• Accidentally dropping my tray of food on a really rude French couple at the food court. The man demanding I clean off his bag with a napkin because he couldn't do it himself. Me wishing I knew how to say "bite me" in French. And also thinking, "Wow, way to fulfill your stereotype, douchebag. It was an accident. Do accidents not happen in France?"
• Not being able to walk past Sushi of Japan in the mall without buying at least a seaweed salad
• Summer and Mikayla being 'too cool' to play the games I played with the kids (Singing in the Rain, Frankenstein, Peel Banana, Boom Chicka Boom, etc.) Me telling Mikayla that if she wanted to be a director of films (she does) she should get used to games like these because they're all theatre games. Her looking stunned and thoroughly corrected. Ha!
• Summer being a tiny adult. Seriously, she's so grown up. And sassy.
• 5 year old adorable Emma always being too afraid and too tiny to play ANY games and always having the following exchange with her:
  Emma (looking like she's about to cry): "Sawah... Sawah... I, I, I, Sawah... I don't--"
  Me: "It's okay, Emma, you don't have to play."
  Emma: "Sawah...tell Jasmine that I don't..."
  Me: You don't need to tell Jasmine, Emma, because you told me, and I promise it's fine." Emma: "...Jasmine!"
• Terri giving me rides to work
• The awesome psychiatrist who ended up being gay himself and talking to me about the culture, feeding my need for community, and how it seems I came here looking for something more than just an overseas experience. He told me he hoped my year turns out to be everything I don't expect.
• Refusing to play tag no matter how many times the kids tagged me. "Sorry, Sarah doesn't run."
• That time Jordyn slammed his hand in the door and him practically passing out on the floor from pain and having to call the ambulance (which is free here, get with the program America) and Jasmine and I being like, "Great, Jordyn's dying." Trying to keep it from the kids. Jordyn was fine. Making fun of him after that.
• Rehearsing with WIT
• Walking through the Pak N Save parking lot and listening to We Beseech Thee from Godspell and feeling really blessed suddenly--bringing me almost to tears.
• Going swimming with the kids and always being cold. Doing the "flying fox."
• Fionn singing at the pool while he was floating and making his mouth like an 'o' pretending to be an (I have no idea what this is) earth tribal head or something?
• Jack being really good at freeze.

Farewell, Windy Welly.

Oi. It's been a while, eh?

I can't believe it's been almost exactly a month since I've updated this bloggy blog. Here's the deal though--I need to go make myself some bean and rice burritos for dinner, and then I have a skype date with Steve, and then I need to send in some poetry to an online journal, and then I have to sleep early to get up on time for a doctor's appointment. SO. I will update this for real later--but here's my most recent email update that covers the main points of what I've been up to. Peace!

*
Let's skip the small talk, eh?

New Zealand slang is pretty hilarious. I have no doubt that American slang is also a hoot (case in point, 'hoot'), but I would like to share with you some of the quirky slang I have heard while on this island. First of all, 'eh' after every sentence is very common. It's almost annoying, eh? Turns out, it's not just a Canadian thing, eh? See, I told you. Kind of annoying, eh? But charming. Eh.

Munted: destroyed, or for those of us who swear, 'fracked'.
Wop-wops: The middle of nowhere. As in "out in the wop-wops." I've heard it.
Tiki-tour: Driving around for no reason, exploring, taking the long way, killing time by wandering.
Hundies: Hundreds
Shrapnel: Coin change (well, I've only heard one person say it, but she's pure new zealand.)Plaster: band-aid
Sweet as bro: Cool, kickin', right on. It's said more than you can possibly imagine.
_____ as: You can put anything in front of 'as' and it just means, quite _____. Examples: Easy as, cheap as, awesome as, cold as, etc. VERY common. It's even on billboards and signs and the like.
Knackered: Tired
Gap it: Gotta run. As in, I gotta gap it.
Throw a wobbly: throw a tantrum
Hundreds and Thousands: Sprinkles
Pokies: slots (gambling)

That's all for now... but there's more. This is just what I can remember.

Anyway, I've been working at the After School Fun Club for about a month now. The Holiday Program--where the kids were on break and went to the program for 2 weeks from 8 to 6--was pretty exhausting. I made a lot of money, but still, I was knackered as. My patience that works so well working with one or two kids didn't quite hold up with 50. The last weekend of the Holiday Program, my friend Steve came down to visit from Auckland, and we had a sweet as time. The weather was completely miserable, so we ended up going to see two films at a film festival--Moon (not that interesting, quite weird) and Sunshine Cleaning (which was billed as a comedy and was really rather serious. Also, not as good as I'd hoped.) And just chilling inside. We also watched Donnie Darko--first time I'd seen it--and I actually really liked it. Trippy though.

After Steve left though, I was pretty sad. I realized that I just wasn't happy in Wellington. I was working a steady job and living in a flat--aka apartment--which was all well and good, but I didn't move across the globe to do something I could do in the States. Plus, I want to be nomadic--I don't want to settle. This is an adventure, after all, not retirement. I also could feel it in my gut that what I need right now is to be in nature--big time. Nature seemed to be all around me (the mountains all over Wellington) but it also seemed inaccessible somehow. How could I get out into the beautiful countryside of New Zealand? Well, I knew a few things. I knew that Wellington was windy and cold, which I hated because I am very affected emotionally by weather. I concluded that I would need to move up north, where it was warmer, but I didn't want to move back to Auckland, because although I used to think of myself as a city girl, I'm tired of cities at the moment. What good are buildings when the sun is out?

So I thought. And I remembered hearing about communes--where people live together and live off the land and probably sing like the seven dwarfs. (Okay, maybe not the last part.) I gave it a google.

Lo and behold! What treasures did I find? Well, I found that the official term for a commune is "intentional community" for one. And that there were a good amount of them in New Zealand, but a lot of them were groups of only four people, or they were really selective and/or religious. I'm not looking to join any cults at the moment, so I passed on those. Some of them had joining fees, or visiting fees, and some of them were urban--none of those struck my fancy. But I did find two that looked really interesting. One was called Anahata, and one was called Wilderland. Try as I may, I couldn't contact Anahata. Emails wouldn't go through, phone calls reached nothing.

So I moved on to Wilderland. Wilderland is a group of about 15 people who work together and eat 50% of the food they harvest. Sweet as, right? They also bottle honey and sell it. They work on the farm from 8:30 to 1pm everyday. There aren't any fees, and the housing is rough and rustic, or as Russel (the guy I talked to) said, "Everything here is beautiful and quirky." I was thrilled--I gravitate towards the beautiful and quirky! I emailed them and called, and got a wonderful surprise. It turns out they have been getting 5 calls per day, and have been turning everyone down. But, because my email was so earnest and passionate, he talked it over with the group, and they said a vibrant, "Sure!" I was beside myself! I get to live in an organic commune that makes half of their own food! And it's primarily vegetarian! And it's super far north, so it'll be really really warm, and beautiful! And I won't have to pay for much of anything for the length of the visit! I'll be there for three weeks trial, and then if they like me and I'm happy there, I can stay for up to three months. I imagine I'll stay through Christmas, and then I'll want to move on. After all, I'm nomadic these days. I'm very excited :) I was able to both email and phone them, so I surmise that they have internet access (if not wifi) and phone service of some kind; I will find a way to be in touch! Anyway. I informed both my present employer and my roommates, and they're pretty cool about it. Much cooler about it than I expected, actually, so that's a plus! I'll miss Wellington (especially since the weather's been nicer,) but it's time to move on.

So let's see, what else is new? The New Zealand Improv Festival was... well, I imagine it was wonderful, but I never got to go. Tickets were rather hard to come by, and I wasn't able to get any. I was bummed, but not terribly. There were other things to do, of course. I did go to two rehearsals with them, and that was fun. But ultimately, knowing I was leaving oh so very soon sort of cancelled any chance of performing with them. This is probably my only quote unquote 'regret'. They are a really talented bunch, and I think there was a lot of friend potential there.

I've been doing a bit more exploring in the Wellington area--I went to see Te Papa, their museum (well, really THE most famous museum in New Zealand) and it was pretty cool. I liked looking at the Maori exhibits. There are loads of pictures up on facebook. I'll see if I can get them up on a website like photo bucket or something--there are too many to email, unless I can find a way to email whole albums. I also have been climbing a couple of the 'walking tracks' in the hills/mountains (I can't decided which they are) of Korokoro. It's been wonderful. Yesterday I walked up to Centenay Lookout and sat and wrote. Let the divinity of nature speak, eh?

Also, my friend Jasmine (whom I work with) took me up to the Paraparaumu beach, which was really fun and really beautiful. Plus, we met a completely crazy lady who worked at a Perfumery. You know those people you meet and you can't believe they're real and not a cartoon, they're so ridiculous? Yep. She was one of those. She slurred her words l like she was the lady who said, "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. Demille" except worse. Her voice was dripping with faux wealth and snobbery. She said things like, "Oohhhh, DARlings." And when we came in, she was on the phone, and she said to the other person on the line, "I have to gooo. There are ladieeees here who migiiht buy MEGa MILlions." She also pretended to be a psychic and told me I was Swedish (when I told her I wasn't, she turned to Jasmine and said, "She doesn't even know!" ... but Stephen told me I'm a bit Swedish. Is that true?!) and that Jasmine's cousin was trying to protect her. Jasmine hasn't talked to her cousin in years, and they're definitely not friends. We left surpressing what we might all know by the phrase "church giggles."

I've been reading and writing, too--poetry, a play, a screenplay. Reading wise, I read The Other Boleyn Girl--very very good, you were right Asha!--and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas--excellent. I'll be reading Snow Falling on Cedars next. I also go running by the ocean, wander around, or watch tv on my computer sometimes. I keep entertained :) I still go to the Riverside market--last Saturday there were a group of kids playing recorders, Dad! I took a picture of them just for you, I'll have to send it.

This is my last week here. I've got some cleaning and packing to do--and some throwing away and donating of goods to engage in as well. Even with litte, I still have too much. This weekend should be fun before I leave--it's my flatmate Justine's birthday, and it's on Halloween. We're invited to dress up--I was thinking of going as a traveling American. Think I can pull it off?

I leave Sunday early early morning, and I'll be on a bus for 12 hours and will arrive in Tauranga, where Karly and her two other American friends (Katy and Mark) are settled in. We haven't seen each other yet, and we figured we should do that! I'll spend a few days there, and then I'll head to Auckland to see Steve, Tara, Toni, and my awesome new friend, Dori. No, not the fish. ;) And then from there, I'll head up to the Coromandel! I may even have to walk to the actual farm, which will be about an hour! With my heavy backpacker backpack--phew! I better start training now, eh?

Well, that's that for now. I'm currently trying to find a way to get my prescription meds over here, and it looks like it's going to cost an ugly, ugly penny. For my concerta (for my ADHD) I need to get a NZ psychiatrist to okay my need for it, so I am seeing the doc tomorrow morning--which is super lucky. He is only going to charge me 150 dollars for 45 min, the other doc was going to charge me 300. Unfortunately, no matter what anyone does, because I'm not a resident of NZ, the concerta will cost 130 dollars per month. The folks have said they'll help, but it's pretty steep. See, I can't wean off of it because they work together to keep both my ADHD and OCD in check. I'm not against weaning off them eventually, but I'm not sure New Zealand surrounded by mostly strangers and no real health insurance or psychologist here who knows me is a great plan, you know? But I've considered it. If need be, I can always take the concerta every other day. It's such a low dosage anyway... anyway. That's the current pickle. I have a prescription for zoloft, but who knows how expensive it'll be. One doctor says it should be more than 40 bucks, another said it'll be about as expensive as the concerta. Wince.

Other than that--I FINALLY submitted some of my poetry for publishing to a poetry journal. I'm going to do more of that, or at least that's the goal.

ALSO yesterday's dinner was interesting. I bought some jalapenos at the market because I thought they were green beans (I know, I know, I know) and when I discovered my error, I decided to try and use them anyway--didn't want to waste them, right? I chopped some up and put them in my burrito.

Worst. Decision. Ever.

(picture compliments of Ty Zavitz)

That's all for now ;)

"Yo, cheese!" (Or, "Cheer up, Charlie!")

Hello friends, it's your favorite American gal in Kiwiland here.

I have a half an hour until my pizza arrives (I do hope they remember no cheese) so I figured I'd write this. I've been craving pizza in a big bad American way. I feel very American right now, which I'm sure you could tell, because rarely have I used the word American so prominently in a paragraph.

I have just gotten off the phone with the Dominos pizza guy (hey globalization, what'dya say!) and never in my life have I felt so... foreign. It's the accent, of course, but seriously, at one point the pizza guy asked me what kind of crust I wanted (or so I'm guessing as the miscommunication was never discussed in full detail) and I had no idea what he said, but thought perhaps he asked me what kind of sauce I'd like, so I replied, "Marinara," to which he replied, "...your choices are classic, thin and crusty..." etc. Yikes. I could tell the moment I drawled "Hey" across the phone line this guy rolled his eyes. I don't blame him for being impatient--but I honestly could not understand him to save my life.

I would dub this one of the most trying language moments so far. I am both floored and fascinated at how technically he and I speak the same language when we really don't. Of course, it's not just accents, it's slang too (did you know that to throw a wobbly means to have a tantrum? Neither did I...) but in this instance, it was accents all the way. And it's not just the pizza guy either, it's people at work too. I have to ask for simple resayings (is that a word?) of simple words like "hair" because here it is pronounced "hehyear" instead of what I'm used to, which would be "hayre". One guy I work with--he's great, very nice--but, I cannot understand him 75% of the time (I am not exaggerating), so I can only nod and smile. It's quite likely that I've nodded and smiled to some weird sentiments and likewise, odds are he thinks I'm either very spacey, or very agreeable. Perhaps both.

I really do hope they remember no cheese. But I bet when I said it they probably heard "yo, cheese!" and assumed it was my American slang.

Cheer up Charlie:
I'm trying to focus on the positives--I know this year will be incredible, but I'm still waiting for some companions to pop out of the Welly woodwork. I'm getting a smidge depressed (it's near my time of the month, so that might be part of it) but I'm trying to keep my chin up. I am excited--and very blessed--and of course, having the time of my life. Because by all definitions--every time spent anywhere I choose for myself is the time of my life. I'm living it up... but that doesn't mean it's easy or that I'm happy all the time. I think there's a part of me that fears people back home see me as a sort of adventuresome heroine, and I don't want to let them down by going, "Wahhhh I want friends!" But that's probably just my irrational self-criticism speaking. Hold on, I'll check. Yeah, it is.

My roommates are watching 10 Things I Hate About You in the other room. I could have joined them... but, nah. It's weird--as lonely as I am, I'm still picky about the when where and who of the company I keep. Don't get me wrong, my roommates are lovely, but I like hanging out on my own terms... (I'm probably thwarting myself here on the friendship front.) Anyway, instead, I was googling theatre in Wellington. I'm itching to get back into it (I know, I know, I was going on a break, but I've had my break, and now I'm back); I was thinking that perhaps I could make some friends that way, you know? I thought it was a reasonable train of thought. Plus, I've seen that movie loads of times. I used to loooove it, but in my adulthood it strikes me as a mixed-message kind of movie.

Another train of thought. I love organics. Love them. They make my body dance; they make my bank account cry. I don't want to get cancer from all the bad bad chemicals (still very scared of death here, this is me we're talking about) but I also don't want to go broke and die from on the streets by the hand of the ominous Wellington wind. So obviously, I'm not buying too much on the organic front. But oh, Mr. Wizard, I wish I could! When will the market expand so that these obviously superior items will not cost an arm, a leg, a pound of flesh, a kingdom for a horse? I mean, seriously. Get with the program, 2009.

Choo choooo. In other news, I've begun to chip at my writer's block. I realized that, as much as I enjoy writing memoir pieces and the occasional short story--I'm a playwright. I'm a dialogue girl, and I always have been. Even since I was a small child, I told stories in my head, and they would always be interchanges between people, not long descriptions of the mood of a shopping mall. So shook myself, and went back to my Chaos theory play from way back--and did some decent work. I've got a ways to go to make this play work--it's probably the hardest thing I've written--but I'm happy doing it, and that's big right now.

Chug a chug. I'm seeing a play tomorrow at a real theatre and everything. Well, if I can get tickets.

Allll aboard! You're probably wondering about my job, no? Well, I'm not silly enough to go into super detail on a public internet blog, but I will say that I am loving working with the kids, (one of them drew me a welcome poster and it is on my wall!) but there are some other rather lofty work challenges that are making my head spin, even after only one. Even better, the next two weeks I work full time--8am to 6pm days for two weeks. Grrrrreat money, but I'll probably want to cry at the end of each day.

Come on pizza...and Coke... I ordered a coke. I KNOW, okay? I know it's cancer in a bottle and I'm afraid of dying but I wanted a Coke.

Why is life so complicated? I just want to live a long, healthy, successful life with my loved ones, see the world, fall in love, and be the best Sarah I can be. So why is that difficult, hmmm hmmm hmmmmm?

This entry is bordering on angst when it's supposed to be a rather factual update of my NZ extravanagaza.

...oops?

Edit later: they left off the cheese. Huzzah!

Learning to Line Dry My Laundry (And other Wellingtonian Tales)

Good evening friends.

I do hope you'll forgive the delay, I have such a hard time keeping a detailed document of everything that happens to me... it's simply just the actual getting myself to do the writing that gets in the way. And I'm a week behind in the updation in my own documentation. (Rhymes are yummy.)Insert the angst, frustration, and fear about stunting my own creative genius and I'll never amount to my full potential and die a nameless unremarkable no one, blah, blah, blah. Moving on.

Speaking of moving on, I've been doing a lot of that. Not in the metaphorical "growth" definition of the word, but the literal meaning... I've been doing a hella lot of moving. Where did we leave off? It doesn't really matter, actually, because I'm really just going to talk about today...

Some cool things about Petone (pronounced Petohnee):
1. Mountains all around.
2. A Salvation Army Store.
3. A Public Artesian water tap--it just sits outside, and people come and fill jugs, bottles, etc... totally eco-friendly and healthy to boot. Well done P-town.

Oh my gosh I'm living in another Ptown.
That's weird.
Well, trust me, Petone is nothing like Peoria.

So yes, I'm in Petone. I'm flatting (aka living with two other people in a small house) inexpensively with two nice ladies (one of which told me she wanted to take me out to the pub for drinks and introduce me to the Petone lads... how shall I break it to her? It may not be worth it...) and my room is small, but cozy. I made it much cozier, too. I have a shelving unit, a single bed, and I rigged my sheetliner into a laundry bag... I hang my jewelry from a sort of wall/coat hanger thing, and I use the chair in my room as a desk to hold me computer. I've put up my pictures of family and friends in my windows--that way it doesn't damage the paint on the walls--and today I bought a pillow! It's the little things.

For those of you just tuning in, I moved to Petone (aka Lower Hutt, Wellington) because I got a job as a Group Leader for an after school program, which is cool. I've worked there two days, and so far I like it. The kids are great--and rather funny. Today we had the final installment in a fuseball tournament--we had two finalists, Toby and Melissa. We really went all out, or well, Adam did, one of the other Group Leaders in charge. He arranged the chairs around the fuseball table like an arena, and played music like "We are the Champions" and "We will rock you" after each goal. Melissa completely beat Toby, something like 17 to 9... and although I was cheering for Melissa (we sistahs gotta stick togethah) I felt bad for Toby who got rather upset, but his sister was there to comfort him. They are a sweet brother sister team. It made me miss my brother. I love you Stephen. :)

Other tales of note... I purchased some books today--alas! I shouldn't have done it, but they called to me loudly and sweetly, like bloody sirens. But now I have reading material, and since I'm a wee bit lonely, it's a good thing.

I've got some inner angst over my writing--why am I not writing like I used to in high school and blah blah blahdity blah...

Oh! The title story!
Two things New Zealand does not have (in general):
1. Central heating. (Grrrr... or really, brrrr.)
2. Drying Machines/Dryers.

Here in NZ, and especially in Windy Wellington, people hang their clothes on CLOTHES LINES. Yesterday morning I was doing this and was swearing under my breath and the primitive nature of it--though to be honest, I know that it's a more environmentally sound option. But it's a bit of a hassle, really. It takes almost two days for things to dry completely, things fall to the ground, you can run out of clothes pins... it's truly bizarre. Anyway... the point is, that when I got up and wanted to get dressed today, I quickly realized that ALL of my clothes were on the line, and that they were all wet. Still.

I couldn't wear yesterdays clothes to work now, could I?

So, I went to the Salvation Army store and bought a new outfit. As I was paying for it, I looked at the lady and said, "Strange question--but look, I don't mean to go all homeless on you, but can I buy these and then, um, change into them?" She said certainly, and I changed in the fitting room, chuckling to myself at the absurdity that is my current life.

Well, I think that's all for now. I'm going to go read... although I should be writing... my memories will slip through the cracks of time if I don't record them... angst!

Aw, shove it, self.
I'm reading.

Peace mates!

Devonport-astic

So, I've been a bit behind on this. I've actually been typing out almost everything I've done in a word document because I want to write it all out as a story-a sort of annualism non-fiction thing, the idea of "I lived in NZ for a year, here's my story" dealio. But, for the time being, I think it will simply behoove us to just jump right to today. If you want to know what I've done in the past few days (job hunting, talent scout interview, met a few new cool people, hung out with England, hung out with Tara, decided to re-learn french-bought a novel in french and a dictionary-wrote a bit, went to a stand-up comedy show, moved out of Kat's into a kind of crappy--but gloriously cheap!--hostel, failing at my budgeting because food is so expensive and well, I have to eat, embarking on couch surfing, skycity interviewing, loads of veggie sushi eating) you'll just have to wait for the book. ;)

I woke up today at around 9 but stayed in bed till around noon. I was just sleepy and lazy for some reason. I wrote a little bit, which was good. Steve text me and wanted to know if I wanted to go to Devonport (not to be confused with Davenport, Iowa) and I figured, why not, I'm not doing anything else. I agreed, but at this point was still in my pjs and cuddled up in my kind of smelly room (this hostel smells a bit.) After talking to both Karly and Ben online, I hauled myself out of bed and hit the shower. This shower had a curtain (unlike the last place I was staying which led to a bit of mess and subsequent tension) but it also did not have a shower head. It was, in fact, a hole in the wall. I couldn't believe that the water would actually come out of there, but when I turned the faucet, out it spewed. It was certainly functional, but still, the shock was a little hard to ignore. I showered and padded back to my little room. There was a guy in the hallway whitewalling the walls, or at least I think that's what it was. He could have just been painting them white, but he was doing it with a sharp pancake looking flipper, not a paintbrush. Regardless. [It has brought to my attention that this is in fact called 'plastering.' Mais, bien sur! Silly me.]

I got ready, locked my backpack (can't be too careful) and headed out to meet Steve for our Devonport adventure. I didn't know if the rest of England would be coming along --[For those of just tuning in, I have three British guy friends, Steve 1, Steve 2, and Nick and I refer to the trio of them as "England." I spend most of my time here with either Steve 1, Tara (who is from all sorts of places--born in Ireland, half Maori, half Irish, (right Tara?) lived on a boat, lived in the Middle East and Dublin, now back here for school), all of England, or Ana from Germany] --but when I got to the corner where we were meeting, only two thirds of England were present--we were missing a Steve, who had had a rough night (they like their alcohol) and wanted to stay in bed.

By the time we got down to the Ferry pier, Nick had changed his mind and headed back to the hostel, leaving just me and Steve 1. We spend loads of time palling around, so this wasn't a problem in the slightest. The Ferry was only 10 dollars (which is like 7 US dollars I LOVE this exchange rate, seriously) and we only had to wait a bit before one showed up. Steve got some soup that turned out to be absymal and I got a chai that was wonderful. NZ really knows how to make chai, I'm telling you. The Ferry ride was nice, but fairly (or ferrily?) uneventful.

We arrived in Devonport and I liked it instantly. I should probably explain what "Devonport" is. Devonport is a borough of Auckland. It's not an island, but it's quicker to get there by ferry than car. So far, it's my favorite part of Auckland. When I laned in Devonport, I felt like I was in a foreign country for one of the first times since I've been in New Zealand. Although Auckland is a fine city, it is not much more than a city. If people didn't have accents and there weren't sushi places littering the streets, I would think I was in Chicago.

But Devonport looked like a seaside town. The houses were very nice, but quaint, small, some of them worn but in a loved fashion, not simply destroyed. Think older picket fences, swings from trees in the front yards of little houses with gardens, palm trees, and all sorts of other exotic looking shrubbery. The cool thing is that Devonport is in (or well, built around) a giant hill that is in fact a dormant volcano. Naturally, Steve and I decided to climb to the top... but not until after we took a...



horse drawn carriage ride! It was only 5 dollars per person, and Steve spotted me the 5 since I only had my debit on me. Steve's much richer than me :) Merci, Steve. There were three Clydesdale (sp?) horses, and I felt sort of bad for them, all chained up, but at the same time, the ride was nice. Slow--we simply circled about two blocks--but cool. To be honest I could barely understand a word that came out of the driver, and the only others in the wagon were two women from Australia. When I told the driver (or I guess driver isn't the right word? it's not a car...) I was from "near Chicago" (I absolutely HAVE to tell people that here or they'll have no clue where I live-- "I live in Illinois" often means nothing to them) he told me he could see that--because I looked like Al Capone. I joked back, flipping my hair and saying I get that a lot. Funny stuff. Another cool thing was that this driver let a bunch of kids with skateboards hang on to the back of the carriage/wagon as we walked around the main street. I thought that was pretty awesome.

After this, we embarked on our hike, which took a lot less time than we expected. We found some cool things a long the way--half way up there was a building called "The Bunker" and when we went to investigate, we discovered that "The Bunker" is the name of a folk music club meeting place. We were both thrown by this--we had not expected there to be a folk music building half way up a dormant Volcano. I love this place.
We kept going and going until we got to the top, and there other people up there. The top was pretty cool--there were little painted mushrooms (I'm sure they served an actual purpose but had been painted decoratively--you'll see when I get the pics up) as well as an old historical "gun" that had been built to fend off the Russians way back in the day (I don't actually think the Russians ever made it out to NZ, but if they had, the Kiwis were prepared). It looked more like a giant cannon, and it was built to stay hidden in the ground, so we could go down through a little "fort" and see the rest of it. We could also climb allll over it and we took loads of pictures. Steve took one of me balanced on top of the cannon itself doing a yoga pose, because I'm cheeky like that.

This volcano was beautiful--it really just looks like a hill, but very green and living. Karly said it best in her blog--the air in New Zealand just smells green and healthy and alive. There's no hole or anything at the top--and it is VERY steep to go down. Especially since Steve and I decided to abandon the path and just walk down the side of the Mountain/Volcano--which, in case you were wondering, is quite steep, and was rather foolhardy of us. But we survived the descension in one piece. We resumed the path after that. ;)

I should also mention that the view of Auckland and Devonport from the top of the Volcano was incredible. I almost cried. I looked out and thought yes, yes, I'm in New Zealand. Here is the beauty you don't see everyday when you pass shop after shop on Queen Street. It was a beautiful reminder of why I was here and where I was... and it was awesome to share that with such a cool friend--Steve's fab, we had such a great day.

We then wandered around from there--up at the top of the mountain I had seen this beach looking thing--it just looked like really dark sand, but Steve thought it was a marsh, so we decided to check it out. It took us a bit to get there since when we weren't on the mountain, we couldn't see it as easily, but we got there eventually, and as it turns out, it was most definitely a marsh. Not terribly exciting, but the stuff around it was. Loads of very smooth "football" and rugby fields, and this one we went to had three swings--but where there should be a seat for the swings was an iron pole on each one! They were the weirdest swings ever. There is a chance that they weren't swings... but they REALLY looked like 'em. You'll see when I post pictures (I have to wait for Steve to put them up first, my memory card is wonky on mine.) We passed some beautiful beautiful houses--especially one in particular. It took us a bit to walk back to town, but we simply wandered around talking about the women in our lives (heh) among other things. We made it back to the hub of town by pretty much luck--and by that time the sun was up and it was beautiful. This was around 5 o'clock, and the whole day (not to mention the last two days) have been rainy and grey grey grey. But tonight, walking around beautiful seaside residential but humming Devonport, the sun came out in full glory.

Hallelujah.

And on the sixth day...

Welllllll.

I sent out a mass email, which I should probably repost here, eh?

Here it is--loads has happened since then, and I'll admit that the magic of arrival has worn off a bit--don't get me wrong, I'm still happy to be here, but I'm a bit lonelier than I'd like to admit, and I'm very weary from job hunting and very early mornings. But, onward and upward, oui? Oui. Here's the email...

***
Kia Ora mates! I am currently sitting at a cafe called Revels, which specializes in vegan/vegetarian food--I just had a vegan peanut butter cup! Quite delicious. This cafe is on K Road, and the K is short for a really really long Maori word that I can't spell out right now. The street I'm looking out on looks quite like a busy sidestreet in New York or Brooklyn, except that everyone sounds like the Flight of the Conchords, and the Pacific Islander population is much, much higher here. An update, shall we?

When I arrived in Auckland, I got to my hostel, the ACB Backpackers on Queen Street (the main street of Auckland) at around 5:30 am--and I kept myself awake! I showered, locked up my stuff, and went exploring. Auckland is quite big, and VERY hilly--so I should have some real killer calves when I get home. I walked up and down queen street for awhile, and then went back to the room where I met my other hostel companions--three 28 year old men from Leeds! It was a little weird at first, being a girl in a hostel room full of guys--we women are trained to see that as an "uh, this isn't a good idea" situation, but they turned out to be lovely. Drunks, but lovely ;) Their names are Steve 1, Steve 2, and Nick. Nick looks especially british--he wears these pointed black shoes and tight pants. You'd know what I meant if you saw him. We got on famously, and I got to be rather good pals with Steve 1. The first day, Steve 2 and Nick stayed in bed the entire day, but Steve 1 and I ventured out and did more exploring--we found a beautiful park called Albert Park with MASSIVE trees. I didn't have a camera on me at that point, but there will be pictures eventually. It is a little cold here--at first I scoffed at it, but it can actually get a little chilly, especially in the morning. Plus, central heating isn't common here--meaning.... houses are cold cold cold. And you know how I feel about cold... However, during the day it's just beautiful--clearest skies you've ever seen, it's almost surreal. Anyway, back to Steve 1. We did a lot more exploring over the next few days together...

I had an orientation that Friday (I arrived on thursday) which was very helpful. I bought a pay as I go phone that day--there's a huge text culture here because phone calls are REALLY expensive in New Zealand--went out with a new friend named Tara whom I met on that new zealand dating site (she's quite excellent, she's lived on a boat and speaks french) and we got vegan food and sorbet, and then headed back to the hostel. I met a german student named Ana at something called the Globe bar--which was FREEZING. I just couldn't comprehend why a bar would be that cold. Sticking to my usual dorkiness, I had a coca cola. ;) Then I turned in.
Saturday I spent the day walking up and down Ponsonby road, another long popular and cool road in Auckland, New Zealand. Steve 1 and I had a grand time (we have hilarious banter, think a british and midwestern american beatrice and benedict) walking around, looking in shops, and looking for a new place for me to live. I settled on a place called Verandahs (really because it was there and they had a room) which was very very pretty--all white and latticed--and had a HUGE backyard which led into another huge park which was gorgeous. It dipped down right in the center--so it was like a canyonesque park. Very cool. The room was a bit pricey, so I knew I'd only be there a day. Plus, I think the owner/manager/hostel proprietor? thought I was a bit scatter brained. I just had to keep digging in my purse for such and such document, and then the next day when I checked out, I lost the keys... heh, typical me. Saturday night I went out for indian food with another new friend named Kat whom I had also met on that website (it's just a network, some dating, some friends, Kat's a friend) and she was lovely too--and incredibly incredibly helpful. She showed me around K road, and over dinner, offered to let me stay at her place in the spare room for the house she is house sitting. As traveling and backpacking is sort of reliant on the kindness of strangers, I accepted, tsk all you'd like. It's turned out to be a grand arrangement--except that I have to get up and leave the house when she does which is at (wait for it) 6:40am. Take that in for a second. Allow yourself a giggle. And... we're back.

But it takes LOADS of expenses off of me, since it's free laundry, free room and board, a kitchen, and internet.

Sunday Steve 1 & 2 and Nick and I went exploring Rangitoto Island--we took a ferry there, and spent about three hours. It was beautiful--it's an ACTIVE volcano, and very well preserved. There is plenty of volcanic ash, and "lava rocks" or whatever the technical term is... we took some great pictures (which I don't have uploaded yet, sorry.) We did some "off roading" too, exploring places without paths and the like. It was great. Well, Steve 1 and I did most of the off roading.... Nick had worn his very tight black British shoes, and his feet hurt. We also saw what are called "baches"--summer huts that are about 3/4ths the size of a trailer and they're really cute--these were "historical" but Steve and I were convinced that that was 'bollocks' because they looked VERY lived in. To quote myself, "There is no way that is an ancient maori historical towel."

Which takes us to today... I spent the bulk of the morning applying for jobs online, and tomorrow I'll hit the streets looking for work. I really wanted a cruise ship job, but they didn't want me :( Alas, but onward and upward! I may have to move around with the work, so although I think I'd like to stay in Auckland, I may have to move to Wellington for jobs and the like... but that's alright with me! I'll go where the wind takes me. Today I also got myself a bank account and bank card, which is a good step. My four steps to living successfully in NZ are as follows: Phone. Bank Account. Job. Place to stay. So far I have 2 of the 4--50%, not bad, eh? Except the last two are obviously more complicated ;)

Well, I'm off. I've got to meet Kat at her work and we're going to go grocery shopping and then head back to her house.

Much love to all of you!
Sarah

Kia Ora!

Kia Ora Mates!

Welcome to my New Zealand Adventure blog!

Not much to tell yet, as I'm still in the States for 24 hours... but I will set sail for this new world Tuesday mornin'! Tomorrow I will be immersed in packing, harry potter reading, but predominantly packing. Please feel free to visit this site as often as you would like! I intend to post pictures and all sorts of goodies!

And in case you were wondering...

Kia Ora
maori greeting, interjection N.Z. hello, hi (informal) greetings, gidday or g'day Austral., N.Z. how do you do?, good morning, good evening, good afternoon, welcome