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!
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Glad to see you turning back to playwriting. What ultimately drew me to it over other literary forms is the collaborative nature of it--how you have your own thoughts and feelings on the page and then the actors, directors, and designers reflect it back to transformed by their experience of the material. It's less self-indulgent than poetry or prose fiction. Personally I would be curious to see you taking the beautiful lyricism you've developed with your poetry and apply it to your playwriting. I think the result could be beautiful and very Sarah Ruhl-esque.
ReplyDeleteAs for organics on a budget, my mom always told me to live by the rule that it's most important for foods whose outer skins you consume, like berries (if you peel potatoes and apples, you should be fine there too). But for fruits with a thick outer peel like oranges, it's not so bad if you can't manage to get organics.