The Misadventures of Ketchup and Mustard

Halloween here isn't like it is back in the States. First of all, it's spring here, not autumn, so the weather is similar yet a bit more optimistic. Secondly, people don't really get into it. According to my boss, it was only really in the last 10 years that anyone even thought to celebrate it. It's definitely more of an American thing. We saw a few kids trick-or-treating and some young adults dressed up, but mostly it was just like any other day. The few costumes we did see were basically just people with gorey make up and clothes (blood splatters, hollow eyes, black capes, devil horns, etc..) I asked off work Saturday night so that Rachel and I could get dressed up and go into town (dancing, gigs, etc...). We didn't really prepare much for our costumes - we only came up with the idea earlier that day. So we hit up the Sally's and a random op shop around the corner and found all that we needed to be the best condiments we could be. We decided on ketchup and mustard. However, no one here understands the point of the two sauces together. First of all, "ketchup" here is called "tomato sauce," and tastes like a mixture of ketchup and polynesian sauce from chick-fil-a. They eat it on sausages and with chips (there are no real hot dogs anywhere around here). Mustard is basically the same here as it is in the States. However, no one uses the two sauces together on anything, so no one understood why we would've chosen these two particular condiments. We thought it was cool, though. As we pinned on the vital "M" and "K," we sorta chickened out - or at least I did. I felt really lame. However, Shawn was kind enough to take a picture of us, and, upon seeing the photos, we both immediately LOVED our idea. Yes, we looked rather silly and no one would understand our costumes, but we felt cool. And that's all that matters, right? We ended up having a really great night, dancing until the wee hours of the morning. No one even really asked us about our costumes, probably just thinking we didn't even dress up at all. They just assumed we normally go around town with random letters pinned to our backs. Anyways, enough of the details... Here are the photos:

Front view (from left to right): Ketchup, Mustard.

Rear view (from left to right): Ketchup, Mustard.

Enjoying a feed. By the way, those are what crumpets are (those yummy bread things in the background - basically an english muffin mixed with a pancake).

Recent Things..

This is what I see every day on the way to work...

Cape Pallister beautifulness.

Mt. Taranaki weirdness...

Flat white yumminess.

More Cape Pallister things.. 250 steps up...

Zexy Zadie and I rockin out....

Being Rich

A good friend reprimanded me (out of love, of course) for my lack of blogging over the last....well....9 months basically. I never actually thought anyone checked my blog in the first place, but this dear lady checks it everyday, so she tells me. Boy, did that make me feel like a real schmuck. When I made the lame yet very truthful excuse that I'm just not a blogger, her reply was short and sincere. "No kidding." So, Patsy Day, this post is dedicated to you.

(And for the record, I write in my journal every night, so I have record of all the things that happen. I just get too lazy to hook my computer up to the ethernet cable in our freezing lounge and type in wool gloves just to keep my fingers from freezing instead of just writing in my journal from the comfort of my cozy, duvet-covered, queen-sized bed.)

My life here is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. My grandfather on my mom's side (we called him "Papa") had a great sense of humour. Whenever we'd be sitting outside by the pool or enjoying a nice meal, he'd often say one of my favourite phrases ever: "I wonder what the poor people are doing today?" Now, of course, he didn't mean it in a snobby or rich-person sort of way. It was just the realisation that life at that moment was perfect and that he felt like the richest, luckiest man in the world for that brief time. I found myself saying that yesterday as I enjoyed a coffee with my lovely friend, Rachel. We were sitting at Fidel's (a cafe on Cuba Street.....and yes, they do have some weird obsession here with Cuba) in the sun-soaked side porch area surrounded by the coolest mixture of hipsters and business people also enjoying the sunshine and the company of their mates. It was as simple as that, but I felt very lucky and satisfied (plus, I reckon the caffeine had just kicked in.) The weather here is gradually getting warmer and less rainy, yet still as unpredictable as ever. With the sun comes an enormous increase of activity in town. People come out of the woodwork and swarm the streets as if this were the last day of sun ever. It's almost like walking around a festival of sorts with buskers and magicians and Hare Krishna people and people selling jewelery and sausages. And those are just people with an agenda. Most of the people on the streets are uni students or people with nothing better to do (I'm starting to think that people don't actually work here). And these people are gorgeous and very stylish, every last one of them. It's like they all just walked out of an Urban Outfitters, eventhough that doesn't even exist here. Where they get their good style from is beyond me. In addition to the beautiful town and people, I also have an amazing job. My boss is incredible, and my hours couldn't be better. I work at night mostly, so I get to enjoy the day in town before work and then hit the town after work and go dancing. The boys I take care of are adorable little devils. They dance on every last nerve I have and somehow make me melt just seconds later by asking for a cuddle or a kiss. They drive me mental sometimes, and other times I swear I couldn't live without them. I've made a few friends here as well. It's a good feeling walking down the street and seeing familiar faces. I even find myself having to add descriptions to people when I list them in my phone. For example: I now know THREE girls named Rachel. So to keep them straight in my phone, one is Rachel Church, one is Rachel Ohio, and one is Rachel Striped Shirt. It may seem lame to you, but it makes me happy that I have to create such a complex system due to the sudden influx of Rachels/friends in my life. (I suppose I could just ask for their surname, but why mess with a system that works, right?)

So, as I sit out in the sunshine drinking a cuppa while looking out into the rolling hills surrounded by the bluest sea you've ever seen and watching all the white sails gracefully dance across the ocean, I think to myself, "I wonder what the poor people are doing today?"

Some Pictures from Seemingly Ages Ago

My Ohio-en friend, Rachel, and I being awesome at my house (or as she calls it, "The U.S. Embassy).

Scott, Maria (from Germany), Tim, Me, and Marco (from Germany) near Red Rocks. The wind was blowing so hard that day that we literally had to curl up in a ball everytime a big gust came. I came away with very very red, raw skin. It was very painful but very beautiful.

We Never Stereotype

Hello, again. Remember me? I'm the "blogger" of this "blog."

I use these " " because I realize that I am far from being a real blogger and this is far from a real blog. This is the definition of "blog:" a Web site on which an individual or group of users produces an ongoing narrative. With the key word being "ongoing," you can see now my obvious misnomer. Yet, here I sit, attempting to give you some idea of my goings-on in the Wonderful Wellington. Or Wacky Wellington, as I so stereotypically called it a few blogs ago.

So forget everything that I've written about so far in my "blog." Let's just start over, shall we?

I was told a few things about Wellington before I traveled over here. I wrote about the things that I saw as I wanderered around the capital city, but most of these observations were tainted by what I was told. For example.. "Cops don't arrest people who run red lights." Yes, they do. The cops aren't as numerous or as nosey as they are in the States, but they still do their job. "People will think you're crazy if you call the bathroom a bathroom. It's called a toilet." Nonsense. Most people do call them toilets, but no one will think you're crazy if you slip up and say "bathroom." Or, my personal favorite, "All Kiwis hate Americans and resent us being here and taking their jobs." Tim and Scott actually work with such nincompoops, but I personally haven't encountered such people. Everyone I have met has seemed very open and interested as to why I'm here and where I'm from. I guess it really depends on who you talk to. So, I am here to right these misguidances. Actually, I'm here to write more of these misguidances. (Hah, did you notice that nice pun in there? "Right" and "write." Clever, eh?) I have noticed so many things about Wellington that I would love to write about, but they would just end up being more wrong stereotypes or generalizations. The people and the happenings here are just as unique to the person as they are back in the States. Each person/family has their own opinions and actions which differ from another person/family's opinions and actions. For example, many people here (so I am told) already think of Americans as the typical fat, lazy, loud, money-hungry, power-hungry monsters that we sometimes can be. But, I really hate being stereotyped as that, so I, in turn, will try not to stereotype the laid-back, ignorant, proud, stubborn Kiwis.

Just kidding.

I actually had to rack my brain for negative words for the Kiwis. I didn't do a great job of it either. The Kiwis as a whole are a very friendly, stylish, giving, and relaxed people. For example, my boss's husband let me borrow his car for the night because the buses didn't run that late into the evening. I explained to him that I am used to driving on the opposite side of the road, so I felt very uncomfortable. And, besides that, I don't actually know how to drive a manual. He replied with, "Well, it's an old car anyways. Have a go at it, and if you can't figure it out, just leave the f-ing thing on the side of the road and call a taxi. We'll just get it tommorrow." Astonishing. Who in their right mind would let an American girl try to drive a manual car alone on the opposite side of the road in New Zealand's capital city? But he honestly didn't care. And I got home just fine. That's the Kiwi way. But I'm not stereotyping...

Another non-stereotype is that this city is fueled by coffee and alcohol. The entire city literally becomes drunk at about 9 p.m. on weekends. If you are as lucky as I am to be working late into the night on weekends, you'll see what I mean. Just driving through the city, you'll see fights in the middle of the street, people puking behind lightposts, traffic having to stop because some genius thought lying in the middle of the street was a good idea, nerdy guys boldy trying to talk to pretty girls, bars full of drunken dancing, and idiots trying to drive home. It's outstanding. But, during the weekdays (and at about 11 a.m. the morning AFTER said partying), the entire city has a cup of joe in their hand. Cafes can be found at every corner and usually somewhere in between the corners. They are packed in the morning, during lunch, and just after work (and just before happy hour starts). I, admittedly, am a part of this crowd. Coffee is life. Their coffee is much stronger, tastier, and more costly than back home. It also might contain cocaine. I can't seem to get enough of it. In fact, as I type, I'm also calculating just how I can squeeze in a cappuccino before work today... Oh, I think I've just figured it out. Gotta go.

Cheers.

Pictures from Welly Welly

Our daily walk to the bus stop. The little red arrow towards the middle of the pictures is where the bus stop is. The picture is taken from Nicole and Manuel's porch. Needless to say, walking down isn't so bad. It's the walk back up that is a killer.

It must have just snowed on the South Island. You can see that snow cap just dying to have its picture taken. View from the porch.

Nicole showed us this apple. Looks like a gross apple, right? Wrong. It's not real. She painted styrofoam to create this masterpiece for her last film. She actually painted like 50 or so. Amazing.

This is just one way I keep busy at night. The walk is just too much to do more than once or twice in a day. Going into town at night is a real hassle, so we either watch movies on laptops or do things like this to keep us busy.

Mind-blowing sunsets aren't as rare as you think. I'm just too lazy to take pictures everytime it happens. Here is one time, however, when I thought the beauty would be worth the effort.

Sorry that these have been so long in coming. I'll try to do better in the future.

Wacky Wellington

More reasons to love Wellington...

Cops don't carry guns. They carry tasers, but not even the kind that shoot the little barbs. They carry the kind that you have to actually physically touch the bad guy with. So bascially, just run away and you're good to go. Also, cops don't pull over speeding cars or cars that run red lights. They just write down your license and mail you a ticket. In fact, I saw my first cop yesterday. I had been here for 11 days without seeing a single cop. Interesting...

Good news. It is now legal to ride your bike in public...naked. In fact, being naked in public isn't illegal unless you are doing a "lude act" while being naked. So, like I said, good news for all you naked bike riders. Come to Wellington and go for it.

Tribal tattoos are cool here, mostly because the people that have them most likely ARE in a tribe. The Maori people here (the natives) are mostly Polynesian types, descending from tribes. So, unlike the weirdos in the States with tribal tattoos, these guys are legit. You make fun of their tattoos and you're a dead man.

A resume is called a CV. To hire is to rent. A top off is a refill. A lift is an elevator. A prawn is a shrimp. Chips are fries. Lollies are anything sweet (candylike). Biscuits are cookies. The bathroom is the toilet. Don't ever call it a bathroom or a restroom. They'll think you're crazy. You either say "toilet," or say "blokes" or "mens" for the guys bathroom and "women's" or "ladies" for the girls bathroom.

They say "keen" a lot. Like, "Are you keen for working tonight?" Or, "He's keen on coming over tomorrow." Sounds like Mayberry, if you ask me.

Little kids wander around by themselves a lot. You'll see kids as young as 5 or so riding the bus by themselves.

"Blanket Man" is a local favorite. He is a Maori man, in his 50's maybe. He sits on the street everyday on a blanket just laughing and grunting at people walking by. He is very very dark because the sun here is very strong. He sits out in direct sunlight everyday, so naturally he has little skin cancer spots all over body. Oh, and did I mention that he only wears a loin cloth?

New Zealand is said "Aotearoa" in Maori. The literal translation is "Long White Cloud."

The NZ football team is the All Whites. The NZ rugby team is the All Blacks. And the NZ basketball team is.....you guessed it.... the Tall Blacks. We could never get away with that in the States.

Add "as" to the end of a word and you'll sound very kiwi. eg. "Sweet as." "Cool as." "Keen as." It makes you ask the question, though...sweet as what? cool as what? keen as what? I guess I'll never know.

South Island Sunset

The South Island as seen from Nicole and Manuel's porch. We're really high up so we have a great veiw of it. You can't really see it from many other places.

27 Feb 2010

I've been posting a lot of pictures and videos simply because it's easier, cooler, and much more effective in describing this place. It's simply beautiful. Manuel, Nicole, and Michelle live in this cute little house way up high on a hill in Island Bay, Wellington. It's quite a hike to get up to their house (not so bad getting down, but the walk up is a killer), but the view is way worth the trouble. We are in a rare position in Wellington to see the South Island. You can't really see it from anywhere else, but since we're so high up it's easily seen in the distance. It looks a lot like something in Italy or something with the mostly white houses placed nonstrategically on the side of the green hills. The downtown part of it is equally as great, even though it's not quite as beautiful. There are cute little local shops (not many chain stores around here) run by the nicest people you could imagine. Everyone here seems to be in a good mood, which is quite a contrast to the American way - especially in the airports. Even the customs people were super nice to us. It was a great welcome to this country. Today we walked along the coast for an hour or so looking for a place called "Red Rocks." It took us a good hour or so just to get to the coast, so we soon gave up on the attraction and enjoyed the scenery. I can't imagine anything looking better than the coastline anyways. The water here is incredibly blueish green, exactly as it's seen in pictures, and the coastline is rocky and jagged with some slightly blackish sand. We walked through a small town on our way to not going to Red Rocks when we stumbled upon a warehouse full of artists, musicians, and rock climbers all hanging out and drinking coffee. It was an open house where they were looking for someone to rent space in the warehouse, but we had fun just talking to some artists and listening to music while looking at the local art. I hope we meet some of these people again. They seemed like great people.

After walking around the coast and town all day today and yesterday, I'm pretty tired and slightly sunburned. They say the sun is much stronger down here, and I now believe them. You can get burned in the shade if you're there only 15 minutes. Jetlag hasn't really affected me too badly. It's mostly the excessive amounts of walking that is exhausting me. I have already learned a few strange ways of New Zealand. I'll try to remember some for your entertainment...

Always thank the bus driver. "Thank you, driver." It's weird if you don't.

Napkins are serviettes. Bathrooms are toilets. Swimsuits are togs. Sweater are jumpers. Flipflops are jandals. etc.. It's almost like learning a new language.

They don't have Mexican food, ketchup, or hotdogs here. Don't be fooled by imitations.

Driving/owning a car is rare around here. Walking is the way to go. You learn to go without a lot.

You don't have to take a test to get your driver's license. Shawn got one legally for $43. Scary.

Watch out for hedgehogs as you walk the stairs.

The wind is ridiculous here. We have to tie down anything outside, and it's pointless to do your hair before going out. It all ends up looking like a hot mess anyway.

Everything is backwards or upside down. Even the lightswitches.

The weather has been unusually great the last few days. Everyone is out and about enjoying the sun while it lasts. Nicole has been rushing around trying to do laundry and letting it dry before it gets rainy again. Using the dryer is too expensive. I hope that the weather holds up for a while. I'm not too cool with rainy and windy weather, but I guess I'll get used to it very quickly. Manuel said he's rarely seen the weather so clear and consistent. Maybe our presence has changed the climate or something.

I'll think of more to post later about this amazing place. I wish you all could experience it first hand. I'd say to come on over, but the job market is less than desirable. Please pray for jobs for us all. We can't rent a place til we get jobs. The Hobbit won't start for a few months probably, and even then jobs are not guaranteed. Pray for safety (even though this place is probably one of the safest places I've even been) and peace among us. Living with these people for a whole year will be trying and exciting. Pray that God gives us love for eachother.

Thanks for all your support and prayers. Talk to you soon!

Our Beautiful New Place (Temporarily)

The view from Nicole's house here in Wellington. Videos don't do it justice. This is what we will see everyday for the next year. I wonder what the poor people are doing today.

Hollywood/LA

We arrived in Hollywood/LA last night from the train and slept great in Heidi's living room. Today we went and saw Hollywood Hills and went walking around Glendale, a nearby city. L.A. isn't as dirty as I've heard, but people say that the smog here is so bad that it's like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. We went to a park today, and it seemed clear and beautiful. The weather is fantastic and the sun is shining. The mountains are so pretty and the landscape is awesome. We're going to sit in one of Heidi's flim classes tonight and maybe go see her friend play music downtown afterwards. After surfing and traveling all yesterday, Scott and I are pretty tired, so we're hoping to get to bed at a decent hour. Tim is still sick, but he finally got some antibiotics. Hopefully he'll be feeling much better for our 20 hour flight tomorrow. Overall we've been pretty healthy and safe. It's been quite a good time so far.

Shawn and I in Hollywood. Enough said.

Jackie Jumping

Bart demonstrating "Jackie Jumping," a popluar sport in S.L.O.

Farewell, Friends

My two favorite people [Bart and Nate] saying their final farewells to us as we rode away on the train. Picture taken through the window of the train. Their handprints are still on the window.

S.L.O. Train

A brief look at our beautiful train ride from S.L.O. to L.A. It was way way way better than flying. However, the three girls next to us (you can hear them in the background WAY better than you can hear me) were so loud and girly. It was a bit ridiculous. Plus, we were really tired from surfing earlier that day. It was Scott's first time surfing ever and my first time surfing the west coast. It was really hard, so we were pretty beat.

S.L.O. #2

This is the coastline of S.L.O. where our friends go surfing sometimes. It was really windy, so the audio is not so good. But, it is so beautiful.

S.L.O.

This gives you a general idea of where we stayed in San Luis Obispo (SLO), California. It's much prettier in real life. And, I'm really bad with a camera, so it's very spastic and hard to follow. Sorry about that.

California

Well, we got to L.A. safely after our flight from Raleigh to LAX (with a layover in Memphis). We took a shuttle from LAX to Shawn's friends Heidi's house in downtown Hollywood. It took us a good 2 or so hours to go 30 miles because we hit rush hour. That was nuts. We hung out with Heidi and went out to eat and stuff. Nothing too crazy. Tim was really really sick, so we got him some meds and went to "bed" around 12 or so. But, keep in mind, that was about 3 in East Coast time. All four of us slept on the floor in the living room...a very tiny living room. Scott's friends from San Luis Obispo decided to drive down to Hollywood and spend the night with us. So, about 3 that morning, Bart and Nate walked in the door and crashed on the floor with us. It was pretty great. We woke up around 8 and left with Bart and Nate to go to their house (3 hours away.) Tim was going to his friend's house in L.A. and Shawn was staying with Heidi. The ride up north was super super fun. These guys are quickly becoming my favorite people ever. They are definitely Lords of Dogtown types, and I'm already starting to talk like them. I have to say, these are my kind of people. We got to their house and chilled for a while. The time difference is already kicking my butt. This place is unbelievable, though. There are beautiful green rolling hills, huge rock formations, beautiful hacienda-looking houses, and an unbelievable coastline. We made dinner and had game night with their friends. We met some great people and did some awesome things yesterday, but I honestly don't remember too much of it. I was sooooo tired and out of it. We stayed up watching a movie at a theater til about 1:30 (4:30 in my mind), so I went right to sleep when we got back. I slept great, too. I really needed that.

Today we went with Bart and Nate to see the elephant seals. The coastline is so incredible. It looks like something from Hawaii. I can't believe how beautiful it is here. There are volcanic rocks and huge HUGE surf. The grass is so green and the water is so blue. The rolling hills/mountains have lots of cows on them, so it looks like a postcard from rural paradise. The weather has been pretty mellow. The sun is out with some cloud coverage. It rained for 30 minutes or so, but it's been much better than snowy Staunton. We drove by Hearst Castle where there are zebras. CRAZY. We explored the coast and watched the enormous elephant seals for a while. We're hoping to go surfing later, but we're all pretty beat and it's only 2:00. It's been a great adventure so far, and we're not even out of the States yet. I wish I could explain to you how much fun we're having so far, but words and pictures are just not enough. Miss you all.

Portfolio

Hello hello. Here is my online "portfolio." It's just a simple Flickr site, but it'll give you a little idea what I've been doing the last few years.

6 Days and Counting

It's 12:06 a.m. on Friday, February 12th. So, if my math is correct, there are 5 more days til I leave Virginia, 6 more days til I leave the east coast, and 13 days (ish) til I'm officially in Wellington, New Zealand. There has been a lot of thought and prayer and CRAZINESS to this trip, and I am finally to the point where I'm very very very excited. Things were pretty stressful up until now, but this trip has been a long time coming and I cannot wait to see what actually happens. I will be traveling with 3 amazing guys, and meeting up with several other amazing people over there. And, I will undoubtedly be meeting some new amazing people once we get there and settle in. God has orchestrated all of this so far, and I am whole-heartedly depending on Him not only to get me through the next year but also to help me have the overly-used cliche "adventure of a lifetime."

For those of you who will be following along on this journey with me via blogging or skype or whatever, just know that I will miss you all back home. Adventures are fun, especially when there is a home to come back to. I would not be able to leave home without knowing that there will be love there when I return. Your prayers and support are welcomed with open arms, and I'm sooooo excited to be able to share this with you. I will be thinking of you all as I step out into this great new adventure. Happy trails!