Wasn't planning on writing anything today, but then this happened!
So I was waiting for the bus, and a guy walks up and sits down, and I'm all friendly and he's all friendly, and he asks me if we've met before. It's when he gets this close that I notice that he reeks of alcohol, and that it's only 11 am. Then he starts telling me about how he lives in a tree up on the North shore and that he has a million dollars hidden inside of it and that he just bought himself a woman and he was looking for friends to introduce her to.
But then the bus came and we parted ways.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The host family
So, about where I'm staying and the host family.
Tina: Tina is my host-mom. She's fantastic. Originally from England, and very open about things. She's a teacher, her favorite subject being teaching 11-13 year olds sex education, because she thinks it's really funny.
Mike: Mike's the father figure. He's a principal at a local school. From New Zealand, and he knows a whole bunch and we talk about fancy stuff. He believes that the power of teaching and gaining an education/having knowledge will allow us to overcome our differences and realize how similar we all truly are and that we will then respect one another and stop being dumb and kill each other over things like differences in religious beliefs. I like Mike. He likes Top Gear a whole bunch.
Jane: Jane is Tina's oldest daughter. She works in aviation, as does her husband, who is Maori-born. She's "heavy with child". Tina asked me if I wanted to feel her stomach approximately 5 minutes after I first met her. Awkward.
Robert: Tina's oldest son. He works at...somewhere...and does something. He's kinda quiet and reminds me a lot of my older brother Chris. Robert seemed adamant about the family getting wireless internet, though, which would mean I wouldn't have to come to campus to get online, so I like Robert too.
Tess: Tess is 17 and seems like the typical teenager. I think she thinks that America/the rest of the world is some magical place where everything is bigger and better, because whenever I say that something in NZ is just like it is back in the states she's shocked. She loves to play Netball, and when I said that I had never heard of it and it doesn't exist in the States, it looked like I had shattered her world. Oops.
Beth: Beth is 15 and as far as I can tell a total flower-child. She likes peace and love and plays guitar and wears sundresses and has long uncombed beach-blond hair. I hope that my kids are this cool someday.
So Tess, Beth, Tina, and Mike live in the house. I have a studio-apartment-sized room to myself that's separate from the rest of the house. My hostmom calls it the Loveshack after the B-52s song. There's also a trampoline and a hot tub. I live in walking distance from about 30 restaurants.
Umm. It's awesome. I love it. Wish you were here and all that?
They all talk funny and are really sarcastic and we get on pretty well so yeah that's all cool.
Tina: Tina is my host-mom. She's fantastic. Originally from England, and very open about things. She's a teacher, her favorite subject being teaching 11-13 year olds sex education, because she thinks it's really funny.
Mike: Mike's the father figure. He's a principal at a local school. From New Zealand, and he knows a whole bunch and we talk about fancy stuff. He believes that the power of teaching and gaining an education/having knowledge will allow us to overcome our differences and realize how similar we all truly are and that we will then respect one another and stop being dumb and kill each other over things like differences in religious beliefs. I like Mike. He likes Top Gear a whole bunch.
Jane: Jane is Tina's oldest daughter. She works in aviation, as does her husband, who is Maori-born. She's "heavy with child". Tina asked me if I wanted to feel her stomach approximately 5 minutes after I first met her. Awkward.
Robert: Tina's oldest son. He works at...somewhere...and does something. He's kinda quiet and reminds me a lot of my older brother Chris. Robert seemed adamant about the family getting wireless internet, though, which would mean I wouldn't have to come to campus to get online, so I like Robert too.
Tess: Tess is 17 and seems like the typical teenager. I think she thinks that America/the rest of the world is some magical place where everything is bigger and better, because whenever I say that something in NZ is just like it is back in the states she's shocked. She loves to play Netball, and when I said that I had never heard of it and it doesn't exist in the States, it looked like I had shattered her world. Oops.
Beth: Beth is 15 and as far as I can tell a total flower-child. She likes peace and love and plays guitar and wears sundresses and has long uncombed beach-blond hair. I hope that my kids are this cool someday.
So Tess, Beth, Tina, and Mike live in the house. I have a studio-apartment-sized room to myself that's separate from the rest of the house. My hostmom calls it the Loveshack after the B-52s song. There's also a trampoline and a hot tub. I live in walking distance from about 30 restaurants.
Umm. It's awesome. I love it. Wish you were here and all that?
They all talk funny and are really sarcastic and we get on pretty well so yeah that's all cool.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Umm...hi.
So I've been writing stuff down on paper, since internet-access is sparing. Anyway, here's a bunch of random stuff from New Zealand. (Oh and real quick: it's amazing here and I love it)
Anyway let's see what we got.
2/20. Learned the All Blacks haka. Drank a beer called the 12 Gauge on a table with a buzzsaw for a counter-top. It was the manliest moment ever. Also the pub had a kitty and that's awesome, we should adopt this policy in the States.
2/21 Bunch of cool stuff happened. Totally cool.
2/22. My host mom reminds me of Sarah Flowers in a shameless way. I like my host family a lot, they're all spiffy, and my house here kicks the crap outta anything I've had back home. Sorry mom/Wake/Crouse, you've been bested. My host dad said bullocks and "that's the dog's wobblies" and that's just awesome. Referring to a dog's balls means that something's really cool. Obviously I am in the greatest country of all time.
- We drove past the prime minister's house. His security detail consists of a van parked near the garage with one officer in it.
Ok now for the much longer entry woo! This was Saturday night:
I was dropped off downtown on Queen Street so I could get a bit of cash, hit a liquor store, and make my way to Sophie's apartment in Wellesley. This was 8 o'clock. The bank I went to was closed, but a dude and his lady had set up with a guitar, some drums, and two massive amps and rocked their way to becoming the best street performers I've ever seen. Imagine if The White Stripes just set up on the street-corner and that Meg White was really hot and had talent. And they covered a Sublime song. Amazing. Anyway...eventually got some money, so it was off to Wellesley Apartments.
Wellesley Apartments are not on Wellesley Street.
I don't think they're on Queens, either.
At this point in time, nobody has a cellphone yet, so I can't call and find out.
So I ended up wandering about downtown Auckland for a good two hours, forty-seven minutes, and some spare seconds for change. Figured I'd find the apartments eventually!
Walked past the White Stripes-with-the-hot/successful-Meg a few more times (read: 8), went to an internet cafe for half an hour only to leave it and say to myself "Why the hell didn't I google the address of the apartments?"
So now it's 10:30. I figure they've all left the apartments by now, and I'm getting a little freaked by the darkness, the homeless people passed out everywhere, the people fighting in the streets (it was about 15 people just duking it out), and the transvestite prostitutes. So I got a cab, and in a voice not at all my own I gave the driver my address. Turns out I said something wrong. He stops and we're in the wrong place. It's totally dark and I have no idea where I am. He asks me a question and again I respond in the foreign voice. Later I realized that that's how I sound when I'm scared shitless.
And lost.
A few thousand miles from home.
With no way of contacting anybody I know.
The taxi driver turned out to be nice, though. His ID said "Singh 78". I asked him where he was from, and in a thick Indian accent he said "Easy guess, my friend." I felt like an asshole but we both laughed. When we got to my homestay he offered me a lower price on the fare, but I paid full and tipped the brotha since it was my fault we got lost.
So how'd my first night out in Auckland go?
Look up, and it kinda sucked and it was scary and I wanted my mommy.
Or
I got a free concert, I saw an adorable little girl in all pink dance with a homeless man to the music of said concert, I did a $10 bungee thing ($5.40 USD, bitches), and Singh 78 is one cool taxi driver.
Kinda weird to start by writing this night/experience down. Everything else has been absolutely fantastic. It's still so surreal. But it's probably more fun to read about how I fucked up and got lost than to read about what would have happened that night had it all gone according to plan. Would have been more expensive, too.
Oh well! Better luck next time, eh? (Again, contrast this attitude with the one I had while still at Wake. Never realized how unhappy I was there...but I do miss some of you a whole bunch.)
2/24
- As I walked down the street, I sneezed. A girl said "Bless you" as she drove by. I am in the most polite country ever.
- You can strike up a conversation with literally everybody. Just nod at anybody as you walk down the street and they'll smile or wave or say "G'day, mate" (this one's my favorite).
- 3 condoms cost $20 NZD. But they were extra ribbed...maybe extra ribbing = extra dollars...
- I ate Hokey Pokey ice cream but had no desire to then turn myself around. If anybody is wondering what the hokey pokey tastes like, the answer is toffee.
- Thrift stores are definitely cooler for girls. There's more variety for you.
- Sat next to a middle eastern lady with everything but her eyes covered. She had ear buds in and I could hear drums and the far-off sound of a woman singing in a wailing voice, which I assumed was Indian music. The bus jolted, an ear bud fell out, and out of it bolted the musical stylings of Taylor Swift. The look in the lady's eyes was that of pure terror. I giggled.
So I've been writing stuff down on paper, since internet-access is sparing. Anyway, here's a bunch of random stuff from New Zealand. (Oh and real quick: it's amazing here and I love it)
Anyway let's see what we got.
2/20. Learned the All Blacks haka. Drank a beer called the 12 Gauge on a table with a buzzsaw for a counter-top. It was the manliest moment ever. Also the pub had a kitty and that's awesome, we should adopt this policy in the States.
2/21 Bunch of cool stuff happened. Totally cool.
2/22. My host mom reminds me of Sarah Flowers in a shameless way. I like my host family a lot, they're all spiffy, and my house here kicks the crap outta anything I've had back home. Sorry mom/Wake/Crouse, you've been bested. My host dad said bullocks and "that's the dog's wobblies" and that's just awesome. Referring to a dog's balls means that something's really cool. Obviously I am in the greatest country of all time.
- We drove past the prime minister's house. His security detail consists of a van parked near the garage with one officer in it.
Ok now for the much longer entry woo! This was Saturday night:
I was dropped off downtown on Queen Street so I could get a bit of cash, hit a liquor store, and make my way to Sophie's apartment in Wellesley. This was 8 o'clock. The bank I went to was closed, but a dude and his lady had set up with a guitar, some drums, and two massive amps and rocked their way to becoming the best street performers I've ever seen. Imagine if The White Stripes just set up on the street-corner and that Meg White was really hot and had talent. And they covered a Sublime song. Amazing. Anyway...eventually got some money, so it was off to Wellesley Apartments.
Wellesley Apartments are not on Wellesley Street.
I don't think they're on Queens, either.
At this point in time, nobody has a cellphone yet, so I can't call and find out.
So I ended up wandering about downtown Auckland for a good two hours, forty-seven minutes, and some spare seconds for change. Figured I'd find the apartments eventually!
Walked past the White Stripes-with-the-hot/successful-Meg a few more times (read: 8), went to an internet cafe for half an hour only to leave it and say to myself "Why the hell didn't I google the address of the apartments?"
So now it's 10:30. I figure they've all left the apartments by now, and I'm getting a little freaked by the darkness, the homeless people passed out everywhere, the people fighting in the streets (it was about 15 people just duking it out), and the transvestite prostitutes. So I got a cab, and in a voice not at all my own I gave the driver my address. Turns out I said something wrong. He stops and we're in the wrong place. It's totally dark and I have no idea where I am. He asks me a question and again I respond in the foreign voice. Later I realized that that's how I sound when I'm scared shitless.
And lost.
A few thousand miles from home.
With no way of contacting anybody I know.
The taxi driver turned out to be nice, though. His ID said "Singh 78". I asked him where he was from, and in a thick Indian accent he said "Easy guess, my friend." I felt like an asshole but we both laughed. When we got to my homestay he offered me a lower price on the fare, but I paid full and tipped the brotha since it was my fault we got lost.
So how'd my first night out in Auckland go?
Look up, and it kinda sucked and it was scary and I wanted my mommy.
Or
I got a free concert, I saw an adorable little girl in all pink dance with a homeless man to the music of said concert, I did a $10 bungee thing ($5.40 USD, bitches), and Singh 78 is one cool taxi driver.
Kinda weird to start by writing this night/experience down. Everything else has been absolutely fantastic. It's still so surreal. But it's probably more fun to read about how I fucked up and got lost than to read about what would have happened that night had it all gone according to plan. Would have been more expensive, too.
Oh well! Better luck next time, eh? (Again, contrast this attitude with the one I had while still at Wake. Never realized how unhappy I was there...but I do miss some of you a whole bunch.)
2/24
- As I walked down the street, I sneezed. A girl said "Bless you" as she drove by. I am in the most polite country ever.
- You can strike up a conversation with literally everybody. Just nod at anybody as you walk down the street and they'll smile or wave or say "G'day, mate" (this one's my favorite).
- 3 condoms cost $20 NZD. But they were extra ribbed...maybe extra ribbing = extra dollars...
- I ate Hokey Pokey ice cream but had no desire to then turn myself around. If anybody is wondering what the hokey pokey tastes like, the answer is toffee.
- Thrift stores are definitely cooler for girls. There's more variety for you.
- Sat next to a middle eastern lady with everything but her eyes covered. She had ear buds in and I could hear drums and the far-off sound of a woman singing in a wailing voice, which I assumed was Indian music. The bus jolted, an ear bud fell out, and out of it bolted the musical stylings of Taylor Swift. The look in the lady's eyes was that of pure terror. I giggled.
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