On Friday I spent the evening with my co-teacher and two 5th grade homeroom teachers. This was our first outing together so I was pretty nervous I would do something stupid. Korea is all about customs and social practices, especially while eating and drinking together.
For example:
1. You can never pour your own drink so you must constantly watch one another's glasses so they never go empty. You must pay special attention to the glasses of your superiors. (probably explains why koreans get so drunk, it is impossible to refuse)
2. Young people (me) must wait to eat until elders have begun.
3. You must pass and receive everything with two hands (not just at dinner, everywhere) from your elders.
4. You may not blow your nose at the table.
5. Of course shoes are ALWAYS removed when entering someone's home or a restaurant with floor seating. Students and teachers wear slip on shoes or sandals at school.
6. Countless others I have not offended anyone with.
These customs are more than niceties, they are a way of life. In my fifth grade class we were playing a simple "pass the ball" game. When the student catches the ball, they must say an english phrase. When the game ended, a student passed the ball to the teacher with....gasp....ONE HAND. He got a scolding I'll remember for the rest of my life. You would think I would have learned from his mistake, but I went on to hand a Japanese souvenir I'd purchased to the vice principal with ONE HAND. wooops!
Dinner too, is quite the affair. At a traditional Korean restaurant everyone sits on the floor in private coves and they bring out at least 15 small dishes or more depending on how many people are dining - mostly pickled and spiced vegetables, always plain rice, and soup. There is usually a special dish as well, usually a small amount of meat, fish, or in our case, very spicy tofu (dobu). Everyone shares everything. anti-double dippers, BEWARE (dad). Conversation at dinner was a bit strained as the two fifth grade teachers are very shy about speaking English. Luckily one of them brought along her adorable children, aged 2 and 5, so that cut the tension a bit. When the plates were cleared, we brewed our own green tea (cha)- delicious!
After dinner we ventured to Hamji Park in Chilgok where another 5th grade teacher was conducting a middle school orchestra. There were about 10 other middle schools performing, all dressed in the traditional Hanbok costume, the Korean equivalent of the kimono. "Charles" orchestra played several traditional Korean instruments-huge drums or buk, gayageum, a long wooden instrument with 12 strings, and a flute looking thing whose name i forget. the best part were the three women up front made up like dolls who sang in strange but beautiful shrill voices.
All in all I think it was a fairly successful first outing. I'm hoping with time communication with the teachers will get easier- either they won't be so shy about speaking English to me or my Korean classes will start paying off!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Korea Ketchup
Us at a Samsung Lions baseball game in DaeguIn honor of our two month anniversary of leaving the states, I thought I’d treat you all to a blog post. But where to begin? If you’re at all familiar with the brutal EPIK application process Jamie and I went through, you’ll be happy to know that we did not end up in the middle of no where. We live in a suburb of Daegu, the third largest city in South Korea, called Chilgok. It is about a 40 minute bus ride away from the city. It is quite a large suburb however, and has all the necessities and a substantial downtown full of restaurants, cafes, phone shops, even batting cages. It has been difficult to find other foreigners in Chilgok, though we do know they exist as every public school is now required to have at least one native English teacher in addition to hagwon, or private academy, teachers (bringing the grand total of native English teachers in Korea to over 43,000).
We have two studio apartments that are about 7 minutes walking from eachother and 2 minutes walking to our respective schools. Jamie’s apartment is in a newish building and is very clean and nice looking in a feminine kind of way (wallpaper with huge roses, pink detailing, etc), but quite small. My apartment is bigger, but was quite dirty when I moved in and there is a serious lack of natural light. Both are completely manageable and I’ve definitely lived in worse, but it’d be nice to have one place we could share.
Jamie's apartment 
my apartment
Our rice cooker Jamie and I both teach grades 3-6 and have three co-teachers, two female and one male. My co teachers are between the ages of 28 and 35 and speak really good English. Jamie’s are…older and speak varying levels of English. In fact two of them are currently in the hospital so he has had complete control of the 5th and 6th grade classes for the past few weeks. My classes are about 50/50 with my co-teachers. There are usually 3 sections to each class so we divide them accordingly. The system seems to be working well. The students are great and really excited to have us here. They love saying hi to us in the hallways and are delighted when they see us outside of school, which they often do since we live so close to school. That said, I find the job challenging. Yes the children are under control discipline wise and they are speaking the phrases we tell them to, but I wonder how effective my presence really is. Anyway Korea has decided we’re worth our weight, which is great, because we are making excellent money.
So far we have had one break which we spent in Japan with our friends Jackie and Zach, who are teaching in Ulsan. We flew from Busan to Fukoaka, took the train to Hiroshima, then Osaka, Kyoto, and finally Nygoya. I will post about this later on, maybe with pictures..
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
NZ Travels Part II
Hello all!
I write to you tonight from the seaside town of Riverton in Southland, New Zealand. As Jamie and I have continuously said throughout the past four days, "this is the furthest south we've ever been (and probably will ever go)." The trip has been going smoothly thus far and we have been sticking to the itinerary I posted quite religiously. The only variation we've made is skipping the stay in Queenstown and continuing on to the charming lakeside town of Te Anau, allowing us to split up some of the drive from Milford Sound to Dunedin and to drive as far South as Bluff, which is on the route for tomorrow.
We left 67 Brougham Street before the sun came up to bus to the airport for our 8:20 flight to Christchurch. Its probably a good thing it was so early because I generally can't display emotion before about 9 am and my mind hadn't registered how very sad it was to say goodbye to Wellington. However We managed to tear ourselves from our mattress on the floor and make it to the airport with time to spare. In Christchurch we were introduced to our home and transport for the week and must admit we were a bit disappointed: let's just say the new model is no Leland (not even a Leland II!). The van has over 300,000 kms on it and is teeeeeny compared to Leland's ample interior. Also it handles like a turtle. We're getting on alright with her though considering she is the only home we have in New Zealand now.
From Christchurch we continued on with plans of sleeping in Twizel and bypassing Mt. Cook altogether. As we drove though I decided we probably had enough time to see the glaciers I'd heard so much about and we took the one way highway to Mt. Cook National Park. Before the sun went down we took a walk up a rocky hill completely surrounded by 22 of the 27 highest peaks in the country. We eventually came to a summit of sorts overlooking some very sad looking glaciers. Because of global warming the infamous glaciers have shrunk beyond repair. We realized the trip was worth the drive when after a yummy dinner we looked up to find one of the brightest night skies either of us had ever seen making visible hundreds more stars than we even knew existed.
We drove on bright and early eager to refuel both our stomachs and the campervan. After sorting ourselves out in Twizel, we drove the three hours to Wanaka, which we'd heard so much about. I was hoping to have enough time to walk one of the tracks the guidebook listed as "just outside town" but was sorely disappointed when the campsite attendant told us we'd be driving an hour before finding one. Nevermind, we spent some time by the beautiful lake in the center of town, checked the movie times at the unique theatre Jamie's brother, Ben, had told us about, and decided to walk the 90 minute loop to the summit of Mt. Iron, overlooking Lake Wanaka. Feeling revived and empowered we returned to our deluxe campsite complete with free wireless and sauna. We ventured back out to catch a screening of "Mao's Last Dancer" and were delighted to find the cinema as kitschy as Ben had described. The seats were an assortment of old airline rows, comfy armchairs, and even a bright yellow VW Bug convertible decked out with multicolored cushions. Wanaka certainly did not disappoint.
We woke up the next morning disappointed to see grey skies and rain for miles around, but the weather didn't deter our excitement for the day's activity: Bungy Jumping the 43 meters off the historic Kawarau Bridge! We rolled into the Bungy Center about 20 km outside of Queenstown a couple hours early to prepare ourselves for the voluntary insanity. After watching both my brothers successfully complete their Bungies in Taupo, I thought I'd get the best of my nerves, but that familiar feeling crept upon me and I found myself insatiably thirsty and a bit shaky. Jamie on the other hand, seemed to keep his cool and was nothing but smiles upon viewing the drop. For the next couple of hours we checked out the shops and lake in Queenstown hoping the weather would clear and amazingly, it did! Feeling better about the fact that I wouldn't be jumping into freezing rain, we prepared for our jump. It's hard to say exactly what happened in the moments before we stepped off the platform, but I'm sure they told us a certain way to jump or what to do when we reach the bottom. Whatever they may have said, I didn't hear any of it and with a hurried countdown, we took the dive (me first, then Jamie). Jamie had opted for a "water touch" but unfortunately the chord came a few inches short of the surface and he came back to land dry. All in all it was an exhilarating experience and though expensive, definitely worth it.
After some additional souvenir shopping in Queenstown we decided to drive on to our next stop, Te Anau. There we found another charming lakeside town and after setting up camp we took a stroll down to the water. Again, the night sky was incredible and after some serious stargazing we returned "home" to watch a movie and sleep. We were up bright and early the next morning eager to start our jorurney on the Te Anau-Milford Highway. We booked our Milford Sound Cruise which promised astounding views of waterfalls, mountains, and seals and thanks to our Campervan rental company's 2 for 1 voucher, one of us rode free. The drive up was as lovely as promised even in the rain. Just a short walk from the highway we saw reflective lakes, waterfalls, and rare birds such as the kea.The most amazing thing about Southern New Zealand is the absence of people (except tourists of course). Much of the region is protected by the Department of Conservation which means people can't build, log, or farm on the land. We often drove an hour without seeing another car or human which makes for a refreshing sort of isolation. Our cruise was pleasant, made better by the fact that the sun came out just as we departed land and made for some very photogenic rainbows. We did see waterfall after waterfall, the biggest of which prompted a crew warning to either stay inside or be prepared to get sprayed.
Hopeful to see some sort of civilization before dusk we continued South from Te Anau with plans to stay at a campsite outside the large town of Invercargill. We found lovely little Riverton and had a pleasant pub meal by the water. I believe that pretty much brings you up to speed of course by the time you read this we may even be home as internet access is far less common down here. Anywho, enjoy it when you can!
I write to you tonight from the seaside town of Riverton in Southland, New Zealand. As Jamie and I have continuously said throughout the past four days, "this is the furthest south we've ever been (and probably will ever go)." The trip has been going smoothly thus far and we have been sticking to the itinerary I posted quite religiously. The only variation we've made is skipping the stay in Queenstown and continuing on to the charming lakeside town of Te Anau, allowing us to split up some of the drive from Milford Sound to Dunedin and to drive as far South as Bluff, which is on the route for tomorrow.
We left 67 Brougham Street before the sun came up to bus to the airport for our 8:20 flight to Christchurch. Its probably a good thing it was so early because I generally can't display emotion before about 9 am and my mind hadn't registered how very sad it was to say goodbye to Wellington. However We managed to tear ourselves from our mattress on the floor and make it to the airport with time to spare. In Christchurch we were introduced to our home and transport for the week and must admit we were a bit disappointed: let's just say the new model is no Leland (not even a Leland II!). The van has over 300,000 kms on it and is teeeeeny compared to Leland's ample interior. Also it handles like a turtle. We're getting on alright with her though considering she is the only home we have in New Zealand now.
From Christchurch we continued on with plans of sleeping in Twizel and bypassing Mt. Cook altogether. As we drove though I decided we probably had enough time to see the glaciers I'd heard so much about and we took the one way highway to Mt. Cook National Park. Before the sun went down we took a walk up a rocky hill completely surrounded by 22 of the 27 highest peaks in the country. We eventually came to a summit of sorts overlooking some very sad looking glaciers. Because of global warming the infamous glaciers have shrunk beyond repair. We realized the trip was worth the drive when after a yummy dinner we looked up to find one of the brightest night skies either of us had ever seen making visible hundreds more stars than we even knew existed.
We drove on bright and early eager to refuel both our stomachs and the campervan. After sorting ourselves out in Twizel, we drove the three hours to Wanaka, which we'd heard so much about. I was hoping to have enough time to walk one of the tracks the guidebook listed as "just outside town" but was sorely disappointed when the campsite attendant told us we'd be driving an hour before finding one. Nevermind, we spent some time by the beautiful lake in the center of town, checked the movie times at the unique theatre Jamie's brother, Ben, had told us about, and decided to walk the 90 minute loop to the summit of Mt. Iron, overlooking Lake Wanaka. Feeling revived and empowered we returned to our deluxe campsite complete with free wireless and sauna. We ventured back out to catch a screening of "Mao's Last Dancer" and were delighted to find the cinema as kitschy as Ben had described. The seats were an assortment of old airline rows, comfy armchairs, and even a bright yellow VW Bug convertible decked out with multicolored cushions. Wanaka certainly did not disappoint.
We woke up the next morning disappointed to see grey skies and rain for miles around, but the weather didn't deter our excitement for the day's activity: Bungy Jumping the 43 meters off the historic Kawarau Bridge! We rolled into the Bungy Center about 20 km outside of Queenstown a couple hours early to prepare ourselves for the voluntary insanity. After watching both my brothers successfully complete their Bungies in Taupo, I thought I'd get the best of my nerves, but that familiar feeling crept upon me and I found myself insatiably thirsty and a bit shaky. Jamie on the other hand, seemed to keep his cool and was nothing but smiles upon viewing the drop. For the next couple of hours we checked out the shops and lake in Queenstown hoping the weather would clear and amazingly, it did! Feeling better about the fact that I wouldn't be jumping into freezing rain, we prepared for our jump. It's hard to say exactly what happened in the moments before we stepped off the platform, but I'm sure they told us a certain way to jump or what to do when we reach the bottom. Whatever they may have said, I didn't hear any of it and with a hurried countdown, we took the dive (me first, then Jamie). Jamie had opted for a "water touch" but unfortunately the chord came a few inches short of the surface and he came back to land dry. All in all it was an exhilarating experience and though expensive, definitely worth it.
After some additional souvenir shopping in Queenstown we decided to drive on to our next stop, Te Anau. There we found another charming lakeside town and after setting up camp we took a stroll down to the water. Again, the night sky was incredible and after some serious stargazing we returned "home" to watch a movie and sleep. We were up bright and early the next morning eager to start our jorurney on the Te Anau-Milford Highway. We booked our Milford Sound Cruise which promised astounding views of waterfalls, mountains, and seals and thanks to our Campervan rental company's 2 for 1 voucher, one of us rode free. The drive up was as lovely as promised even in the rain. Just a short walk from the highway we saw reflective lakes, waterfalls, and rare birds such as the kea.The most amazing thing about Southern New Zealand is the absence of people (except tourists of course). Much of the region is protected by the Department of Conservation which means people can't build, log, or farm on the land. We often drove an hour without seeing another car or human which makes for a refreshing sort of isolation. Our cruise was pleasant, made better by the fact that the sun came out just as we departed land and made for some very photogenic rainbows. We did see waterfall after waterfall, the biggest of which prompted a crew warning to either stay inside or be prepared to get sprayed.
Hopeful to see some sort of civilization before dusk we continued South from Te Anau with plans to stay at a campsite outside the large town of Invercargill. We found lovely little Riverton and had a pleasant pub meal by the water. I believe that pretty much brings you up to speed of course by the time you read this we may even be home as internet access is far less common down here. Anywho, enjoy it when you can!
Monday, May 3, 2010
South Island Adventure Plans!
Hey All,
Our time in Wellington is dwindling and leaving is starting to feel very real, especially after our farewell party on Sunday night. It was a fun time with a good turnout of friends from Kirks and Bristol who certainly made us feel like we will be missed. So Although it is undeniably sad we will be leaving the wonderful city of Wellington, we do have our trip to the South Island to look forward to. We fly to Christchurch on Tuesday May 11th and will spend a week in a rented campervan exploring the great outdoors and hopefully forking out some cash to do a couple of the overpriced but "must-do" adventure activities Queenstown and Milford Sound boast (ie bungy jumping and a cruise through the Sound). I thought you all might enjoy a rough itinerary of our trip and certainly if you have anything to add, feel free to comment!
Tuesday 11th May
Fly Wellington à Christchurch 8:20 - 9:10am (Pacific Blue)
Pick up Campervan at Christchurch Airport (Jucy
Drive Christchurchà Omarama/Mt. Cook (~5 hours)
Wednesday 12th May
Drive Omaramaà Wanaka (~2 hours)
Sleep at Wanaka Lakeview Holiday Park
Wanaka Beerworks (open till 4)
Walk in Mt. Aspiring National Park (Rob Roy Valley Track) or rent Mountain Bikes or Jetboat
Cinema Paradiso
Thursday 13th May
Drive Wanakaà Queenstown (~2 hours)
Stop at Chinese Settlement to gold pan
Sleep at Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park
Book Bungy
Shopping! (Arts & Crafts Market on Saturday)
Kayak from Queenstown Bike Hire
Friday 14th May
Drive Queenstownà Te Anau (~2.5 hours)
Sleep at Te Anau Top 10 Holiday Park
Saturday 15th May
Drive Te Anau à Milford Sound (~2.5 hours)
Sound Cruise
Drive Milford Sound à Gore (~4.5 hours)
Sleep at Gore Motor Camp or Dolamore Park Camp
Sunday 16th May
Drive Goreà Oamaru(~4 hours)
Oamaru Penguin Colony
Sleep at Oamaru Top 10 Holiday Park
Monday 17th May
OamaruàChristchurch (~3 hours)
Tuesday 18th May
Fly Christchurch à Auckland (9:40 - 11am Pacific Blue)
Fly Aucklandà London
Our time in Wellington is dwindling and leaving is starting to feel very real, especially after our farewell party on Sunday night. It was a fun time with a good turnout of friends from Kirks and Bristol who certainly made us feel like we will be missed. So Although it is undeniably sad we will be leaving the wonderful city of Wellington, we do have our trip to the South Island to look forward to. We fly to Christchurch on Tuesday May 11th and will spend a week in a rented campervan exploring the great outdoors and hopefully forking out some cash to do a couple of the overpriced but "must-do" adventure activities Queenstown and Milford Sound boast (ie bungy jumping and a cruise through the Sound). I thought you all might enjoy a rough itinerary of our trip and certainly if you have anything to add, feel free to comment!
Tuesday 11th May
Fly Wellington à Christchurch 8:20 - 9:10am (Pacific Blue)
Pick up Campervan at Christchurch Airport (Jucy
Drive Christchurchà Omarama/Mt. Cook (~5 hours)
Wednesday 12th May
Drive Omaramaà Wanaka (~2 hours)
Sleep at Wanaka Lakeview Holiday Park
Wanaka Beerworks (open till 4)
Walk in Mt. Aspiring National Park (Rob Roy Valley Track) or rent Mountain Bikes or Jetboat
Cinema Paradiso
Thursday 13th May
Drive Wanakaà Queenstown (~2 hours)
Stop at Chinese Settlement to gold pan
Sleep at Queenstown Lakeview Holiday Park
Book Bungy
Shopping! (Arts & Crafts Market on Saturday)
Kayak from Queenstown Bike Hire
Friday 14th May
Drive Queenstownà Te Anau (~2.5 hours)
Sleep at Te Anau Top 10 Holiday Park
Saturday 15th May
Drive Te Anau à Milford Sound (~2.5 hours)
Sound Cruise
Drive Milford Sound à Gore (~4.5 hours)
Sleep at Gore Motor Camp or Dolamore Park Camp
Sunday 16th May
Drive Goreà Oamaru(~4 hours)
Oamaru Penguin Colony
Sleep at Oamaru Top 10 Holiday Park
Monday 17th May
OamaruàChristchurch (~3 hours)
Tuesday 18th May
Fly Christchurch à Auckland (9:40 - 11am Pacific Blue)
Fly Aucklandà London
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Final Update..?
Yep, we're still here! Somewhere along the line, this blog got buried underneath a mountain of other priorities, so apologies if you've been waiting for an update that just hasn't come until now. But here it is at last! And it may well be the very last from New Zealand :(
As of today, we have exactly two weeks left in Wellington, and only three weeks left in the country, before we fly back to the Northern Hemisphere. I'll just explain a little about what we've been up to and what the plan for the next months will be.
Firstly, I'm down to working weekends only since the Kirks Easter Shop closed, and I'm over in the Wine & Cheese department. So if you ever need to be told the difference between a Gewürztraminer and a Viognier, I can pretend to know it. It's been a nice way to slowly wind down from working full-time all year, and having heaps of time off has given me a decent chance to tie up all the loose ends in Wellington, as well as enjoying the last of the summer weather in the city. Last week was also my final time as the sound man at Bristol (or, as I learned sound men used to be known, the 'Balance Engineer'), and I oversaw the board for an album release party for a singer called Carol Bean. It went well, and I've really enjoyed doing it since October. It's sad to think I won't be back.
Emily is still on full-time at Bristol, but her schedule has been a little kinder to her recently, with plenty of 9-5 days. So in the evenings we've been looking into possibilities for next year, the most prominent of which has been joining a program to teach English in South Korea, and discussing the idea with some friends who are already there. Last week we sent in our application forms and letters of recommendation from work, and next we're expecting a Skype interview, after which we'll have to chase up other official documents like duplicate degree certificates and apostilled police checks. It's all complicated drastically by our temporary residence on the other side of the world, and if we leave it too late (for instance, when we get back home) we'll miss the deadline. It adds a nice 'race against time' element to things, as if we weren't under enough stress.
Our plan for the next few weeks involves finding someone to replace us in our house, and trimming the fat from our luggage to be brought home. This morning we dropped off a LOT of clothes at a second hand op-shop, but it's still all up in the air whether or not we'll be able to get everything back! Other than that we have all the other issues like closing bank accounts, packing, and saying goodbye to friends and the city.
After we leave Wgtn, we fly to Christchurch where we'll pick up another campervan, and attempt to resume the trip around the South Island we didn't have time to finish at the beginning of the year. We haven't yet finalised an itinerary, but we'll definitely head down to Queenstown, and time depending explore some of the other regions at the far south of the country. We might get a chance to see Dunedin and Otago, and maybe even head back up to Kairkoura and Hamner Springs. Hopefully, if we have similar campsites as before, we'll use the internet facilities to update on where we are and what we're doing.
Then, after our camper-trip, part deux, we're due to fly back from Christchurch to Auckland, and then on to London via Hong Kong. It'll be a long day! Emily will be staying in Harold Wood for a week, and if we're not too jet-lagged or tired, we'll head down to Canterbury to catch up with some friends, before Emily flies on to Boston. At that point, we'll just be waiting on the word from Korea...
So that was Wellington for us! I know I keep saying this, but at some point I'll upload the recent pictures onto Flickr from the whole experience. And I'll get Emily to round things off from her perspective when she's not too busy. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Photos
Here's a link to some photos my brother Richard took while the family was in NZ: http://picasaweb.google.com/rich.besen/NewZealand2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCLO8zoC-5oTdfw#
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Monday, February 15, 2010
New Beginnings
Hello Everyone. I write to you tonight from our breezy back garden on Brougham st, Mt. Victoria. The move was a very overwhelming ordeal involving a lot of frustration and for a while we were convinced we needed to settle on another tiny apartment or a spacious place way out of the city. With time and help from our new kiwi flatmate, we managed to find a gorgeous, spacious, self-contained house not far from the city at all. The place has three bedrooms, the biggest of which Jamie and I have claimed (there are two of us after all), a separate kitchen and combined living/dining room. The best part of the house is undoubtedly the back garden where I am sitting now. Nick (flatmate #1) purchased a lovely outdoor dining setup which we've put on the deck that opens up into a small yard complete with shed and large clothesline (I've never hung clothes on a clothesline before, I have to admit I felt quite the domestic goddess). We are sandwiched snugly between two houses which from the sound of things have families complete with crying babies, but the house is its own unit, which is nice.
Since our Terrace lease doesn't actually run out until tomorrow, we've been shuttling things over all week- but today was the last of it. I kicked up quite the fuss on a bus ride cross-town where I almost missed my stop and probably took out a few eyes with the fake christmas tree and ornaments I was carrying. Tomorrow Jamie and I will hand in our keys to the property managers and hopefully get our bond back in full.
I'm still hard at work at the Bristol which is about the same distance from here as was the Terrace. The morning commute is a bit longer for Jamie, who has been working a few days at Kirckaldie's. Today he and a friend from the Christmas shop were hard at work painting shelves and he's done a few days at the wine and cheese shop. They don't seem to want to let him go and have tentatively offered him a permanent weekend position in the shop.
March brings the long-awaited visit of my family and I can't wait. We're planning a roadtrip starting from Auckland where they arrive, but I've tried to make our route a bit different from Jamie and I's so I can see more of NZ. We'll finish in Wellington where hopefully they'll treat us at the nicer restaurants our budget doesn't quite allow. Melbourne did afterall, pull at the old pursestrings.
Speaking of, the trip was fantastic. Hopefully we'll get some pictures up soon, but you can expect some snaps of the Australian Open, an Australia Day picnic, and various other city sights. We'd heard Melbourne was a lot like Wellington, only bigger, and I did definitely see the similarities- same cafe/coffee culture, centered around a harbour, totally walkable, and very safe. We were lucky to meet up with some friends of Jamie's from Amsterdam who took us to the best shops and rooftop bars the city and our budget had to offer. Melbourne was definitely abuzz with the Australian Open and we spent a few evenings watching the matches on a bigscreen in Federation Square along with other (mostly foreign) tennis enthusiasts. The match we ended up seeing inside the arena from waaaay high up was Tsonga and Djokovic, a well-played 3 hour+ affair. We also saw the Williams sisters in action and Jamie's favorite Brit, Laura Robson. It was a very fun week.
It getting quite chilly out here and the baby next door has been screaming for a while now, so I think I'll go inside. Hope this update finds you all well. Oh and here's our new address:
67 Brougham st
Mt. Victoria
Wellington, 6011
New Zealand
The other side of the world.
Since our Terrace lease doesn't actually run out until tomorrow, we've been shuttling things over all week- but today was the last of it. I kicked up quite the fuss on a bus ride cross-town where I almost missed my stop and probably took out a few eyes with the fake christmas tree and ornaments I was carrying. Tomorrow Jamie and I will hand in our keys to the property managers and hopefully get our bond back in full.
I'm still hard at work at the Bristol which is about the same distance from here as was the Terrace. The morning commute is a bit longer for Jamie, who has been working a few days at Kirckaldie's. Today he and a friend from the Christmas shop were hard at work painting shelves and he's done a few days at the wine and cheese shop. They don't seem to want to let him go and have tentatively offered him a permanent weekend position in the shop.
March brings the long-awaited visit of my family and I can't wait. We're planning a roadtrip starting from Auckland where they arrive, but I've tried to make our route a bit different from Jamie and I's so I can see more of NZ. We'll finish in Wellington where hopefully they'll treat us at the nicer restaurants our budget doesn't quite allow. Melbourne did afterall, pull at the old pursestrings.
Speaking of, the trip was fantastic. Hopefully we'll get some pictures up soon, but you can expect some snaps of the Australian Open, an Australia Day picnic, and various other city sights. We'd heard Melbourne was a lot like Wellington, only bigger, and I did definitely see the similarities- same cafe/coffee culture, centered around a harbour, totally walkable, and very safe. We were lucky to meet up with some friends of Jamie's from Amsterdam who took us to the best shops and rooftop bars the city and our budget had to offer. Melbourne was definitely abuzz with the Australian Open and we spent a few evenings watching the matches on a bigscreen in Federation Square along with other (mostly foreign) tennis enthusiasts. The match we ended up seeing inside the arena from waaaay high up was Tsonga and Djokovic, a well-played 3 hour+ affair. We also saw the Williams sisters in action and Jamie's favorite Brit, Laura Robson. It was a very fun week.
It getting quite chilly out here and the baby next door has been screaming for a while now, so I think I'll go inside. Hope this update finds you all well. Oh and here's our new address:
67 Brougham st
Mt. Victoria
Wellington, 6011
New Zealand
The other side of the world.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
End of Work
Now is the beginning of an uneasy time for us, or at least an incredibly hectic time. Perhaps most importantly, my job at the Kirks Christmas Shop is coming to an end. (Today was my last day in the shop, and next week will be spent packing everything away...) To add to the tension of beginning the jobhunting process once again will be the stress of finding a new place to live in the next few weeks, not to mention actually closing the deal and getting successfully transferred.
On the plus side, our Australian holiday is coming up, although the timing of it pushes it right into the thick of everything else we have to worry about, and besides the distraction it provides there's also the damage the trip will do to our bank accounts. However, we've been looking forward to it too much to let that bother us.
Also coming up is a visit from Emily's grandmother, who has arrived in NZ and should be in our fair city on Monday afternoon. Emily has also been incredibly excited about this, and I'm sure will update on what occurs during her stay.
On the plus side, our Australian holiday is coming up, although the timing of it pushes it right into the thick of everything else we have to worry about, and besides the distraction it provides there's also the damage the trip will do to our bank accounts. However, we've been looking forward to it too much to let that bother us.
Also coming up is a visit from Emily's grandmother, who has arrived in NZ and should be in our fair city on Monday afternoon. Emily has also been incredibly excited about this, and I'm sure will update on what occurs during her stay.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Holiday in the Sun
SO now that Christmas is over and done with (at least in this hemisphere), we figured we should fill you all in on our exciting and warm(ish) holiday festivities. Since the weather felt very unchristmas-like, Jamie set up a lovely little Christmas tree with gold and red baubles-to get us in the spirit. After he had bought the decorations he commented that he was upset he couldn't find a Star of David for the tip of the tree; I pointed out that Jewish themed Christmas tree decorations don't exist... You may have seen from the photos that I also decorated stockings in hopes that the quality of $2 shop goods is high enough that we are able to take them with us to NY next year. Speaking of which, Jamie has sent in his application for the Sound Engineering School in midtown NYC! He was toying with the idea of applying to a less estabilished and cheaper program, but SAE definitely seems like the best option with a huge career network due to the school's locations throughout the world. NY also seems to work with my plans to work as a student advisor for study abroad programs at high schools or universities, not to mention it is currently the epicenter of our social network- most of our friends either live in or have plans to move to the city.
Anyway, back to our Christmas day goings-on: We started the morning as good son and daughter and skyped our parents in hopes of prolonging the christmas morning anticipation (and to catch up with our families of course). After bragging about the warm weather a bit, we exchanged gifts. Highlights included perfume and a new book for me and headphones and a photo album complete with printed NZ photos and commentary for Jamie. We realized we had a total of three Christmas evening invitations, but since the dinner we commited to was due to begin at 5, we sent our regrets to our respective co-workers. We were responsible for bringing dessert to our Chrismas dinner at the home of Jamie's co-worker's boyfriend, so I got to work on baking a cake. After a few hiccups (I don't bake much), I managed to produce a yummy, if a bit lopsided, chocolate strawberry cake and some Christmas cookies. We brought our goodies across town where we finally met the boyfriend, who is from Scotland, as well as his kiwi roommate who joined us for dinner and Jamie's canadian co-worker and her roommate. It was a truly international Chistmas. Rich cooked us quite the feast which we promptly worked off with hours of Wii tennis, bowling, boxing, and golf and an intense game of Cranium. We waddled home stuffed and full of Chrismas cheer just after midnight.
January is going to be a big month for us. Somehow I managed to get New Years Eve off work, so we'll have another holiday night to celebrate together. Bristol's staff holiday party is on January 2nd where tradition dictates a costume theme. Last year it was "rockstars," and this year its any getup beginning with the letter "R." I'm still undecided, but will let you all know. Jamie's stint at the Christmas shop ends in the next three weeks after the "Big Sale," which is apparently the Kirk's event of the year, after which he'll need to find a new job. Hopefully the tourist season won't make that too difficult. We'll also need to start looking for a new apartment, as our landlords have informed us of the $10 raise in rent. We're hoping to find a place a bit cheaper and not too far out of town since we've become so accustomed to the conveniences of living close by. January also brings my grandmother's visit (yay!) and of course our big Aussie adventure.
We hope you all had a very merry Christmas and/or a Happy Hanukkah and send our best wishes for the new year!
Anyway, back to our Christmas day goings-on: We started the morning as good son and daughter and skyped our parents in hopes of prolonging the christmas morning anticipation (and to catch up with our families of course). After bragging about the warm weather a bit, we exchanged gifts. Highlights included perfume and a new book for me and headphones and a photo album complete with printed NZ photos and commentary for Jamie. We realized we had a total of three Christmas evening invitations, but since the dinner we commited to was due to begin at 5, we sent our regrets to our respective co-workers. We were responsible for bringing dessert to our Chrismas dinner at the home of Jamie's co-worker's boyfriend, so I got to work on baking a cake. After a few hiccups (I don't bake much), I managed to produce a yummy, if a bit lopsided, chocolate strawberry cake and some Christmas cookies. We brought our goodies across town where we finally met the boyfriend, who is from Scotland, as well as his kiwi roommate who joined us for dinner and Jamie's canadian co-worker and her roommate. It was a truly international Chistmas. Rich cooked us quite the feast which we promptly worked off with hours of Wii tennis, bowling, boxing, and golf and an intense game of Cranium. We waddled home stuffed and full of Chrismas cheer just after midnight.
January is going to be a big month for us. Somehow I managed to get New Years Eve off work, so we'll have another holiday night to celebrate together. Bristol's staff holiday party is on January 2nd where tradition dictates a costume theme. Last year it was "rockstars," and this year its any getup beginning with the letter "R." I'm still undecided, but will let you all know. Jamie's stint at the Christmas shop ends in the next three weeks after the "Big Sale," which is apparently the Kirk's event of the year, after which he'll need to find a new job. Hopefully the tourist season won't make that too difficult. We'll also need to start looking for a new apartment, as our landlords have informed us of the $10 raise in rent. We're hoping to find a place a bit cheaper and not too far out of town since we've become so accustomed to the conveniences of living close by. January also brings my grandmother's visit (yay!) and of course our big Aussie adventure.
We hope you all had a very merry Christmas and/or a Happy Hanukkah and send our best wishes for the new year!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Photo Update! At Last!
Just a quick post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and to say that your present is the last few months' worth of photos from Wellington. Check the flickr page for the set.
Emily has promised to write a proper post tomorrow, so look out for that.
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