So today I went skydiving.
Maybe more of an update when I able to again process words and thoughts.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Like the eagle perched atop the globe
I Am America (And So Can You!): Stories from a Day at Work
The phone rings! Despite that I avoid answering it, I can't really ignore the thing ringing right next to my hand for longer than 4 rings. So I answer and it's a woman calling about the kitchenhand job. I go over to my (South African) boss, but he's making Hollandaise sauce, and so just answers through me. After I hang up:
Boss: You Americans, you're so polite.
Me: Well, we do try.
Boss: When you're not bombing the shit out of other countries
Me: You know, when politeness doesn't work.
Later, I am cleaning some coffee cups (I really, really didn't want to close, but at the same time knew that if I WERE to close, it'd be damn easier if I'd gotten a ton of stuff done before the rest of the waiters left) and my boss is speaking to my (Canadian) coworker about something. Anyway, I overhear the end of the conversation:
Boss: The Americans spent millions of dollars and two years developing a pen that could write in space. You know what the Russians did? They used a pencil.
Coworker laughs
Me: Hey. That pen also writes underwater.
ALSO TODAY!
I passed this guy sitting at a table outside that is really far from the door, and I offered him an ash tray because I saw he had a pack of cigarettes. And he accepted and was very nice, and our exchange was brief, but for some reason I felt like I knew his accent. But it certainly wasn't mine. So I decide I am crazy. Later, I bring out his bill and he's like, "Here, I'll give you this" and pulls out a credit card from inside his US passport. So I'm like, "Hey, where are you from?" and he's like, "Tennessee" which explains the familiar/unfamiliar accent. And I say I'm from Upstate New York and he's like, "Where?" so I say, "Albany" and he's all, "My Dad is from Schenectady." Small world, right? I bring back the bill, and he's like, "So have you been to SPAC?" and I don't even process that familiarity, because I'm so out of place and I think it's some Kiwi thing and say no, and then it clicks and I'm like, "Wait. Yes. Saratoga Performing Arts Center?" and he's all, "Yeah, I saw the Allman Brothers there. Great venue" and then we talked about SPAC. I talked about SPAC with a boy from Tennessee in the middle of the North Island of New Zealand. What the hell!!
Later on that night, I went to table 22 to deliver drinks, and it was not my table but if you take drinks and they seem ready to order, you might as well take their order. And the lady definitely sounded American, but the gentleman decidedly did not, so I ignored it, but then she was like, "Where are you from?" and I Upstate-New-York-ed and she was like, "California!" (also funny because the people who'd been sitting at 23 where just telling me they met Californians all the time) and then we got into the "How long have you been here?"s and when I said end of October, she was like, "Did you vote." and I said yes, absentee, and then she gave me a high-five and it was awesome. Then we talked about the election for a while, and brainstormed on how to watch the inauguration (her: "How will you see it?" me: "I'm assuming it'll be covered, I just have to get up at 6am." We decided it must be on CNN). Then I had to extract myself because I feel bad chatting when it's busy, but then my boss's wife left later, and they were paying, and I was like, "It was great to meet you!" and then we talked for like 10 minutes about how awesome Barack Obama is and how psyched we are about this whole thing and how miserable the last 8 years have been, and how tough the Clinton/Obama choice was initially, but then how it became clear that the Clinton campaign was a bit of a mess and we didn't want any part of it, and I just generally had a really terrific conversation with her. It rocked!! Also, at one point she was like, "I just can't believe how he's already taken over so much! It's never been like this before!" and I said, "Well, he's pretty much been President since Hillary Clinton conceded," which she found funny.
Also, a table full of British girls tried to tip me about $25 which might not sound like much to you, but tipping is not a thing in New Zealand, so that's kind of awesome. We couldn't add it onto the card, so I wound up only getting around $14, but that's still damn good and since we split tips anyway, it's kind of the thought that counts.
And then my boss asked me if I wanted to leave at 9:30 or close, and I was like, "Um. Leave." and I got to. So, you know. Ace.
The phone rings! Despite that I avoid answering it, I can't really ignore the thing ringing right next to my hand for longer than 4 rings. So I answer and it's a woman calling about the kitchenhand job. I go over to my (South African) boss, but he's making Hollandaise sauce, and so just answers through me. After I hang up:
Boss: You Americans, you're so polite.
Me: Well, we do try.
Boss: When you're not bombing the shit out of other countries
Me: You know, when politeness doesn't work.
Later, I am cleaning some coffee cups (I really, really didn't want to close, but at the same time knew that if I WERE to close, it'd be damn easier if I'd gotten a ton of stuff done before the rest of the waiters left) and my boss is speaking to my (Canadian) coworker about something. Anyway, I overhear the end of the conversation:
Boss: The Americans spent millions of dollars and two years developing a pen that could write in space. You know what the Russians did? They used a pencil.
Coworker laughs
Me: Hey. That pen also writes underwater.
ALSO TODAY!
I passed this guy sitting at a table outside that is really far from the door, and I offered him an ash tray because I saw he had a pack of cigarettes. And he accepted and was very nice, and our exchange was brief, but for some reason I felt like I knew his accent. But it certainly wasn't mine. So I decide I am crazy. Later, I bring out his bill and he's like, "Here, I'll give you this" and pulls out a credit card from inside his US passport. So I'm like, "Hey, where are you from?" and he's like, "Tennessee" which explains the familiar/unfamiliar accent. And I say I'm from Upstate New York and he's like, "Where?" so I say, "Albany" and he's all, "My Dad is from Schenectady." Small world, right? I bring back the bill, and he's like, "So have you been to SPAC?" and I don't even process that familiarity, because I'm so out of place and I think it's some Kiwi thing and say no, and then it clicks and I'm like, "Wait. Yes. Saratoga Performing Arts Center?" and he's all, "Yeah, I saw the Allman Brothers there. Great venue" and then we talked about SPAC. I talked about SPAC with a boy from Tennessee in the middle of the North Island of New Zealand. What the hell!!
Later on that night, I went to table 22 to deliver drinks, and it was not my table but if you take drinks and they seem ready to order, you might as well take their order. And the lady definitely sounded American, but the gentleman decidedly did not, so I ignored it, but then she was like, "Where are you from?" and I Upstate-New-York-ed and she was like, "California!" (also funny because the people who'd been sitting at 23 where just telling me they met Californians all the time) and then we got into the "How long have you been here?"s and when I said end of October, she was like, "Did you vote." and I said yes, absentee, and then she gave me a high-five and it was awesome. Then we talked about the election for a while, and brainstormed on how to watch the inauguration (her: "How will you see it?" me: "I'm assuming it'll be covered, I just have to get up at 6am." We decided it must be on CNN). Then I had to extract myself because I feel bad chatting when it's busy, but then my boss's wife left later, and they were paying, and I was like, "It was great to meet you!" and then we talked for like 10 minutes about how awesome Barack Obama is and how psyched we are about this whole thing and how miserable the last 8 years have been, and how tough the Clinton/Obama choice was initially, but then how it became clear that the Clinton campaign was a bit of a mess and we didn't want any part of it, and I just generally had a really terrific conversation with her. It rocked!! Also, at one point she was like, "I just can't believe how he's already taken over so much! It's never been like this before!" and I said, "Well, he's pretty much been President since Hillary Clinton conceded," which she found funny.
Also, a table full of British girls tried to tip me about $25 which might not sound like much to you, but tipping is not a thing in New Zealand, so that's kind of awesome. We couldn't add it onto the card, so I wound up only getting around $14, but that's still damn good and since we split tips anyway, it's kind of the thought that counts.
And then my boss asked me if I wanted to leave at 9:30 or close, and I was like, "Um. Leave." and I got to. So, you know. Ace.
Monday, January 12, 2009
There's friendly people in cities, too
Has it been over a week? No way! Oh, it hasn't, blogger just updates with your date instead of mine. Which, I guess, is cool. Or whatever. Anyway, I had Monday and Tuesday off this week, too! Yay consistency! I've been less eventful, though. Last night I rented more movies and we watched The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. Which were fun. And today I went for a swim in the lake after I bought ground coffee because I invested in a French Press! It's a teensy thing and it's entirely stainless steal (rather than stainless steal and glass), so in theory it is portable for when I'm on the move again. And it was on sale for $20. But I no longer need to make Instant Coffee! Unfortunately, this means I'll need to leave myself more time in the mornings to make coffee, but here's hoping it will work out. I should also have purchased an alarm clock because my phone alarm is getting easier to sleep through. Well, here's hoping I don't get fired. Anyway. I bought postcards to send people, but then I forgot my pen when I went to write them, so I haven't written them yet. Oh, and I got a Twitter account! So let me know if you want access to that. You should join! I'm about 10 years behind everyone on the Twitter bandwagon, but that's life. I'm following Stephen Fry's Twitter, and Stephen Fry is ALSO in New Zealand right now, which I found out not from Twitter (although he talks about it) but from my friend in Wellington, who met Stephen Fry in Queenstown. How jealous are you right now? I know I am. I also heard a rumor (read: saw a tiny line on a newspaper) that Brad Pitt was secretly vacationing in New Zealand recently. So what I'm saying is, New Zealand is the latest hotspot and you should get thee to a travel agent post haste.
I borrowed a book from my flatmate, a Terry Pratchett novel that I'm enjoying, but I'm still in the market for book recommendations. Anyone got any? Mother, have you released your year-end best books list? Care to send it New Zealand-way? Gracias!
A few nights ago at 10ish, one of my flatmates and I went down to the lake to swim. It was pretty awesome, I'm not going to lie. This lake is so cool. It's warm, actually (see what I did there?), and totally clear. So Jackie could swim in it! Because she hates swimming somewhere where she can't see her feet! Today was a great day for it, it was clear, but there was still some wave-action going on. Although by the time I left, it was getting a little chilly. So perhaps I should have not stayed in bed until noon and gone earlier. Ah, well, live and learn.
I borrowed a book from my flatmate, a Terry Pratchett novel that I'm enjoying, but I'm still in the market for book recommendations. Anyone got any? Mother, have you released your year-end best books list? Care to send it New Zealand-way? Gracias!
A few nights ago at 10ish, one of my flatmates and I went down to the lake to swim. It was pretty awesome, I'm not going to lie. This lake is so cool. It's warm, actually (see what I did there?), and totally clear. So Jackie could swim in it! Because she hates swimming somewhere where she can't see her feet! Today was a great day for it, it was clear, but there was still some wave-action going on. Although by the time I left, it was getting a little chilly. So perhaps I should have not stayed in bed until noon and gone earlier. Ah, well, live and learn.
Monday, January 5, 2009
The weather changes not halfway between your house and mine
Hello! This update is for all of you, but mostly Grace. I've been worrying her, you see, she thinks I'm either dead or unhappy. So I must correct her. I picked up a little New Zealand datebook here that I've been trying to keep track of my days in. Just little notes before I go to bed to recap what I've done.
But I haven't said much here recently, and for good reason: I don't have a hell of a lot to say. I've been working pretty consistently. I had today and yesterday off, yay! So Sunday night I rented a few movies so that we could watch Anchorman (which: they hadn't seen it, so I ran out and rented it, and then everyone but me and one other girl went to bed! However, since then I've heard Anchorman playing downstairs at least 3 times now, and I heard plans to watch it later, so they're all coming around), and yesterday I went to the beach with one of my flatmates, came back, and watched Madagascar and The Bourne Identity (I rented Bourne, someone else rented Madagascar. Bourne was superior. I was the only one watching by the end, but I was the one who hadn't seen it, so). And today I bummed around, mostly, and went shopping at one point, but didn't buy anything. Boring, I know, but there HAD been plans to beach it or shop it, but everyone else disappeared/got called into work, so I just did my own thing. Finally mailed out a package to Ben! So, hey, BVS, you'll be receiving something soon. Hooray! And just now I got to talk to Allie, which was cool. And a little earlier I hung out while people made themselves dinner and stole some of their food. Not bad.
Whoa! I am lying on my bed, and I just looked over and it looks like the sky is on fire. When did that happen? Hang on, I need to take pictures from my balcony. Oh no!! My camera battery is dead! What is this!!!
Anyway. I went out to watch the sunset and then someone informed me they were watching House downstairs, so it's 2 hours later now. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Hugh Laurie and medical dramas. Anyway, I really wish I could think of more interesting things to talk about, but I'm pretty well drawing a blank. Oh! I guess I could tell you about holidays in the summer.
Weird. As in, the first day it really felt like summer to me was when I was walking to work on New Year's Eve. Something about the air and the flowers felt especially summery. But it was New Year's Eve. And I worked. I also worked on Christmas Eve, and then came home to find that my flatmates'd bought stuff to make pizza with. So after a trip to the liquor store, we had a little Christmas Eve party. It was fun times! There were Christmas Crackers and bad jokes and boxed wine. All in all, a solid win for the away team. Then on Christmas Day, post-present-opening, post-breakfast, post-bumming around, a few of us headed on down to the beach. Where we found many other people engaging in a little holiday swim. We discussed the weirdness of swimming on Christmas, then we went home and watched DVDs all night. Boxing Day was another working day, although they gave me free food at the end of it, so I can't complain. My birthday I took off because I don't work on my birthday. I can't really remember what I did. I went shopping. Stopped by a friend's workplace to say hi and scored a free coffee. My flatmates baked me an apple cake which was tasty, so they popped some candles on that and I blew them out and then we feasted. Watched some more TV, then went to the natural hot pools by the river at night. It was damn cool, being there with all the stars out. And the water is superhot, and the river is supercold, so you can adjust your temperature by where you choose to sit/stand/swim. And there were stars. And then we went home, had more cake, met up with a bunch of visitors, and watched Sweeney Todd. The next day my boss asked me if Christmas and my birthday away from home made me very homesick, but there is a general consensus among us Northern Hemispherers that Christmas in summer is decidedly unChristmassy. So not so much. Same for New Year's! I checked out the fireworks, but other then that had to face the facts of working in the morning and didn't really do much. 2008 was good to me, 2009's been pretty fun so far, too. I've only been in Taupo for a month, but already we're getting close to when I'm leaving and I'm starting to get psyched up for seeing the South Island and meeting up with a certain Alaskan.
But I haven't said much here recently, and for good reason: I don't have a hell of a lot to say. I've been working pretty consistently. I had today and yesterday off, yay! So Sunday night I rented a few movies so that we could watch Anchorman (which: they hadn't seen it, so I ran out and rented it, and then everyone but me and one other girl went to bed! However, since then I've heard Anchorman playing downstairs at least 3 times now, and I heard plans to watch it later, so they're all coming around), and yesterday I went to the beach with one of my flatmates, came back, and watched Madagascar and The Bourne Identity (I rented Bourne, someone else rented Madagascar. Bourne was superior. I was the only one watching by the end, but I was the one who hadn't seen it, so). And today I bummed around, mostly, and went shopping at one point, but didn't buy anything. Boring, I know, but there HAD been plans to beach it or shop it, but everyone else disappeared/got called into work, so I just did my own thing. Finally mailed out a package to Ben! So, hey, BVS, you'll be receiving something soon. Hooray! And just now I got to talk to Allie, which was cool. And a little earlier I hung out while people made themselves dinner and stole some of their food. Not bad.
Whoa! I am lying on my bed, and I just looked over and it looks like the sky is on fire. When did that happen? Hang on, I need to take pictures from my balcony. Oh no!! My camera battery is dead! What is this!!!
Anyway. I went out to watch the sunset and then someone informed me they were watching House downstairs, so it's 2 hours later now. What can I say, I'm a sucker for Hugh Laurie and medical dramas. Anyway, I really wish I could think of more interesting things to talk about, but I'm pretty well drawing a blank. Oh! I guess I could tell you about holidays in the summer.
Weird. As in, the first day it really felt like summer to me was when I was walking to work on New Year's Eve. Something about the air and the flowers felt especially summery. But it was New Year's Eve. And I worked. I also worked on Christmas Eve, and then came home to find that my flatmates'd bought stuff to make pizza with. So after a trip to the liquor store, we had a little Christmas Eve party. It was fun times! There were Christmas Crackers and bad jokes and boxed wine. All in all, a solid win for the away team. Then on Christmas Day, post-present-opening, post-breakfast, post-bumming around, a few of us headed on down to the beach. Where we found many other people engaging in a little holiday swim. We discussed the weirdness of swimming on Christmas, then we went home and watched DVDs all night. Boxing Day was another working day, although they gave me free food at the end of it, so I can't complain. My birthday I took off because I don't work on my birthday. I can't really remember what I did. I went shopping. Stopped by a friend's workplace to say hi and scored a free coffee. My flatmates baked me an apple cake which was tasty, so they popped some candles on that and I blew them out and then we feasted. Watched some more TV, then went to the natural hot pools by the river at night. It was damn cool, being there with all the stars out. And the water is superhot, and the river is supercold, so you can adjust your temperature by where you choose to sit/stand/swim. And there were stars. And then we went home, had more cake, met up with a bunch of visitors, and watched Sweeney Todd. The next day my boss asked me if Christmas and my birthday away from home made me very homesick, but there is a general consensus among us Northern Hemispherers that Christmas in summer is decidedly unChristmassy. So not so much. Same for New Year's! I checked out the fireworks, but other then that had to face the facts of working in the morning and didn't really do much. 2008 was good to me, 2009's been pretty fun so far, too. I've only been in Taupo for a month, but already we're getting close to when I'm leaving and I'm starting to get psyched up for seeing the South Island and meeting up with a certain Alaskan.
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