People

Since the hostel is getting busier they decided to put all of the people working for accomodation into one room. So now I share my 8 bed dorm room with 4 guys. It's not too bad yet, but I am a little anxious about it. Mainly...boys smell. And I am even neater than them. Check it out. Everything I own fits into my drawer underneath my bed. And it still is that neat. You should all be impressed.But I am keeping an open mind about. All of them seem really nice and laid back, except for this one guy who I find annoying. But this is only for a month and it's not like I spend that much time in my room anyway so it shouldn't be too bad. If anything it should lead to more stories for the blog.

Walking around Wellington I get to meet a lot of random people that make this a city. For example there is Blanket Man. For serious that is what everyone calls him. He is a thin guy who has a blanket wrapped around him at all times and grey dreads. He walks around barefoot listening to his mp3 player. He just rocks and dances to the music or he just chills on the sidewalk and watches everyone go by. He's wicked nice too. He doesn't ask for money or anything he just asks how your day is going and continues to rock out to his music.

Blanket Man used to be my favorite person in the city. My new favorite is yet to be named. This guy sets up a microphone, a speaker, and two bowls to collect change. Then he hums. That's it. He just stands there staying out into space never making eye contact and just hums into the microphone. He doesn't even hum a tune or anything. He legitamately just hums. He's my new favorite because he moves all of this stuff around on a bicycle and is humming day and night. Maybe I will call him Humming Man.

Burger work is good. Hostel work is bad. I had to clean out the refrigerators today. It's days like this where it doesn't seem worth it to work for accomodation but I just keep telling myself that it is only for one more month and that I am saving loads of money. Also after I get out of work I go to the beach so it all doesn't seem so bad then. That is the view that I have while I am laying on the beach. Not too shabby. It's just while I am scrubbing things that I am thinking of how sucky cleaning is. I have never cleaned so much in my entire life. And I hope I never clean as much again.


I might go to a rock club tonight. I haven't been out much since I started working and it should be a good show tonight. Also since I don't have my ipod anymore I am craving some music. Yep, tonight I think I will rock out like Blanket Man.

Nightmares

This is the busy season for the hostel right now. In fact it is completely booked so I now have seven people in my room. I didn't really get a chance to talk to them last night. I vacuumed in the morning until 1 and then went straight to the burger place until 10:30pm. I fell asleep before anyone else got into the room. Around 3 am I hear one of the girls say "What the f? Get the f off of me!" We all wake up and the girl says how her nose is bleeding. We turn on the lights and she is standing in the middle of the room looking really scared. Apparently while she was sleeping she felt this weight on her face. She said it felt like someone was holding her down.
She thought the bunk above her fell on her. But nothing hit her face, which made it even weirder that her nose was bleeding. It was pretty weird. I also just finished reading a book The Lovely Bones. I highly recommend it. It's really good. It's about a girl who dies and how her spirit world interacts with earthly world as her family grieves. Having read that book and then have this random girl in my room say that she felt like someone was holding her down when on one was their really freaked me out. I don't know. Maybe my room is haunted by a disgruntled backpacker who just wanted a good night sleep.

Nothing else new. Today and tomorrow are my days off from the burger place. I spent today in a coffee place drinking some flat whites and reading which was great. I have no set plans for tomorrow and I like it that way. Hope Thanksgiving was fun...now back to work all of you!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just want to wish everyone at home a very happy thanksgiving! Have no fear I am not missing the turkey at all, but of course I miss being home with the fam. It's always a fun relaxing time watching the parade and eating dad's peporoni and provolone turkey. I'll eat some cranberries today in honor of thanksgiving. Being away for this thanksgiving is just gonna make me enjoy next year's even more.

It's the usual around here. I've been working and hanging. I am getting excited thinking about all of the things I want to do in the South Island. I have heard from other traveler's that the South Island is even more beautiful than the North! I really can't wait to get down there. I do think I am going to hold off on going down until after January. The concert I bought tickets to is on the North Island so I think I am going to stay North until after the concert.

I hope all my friends had fun last night on Thanksgiving eve. I am sure there are some stories to be told. Love Peace and Turkey Grease!!

Quiz Night

My English boys, Nate and Alan, were back in Wellington for one night last night. Last night was also the quiz night at the basement bar at the hostel. The prize was a fifty dollar bar tab. We created a team and got two other people, Ed and Jacky from their Kiwi bus to join. Alan and I had done the quiz the last time he was here and we remembered that on top of the questions there was also bonus rounds. The bonus rounds were like treasure hunts. The dj would say he wanted a bra and guys underwear and the first team to run up with both things in their hands would win the bonus rounds. The bonus rounds were worth 1000 points so essentially if you won them you won the quiz (yes we won a bonus round last time and yes it was my bra that was taken off so speedily, but nothing was seen). Our team this time decided to be a little dorky and think ahead...Alan put a pair of boxers in his pocket and I had a bra in mine.

After the first round of the quiz the dj does a bonus round. It turns out to be scooter race around the pool table. The next bonus round was that a teammate had to spin with his head down on a broom five times and then race around the pool table. Ed did this one for our team. He spun and then started to run but he ran the wrong way and ran straight into the dj booth. When he finally sorted himself out and started running the right way he got to the pool table and instead of running around it managed to put his hands on the table and jump over it, without messing up the pool game that was being played. We lost that round but it was a good effort on Ed's part and he got a free drink at the bar for the pool gymnastics.

The last bonus round Nate did. He had to race around the pool table on a bouncy ball. We lost.

We were getting a decent amount of the questions right. They were mostly name the song and the artist which we were really good at. So it comes down to the last bonus round. It's worth something ridiculous like 10000 points so basically whoever wins this one will win the bar tab. The dj says that he wants a bra, a pair of boxers, two t-shirts and a pair of jeans. Alan and I rip out our boxers and bra, Nate drops his jeans AND his shirt (so he is now standing in the middle of the bar in his underwear...like a bad nightmare), and Ed takes off his shirt. I run it all up to the dj and we win. Hahah we got the 50 dollar bar tab. We also got a pair of sandals each and a condom sponsored by some vodka.

Well we had each drank a pitcher of beer during the quiz and now we were given five more pitchers of beer to enjoy. The bar closed with Frank Sinatra singing "New York, New York" and we were all dancing around doing the rockettes kicks and singing along. Needless to say it was an enjoyable night but this morning was a little rough. I had to bathrooms again at work...booo. So Nate and Alan are gone from NZ but we all exchanged emails so I have no doubt that they will be coming to the states when I am back. Ed will be back in Wellington in a couple weeks and I think we will try to win that bar tab again.

It was a random and good night.

Can't think of anything to put here

I just finished my first week at eat. It was really good. The place is usually busy so the time goes by fast. The two owners, Nic and Norm are really laid back and chill. They are in their thirties. The only other person who works there right now is Ed and he's my age. It's a pretty neat little place. It's only been open for a couple of months but the business is steady.

Basically all I do right now is vacuum in the morning, bake burgers at night, and in the afternoon wander around and soak up the sun. It's not a bad life I must say. I am really relaxed and just enjoying having no responsibilities.

I did a typical Elyse thing. The first day that I was in NZ I set up a bank account here so when I got a job the money could be directly deposited. Well when I set up the account I also chose a pin number. I was jet lagged though and for the life of me I can't remember what the pin number is. So I have to get a replacement bank card...even though I have never used the original one! Go me. It's not soo bad since there's little money in that account anyway I just think its funny that I probably came up with a pin that I thought there was no way I would forget. And I did forget it. I am a genius.

So random question. I just finished reading a biography of the Dalah Lama's mother (yes Steph the person) and I was thinking about the whole idea of reincarnation. If reincarnation is true, then how can a population growth be explained? To me reincarnation means that there is a finite number of souls that are rebirthed after death. But what happens if the finite number of souls is less than the finite number of bodies? Do the souls split in half? I know it's random but I figure that someone out there that I know might have a good answer.

llama llama llama llama llama

Eat gourmet burgers and then some

Yesterday I started my new job at "Eat, Gourmet Burgers." The people are really nice and by the end of the shift I had been bumped up from ten hours a week to 20. Today I came in and was bumped up to 30 hours a week. I am psyched. The more money I save now means the more adventures I can go on when I head to the South Island and to Fiji. It works out that I clean in the hostel from 10-1 and then I go into work at 5. So I still have the afternoon to hang out around Wellington and just hang at the beach. Whoo hoo. I couldn't have planned this to work out soo well. The job is until Christmas eve so my new idea is that I will stay in Wellington until the New Years and the look for a job on a farm for a month or so. When am I ever going to get the chance to work on a farm again? I have to try it out.

Ohh and it turns out that I don't flip the burgers. They are baked.

I have actually been in Wellington long enough that people that I traveled on buses with to Wellington are already back here after going to the South Island. It's really funny. A couple of them saw me and their eyes went wide and they said "You're still here" in this surprised tone. I laughed to myself and then I explained to them what I was doing. I think next time it happens I will make up a story like I am working in a brothel or something.

Speaking of brothels...apparently there is one right around the corner. Today my cleaning supervisor Ian asked if I was still looking for a job. I said yes and he told me about a job that would be in the mornings before I start cleaning in the hostel and it would pay 12.50 an hour. I was intrigued until he told me I would be cleaning for the brothel! Ewwwwwww. And he said how the women who usually clean the brothel also worked in the hostel but both have disappeared. In a split second I weighed the pros and cons of the job. (Pro: 12.50 an hour, Brothel cleaner on my resume; Con: cleaners tend to disappear and who knows what I would find in there). I kindly turned down the job offer and explained to Ian how I found the burger job and so I wouldn't need his help in directing me towards further employment opportunities.

I got a Wellington library card so now I can hang on the beach with all of the good books that I want to read. Dorky yet exciting. And no there won't be any math books (well at least not ones that contain problems to do).

The Christmas trees that bloom red flowers are starting to bloom. I will take some pictures of them once they are in full effect.

There is this horrible duo of guitarists singing in the bar right below me. Even I can tell that they aren't in key. They sure aren't the guitar dudes. I def miss wednesdays back at umass. sigh. I have to end this blog I can't stand to hear them sing U2 With or Without You. They are at the point where Bono is ooohhhohohohing and it is t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e.

The cleaning team

It looks like for the duration of my stay in Wellington I will be working for accomodation every morning. It's just too good of a deal to pass up. Besides me there are four other women on the cleaning team. They are all Maori and all of them are very interesting characters.

Fiona is my supervisor. She talks fast, works fast and calls all of us girl when she is speaking. I have trouble with her accent sometimes. When she says 410 I hear 14. She thinks it's because she doesn't speak proper english which isn't true its just with a vacuum running I can't really hear. It's interesting, when she is around the girls she is loud and running around but when a boss comes in she gets real quiet. I don't mean that she doesn't talk I mean that her decibel level decreases.

It seems that all of the other girls live around each other just outside of the city. They all have kids and I don't think any of them are older than 35. Most of them work other jobs on top of this one. It's interesting to see the class difference between all of us. I am here in New Zealand on vacation and decided to work for accomodation to save money so that when I go to the south island and to fiji I will have more to spend. They are working at the same job to support families and to make a living. I think Fiona is the only one out of the girls that has a car, the rest take the bus into work. Another thing about the cleaning team that is interesting is that they really don't like the reception workers. They feel like the reception workers think that the cleaners are below them. One of the other cleaning workers, Ian, who is probably late thirties actually told me that he was hurt because the reception people were going out drinking but none of them thought to invite the cleaners. From my interaction with the reception people I don't feel that they think that I am below them, but then again they know I am a backpacker and doing this for a relatively short amount of time to save money. Interesting stuff.

Anyway, even though they don't have thanksgiving Wellington still has a thanksgiving day parade. They just call it the Santa parade. I am pretty sure it's this weekend and I am definetly going to check it out. Of course nothing will ever compare to Macy's parade but it'll be an ok subsitute for this year. The stores already have christmas stuff up. Even though it will be summer in December the decorations are basically the same. Snowmen, tinsel, lights, light up Santa's sitting on a sled atop some snow. A lot of signs say "I am dreaming of a green christmas."
I am excited to see how the christmas season is going to be around here.

I start flipping burgers on wednesday but other than that my only goal for the week is to try and get a library card so that I can get books to read on the beach. It's a tough life I lead.

Big day out

To celebrate my new job I bought my ticket for the Big Day Out, the concert in January that is going to have The Living End. The concert is in Auckland, which is about ten hours north of where I am right now but I'll figure out how I am getting there later. Whoo hoo for concerts!!

Jobness

Mischief night was last weekend. It was weird. Basically everyone just chilled by the beach and the city had a fireworks display shoot off from a barge in the middle of the sea. But before and after the city's display, everyone else got to shoot of the fireworks that they bought at the supermarket. Ha it kind of reminded of the fourth of July in Brooklyn how when we were little we went inside and we just kept on hearing the loud booms of M-80s and stuff like that. Instead of blowing up the telephone booth like they did in Brooklyn, the Welly's threw the loud stuff into the street as cars drove by. I stayed out for a little bit but since I had nothing that I felt like lighting on fire I went back to the hostel.

I was supposed to go to my try out for the zoo tomorrow but the girl who said she was leaving the zoo isn't anymore so there is no room at the zoo for me. Which works out since I got a call today from a food place around the corner from my hostel. I went in for a try out at 6 and it looks like I got the job. The boss, Nic is going to let me know for sure tomorrow. So what kind of food is it? Well none other than gourmet hamburgers! That's right no waitressing for me. Instead I will be in the kitchen taking orders and making burgers. The gourmet part is that they are baked and stuff like mushrooms or blue cheese is put on them. It's take out only. I think of it like an upscale McDonald's. Everyone there seems really nice and laid back which is good. The pay isn't great, only slightly above minimum wage and for right now I am only working ten hours a week. Also they only want me until Christmas Eve (or was it New Year's eve?) I don't remember. But despite all of the downsides I figure its money in my pocket and they will fall in love with me (as all of my past employers have) and then I will get more hours which will lead to more money. Also I am not finished looking for a job. I put my cv into a job agency here so if they come up with something better I will take it. So for now I am flipping burgers every wednesday and thursday from 5-10pm (no I don't have to wear a hair net) and vacuuming the hostel everyday from 10-1. Apparently my showers weren't streak free enough so I got moved back to vacuuming and making beds. I am incredibly relieved. Not too shabby.

For right now I think this is as settled as I am going to get. I do really want to get a flat but I don't think it's going to be possible. The whole point of the job is to save up more money so that when I hit the south island sometime in February and then go to Fiji I will be able to do all of the activities that I want to do, like go whale watching or go find me some yellow eyed penguins. The flat would just take money away from that since right now I can get my accomodation for free. It's not the perfect of circumstances but it's not worst either.

I'm a couple days ahead but just in case I don't blog before it, Happy Anniversary Meryl and Harold (aka Mom and Dad)!

The freckles are out

Instead of vacuuming for accomodation today I had to do something much worse....bathrooms! I had to scrub the showers. It was not fun. The only good thing that came out of it is that it motivated me to job hunt some more. Ughh I still can't believe I scrubbed showers. Backpackers are dirty dirty people who apparently do shower and leave all of their dirt there. What's worse I will probably be doing the same tomorrow. Some big honcho is coming to check up on the hostel so everything has to be clean. I have to give the shower doors streak free shines! I am not too good at it which is weird since we all know my mom can do streak free in her sleep. I guess cleaning is not embedded in DNA.

After the whole shower cleaning terribleness I handed in some more job applications and then went to the beach. I just hung out and soaked up the sun. The freckles are out! It was good and relaxing. I read a lot and just people watched.

As for the job I still haven't really heard back from anyone. The places that I have stopped into to check up on have said that they aren't making any decisions yet. But we'll see. I still have the zoo try out on Friday so hopefully something will come of that. And now that I am on shower duty I am seriously thinking about getting a flat once I get a job. Forget saving money. Not scrubbing showers is worth way more to me than a bed at the hostel. Hopefully the day will never come where they expect me to, uggh, do the toilets. Let's not forget I am here for a vacation!

Picalicious

A waterfall that we walked to before leaving Tangariro National Park. This is the park that has Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings.

Waterfall

These were the beds we had to sleep in. Four on top. Four on bottom. There were four bunks all together. It was an interesting night.

Just playing cards and drinking (actually drinking lots since we all have to sleep in giant beds together tonight)

The Englishmen!! I have no idea what Alan is doing to Nathan

Some people from the Kiwi bus just chillin at River Valley where I went rafting

An English man named Alan and my favorite Kiwi beer, Tui

One of my Kiwi bus drivers, Dallas

This is the pic he told me to send home to mom.

A giant shell that was found in NZ. It dates back millions of years and is said to be unique to NZ alone. PS there term for Pangea which was what we call the connected continents is Gwondalaland

A bull made of cans on display at Te Papa museum

Never far

Duckies

Doesn't it look fake? I still think it does

Still haven't figure out how to rotate pics

OK so now it doesn't look so fake

Zebra!

A bear

An Emu(or maybe it's an ostrich, I don't remember)

Kangaroos from Alan's point of view

Kangaroos from my point of view

A view of Wellington from the zoo

An English man named Nathan with a giant fake Kiwi bird at the zoo

Nathan thought he looked scary so...

he tried to look cool

Flo, my German roomie from Auckland who I met up with again in Wellington

Alan and me in the hostel kitchen

An English man named Ben

Wellington from the top of Mount Victoria...

...when I look straight ahead...

...when I look to the right...

...when I look to the left

Peace out!

Boo on the Zoo

An hour before I was supposed to go to my try out at the zoo(that sounds weird) I got a phone call from the manager. He had to post pone until next Friday. Booo. It's frustrating. So now it's back to submitting applications until next Friday. The weird thing is is that I am not even guaranteed the job. So it makes no sense to depend on the zoo job. I contacted bunac (the company that hooked me up with my work visa) because they have a job search company set up here. Hopefully they can help with my job search. Essentially if I don't find anything promising by next weekend I think I might have to leave Wellington. I don't really want to leave. It seems like a cool place to hang around in for awhile. Since I have absolutely nothing to do I spend my days just wandering around the city. It's really eclectic. I like it.

So for the next week it's vacuuming and wandering. At least I found some nice beaches so I can work on my tan.

One good thing that came out of all of this free time is that my grad applications are completely done. Nothing else is needed from me. Well nothing besides me nagging my recommenders and worrying about rejections. I won't find out anything until I get home so there really is no use worrying about it. I am still going to worry even though it is futile. I wouldn't be me if I didn't.

Tomorrow is Guy Fawkes day. That means fireworks. And they aren't illegal here. I can buy them at the supermarket. Don't worry. I may jump out of planes but I know me and fires and I am sticking to sparklers. I figure tomorrow I will go and hang out down by the beach and watch the fireworks that the city puts on. It should be good.

I am going to try to put up the rest of pictures tomorrow so look out for them.

So yes I am fustrated about not having a job. This budgeting and cooking thing is for the birds. But as I get fustrated and yes maybe even a little homesick I just look at my pictures and I can't help but smile. I am enjoying what I am doing and I can't believe half of the stuff I have already done. I guess working on my tan for a bit isn't a bad deal. I just need to find a good cheap book.