New Zealand: week 3- June 26-July 2

Friday June 26

I have spent a good bit of time each day sending my CV to random places in hopes to get a call-back. I got two today. One from SkyCity, which has a bunch of restaurants, to see if I would like to set up an interview after having a phone conversation with me. A little later, I got another call from Sal's Pizza and they asked if I could make it in for a trial shift. I got excited and said I could come in that night from 6-8pm. I ended up not making it. I got on the wrong bus, got lost, waited forever for another that never came. Talk about frustrating and slightly embarrassing. They let me reschedule for next Friday 1-3pm; hopefully, that works out. The bus system here sucks. I was so spoiled to how great Tel Aviv's was and thought it would be the same here. No. You miss it, tough. Catch the next one IN AN HOUR. Even the train, which is a little better, doesn't run as frequently…but at least it's more than once an hour. I guess I should mention I live in Papakura, so it might be a bit different in the city. To top off that annoyance, I got a call from the first place, Bb's, that wanted me to come in Saturday, to not come in because a former employee is coming back so they don't need me anymore. It's fine though because it just means something better is yet to come. Or at least that's what I'm going to tell myself. 7am is WAY too early for me anyway. Another family came to have dinner with us. They apparently have know each other for almost as long as I have been alive. It's always nice when you can say that about friends; I know I have a lovely handful of friends I will be able to say that about.

Saturday June 27

I went to a Meetup with a group called Auckland Jewish Social Group and had dinner in the city at a place called Ima. It was a group of 8 and was four girls and four guys. Three of the guys were from the UK, a girl from Prague (the four of them were closer to my age), and then the other three were a little bit older and one lady was a Kiwi, the man from Ireland, and I can't remember where the other lady was from…oops. We had a very nice time chatting and getting to know each other while eating some flavorful Mediterranean food. Nice to know there are other Jews out there! Suz was so sweet because she drove me to and from the train station which was great because while I'm sure it would've been fine to walk 20 minutes home around 23:00, it just took a load off my mind that I wouldn't have to walk home in the dark. How is it that I felt 99.9% safe in Tel Aviv than in the number 4 safest country in the world? Maybe it was because there was always people around and everywhere was well lit. Anyway. I had a pleasant night and hope to see those lovely people again.

Sunday June 28

So, most people who know me know that I don't cook. I don't know what got into me in the past few days but I've put myself to the test. I made us some French toast, and not to brag or anything, it was really good. Suz, Emerald, and I got ready for a little 10 minute tour of their church (scored some persimmons!), went to pick up Emerald's friend and saw a pretty view of a beach that "wasn't that far" (it was further than Emerald thought), and made a major grocery run. After a long day out, we spent the rest of the evening napping/hanging out.

Monday June 29

Woke up bright and early at 5am, got ready and had some oatmeal and coffee before going to my first day of my job trial. I had to be there at 6 and they open at 6:30. Two other girls were there to open the store and teach me everything I need to know. I helped get pizza dough ready, cleaned, took some orders, and rang people up on the register. I was trying to learn how to make coffee, but it seems like it's all pretty much exactly the same but with a fancy name and one slight difference. But of course this is coming from someone who almost always orders the same thing every time she goes out and drinks (and likes) instant coffee at home. I have a lot to learn, and once I learn the differences between each drink then this post will make me feel silly. I stayed for about 5 hours and walked home. Emerald stayed home from school and was in the middle of watching the third Twilight movie so I joined her. That story is so awful and I can't believe anybody actually likes it, but guess what we did the rest of the day? Watched the rest of the "saga"…funny how it just sucks you in even when it's terrible. I also took this time to find some "coloring pages" from Google to color after seeing Emerald doodling in her notebook. I wish I could doodle like that!

Not quite finished, but this is as far as I got. (Here is the original picture.)

Tuesday June 30

I was asked the day before to come back at 8:30 for more trailing(?). It was a bit busier than the day before but I think I handled it well. The register is fairly easy to learn, but still having a bit of trouble with hearing the orders. People either talk very loudly or very quietly and seems that most people that come in are the latter and the accent doesn't help things either, but I'm catching on to it more with time. Didn't do much with the coffee except put it in that scoop thing and attach it to the machine and the other girl would finish it with the milk. Again, the shift went well and the manager said she would talk to her boss about hiring me. Unfortunately, the position being offered is part-time casual, but I'm hoping to either get another part-time or stop being lazy and start freelancing online so that I won't be location dependent which will be great when I move on. I also got to start my day with a unexpected Skype call which was exciting and didn't have to walk in the rain to work. It's the little things.

Wednesday July 1

Rabbit, Rabbit. (I say this on the first of every month…it's supposed to bring you good luck…keywords: "supposed to.") I got a call from the place I've been trialing to come in for one more day, Friday, and to fill out an application so they have everything in order on their end and I will be placed on the next roster (schedule); however, I'm keeping my excitement contained until I sign papers. I got my IRD (tax number) in the mail today! It's all coming together…bank account opened, IRD, and a job offer on top of a place to live with a great family.

Have I mentioned things here are expensive? $23.99NZD=~$18USD...never would I pay that much for Covergirl. Guess when I run out of my mascara, my lashes will just have to be all natural.

Walked a different way home and thought this yard was really pretty.

Thursday July 2

Three weeks! I can say I successfully did nothing all day. Well, that's not entirely true. Aside from researching flights to Israel (dream inspired) and other various places (as this is a hobby of mine) to see if I can find any really good deals (not that I will be leaving Auckland any time soon...unless a deal so good comes along that I'd be a complete idiot to pass it up), I researched jobs that you can do online, that doesn't require you to be location dependent. This is how a lot of people become what is called a "digital nomad" (or for some people, it allows them to work from home which is ideal for stay-at-home parents, people not able to go to a physical location for whatever reason, etc.) For a lot of digital nomads this usually includes blogging about specific topics (travel usually), submitting articles (or videos/photographs) to various venues (online or print), writing ebooks about numerous topics, web/digital designing, to name a few freelance jobs and this is what helps keep them on the road. A lot of times they move to cheap locations (such as Thailand) and live on pennies because everything is so much cheaper than in America, for example. And because their work is all done through internet, all that they need is a computer and reliable internet and they can work from anywhere. Who wouldn't want to do this? My problem is that I don't know what I would be good at doing and staying motivated to be a self-starter. With my internship in TLV I was able to work from home and I did once I got the hang of things…I usually stayed on task because I had deadlines I wanted to reach and the faster I reached them, the faster I could call it a day. Of course it probably would've been better if I had tried to do other things too, and looking back I should've gone to the office and learned more. Live and learn. I know this is a great way to stay afloat while seeing the world. The search continues…

You can just tell she cares that I'm kind of allergic to cats as she sticks her tongue out at me while keeping warm by curling up in my jacket on my bed. Oh, Nelly.

This has really been a successful week in terms of getting myself out there, meeting people, and working (albeit for free). I'm ready to see what next week brings! Below is a song by A Day To Remember called "All I Want." I have been listening to them a lot lately and just wanted to share it :)