New Zealand: week 11- August 21-28

Friday, August 21
I'm still feeling a better and looking to make some solid plans. I am finalizing my speech for tomorrow *throws up*…I hope I don't get up there and get all nervous and start crying. I might get choked up anyway because it's about something that is really personal and special to me. I hope I am speaking on the right subject! I went to the library and picked up a few books I requested: "Veronika Decides to Die" and "The Winner Stands Alone" by Paulo Coelho (the author of my favorite book, "The Alchemist"), and "The 4-Hour Work-week" by Timothy Ferriss because who actually wants to spend all their time working ;)


Saturday, August 22
Today was the big day for me to give a speech at Limmud. I was super nervous about it because I, like most people, am not a public speaker. Suzanne was awesome and gave me a ride to the venue and I was able to read over my speech a few times. Let's be honest here, I had no intentions of memorizing it like a good speech-giver would do. I had every intention to just read from my paper…otherwise, I'd probably vomit...word-vomit that is. It turned out, to my relief, that the group I was speaking in front of was small as it was being held in a classroom with two other sessions were being held at the same time in other rooms. The first speaker spoke on community, the second on the holocaust (she showed us this video (below) that I found interesting (longer version)), the third spoke about Lilith, the fourth was about humor (he had a dad joke or two which are my favorite), and then it was me…I spoke about my conversion. I was nervous for various reasons, but as it turns out, I didn't need to be because I had a few people come up and tell me they enjoyed what I had to say. I might post the speech later…keep an eye out for that.

"Life is not easy for everybody, but life can be beautiful even when it's not so easy."

Sunday, August 23
I had the opportunity of going to Limmud for free, thanks to someone who liked my speech, but I stayed home as I've decided it's time to make some plans. I booked a hop on/hop off bus pass through Kiwi Experience called Zypher. The minimum travel time is at least 19 days and it takes me from the top of the north Island, to the south island…starts in Auckland and ends in Christchurch. Pretty good deal to me. It'll be exciting to start seeing New Zealand which is the reason I came here. With sadness, I put in my two-week notice at work. I say sadness because I click well with my coworkers and enjoy the job, but it's just time to go forward with my travels.


Monday, August 24
I met with Ari at Pizzabox for lunch. Got caught up on what happened yesterday at Limmud. Afterwards, I did a little bit more "research" for some pending decisions. Stay tuned for that.


Tuesday, August 25
Worked and it wasn't quite as crazy as last week when it was just two of us…of course.


Wednesday, August 26
I was going to go see Motion City Soundtrack tonight…they're on tour right now celebrating their 10 year release of one of their albums. It was $50 which I ultimately decided was too much considering I just put in my two week notice. I took the night off so I should do something anyway, right? Well, Ari and I went to a comedy show at The Classic in the city. It was amusing hearing these people talk about Americans. Afterwards, I inhaled a burger and kumra (sweet potato) fries and a shake…so hungry. Fun night out. That night Suz's brother flew in from Australia, and it was cool to meet him.


Thursday, August 27
Had an extremely short shift, three hours. Emerald got a high mark on her speech so to celebrate we had hot-dogs and they were amused when I called the "frankfurts" "weenies"…or was it "wieners"…either way, they were amused. I've never watched "The Sound of Music" so we started that and went to bed when it got to the intermission. I hope we finish it :p


I know my weeks have been a bit lackluster, but now that I've put in my two week notice at work I'll soon be updating with more pictures and things to talk about :)

"Tell me that you're alright...yeah, everything is alright..."

New Zealand: week 9 & 10- August 7-August 20

I guess I'd really like to start off with saying sorry for slacking on the weekly and monthly updates...as you read, maybe you'll understand why.

WEEK NINE

Friday August 7
The french bread challah turned out nice. I know you were waiting with baited breath from the cliffhanger from last week, and now you know. I went to a Shabbat service at Auckland Hebrew Congregation, which is Auckland's only orthodox synagogue. After service, I went to a Shabbat dinner hosted by a Canadian-Israeli married couple here working in the community as shlichim. I got to know them, two other girls, and Ari was there as well. All young, and all nice. I should be getting some kind of kickback from Masa for the way I sing their praises…I was trying to convince this girl she should do one of the programs and I think that’s what the shlichim are here to do. But seriously, maybe that’s something I should look into… ;)


Saturday August 8
It rained, but I went out for a walk so I could get some fresh air. I've been meaning to go to the Red Cross op-shop so I made my way there. I spent the rest of the day/night making a pros/cons list for living in Israel. Yes, I'm at it again. And also drafting another idea of what I want to do in this next year. Also got to catch up on Pretty Little Liars. Suz ended up coming to check in on me because of the fit I was having over the episode ending. WHO IS 'A'?!


Sunday August 9 & Monday August 10
Work :)


Tuesday August 11
Two months! Read my month review >>here. To celebrate, I worked. :) This also marks one month being at Sal's.


Wednesday August 12 & Thursday August 13
Work :)


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WEEK TEN

Friday August 14
I was invited for a Shabbat dinner with the same couple from last week, but I wanted to stay home and make dinner for my family since I have hardly been home lately for dinner (and kind of been missing cooking.) I fried some chicken strips, sauteed broccoli and mushrooms, and made two loaves of challah. I met with Ari for coffee earlier in the day and he gave me the great idea to put chocolate in one of the loaves. It turned out amazing…it was gone by the next morning! It was a trial and error type thing for me since I hadn't done it before, but I melted down some chocolate chips, rolled out my three strands, smeared some chocolate in the center and rolled the strand and then braided them as normal. Next time I'll add more chocolate ;)


Saturday August 15
Today was Emerald's ball (or prom, if you will.) I didn't have to be at work until 5 so I was excited that I would be able to see her all dressed up. Plans changed and I didn't get to see her in her dress, but I did see pictures. She was so beautiful! Work went well, but I didn't realize that the bus runs a bit earlier on Saturdays for whatever reason, so I missed it and had to wait an hour to catch the next one. I'm not sure why people bring their boom boxes on the bus and play it like everybody wants to listen to it or why some teenagers are little shits. This one kid, I swear, every other word out of his mouth was the f-bomb. Like, dude, okay…you want to have a potty mouth, fine, but that was way over the top. Calm down. I have never been happier to be off the bus in my life. Suz is amazing for everything she does for me to make me part of her family, but I could never appreciate her more than when she picks me up from the bus stop at night!


Sunday August 16
I'm not really sure what's happened to me. I've started allowing Nelly (the cat) to sleep with me. She's all of a sudden become my best friend. I AM NOT A CAT PERSON! I guess for now I'm a Nelly person. And if you tell anybody about this I'll be really upset and never admit it, but I think I love her. Last night I decided to watch the season finale/break/whatever, of Pretty Little Liar. It was a slippery decision because I talk a lot, yell, and make noises at the screen…it was midnight, and I was taking a huge chance doing that because I didn't want to risk waking Suz, but I had to know who A was. It was literally killing me to keep quiet and not scream "REALLY?!?!" at the screen. This resulted in me starting the show all over today because there's a lot a have forgotten. Yes, I should've gone and done something productive, but I've been in a funk that I really need to figure out. 

BFFs

Monday August 17
Well, guys, if I'm just being honest…I spent most of the day talking to one of my best friends and crying about decisions I want to make but scared and conflicted. It's a really difficult thing to talk about on my blog because I want my outward appearance to be that of a happy person enjoying everything New Zealand, but on the inside I'm missing Israel more and more with each passing day and it's tearing me apart because it's where I truly want to be. This is not to say my time here has been terrible, quite the opposite! How amazing and blessed have I been to be introduced to an amazing family who took me into their home and made me family, found a job that I quite like, and know that I'm in a beautiful country?? I genuinely appreciate all these things. I feel like my pride would take a hit since I said I would like to be here at least 6 months and then do all this traveling all over. I often wonder if maybe I haven't given it a real chance, but the heart wants what it wants and it wants Tel Aviv. I'm not sure what my plans are, but I'm looking into options. Basically, don't be surprised if/when I make an announcement that I will be heading there. We'll see what happens. Let's get one thing straight, I will not leave this country without doing some traveingl first! I may nix Oz and SEA and opt to do that another time, but I didn't come here to just see Auckland and leave. How silly would that be?


Tuesday August 18
I feel better today. More at peace with myself. First day I haven't cried in probably two weeks. Haha, but seriously. I worked tonight and it was just me and one other person. Tuesdays are usually pretty chill, but I don't know what happened…somewhere around 6:30, shit hit the fan. Phone/online orders were coming in like crazy, so my coworker was stuck in the back making pizzas. Meanwhile, my wings and mozzarella stick orders were stacking up and there was a line almost to the door. Thankfully everybody was super nice and understanding and I didn't have a (complete) meltdown. Well, I almost did because of an issue I wasn't aware of and it was too busy for me to wrap my head around it, but I handled it as best as I could. Slapped a smile on my face and hoped the customers couldn't sense my panic. I think for it being just the two of us, we handled it really well. Go us! :)


Wednesday August 19
I worked all day, and the first half of the day it was again just me and one other coworker. Thankfully, he didn't have pizza orders to fill so he could take the counter while I made the wings when it got busy. Wednesday is one of our busy days because Sal's offers a really great deal: buy one, get one free on regular or larger orders of wings. The past month we have been having 5 employees working the night shift because it would be that busy, but I guess the past two weeks it's kind of leveled off so they wanted to see how we would do going back to 4 since it's the only day of the week that we would have 5 employees. It went smoothly, thank goodness! Since Suz was picking me up, I stuck around a little longer to help with closing and hopefully that helped the other two closers leave on time.


Thursday August 20
First and foremost, and not that she'll ever see this probably as she doesn't have internet, but happy birthday to my amazing Nana. I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for her. Secondly, ten whole weeks, wow! I worked the day shift and there were three of us for it…of course since there were 3 of us, it wasn't as slammed as the previous days when it was only two. Anyway, I love waiting on the customers. I am a fantastic chatter and sales person. I'm not pushy, but I do make suggestions/make reminders about drinks and sides (up-selling is your friend.) I really do want to see this location of Sal's succeed and acquire business like they have in the city so I try to be as friendly to the customers as possible to make their experience one that they would like to repeat. I know I sit around and whine and say I hate people, and yes, sometimes people are annoying and customer service can be tough, but I really love it. And by customer service, I mean in the restaurant business, not retail...I mean, I guess it would be about the same, but I take into account holiday shopping and I want NO part of that. It's always nice when you have repeat customers and you develop a sort of relationship with them…I think it makes them feel good and want to continue being a repeat customer. I know that's how it is for me. For example, I go to a specific (bank) branch in Little Rock because that where my favorite teller is. There are other branches sprinkled around Little Rock, but I go that specific one because of her. I don't know why other than I just took a liking to her. And that's how I hope to make people think of me. My coworker laughed and told me I should be a real estate agent. I'd be keen to look into that.

I know I've already shared a music video by this band (A Day To Remember) previously, but I'm going to share another one because I've been listening to them constantly lately. Maybe you'll like it too. :)

"Have Faith in Me"

Another band I listen to (Underoath) (that broke up early in 2013 (after having listened to them since about 2004-2005)) made an announcement this week that they are going to do a show in March 2016 with the above band. It'd be so cool to go to that...

Underoath / Self Help Festival

I've said this before, but for real...better updates to come. :)

New Zealand: Two Month Review

Well, another month has passed. Can you believe I've been here two months already? I've been working at Sal's NY Pizza for a month now as well. I've put in just over 115 hrs in my first month there. My coworkers are cool, the business operation runs well, the customers are chill…you know usually you get some "not so friendly" customers, but I guess my dazzling personality keeps them from being anything other than friendly. ;)

Thanks to my pal Andy, I have met a few more people in the Jewish community and hopefully that will continue.

So some fashion statements I've noticed more frequently is that of American sports apparel. Mostly basketball teams (specifically the Bulls), and some football, but not as much as basketball. Still shocked when I see people walking around barefoot. I should probably remind you that is is still winter, and it has been raining a lot in the past month.

I'm less nervous about the public transportation. It still takes a while to get places, obviously, but it goes pretty quickly now that I've gotten used to my route…and end up falling asleep for some of the ride.

The accents still throw me off…Carl sounds like Kyle and Mark like Mack, for example...so when I'm asking for a customer's name I have to listen very closely and repeat to make sure I have the right name...wouldn't want to give their pizza to the wrong person. ;) But I've been understanding it more…still have to pay close attention, but that's mostly because of me…not always because of the accent. I know who ever has one of these accents are going to cringe, but I still think British, South African, Aussie, and Kiwi accents sound similar…yes, there are difference, but overall they're similar. Someone said me saying that is like saying Canadian and American accents sound the same…well, they do if you go far enough north in America those accents kind of blend together. Please don't be offended if you have one of these accents and think the other ones are below you...

I went to a couple of 21st birthday parties which as I explained before used to be the age you were considered an adult, but this has moved to 18…the new age of adulthood. These two particular parties were family oriented more so than other 21st birthdays I've attended. Granted, in America that's when you're allowed to legally buy/consume alcohol and that's what you go do typically. Here, you can do that at 18.

Still not used to traffic. Round-abouts are the worst, and I have to cross one on my way to the bus stop…it's like a game of chicken!

As I mentioned earlier, it's still winter. There have been days when the temperatures have gotten into the lower 60s, but it's still cold at night. It's been raining a lot in the past month. I've been noticing daffodils sprouting, which in the US usually signals spring is around the corner.

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do here, and even though in my last update I mentioned that I was starting to miss Israel less…it has hit again and hard. It's just hard when I see my friends posting things on social media of Tel Aviv, specifically, and I still want to be there. I probably should've just gone back, but I had to do something else first. And that something else was New Zealand. I knew because I said a few years back that this was something I wanted to do that I wouldn't be satisfied until I actually did it. And there was a time limit on it, well, with this visa anyway…being that I'm turning 30 this year (next month actually!), I had to do it now or never. I thought that if I put some time and distance between me and Israel that the want/need to be there would die down. It did momentarily, but flared up again. Please keep in mind that my wanting to be in Israel again has no reflection of my time here…as it has been great, but I'm just needing to find what will really make me happy.

Anyway! Hopefully in my review for next month, I'll have more of an idea of what I want to make of the time here…how long I actually want to stay, where I want to go, etc.

Crazy, windy.

New Zealand: week 8- July 31-August 6

Friday July 31
I had wanted to go to Waiheke Island, but then decided that maybe I'd go another day instead. So then I thought maybe I'd go somewhere else, but the time just kept slipping away and I was getting frustrated with myself for not doing something with my day off. I also wanted to go to temple, but I didn't want to go after being out all day and be smelly or just schlep into the city to only be there for a couple of hours at temple. I've really been missing Shabbat dinners and doing Jewish things and so I changed that. I decided if I wasn't going to go out for the day, that I would at least go to the grocery store and buy some stuff to make shakshuka, hummus, and challah. The shakshuka was good, but the hummus could've been creamier. The challah on the other hand was fabulous. I was so proud of myself for finally making some and that it turned out beautifully. Seriously, when I looked in the oven to see if it was ready I almost cried. I'd bought a can of grape juice and tea light candles and did the blessings over it with the family and tried to explain what I was doing. Not sure I did a very good job explaining, but I was happy with myself because it was the first time I've done blessings (in front of non-Jews) and that I got to share this with them. They loved my meal and I look forward to making it again.

Saturday August 1
Another wave of emotions crashed over me in the morning. I think I just needed a good cleansing of my spirit, so to speak. Well, pretty sure I got that all out of my system…at least for the time being. After vacuuming the house, I showered and washed the tears off my face and got myself together because I decided it was going to be a fun day. Bonnie came home and we went to the Auckland Museum. It is by far the coolest museum I've been to in recent history. So cool in fact that I might just go back again this week. There was history about the Maori culture, wars (WWI and WWII), Auckland history, natural science, etc. It was just really awesome. We went to this little Thai restaurant that we came across after trying to go to another place that was "full" and you had to have a reservation (it was less than a quarter full, but what do I know). It was called U-Thai and it was yum. We had money-bags, I had chicken satay, and she had pad see ew. I wanted bubble tea after dinner and again just found a little Asian market that sold it basically right next door. We were going to go to another place that I'd found on FourSquare, but this was great because we didn't have to make any extra stops. We came home and watched "Bridget Jones's Diary." Cute movie…surprised I haven't watched before now.

Auckland War Memorial Museum

All hand carved

Marae

Imagine being chase by one of these big birds!

Maori have a special way of cooking food underground

The moneybags...but how cool is that carrot rose??

Sunday August 2
I woke up early and told myself I was going to have a good day. Good isn't even the right word. I was meeting Ari, the guy from the café on Monday/Andy's friend, and we were going to go to Piha before I had to go to work at 15:00. Well, already that's a good plan. I'm on my way to the train station in Papakura, where I live, and I'm passing a café on the way to make a stop at the ATM when all of a sudden I hear what I'm pretty sure was Hebrew. I stop, made eye contact with the two men sitting there, start to keep walking, but turned around because I had to know for sure. "Yes, we are! Boker tov (good morning)!" and they offer the third seat at their table to me. I sit there in amazement that this was happening. It probably sounds silly, but after starting to get homesick for Israel earlier last week and missing Hebrew, etc, this is just what I needed, not to mention the fact that I was heading out to meet up with a fellow tribe member. Maybe it was a sign that it's all going to come together even more. Consider me already on cloud nine as I met Ari and we made our way to Piha. It's this really awesome area with black sand beaches and amazing views. We started out at Piha Café, had some coffee, and tasty pizza. It rained, naturally, and after sitting and chatting, the rain passed and we made our way to the shore. Wow. We spent some time there walking and talking before heading back since I had to go to work. Made it just in time too, whew! I walked in and my manager excitedly asks me if I have plans after work and proceeds to tell me that she and some other coworkers are going out after closing. So, I go with her and three other coworkers. The place we wanted to go to was closing, so we went to Denny's. Not quite the Denny's in America, but I suppose it's close enough. We had a good time out and it was nice getting to hang out outside of work. 

Monday August 3
I had the day off and by-golly I was going to do something with it. I met with another friend of Andy's who is originally from London and moved here with his wife and started up a company that has done really well. We met for lunch, and he's super cool as well. He has two kids so I threw it out there that if he ever needed a babysitter, call me. I kind of miss babysitting…my "regulars" were the best; I loved those kids. Anyway, he so graciously dropped me off at Cornwall Park on his way to a meeting. What a cool park! It's right by this other place called One Tree Hill which is beautiful. I finally got to see some sheep, didn't get to pet one or play with a lamb as there were signs posted about leaving the livestock alone, but whatever. I walked all over the place and could've easily spent way more time there. I came across this girl and she was alone and crying. I didn't want to make her feel weird, but I also wanted to be a caring person and ask if she was okay even though she so very obviously wasn’t. I asked if she wanted to be left alone and would've gladly stuck around if she wanted the company. She wiped her eyes and told me she's fine and thanks for asking. I left and told her that I hope her day gets better. I thought about going over and giving her a hug, but I guess that would've been too much. Sometimes though we need that kindness from strangers. Where ever she is, I hope she cried it all out and is feeling better. On my way from the bus ride to the train station from One Tree Hill, we passed the temple that I've been wanting to go to so now I know where it is when I finally decide on going.

Tuesday August 4
I worked, even got to stay and cover someone else's shift at night.


Wednesday August 5
I've been doing pretty good at getting myself up and motivated for the most part, but after all those exciting days I didn't feel so bad just lounging around until work. It also helped that it was raining. Basically I spent an obscene amount of time on YouTube, but if it makes it any better the videos were science related and not of cats or people falling down.


Thursday August 6
I worked a short shift today. Didn't do too much once I got home, but we watched "Bridget Jones's Diary 2." It was adorable. Usually sequels aren't very good, but this was just as good as the first…in my opinion. Finally using my second loaf of challah to make over-night French toast. Guess you'll have to wait until next week to see how that turns out. ;)


After a slight emotional break-down mid-week last week until Saturday, I feel like I've kind of turned it around. I have a bedtime/morning ritual that I've started, also trying this whole no screen thing an hour before bedtime (once I'm up, though, I'm on it (phone) for a disgusting amount of time), and making myself get out of the house on days off has helped tremendously. I know sometimes it seems like everything is (or should be) sparkles and rainbows, but there's days when everything feels like shit. It happens, but it's our (my) decision to make it better or wallow ("waller" is how I'd say it) in it. I prefer not to be a sour puss and get on with it. Life is what you make it or, you know, whatever. :) Anyway, here's one of the videos from a new channel I just started watching (DNews) and basically this is my every day struggle. Another favorite channel of mine is VSauce, if you want to check it out, too.