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.