New Zealand: One Month Review.

Wow. A whole month has passed. Even though I haven't done a lot of sight-seeing and stuff, I think it's still been a successful month. I have a place to live, people who consider me/I consider them family, a bank account, an IRD (tax) number, a job, and learning the lay of the land of Auckland. I'm working on making friends, setting myself up with a Jewish community, learning the public transportation system, etc. Here's a few highlights of this month that I've experienced or realized.

There's really not a lot of Jews in Auckland, or New Zealand for that matter.

There is a small community, but it's small. However, after emailing a lady at one of the synagogues in Auckland, I got a connection who added me to a Facebook group where I introduced myself and this led me to my first Shabbat dinner on my second Friday of being here.

I joined a few interest groups on Meetup.com

The first, and only so far, meetup that I have gone to was with a group of Jewish individuals where we met and ate at a place called Ima's. This was a start and I plan on going to more meetups once I know what my schedule at work will be like.

Jobs and trials

Maybe this is a thing in a lot of places, but I've never had this experience in the States. A place that is considering hiring you will have you come in typically for about 2 hours (unpaid) to see if they like you and/or if you like them. Just think of the benefit this would have if everywhere did this. No more training people who suck and just quit on you because they didn't know what the job would actually be like.

Food

I guess it's pretty typical. Fish and chips, kebabs, sushi can be found everywhere. I tried a fruit called feijoa. It's out of season now, I think, or else I'd try it again so I could mention what it tastes like because I forgot. I remember liking it considering I had like 8 (they're really little though). I also tried lamington which is a sponge cake that is popular in Australia and New Zealand. Sweet potatoes are called kumera. Biscuits are cookies and scones are biscuits. Confusing, right? Hot drinks are huge…coffee, tea, and Milo (hot chocolate) are consumed all day. After hearing so much about hokey-pokey (MORGAN D, I'm lookin at you), I had some...and I understand what all the fuss was about.

Accents

I'm starting to understand a bit better, but there's words like teddy that sounds like titty and so on that make me laugh. The way "fart" sounds when said sounds proper…"fahhrt" you hardly hear the "r" and it just doesn't sound so crude like it does with an American accent. Sometimes I feel like I'm listening to people from Boston talk especially when they say "car"…it must be the "a" or something. Oh and "z" isn't pronounced "zee," it's "zed."

Random

On the electrical outlets, there are switches to turn them on and off. To turn a switch on, you push the switch up (instead of down). You drive on the opposite side of the road. People do not care about pedestrians. Seriously, they will clip you. Things are expensive, but that is to be expected. Doesn't take away the shock when I pay $2.25(USD) for a can of Dr. Pepper or my favorite mascara is $18(USD) when I pay almost less than half that back home. I'm finding myself exploring the kitchen more and trying to cook things. Maybe it's because Suz has a nice kitchen with all the kitchen appliances you could want or need (except for a microwave, they don't have one of those). 

In other news…It only took about 5 months to start feeling like I'm not homesick for Israel, but it finally happened...which comes at a great time since I'm now a month into my new adventure. Before I know it, I'll be nursing homesickness for New Zealand. I guess it's only natural to miss a place where you have amazing memories. Now that I have a foundation, I'm ready to really take off and start exploring…well, after I start making money that is.