The Gateway to my New life

So I am here in the Auckland Central Backpacker’s (backpacker’s means hostel), which I have heard may be the largest hostel in Southern Hemisphere. It is huge, too huge really. Doesn’t feel like a hostel at all. Feels like somewhere between a hotel and a huge college dormitory. More importantly though I am here, in New Zealand, finally, and in general it is going great so far.

I arrived on Friday (after leaving on a Wednesday flight, weird) very early in the morning. I went through customs and had my stuff looked at by the impressively thorough New Zealand Bio-security. Mostly they were concerned with my shoes and tend and making sure they weren’t dirty and full of dangerous tid bits. I took a convenient shuttle to the city center and found my hostel and Ben waiting for me. We killed a bit of time walking around and then went to the orientation for our program.

The office was right nearby. We had a three hour orientation, much of which was very useful. They talked about logistical things like getting a tax number and a bank account as well travel related stuff. They offer a lot of free resources including mail forwarding so for the entire time I am here I can just have my mail sent to one address and they will forward it wherever I am. In general they seem excited about helping in anyway they can, then again just about everyone here is.

The rest of the day was spent doing logistical stuff like bank account, tax number, and getting a cell phone card. So I was pretty much good to go the day I arrived which is awesome. We cooked ourselves some cheese steaks back at the hostel. Pretty much every time we have cooked our meals have been looked on with envy from the many culinarily inept young people here.

Saturday was a great day. We did what is called the coast to coast walk. Auckland lies on an ismuth and they have a marked 16km walk that takes you from north coast at the city center to the south coast across town. It winds through major streets, little neighborhoods, up the tallest point in the city (an erstwhile volcano), and through a number of great parks. It was so much fun. Ben and I really got a great feel for the city that few probably do and were able to Auckland as more than just the entry point to the country. It is hard to explain but it really was a great experience. We took the bus back and cooked up some roasted bell pepper and portabella sandwiches.

Today in the morning I did some internet job hunting. More and more after talking to people and thinking about what we want, we are thinking about settling down in Wellington. We are going there tomorrow and staying with this women that Ben has been in contact with for 5 days-ish. I applied for 8 jobs in a varied number of fields. I’m open to just about anything, I just want to work.

This afternoon we went to local Ultimate pickup. It was great. The level of play was much higher then I expected and got me really excited about playing disc here. Also they heckle, which made me very happy (I was very disappointed that heckling wasn’t part of European Ultimate culture). Ultimate has many time served as a great way to get to know people in local communities, it is a great tool. We talked to them about what we were doing and most of them said that we would love Wellington. One guy, an American ex-pat working in Auckland told me I should send him my resume and he would forward it to some contacts he has down there, he seemed to think he might be able to help me out, so that is great.

It is amazing, after being here for 3 days it doesn’t feel like 8-11 months will be enough time. I am so excited and have a renewed sense of happiness and confidence with my decision. Most of all I have been struck by the genuine friendliness of the locals here. I had always heard it was the case, but it has been more then I expected. Everyone seems eager to help and interest in who we are and what we are doing. I am really looking forward to getting to know more of them.

So tomorrow is Wellington, and the next step in this adventure. Hopefully I will like it, find a job, find a flat, find a team, find a girlfriend and live happily ever after.

Kiwi Joey

Just finished: Metamorphosis- Kafka
Currently Reading: A Feast for Crows – Martin
Up Next: Streets of Loredo – McMurtry.