Reflections

Okay, so right now I’m sitting on a bench in Devonport, across the harbor from the Auckland CBD. I came up here for a nice little relaxing afternoon after my big night out last night. I was going to drive down to Raglan today, find a place to stay, and then go on a big hike tomorrow, but I went out last night and now I’m pretty much useless today. I rarely do out and this is why – life is just too short to be hung over – but last night just happened, and it was fun. I met a few co-workers after my shift at BCC (Birtomart County Club) for Hospo night. ½ price drinks for hospitality workers! Nice! One drink led to another led to another led to another bar and out all night. Fun, but only on a rare occasion.

Anyways, let’s now get down to business. First thing’s first – yes, Faye and Anna, I do remember you! So nice to hear from you. For the rest of you, Faye left a comment on my blog yesterday (see below). As you will read, I met Faye and Anna when they were eating lunch one day at the Driving Creek Café in Coromandel Town.

Hello Annabelle
You may not remember us and we may not have exchanged names. We were holidaying with another couple in NZ & met you at the book/cafe where you were working in the Coromandel and you gave me your name and blog as I showed an interest in following it. Well, both my friend Anna and I (Faye) have been following your activities with great interest. It is fun. Should you wish to communicate please give me your email address on your blog. We live in Perth in Western Australia. Glad you are enjoying your current job. Thanks and Cheers Faye 

I would love to stay in touch ladies! I’m sure I’ll make it to Perth sometime in the next few years. Maybe we can meet up again. Here’s my e-mail: annabelle.c.joyce@gmail.com. Can’t wait to hear from you!

The last few days have, as is normal lately, been filled with work. I’ve been getting good hours, meeting great customers, and having fun.

Now I’m going to move into a more reflective mood. Many months back I chose a book for my book club, The Happiness Project. Since reading the book I have been following the author’s blog and getting daily e-mails of happiness related quotes. I have to admit that much of the time I find the e-mails annoying and the quotes quite stupid but in my hung over delirium this morning I was thoughtlessly reading through many of these usually annoying e-mails and found a few I quite liked and found quite relevant to my current situation.

Today’s quote was as follows:

“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."

- George Moore

I’m sure this will be true for me. Recently, many people have asked me what I hope to get out of my travels, or what I’m looking to find, or what not. I don’t seem to have an answer for any of this really. I am out here trying to see the world, but I don’t have any idea what I hope to find. Myself, I guess, but what a vague answer that is. I hope that when I return home (or find home somewhere else) I will have a better sense of what makes me happy, what I can put up with, what I can’t put up with, and who I am. But maybe everything I learn about the world and about myself will make more sense in terms of my life back home when I get to that place.

As I’m writing about this it is making me think of another theme I’ve noticed in conversations recently – something I’ve realized is making me so happy about this trip: The pressure is off! If I was at home right now, in Minneapolis, working as a server full time, I would feel like I wasn’t living up to my full potential. The pressure I would be putting on myself would be immense. I would feel like I wasn’t doing what I “should” be doing, I would feel like other people would think less of me because I’m “only a server”. (And I’m sure at least a few people would think this).

Oh no, rain is coming. Have to find a café to finish this post. Hold on!

Okay, at the café now. Much better! I’ll resume me thought now….

Living here in Auckland (or anywhere other than the US) I feel no pressure to live up to anything and how liberating it is! I spend my days working as server, and I love it. I love the people, I love that I clock in and clock out and don’t think or worry about work when I’m not there. I love that I work at a place where we are a team and we work together. (I will bring this point up again in just a bit). I love that I work with lots of other people who are doing exactly the same thing as me. I don’t think Auckland is the place for me long term (despite the hopes of my current boss who wants me to stay at Ortolana forever) but I’m very happy with my situation right now.  And I don’t think I could have this same thing in MN. I don’t think I will ever be able to live in Minneapolis without feelings the pressure of living up to what I “should be” after growing up in Edina, getting a great education at the U of M, being a smart, intelligent person. I just feel like living there I would always feel like I was failing myself. Now I’m not saying I won’t change my mind about this, but right now, I think I’d always feel like I “should be” doing more with my life. Plus it’s just too damn cold in MN for me anyways! Living in a place where winter means overnight lows in the mid 40*s isn’t bad! That’s all my thoughts on that right now.

Onto the team work bit, the environment they have built at Ortolana (and likely all of the Hipgroup locations) is just fantastic. It is a total team environment, and it is so great to work somewhere like that. We all help each other out, we all have each other’s backs, we communicate with each other, and we work together to make sure everyone who comes through the door has a great time at our restaurant. It is so nice to work somewhere like this. There is virtually no competition between us (the servers/staff), not that there’s anything to be competitive about, but still. We share responsibility and we share the rewards of that (i.e. tips). In my last tipped job (at The Saint Paul Hotel), I never shared me tips with anyone. Although we were a team there, it didn’t have the same feel to it. Some of the staff (not all, not even most, but some) only did what was required of them and only if it benefited them in some way (monetarily). These people only wanted to do something if they would get a tip for it, and when they got that tip, it was there’s. I’d like to think I was very willing to help anyone, even when I knew I wouldn’t get a tip, but when I did get tips, they were mine and I rarely shared them. Here, at Ortolana, the policy is to share tips and we all do, and the way it has changed how I look at my job is amazing. (Or it may be the way the work environment is set up that has changed how I look at tips, but either way.) I am more than happy to share every tip I make, even when someone gives it to me, because I would never be able to do what I do without the help of all of my amazing co-workers. When I’m chatting with a table, they’re clearing my other tables, when they’re putting in an order for one of their tables, I’m refilling water for another of their tables. We work together, and none of us could do what we do without the rest of the team – at least I know that I would never be able to give my tables the attention I do if my fellow servers weren’t helping me out when they can.

This reminds me a lot of a documentary I told you about a few months back. (I can’t remember what it’s called now and can’t check since I don’t have Internet right now but I’ll summarize it for you again). I watched this movie with Anna (England) one night at the café in Coromandel. It was done by a very famous American movie director who looked into what is wrong with our world, and how do we fix it. In it, he talks about how competition – which is valued in the western world and central to our lives – doesn’t make us happy. It has the opposite effect. Cooperation, which can be seen extensively in the animal world as well as more traditional societies, makes us happy. And after working at this job, I think this is very true.  We cooperate, we work together, and it is so much nicer coming to work! If I ever run a company, or an office, or anything, this is how it will work, no exceptions!

Now onto something else that the director talked about in this movie, and that I was talking about with someone at the bar last night, money doesn’t make you happy, and I’m learning that now. Currently I’m living pretty much paycheck to paycheck. I am trying not to touch my American savings at all and thus living only off what I’m making here in NZ. I make maybe $600/week. I spend $260 on rent, try to put $100 into savings here, and thus have only $240/ week to cover all my other expenses – food, clothing, care expenses, cell phone, transportation costs, entertainment, everything. And $240/week doesn’t go far in NZ since everything here is really expensive. But I think I appreciate everything more. When I go out for coffee, or buy a nice loaf of bakery bread, or what not, I enjoy it. It is an experience to savor. It would be nice to eat out everyday, have lots of new clothes, spend money on great entertainment all the time, but I just can’t and so each thing I do I appreciate more. I make wiser decisions and I enjoy them. I am learning about my priorities in life as well because I only have so many resources that can only go so far. I spend quite a lot on rent, but I want to live somewhere nice and comfortable. I don’t go to the bars often because I would rather use that money to travel around on my days off. I appreciate good food and like to go out for one or two really nice meals a week and thus eat tuna and eggs for every other meal. It’s fun to learn this about myself, and watch myself going through the process of figuring this all out.

Okay, my head is hurting from being hung over and now staring at this screen for the last hour. I think I’m going to stop writing for now – I’ll post this as soon as I get Internet.

Hope you have all enjoyed reading my post today. Any thoughts/feedback/comments would be greatly appreciated. What have you learned from traveling? What about your work situation, what do you like/not like about them? How about money – does it make you happy?

And as a note – if you have e-mailed me recently I have gotten your e-mail, read it, and loved it. Especially Stephanie and Kristine, you guys send the best, most thorough e-mails ever! I will respond in time, I’ve just been so busy working I haven’t had to time to write a good response back and thus haven’t yet. Keep the e-mails from home coming. It’s always such a pleasure to hear from everyone!

Best!

And as a side note, the documentary I mentioned above – I would highly recommend watching it. Things in my life keep reminding me about it and it is ringing more true for me every day. It’s also quite short, maybe one hour, and on Netflix so should be quite easy for you all to watch.

The End.

Found a library with WiFi and posted from there about 15 minutes after finishing my post.

So much work!

Today I worked a 10.5 hour shift. Crazy, right?! I am so exhausted I don't really have anything to say.... I worked yesterday 3 until 12:45, so 9.75 hours and didn't get home until about 1:30. I had to get up this morning at 8 am and head right back to work. It's not 10 pm and I just got home again. I'm about to go to bed, hopefully sleep about 10 hours, do a few things in the morning, and then head right back to work for a 12 - close shift. I'm getting great hours which means more money, so I can't complain, but man, am I tired! I wish I could write more but I have no more energy for today.

Best!

Working, Working

I've just been working these last few days, and lots of hours. Yesterday I worked 11 hours, today 9.75. Yesterday was at time and half so that's great - 16.5 hours of pay, yay! Today normal pay but nice to have such a long shift.

Only thing of any real note is yesterday I had a customer come in about 4 pm and tell me she was gluten free, dairy free, allergic to honey, and didn't eat spices. On any normal day I would see this as a fun challenge. Yesterday, when she told me this, I wanted to ask if why she would come to restaurant if she couldn't eat anything. I could tell at this point I was pretty tired. I am happy to say I was able to get her something good to eat.

Anyways, it's 1:45 am now. I have to be up at 8 am for a a likely 10+ hour shift. That's all for my post tonight.

Best!

Quick Post

I don't have much time so I'm going to try to cram a big post into a few short paragraphs.

Item #1, ANZAC service. I am no longer going to the ANZAC service tomorrow. I'm really bummed! I have to work at 9:00 am tomorrow now and its already after midnight. It's not really a great idea for me to sleep for maybe 4 hours and then go straight into a 12+ hour shift. That said, ANZAC service is out, work is in, and so is money in my back account for the holiday at time and a half!

Item #2, Kathmandu. I went to the local Kathmandu store today to purchase some warm outdoor wear as we're moving into winter here. I want to still be able to take advantage of my days off through winter and get out doing hikes, bikes, exploring NZ. Today I bough hiking books, a winterish jacket, 2 tops, 1 bottom, socks, and a backpack all for about $305 USD. Crazy! And I made friends with 2 of the girl who work at the store, one Kiwi, and one girl who was born in the US but grew up in Mexico. I think we're going to do a few hikes together! Nice! I'll post a photo of all my great new stuff tomorrow or Saturday. I'm turning into an outdoor girl. AHHHH!!!

Item #3, work. Today I had a table tell me that I'm really great at my job. It is so nice to hear great feedback from my tables. Shortly after that my manager Jonathan told me that he doesn't know what I'm doing but my tables always leave really happy and to keep it up. I know I'm great with people, and I know my tables generally tend to like me, but it's really nice to get such encouraging and reassuring feedback - especially after my last boss thought I was so bad at my job. I'm not working at a nicer restaurant, in a more demanding environment (at least expectation wise with the level of service), and I'm excelling. I like my job, my customers like me, and my boss thinks I'm doing a good job. Couldn't ask for much more, could I?

That's all for tonight. Time to rest up for my big work day tomorrow.

Best!

Tentative Plans for Next Week's Days Off

After all the fun I've had these last two days exploring NZ I'm going to try and go away for the night next week on my days off. I am either going to do a hike near Raglan (a surf town on the West coast) that I wanted to do today but didn't, or I'm going to do a 2 day bike trip near Lake Taupo. It will all depend on weather and costs but I think both would be quite fun. Anyways, that's all for now. For future plans:

Tomorrow - errands in the morning and work in the evening. I've decided I'm not doing errands anymore on my days off, leaving these for the days I'm working. Might as well fully relax on my days off and treat my working days like a real work week.

Friday - ANZAC day. ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. It's the Australia and NZ equivalent of Memorial Day. There is a dawn service at the War Memorial Museum here in Auckland that I'm going to attend. The service starts at 5:30 am (quite early) and we'll need to get there even earlier if we want a good place to stand. It lasts for 30 minutes after which we're going to go out for pastries at my favorite bakery. Just read this online about the dawn service:

"This service is a solemn reminder of the dawn landing on Gallipoli of 25 April 1915"

Saturday & Sunday - Work, work and more work.

Best!

Hakarimata Summit Hike

Today I decided once again that I should get out of the city for the day. I drove about 1.5 hours south of Auckland, just north of Hamilton. There is a town there called Ngaruawahai - don't ask me how to pronounce that - and a great 2 km hike. The hike takes you to the top of large hill, and includes about 1500 steps. I meant to count exactly on the way down but forgot to start and didn't want to hike back up and start over. I just found that figure on line but it seems accurate. And you do them almost all straight though. It's like 1 km + of straight stairs. A great heart work out, that's for sure. But man is it worth it. When you get to the top you can see for miles and miles and miles. You can't even believe it! Here's a few photos:

Looking Southwest

Looking West (Out towards to Tasman Sea)

Looking East

Looking East (out over NZ towards the Pacific - although you can't see the ocean)

Looking North (towards Auckland)

Here's a link to a video I made up at the summit lookout point.

After hiking I drove around a few of the nearby small towns and grabbed lunch. I walked by this storefront:

The store front. 

(Close up of the bottom of the door)

I didn't know my grandfather (my dad's dad) well since he passed away when I was still a kid but this reminds me of something he would do. Do you agree Joyce family?

That was about it for today. I came back to Auckland around 3 and took a nap as I was tired from yesterday and today. I am now about to head out for dinner with a friend and then back to work tomorrow. I have more to say but I'm going to be late for dinner. I'll either write another post tonight or do one tomorrow morning. 

Best!

Oh and one last thing. A photo from a dam part way up to the summit. Man meets nature. 

Karangahake Gorge and Waihi Beach

Today I had the day off an decided to get out of the city. I drove about 1.5 hours outside of Auckland, southeast, to a place called Karandahake Gorge. It's a beautiful park with a gorge (obviously), a beautiful river, and wonderful hills. It was originally a mining town but is now really nothing at all. I did a short hike in the park and walked through a very long old rail tunnel. It was kind of creepy since it wasn't well lit and I didn't have a torch (a.k.a. flashlight). I think I need to invest in one of these... Anyways, here's few photos:

Pretty much what it looked like inside.

Looking out into the light.

After I hiked through the rail tunnel I sat next the river for a bit, enjoying the sounds and sights of the flowing water. It was amazing.

Looking over the rapids and up into the sky.

After leaving this park I drove to a nearby town, Waihi Beach, and had a coffee and took a nap on the beach. I didn't take any photos here since I was busy sleeping but it was great beach for a nap, or to buy a house and live permanently. I mean I won't be doing that, but I can see why the community is thriving, a beautiful beach in a beautiful part of the world.

On the way to Waihi Beach I saw a sign for a water fall. Since I have a car I have the luxury of turning at a moment's notice onto some side road and exploring. Here's what I found:

Looking down at the falls from the road.

Straight on from the path.

Here'e a video from the falls.

On the drive home from Waihi Beach I saw a beached boat. Well it's wasn't actually beach, more like raoded. Anyways, here's a photo:

Sucks to be the owner of that expensive boat.

Lastly, I stopped in Paeroa, the town where L&P (Lemon & Paeroa) is from. L&P is an NZ drink - somewhat similar to Sprite but still different - that hails from the town of Paeroa. It apparently is no longer manufactured in the town and is actually owned by Coca-Cola. Capitalism at it's finest, ladies and gentelmen. Anyways, here's the big inflatable bottle of L&P at the L&P Cafe in Paeroa.

Street Cred with the Taiwanese

I learned today that I've got pretty good street cred with the Taiwanese and Chinese communities now that I've seen Kangxi Lai Le. I had a young couple in on a date tonight, both Taiwan born, and I mentioned to them that I'd seen this show. They told me that most people in Taiwan and China would know what it is. It's great to know I now have something to connect with about 1/4 of the worlds population on. Nice!

In rent news, Kate still does not know what happened to the money. She cannot remember taking it out of the envelope/brown bag I left it in and doesn't know where it might be but she has decided we will forget the whole thing and move forward. I know I paid her, she trusts that I did, but the money cannot be accounted for. Either way, the situation has passed, and everything is fine. Thank god!

Work today was a long day - 9 to 3 and 5 to 10:30. 11.5 hours total. Long day, but time and a half. After taxes I made about $260. Not too shabby for a traveler. And I had tons of great guests again today.

- The taiwanese couple. They were in their early 20s, younger than me, and on a nice little dessert date. She moved with her family to NZ about 6 years ago and he moved here with his 10 years ago. They are studying at Uni here in Auckland. They suggested I go to Taiwan on my travels, which I have agreed to (it wasn't that hard for them to get me to agree to a new and foreign place to travel to...) and have even suggested a good Taiwanese meal for me to eat at some point, chicken cutlet. I'm going to try and find Taiwanese food sooner than I'm going to get to Taiwan, however. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks.

- A group of 6 friends/couples in their mid-late 30s. I liked this group because they defied their initial impression, well rather they defied the first judgements I passed about them in every way. This group was all Asian, and in my experience for the restaurant, Asian people can be difficult to deal with and I suspect it is all based in culture. I always try to give them the benefit of the doubt, but sometimes the cultures clash quite strongly and it can be hard to maintain an authentically good mood when serving them. This group, however, was fabulous! One thing I really appreciated was that there was one person in charge of the group, placing all the orders and making all the executive decisions. This makes it much easier for me as the server, and probably for them as well as they don't all have to worry about ordering this that and the next thing. They spent lots of money, which makes for a fun experience for me and them, and had a great time. They asked me to take some photos of them with their smart phones and I did. One was an iPhone which I know how to use. The other phone was some other brand, maybe Samsung, and the phone was in their asian language (Chinese likely). I had a bit of trouble navigating but I took a few pictures. In one of the photos, one of the men's hands was moving, waving at the camera. It was a photo, not a video, but his hand was waving. I have no idea how I did, neither did they, but it made for a funny moment. All in all, this table was likely my favorite for the day.

- I had a family in from America, California to be exact. One of the daughters is living here in NZ and her sister and parents came to visit. Always nice to get Americans.

I'm sure there were more great customers but this is all I can think of now.

I feel like I have more to type but I can't think at this moment.

It's my day off tomorrow and Wednesday. Not sure yet what I'm going to do. Relax, get out of the city at least for a few hours, something, anything. A nice Italian dinner at least one night.

Oh, and a good portion of the staff (maybe 25%) are leaving Ortolana in the next few weeks for a number of different reasons. This is going to mean more hours (and more money) for the rest of us. Yay for the money! Can't wait!!!

Best!

Rent Problems

I have been very lucky with the place I'm living now because my roommate/landlady has been very flexible with when I pay my rent and has not required a bond from me which is great since I'm trying to live all in NZ dollars and don't have much saved up to date. For the first few weeks of having my new job I was having a bit of a cash flow problem and so she allowed me to go a few weeks without paying me rent. Last thursday, however, I finally had enough money to pay 3 weeks rent at once and thus took the $780 out of my bank account that day. I left the money in an envelope for her and put in on her pillow - knowing she'd have to move it to get into bed and thus would see the money. Today I paid her rent for this week and when we went to do the transaction she said she had not received rent money from me in 4 weeks. I told her I had left money for her on her pillow last week and she said she never got it. A long conversation/search ensued where in the following facts came out:

- She found the envelope with my note saying "rent money for past two weeks and this week". She has the envelope which is good news but pointed out that I hadn't actually written any dates on it so it doesn't mean much. There wasn't any money in the envelope.
- I check my bank account and can see the withdrawal for $780 dollars, exactly 3 weeks rent.
- She has no recollection of removing the money from the envelope but did think to herself this morning, before this all came to light, that the cash she had had been lasting quite a long time (possibly meaning she had my rent money).
- She remember talking last week about this. When I got home that night I asked her "Did you get my money?" to which she responded "Yes." She, however, thought I had said "Do you want my money?" and thus obviously responded "Yes."
- She is going to think back to what she has purchased in the last week and a half to see if she can account for having received it.


I just got home from work and she's asleep already so I don't know what ever happened. I'm a bit stressed about it but what can I do? I'm not paying the money again because I already paid it. Plus, I don't have another $780. I spoke with my father about this and in all reality there wouldn't really be anything she could do about it anyways if she didn't believe me.

All in all, it's really just bugging me that I feel like she doesn't trust me. She says she does but I am still sensing some doubt about whether I paid her or not. I know I paid her. I took the money out of my account, put it in an envelope and left it on her bed. If she has the envelope and it's empty I have to believe that she has the money. I don't like that my actions are being questioned because I'm not that kind of person not to pay and then lie and say I did. I really hope it all works itself out as I don't want this to end on a bad note but I guess there isn't anything I can do about it at this time. Hopefully I'll be able to touch base with her in the morning and see what she's figured out this afternoon.

Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

In good news - today is the first day of the new pay period and so I'm not making money at my higher wage of $18/hour. Now I'll be able to save more money and then go on a nice vacation this winter to one of the South Pacific Islands! Yay! And, this week there are two public holidays, both of which I'm working, and thus will get to big days of time and a half plus an 8 hour day in lieu for each. Yay! By the end of next week I'll already have like 5 paid days off. Nice!

The easter bunny came for me today. I went to my favorite bakery to buy a couple hot crossed buns for Easter and the guy that works there gave me a 6 pack and said the easter bunny left it for me. How nice!

I had another night of fabulous customers! I just love that I get to watch people while I'm at work - like people watching - but then I also get to interact with them and learn so much more than you learn by simply watching them. I just really enjoy seeing all these people enjoying themselves. Out with family, meeting old friends for dinner, drinking wine, eating great food, enjoying themselves, and relaxing. I really couldn't have a better job! Amazing!

The American couple who is one the 8 month honeymoon came back in tonight. The husband's name I remembered, Damion, but I got to ask the wife her name again, Lindsey. They remembered my name, how sweet! It's there last night in Auckland tonight then off to French Polynesia and then home to LA where they have to buy a house before going back to work in July. Busy times ahead for them but I'm so happy they've given me something to strive for with my life. Amazing!

I had a german family in tonight. The daughter, Levke, lives here in Auckland. The parents are visiting from Germany. I had a great time chatting with them, such a wonderful family. The daughter asked for my contact info for if/when she comes to MN. That's a first! No one has ever told me they're ever coming to MN. Her father then gave me his card and said when I go to Germany to call them, which I definitely will! They were helping me learn how to pronounce a german dessert wine, Spatlese, and when I go to Germany we will go out for a glass of it. Another place I now have to visit.

I had another couple in tonight from Waiheke island. The wife invited me (and my parents when they're in NZ) to come and stay with them at their house for up to 1 week. How amazing. I think she may have had a few drinks (he husband didn't seem terribly hot on the idea) but I'll probably call her anyways. I've got absolutely nothing to loose if she changes her mind.

Just amazing the people I'm meeting ever day here at my job. It never matters what mood I'm in when I get to work, I'm always happy and energized when I leave. I just love it!

Okay, I have to be up in 6.5 hours for a long day of work tomorrow so this is good night.

Happy Easter! I hope the easter bunny brings you something nice.

Best!

Great Customers

I had a series of wonderful customer tonight making my evening just splendid! Let me try to look back on all of them for you:

- A family from Miami. I had a family in from Miami. The mother was born in Cuba and the father was born in Argentina but they now live in Miami. They are only in Auckland for a few days over the easter weekend (which in reality is a terrible time to be in Auckland unless you have family here since most things are closed) but are trying to make the most of it. They are traveling with their two young children, the daughter maybe 4 and the son probably about 1 year old. Cute, cute family and always fun to have Americans around. 

- A couple from Los Angeles 7.5 months into their 8 month long world tour honeymoon. The husbands name is Damion and I can't remember the wife. They were a completely splendid couple and so much fun to talk to. They are going to 22 countries on their world tour in Europe, Africa, and Asia/Pacific - and they're not doing it on the cheap! I want their life! I did ask Damion if he had a brother or any great friends, I even offered to give him my phone number to hand out, but he didn't take me up on the offer in the end. Either way they were splendid to talk to and what a great new goal for me. After this world tour save up money to do a second world tour but without having to limit my spending too much. I'm not necessarily talking the Ritz in every city but maybe the Hyatt or Intercontinental or something nice. 

- An older Kiwi couple celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. It's always great to see couples stay together for so long. Although people always find the divorce rate concerning, I find it amazing that anyone can stay together for 30 years at all. I'm only 24 and I don't have one person in my life I've been friends with for more than maybe 8 years straight through. And that might even be a stretch. Granted I have friends I've known since I was young but we've drifted in and out of each others lives, never being great friends for more than a few years at a time. I'm obviously not counting my family, but I am just always in awe of people who can get alone for that much time - or at least stay committed through it all. I hope some day I can do the same.

- A young kiwi couple on a date, Rueben and Alex. They were a really nice young couple but I honestly didn't remember giving them any sort of extra attention. My usual socializing, as always, and they were very nice and fun but when they were finished with dinner they left me the nicest note. Here's what it said: "Thanks for your lovely friendly service. We had a wonderful experience at Ortolana thanks to you! Rueben + Alex". This is definitely something I am going to keep from this trip. It's always so nice to know that you are making a difference in people's lives and your work is appreciated. 

- A Kiwi family out for dinner. I had a very nice family of four towards the end of the evening, a father, mother, and their two teenage daughters. They were a total pleasure to have. The mother reminded me of a family friend - Connie VanOrnum - which is always fun to get a reminder of home over here. The daughters were so pleasant and we just had a great time chatting. The mom was great because she kept embarrassing the girls and I told them that when I was maybe 22 I finally told my parents that no matter what they did they wouldn't embarrass me again. I'm not confident I've totally stuck to that but it just takes so much effort to be embarrassed, it's much easier just not to be. One of the daughters was also very interested in my industrial piercing so it was fun talking to her about that. I also told this table that I'm looking for a nice male travel partner and they should keep an eye out for me. I work Thursday - Monday nights so they can just send him in then.

- Eleonora and Dennis. These two come in almost every night but I haven't known much about them until tonight. They usually come in with a young girl as well, I think she's about 3 or 4 years old. Our restaurant isn't crazy expensive but they spend about $100/night on dinner so they obviously have some money. They are also clearly not from NZ - they actually come from Russia. The relationship between them and the young girl isn't clear (and I didn't get this information out of them yet) but I do intend to find out. I finally asked them a few questions tonight about what they're doing here and they are both studying at Uni - she for a Masters in Professional Accounting (at least that's what I think she said) and him for a degree in Finance. I hope to find out a bit more every night as it's just nice to know about your regular customers.

Anyways, that's all for right now. We got paid tips tonight so that was nice. I made $150. I haven't been here for the whole last tipping period so I was pretty happy with that. I have a double tomorrow so it's time to head to bed. 10 -3 and then 5- close. Nothing else to report for now.

Best!

Pay Raise!

Yesterday I got a pay raise at work, yay!!! When I was hired the agreement was I would start at a training rate of $16.50 and then after I was handling my own section I would move to a higher rate of $18. I have had my own section for about 2 weeks now so I asked yesterday and then said yes, next week I can move to the higher pay rate. I'm so happy! More money in the bank. Nice!

Outside of that, nothing too much up here. I'm feeling a bit bored in Auckland. I'm not loving it and need to make some changes but I'm not sure what those changes should be. I'm very happy at work so I'm going to try not to leave Auckland if possible but something needs to give. I'm not busy enough outside of work so I need to find some hobbies or activities to get involved in. I've taken up knitting as of two days ago but I can't sit around doing that all the time. I may start taking a pottery class that's like 8 weeks long - could be fun. I am also looking at moving to a different place but I'm not sure how much that will help either way. Maybe a second job that's a few hours a week? I am also just not getting all the novel experiences in that I was getting when I was WWOOFing in America and then living in Coromandel Town. I'd like to do more fun/exciting/different/crazy things but there just isn't so much in the way of that here in Auckland. It's really a rather boring city. Maybe I'll try WWOOFing on my days off? I earn PTO very quickly at my job (1 day for every 3 weeks of work) so I'll probably try to take a few vacation this winter as well - maybe to the South Pacific and then around NZ as well. I'm not totally happy, something needs to change, I'm just not sure exactly what. I'll let you guys know as I work on this problem and hopefully I can figure out a solution.

Best!

Taiwanese Television

Last night Tom and I went to see The Grand Budapest Hotel. Tom said it was the best movie he'd seen in a long time. I liked it, but my way of deciding if a movie is good or not is if I wonder throughout the movie how much time is left. I did do that but maybe only once or twice last night so I'd say it was pretty good. Reminded me of my concierge days - except I wasn't having affairs with any of my guests and I never ended up in prison, nor did anyone bequeath me anything in their will. Outside of those major things, the hotel seemed a bit like the one I worked at. After the movie we went for dinner. We wanted to try a new place, somewhere we hadn't been before, so we chose a random restaurant on the second floor of a building where we had to go up this weird little staircase. The food wasn't really anything to write home about but the Taiwanese television was pretty cool. We probably spent about 45 minutes watching the Taiwan's version of Ellen. It's like a talk show/game show and the host of the show regularly hosts the top film awards in Taiwan. The show is called Kangxi Lai Le. You can watch a clip here if you'd like. It is hosted by a man and woman pair. The man, Kevin Tsai, is a famous Taiwanese author and as the girl at the restaurant explained, the "Taiwanese Ellen". The female host, Dee Hsu, if famous for her good body, like a model. She's had 3 kids and is still very skinny and shapely. Enough about the hosts - the entire show is obviously in Chinese but that didn't deter me and Tom. We watched the show for about 30 minutes trying to figure out what was going on before asking out waitress. We had more or less figured it out - at least at a high level. It's situations like this that make it very clear how much of communication is non-verbal. After the movie, dinner, and tv, we checked out a cool little bar, Ginger Minx. That's really all for last night.

Winter has finally arrived today with a large rain storm. Apparently it rains all winter and boy has it started today. It's windy and rainy and it's apparently supposed to stay like this for a few days. It was raining yesterday a bit, on and off, but today it's more full on. Can't wait for 4-5 months of this weather! :)

That's all.

Hope you all remembered to file your taxes.

Best!

Whangarei

Today Anthony and I drove to Whangarei, the northermost city in New Zealand. It's about 2 hours north of Auckland. It is still maybe a 3 hour drive from the top of NZ, but it most only be towns and villages north of Whangarei. Anyways, we went up there today to get out of the city. On the way up we picked up a hitch hiker, Casey, a young man from Australia. He was likely about our age but we didn't ask. He was really nice and headed to the top of the North Island. He rode with us for maybe 100 kms. I probably wouldn't have picked him up if I was on my own but since Anthony was with me I felt fine. Casey was really nice and Anthony and I both enjoyed the experience. After all of the free rides the I had gotten from others (and Anthony as well), it's about time we start giving back.

We drove up to Whangarei to see a beautiful waterfall they have there and escape Auckland for a few hours. The weather did not end up being great today, but it's only going to get worse the next 3-4 days with a storm coming into town (and then winter) so we probably did okay in the end. We had lunch on the water in Whangarei - nothing amazing. The view wasn't that great since it was cloudy and misty all during out meal but you could tell it would look really pretty if the sun was out. We then went on a small hike and then went to the water fall. Here's some photos:

The Marina where were had lunch.

Nice view, if not for the large water/waste pipe on the right side of the stream....

Anthony. It was quite chilly yesterday. Well, it actually got warmer/more humid as the day went on but at this point it was a chilly.

Trying to hold up the Kauri tree.

A fern lear/the NZ flag.

Looking down onto Whangarei Falls.

I spy a duck...

There he is!

Looking up at Whangarei Falls.

Anthony and me.

Stunning, isn't it?!

Wow!

On our drive back to Auckland we considered stopping at a cave to check it out but the caves are apparently prone to flooding and it was a pretty strong downpour when we were in the area so we decided next time - in which case there likely won't be a next time but than god there are more caves in NZ!

We  went out for dinner last night at the Blue Breeze Inn - a great restaurant in Ponsonby. It was our "first date" except Anthony is gay and therefore our chances of this relationship going anywhere are not that great. I'm sure I'll get another date with Anthony - actually I know I will - but it won't lead anywhere. :( Haha!

Next week on our days off (Tuesday and Wednesday) I think we are going to go away for two days. I'm going to look into buying an air mattress for the back of my truck so we can sleep there and not spend any money on hotels/motels. We will probably leave the city on Tuesday and come back Thursday morning. All dependent on our work schedule but you'll obviously see what happens.

That's all for now. Chat soon!

Best!

And here's a few videos:

Canopy Kauri Walk

Whangarei Falls

Record Night!

Tonight we set a sales record for Ortolana - the highest sales night ever at the restaurant. It was crazy busy starting around 5:30pm and not ending until after 11. We had about 3 dinner rushes and were packed all night. It was super fun, went super fast, and everyone had a blast. We celebrated after we all signed off by having 3 bottles of bubbles - Bollinger - together as a team. The owner even came back into the city to celebrate with us! Great night, but I'm super tired so that's all for today.

Oh, and I discovered a great beach on the North Shore that looks south towards the city with a wonderful view of the harbor bridge. Maybe I'll go back tmr (later today) and take some photos to share with everyone.

Best!

Hipgroup Farm Photos

It only took what felt like a century to upload the following photos, and it's getting past my bedtime for this evening so I'm going to do quick captions for each. 

My lunch from Provenence - a beef pie. It tasted just as wonderful as it looks!

A couple of the pigs that are raised/owned by Hipgroup. I learned today that we did raise one "batch" of pigs once. We are currently using a supplier for most of our pork but plan to start raising more pigs again in the future.

Some cows. I don't know if these are Hipgroup's or not. They were in a paddock next to the pigs that we had to walk through. Cuties :)

Hipgroup pear orchard. 

A quince fruit. I had never seen one of these before coming to NZ. In the US I typically saw quince in marmalades, jams, pastes, etc. They use them pretty much the same here, but they also grow here. They can, apparently, but eaten whole but are not that great. They have been described to me as a cross between an apple and a pear. 

Pecan tress. These feel to me like something out of Dr. Seuss.

Our citrus orchard. Tangelo trees.

Montepulciano grape vines. We grow many varieties of grapes on the farm which we use for sodas and wines.

Autumn is here. A leaf from the Montepulciano vine.

A beautiful Oxheart tomato.

  

Looking north over Muriwai beach.

Stairs leading out of the sea. At low tide you can walk across the sand to this staircase but at high tides it's too dangerous. 

The misty, cloudy day at Muriwai beach.

There's the overdue photos from Tuesday's daytime adventure.

For the last few days:

Thursday - I worked. Nothing too exciting there. My tables were a bit strange - people weren't ordering much and we hanging out for a long time. The restaurant was very busy but since my tables didn't want much I wasn't all the busy.

Friday - Worked again. The tables I had tonight were amazing. Everyone was super friendly and really into being out and having a good time. The night felt like about 3 days long - not in a bad way but when I think back to tables I had at the beginning of the night it doesn't feel like could possibly have been today. All was good though. Made some good tips - nothing exceptional, but good. That's it. 

I'm so tired I just don't have much else to say.

I'm glad to hear the weather is improving in MN. It's not getting bad here yet, but you can tell winter is one the way. The nights are cool, the air smells different, and since we just had DST, the nights are getting darker much earlier. I guess it's time to prepare for some cold(er) rainy months. I'm saying colder and not cold because winter here is still above freezing all the time - no frosts, no snow, no ice.

Okay, good night.

Best!