Eat, Pray, Run

Hopefully you get the reference to Eat, Pray, Love.  I'm not much of a fan of it, but I thought it was catchy and a good way of talking about my recent adventures and findings.

Eat

Hooray!

For those who are reading my blog in the US, you can understand why I was excited to find a Wendy's located in Auckland, which actually right across the street from where I work.  They don't exist in Australia, and so, I hadn't eaten a Frosty in ages.  I walked in and saw that they only had two sizes-small and large.  The small looked like a double shot glass, so I figured I would go for large.  I had rather mixed feelings when I was handed a large and it was about 6 times as big as a small.  Clearly they have brought the American spirit with them.

Just a few days ago I was visited by a good friend, former co-worker at Warrane Underpaid Workers' Union, and slave-driver, Shimon Endo.  We went for a coffee at a hipster place across the street from where I live.  We both took a sip from our coffees, look at each other, and immediately put them back down, not touching them again for fear that the milk had been either 'psychedelic' or just plain expired.  Afterwards, we journeyed to his former boarding school, Sacred Heart College.  It was a rather interesting trip and I had no idea where we were going for the part.  I suppose Shimon did, but maybe that's assuming a bit too much for Shimon...


Pray

Two weeks ago I went on retreat for the weekend.  That was my adventure for the weekend, so I don't have much to update about that weekend.  It was good to reflect and think for a bit, but I was kind of tired by the end.  Yoga for the soul we'll call it.

In other spiritual news, there has been great excitement since the election of Pope Francis.  He seems to be a very humble man, as evidenced by the meme.  Please keep him in your prayers as he has a rather tough job.

Obviously I'm up front with the Kenyans.

Run

Last weekend I competed in Auckland's 'Round the Bays', an 8.4 km race that starts in the city and continues along the bays around the city.  I finished it in 48 minutes, which isn't too bad considering Alex and I started training for it just two weeks before the day of the race.

There was a really big turn out, as you can see from the photo.  The run was mostly flat, and really scenic.  The bay around Auckland is really clean and a stark contrast from any water source in the Philthadelphia area.

A look at Mission Bay.  

Kiwi Kindness

Since kindness seems to be the national virtue, I have decided to add a section for random acts of kindness.

1. When I went for my job interview, a woman got in the lift with me. She must have known that the recruitment agency was on the 6th floor and I guess that she could tell why I was there.  So, when she got off at the 4th floor, she said, "Good luck with your interview!".

2.  The train conductor said that he hoped we enjoyed our trip from Britomart to Grafton.  Usually I have to dodge spitballs on a Septa train back home.

Here are some random photos that I haven't had a chance to post.  I hope you enjoy them.  Ciao! Ciao!

From my trip around Hobson Bay.

For those who don't have Bieber-fever.

A look from Mission Bay.

The Adventure Begins!

Kia ora!

I have decided to create a blog of my adventures after leaving Sydney.  I figured it would much easier to write about what I have been up to rather copying and pasting the same things from one email to another.  (Yes, sorry. I used to do that.) 

I left Sydney on Monday afternoon and arrived in Auckland late Monday night.  My good friend Alex was kind enough to pick me up from the airport...twice.  He missed the 'PM' next to the time I wrote in my email.  I'll make sure to make it clearer in the future. I flew with Air New Zealand, and they decided to use the Lord of the Rings movies to their advantage.  If you haven't seen their safety instruction video, you can see it here.  It definitely made me pay attention.

Alex took me on quick tour of Auckland on Tuesday morning, and, I must say, one morning was all that we needed.  Short, but sweet. I can't get my photos uploaded, but I'll put them here once I figure it out.

First we started with a great view of the city at the top of Mount Eden, a dormant volcano that is also the highest natural point on the Auckland isthmus.  The word 'natural' is used because the Auckland tower is higher, but made of concrete.

We went for short tour around the Auckland War Memorial Museum.  We saw a few things, most of their names have slipped my mind...sorry, Alex.

This is a view from the city looking at Mount Eden.

One of the rooms inside the museum had an exhibit about volcanoes in New Zealand.  There was a room set up to look like a house that had a TV broadcast of what would happen if there were an eruption.  The video of it is just below.  The simulation even had the floor shaking a bit.  It was pretty cool, or as they say here, it was mean as.  Apparently there are lots of volcanoes in New Zealand.  And for those of you who didn't know, volcanology is actually a word!

 This wasn't in my brochure!

A few random but interesting things about New Zealand:
1)  There aren't many street signs in Auckland.  It's entirely possible to arrive at an intersection and not see the name of the street you're on nor the name of the one you're turning onto.  Not surprisingly, I have gotten lost many times in just a few days.  Maybe that's not so surprising for someone like me...

2) People are uncommonly kind for city people.  Alex has told me that the national virtue is kindness.  When I was walking to the local library to use the internet, I could hear a skateboarder coming up behind me, so I moved out of the way.  As he cruised by, he took off his headphones, said "Thank you.", and smiled as he passed me.  Quite a contrast with the time I was run off the road by skateboarders in Delaware. The funny thing is Aucklanders are considered to be a bit rude compared to people from other cities.  For example, Alex told me of a guy from Hamilton who was astounded by the fact that someone in Auckland beeped his horn at him.  Apparently car horns are just for saying hello in Hamilton.

3) The sun is ridiculously intense!  I haven't been burnt yet, but I was getting a bit worried when I
was out on Tuesday morning. I will be investing in a barrel of sunscreen to protect my fragile skin.

4) There are no states. The closest thing is North Island and South Island.  With a population of 4 million people, New Zealand is basically a collection of villages.

5) Today I tried a flavour of ice cream called 'Hokey Pokey'.  It's vanilla with chunks of honeycomb toffee.  It's pretty much the national flavour.


Future Plans

I haven't set out any definite travel plans for the future, but I'm working on that.  Right now I'm focusing on getting a temp job, which is looking promising.  I found this video of a street luge course that's south of Auckland.  I chose this video over the first one I found.  That one had 'Let the bodies hit the floor' by Drowning Pool playing...not very tempting with that playing in the background.

Future Posts

Keep an eye for future posts.  Hopefully they will be more interesting as more things happen along the way.

Comments
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