Traveling and Funny Stories

Wednesday 26 May 2010

I have to admit that I was kind of avoiding the blog, because I have had no motivation to write anything. Not that nothing has happened. I just don't want to take the time to write everything out. I have a little more motivation now.

This week has been a busy one. All my planning and research finally paid off. I am done with all the booking and organizing of the trip when Mom gets here. Now all I have to do is print it off. I am so glad it is done!

Also, Alison left for a trip on Sunday and will be gone for a week. So I get the room to myself. It has been quite strange not coming home and sharing all my experiences of the day with her. She went to Queenstown, did a Milford Sound cruise, Arrowtown (a mining town), and Wanaka. She also went bungi jumping. She texted me so I knew she was alive afterwords. I guess she really enjoyed it.

The day before she left, she had to open the restaurant and I had to babysit when she returned. So I did not really get to say goodbye to her. Babysitting was interesting. The preschool owner asked if I would like to babysit for them. I said of course. She has four kids. The youngest had a bad chest cold. She sounded terrible and several times looked like she was about to be sick. She went to bed early as did another one of her children. The youngest went to be fine, but later woke up and was wailing. She had a sore on her back and was trashing around. One of her kids brought medicine. I was not sure how much to put on, but gave her a minimal amount and tried to change her nappy. It took two of us to do it, as the girl refused to let us. After that, she calmed down and was about to fall asleep when her parents came in. All in all, the night was great, but the last 10 minutes were exhausting. I felt so bad for her.

Even though I did everything that I could in the babysitting situation, I still felt like I was doing everything wrong. I guess I couldn't have done too bad, because the preschool owner asked me to babysit again after work. That day was quite easy.

I have quite a few funny stories to share. So, I was leaving the flat one day. Our "driveway" is covered in rocks. So anytime someone drives in and out, your can hear the rocks crunch. It is also quite a long driveway. This has nothing to do with my story, but I just wanted to share it anyway. So Alison and I have had a few...episodes where we slip and have to grab onto the fence or something to quickly steady ourselves. Well, this time, I slipped on the rocks and landed right on my rear, quite hard. It was not pleasant, but of course my first thought is, "I hope no one saw that!" I don't think anyone did, but if someone did, they were probably laughing hysterically. I left the flat to mail letters and meet Alison, but failed to bring a waterproof jacket. It was sunny, so I didn't think I needed it. You would think after four months, I would figure out that you can never predict the weather by what it looks like. Always be prepared. Yeah, I got soaked.

Yesterday, I got soaked, too. I took a bus to work, but I had to walk from work as I had many errands to run. I had to pay rent. I was supposed to pay the day before, but didn't have time. I had to do several other things, and looked like a mess when I got home.

One night, one of our flatmates knocked on our door to ask if we knew how to use the oven. This may sound ridiculous, but we have a psychotic oven. It only turns on when it wants to. You have to jiggle the knobs and fiddle with the timer for a long time. So we did that. It worked, but the timer kept going off and we couldn't turn it off. It was most annoying. The next day, I used the stove and the timer was still going off. So I used the stove to make a quesadilla. It turned out fine, but the handle released the rest of the pan, which went clattering toward the ground, spreading oil everywhere. It was still hot. So I had to pick up the pan with a towel and tried desperately to clean up the floor. Even after cleaning it, it was still a bit slippery. It was funny to watch other people slip and try to figure out what was wrong. I know I should have warned them, but I was having too much fun seeing their clumsiness and confusion. Now they can see how I live.

At preschool, a little boy came up to me and said, "Look, poop." He showed me his fingers, and I could smell it. So I took him to the sink and told him to wash his hands, while I got his clothes ready. I realized he was just running water over his fingers, so I got soap for him, held him by his wrists and helped him scrub it off. Then I cleaned him, and changed him (making sure his fingers wouldn't touch me. I know he was clean, but it was the thought that grossed me out.)

A side note, people hang things up by using what is called U-Tak. It is a gummy substance that is supposed to be safe on the walls. The preschool uses this a lot. I have noticed that children take off pictures and papers from the wall, take the U-Tak, and start chewing it. They think it is like gum. It is quite disgusting.

I've noticed that the guys in the flat have stopped shutting the door completely when they use the toilet. It is quite disgusting. I haven't seen anything, but I can hear everything. Also, the kitchen is getting messier and messier. People don't clean up after themselves anymore. I will be really glad when we move out, so we won't have to clean up after people anymore. Just ourselves.

Alison and I were invited to a new comers luncheon. Alison couldn't go, but I decided to go. I RSVP ed via email and let them know I did not have a ride. They told me I could ride with them. The only problem was...I had no idea what they looked like. So I waited for them to come to me. A man did come to me and said he and his wife would take me after tea time. So I waited. Tea time was quite awkward. I really don't know that many people and everyone else knew each other. So they were talking to each other for 45 minutes, and I stood alone. Several people did come up to me and talked for a wee bit, but then would leave quickly. It was really hard to know what to do. They had their own circles and friends, and it felt strange just standing there, so I looked around. I was glad when the couple came and took me. We went to another couple's house. There was one other newcomer besides myself and 9 core members. So we were quite outnumbered. At first it was fine. We talked and got to know each other. We ate some soup (veggies and a meat that looked like corn beef), garlic bread, cheerios (a type of sausage), sausage rolls, chicken, and a caramel square. After dinner, they had us sit in the living room to watch a movie and talked about volunteering programs they offered. That felt really awkward, because we felt (or at least I felt) like they were pressuring us to volunteer in their programs. They said no pressure, but with 9 people staring at you asking if you had any questions and telling you what they do, it felt like a lot of pressure. I was kind of glad when they had to leave.

Well, I guess that is it for the interesting an funny stories. Now for future events. I was looking online for bus trips around some places I would like to go to, but won't get to do with my mom. I found that the times I was looking at were all dollar trips. I booked everything and discovered I had planned everything around Alison's birthday. So I had to go and change everything. Fortunately it all worked out. So I have a trip from Christchurch to Tasman, Tasman to Nelson, Nelson to Franz Josef Glacier, Franz Joseph Glacier to Fox Glacier, Fox Glacier to Greymouth and Christchurch to Wanaka and back for under $10. Greymouth to Christchurch will be a bit more, but it is a very cheap trip for me, and I am quite excited. For those of you who have no idea what these places are, they are all supposed to be amazingly beautiful places. Tasman is a National Park, and Wanaka is a lake. I think the Glaciers speak for themselves. Neslon is just a really pretty area on the Northern point of the South Island. Greymouth is just a place I have to go to in order to get back to Christchurch.

After this trip and two day trips and one more multi-day trip with Alison, I will have completely covered everything I wanted to do in the Southern Island. In the North Island, the last thing I would like to do is visit Lake Toupo. I might do this right before I leave New Zealand to come home. It is exciting to know I will be able to see all of New Zealand before I have to leave.

Now, I am again, finally caught up.