BEEN EMPLOYED IN ANOTHER COUNTRY

Since I spent the year before coming to New Zealand serving in AmeriCorps, the amount I was able to save was less than desirable. Impressive, because I only received a stipend to live off of, but still left many zeros to be desired. Therefore, I knew I would eventually have to find some form of work in this great tiny country (FYI current population = 4,444,444).

I had my mind and bank account set on working with kids--I was over the days of customer and food service and ready to add something somewhat relevant to my resume. Within days of arriving I had an interview set up with a recruitment center that places ECE (early childhood education) teachers at locations throughout the city. After a lot of waiting in the office and then a pretty straight forward meeting proving that I was capable of handling small children, I was employed! I was also handed a jar of jelly beans for my patience, proving that New Zealand employment agencies were the best places ever.

I started work the following week. I am a substitute teacher, known as a 'Reliever', for preschool/day cares (called crèches here in NZ) throughout Wellington. My first day proved to be successful when, about thirty minutes after my arrival, a 3 year old curly haired blonde turned to me and said, "You're my best friend." And then gave me a high five. Needless to say, I was hooked!

So far, I've been to a few different sites but have mostly been placed at the same centers which has been great because it allows me to get to know the little rascals. I primarily work with the kids aged 3-5, but occasionally get placed in the "under 2" area which really can be wonderful simply because after they wake from their naps, they each require "cuddle time" and a teacher (me!) sits and soothes/cuddles with them anywhere from ten minutes to an hour! Also, since there are different health requirements at each place, the Relievers aren't allowed to change nappies (diapers)!

There are a lot of differences in supervision and activities compared to the ones I've experienced in the States. One day, it was pretty overcast and chilly but the teachers decided to bring the babies outside anyway and pour a bag of ice in a bowl for them to play with. Now, I'm all for inexpensive toys but......this one had me question a lot of the teaching degrees I saw on the wall. The ice was sharp and they were throwing it at each other, also their little baby hands were so frozen!

Since this work is all what they call "casual" it's not guaranteed hours each week, meaning I needed another job. Again, I knew I wanted to work with kids so I stalked a few After School Care companies online and they actually responded to my plea. I work for an After School Care company that is located in 3 different schools in Wellington. The kids that attend are ages 5-12, and each day we provide afternoon tea (fancy Kiwi way of saying snack) homework help and then usually an activity of sorts (cooking, arts & crafts, etc) Each of the three sites host about 30 kids a day, and boy do all of these 90 kids have some personality. Here are a few of my favorite conversations I've had:

"I like your earrings, they look like mermaid tears." - 11 year old boy

"Did you know Connor has a mom named Jane, and I have a mom named Jane?" - 6 year old girl
"Are you sure they aren't the same mom?" - me
"No! They aren't photocopied!"

"How old are you?"-10 year old boy
"23." -me
"No offense, but you look 18 or 19."


Once again, there are a lot of differences I have to deal with. As with all life in New Zealand, I have to learn to be much more laid back and relaxed. They are definitely not as concerned with safety issues (aka having parents sue them) as many schools/child care companies in the States. Also, Kiwi disorganization may be the death of me...but that's a topic for another post.

Summer time has just begun here, so we now have Holiday Programme to look forward to! And although my American sensibilities translate "holiday programme" into "holiday themed play" it actually means "Summer Vacation Day Care". Luckily, since I am a newbie to Wellington the manager has decided to schedule me on all trip days so that I can take in the sights of Wellington. First stop: Wellington Zoo!

*DRIVEN A MANUAL TRANSMISSION

Ok so two disclaimers for this post:
1. I have technically driven a manual before, back in high school, in a parking lot. I was under the instruction of my best friend though, who had learned a mere few weeks before attempting to teach me, so I mostly try to block out those memories. The name of that car was "Ghetto Magic" so I'm sure you can imagine that it wasn't the most trustworthy of vehicles. Therefore I suppose this post should be called "Never Have I Ever SUCCESSFULLY Driven a Manual Transmission" But, whatever.
2. I know that is isn't a New Zealand specialty and that manual transmission cars exist all over the world so this really isn't that big of a deal. I decided that it's more the situation in which I learned how to drive a manual that is specifically New Zealand oriented.

So, we WWOOFed for a week on a very farm-y farm. We were looking for a way to continue moving north (toward our final destination of Wellington) and we found a farm located just outside of the town of Dunedin. We thought, "Great! Part farm, part civilization! Just what we need!" I sent an email asking if they would be willing to host us, and I got back the most wonderful email:

Boom just like that they are willing to have strangers stay in their home, drive their car, and take care of their animals! This is the real New Zealand people!

The day came for our arrival, Gillian picked us up at the bus stop, drove us to the grocery store so we could pick out whatever food we wanted then came home and made us squid risotto. It was all so normal.

Gillian asked me, as we whizzed up Three Mile Hill (exactly what it sounds like) if I would be comfortable driving in NZ. I stated, that yes I was quite good at driving on the left side these days. She said, "And how about a manual?" And I'm pretty sure I laughed in her face? Not in a rude way, just in more of a "Absolutely-not -no-way-that's-hilarious-and-crazy-why-would-I-ever-know-that" sort of way. Her response was a cool and calm, "We'll talk about that."

Next thing you know, I'm behind the wheel of a car that is easily my peer (definitely in the 20+ age group), on a deserted dirt path, in MOSGIEL NEW ZEALAND. And it's raining. About 12 minutes later, I vaguely understood what my relationship with the gear shifting and clutch were. The next day, Gillian had enough confidence in me as a driver to have me drive her to the airport! We made it there in one piece (5 mins ahead of schedule, might I add!) then it was up to Hannah and I to make our way back, on the dark country roads. We survived and I only stalled one time!

It was just so perfectly Kiwi of this family to completely trust us with their home, their animals and to insist I drive this car that I could potentially harm (she did say "There's really nothing you can do to that car, its old and we bought it cheap." But was I suppose to take that like a challenge? Because I felt like my skill level was for sure telling me something bad was potentially about to happen with me + Isuzu.)

Me and my partner in crime : Blue Isuzu. 

 She insisted that we would be able to take advantage of the area much more if we had a car, and she was completely accurate. She was so calm and trusting, a perfect teacher for this random driving lesson.

Although my anxiety was attempting to distract me as I drove on the left side of the road, on the right side of the car, in an old manual Isuzu Trooper that I learned to drive less than 24 hours beforehand, I think I held my own pretty well.

I learned that practice makes perfect in the world of learning to drive stick shift. So we took the 'ol Trooper out for a few different rides, and I even managed to drive into Dunedin, an area with many more hills and many more people than the town of Mosgiel. I am extremely glad that I will no longer have to rely on a manual transmission car during this trip (fingers crossed) but I am very grateful that I learned how to successfully not injure myself or others (or the car I suppose) while driving stick. So,I'm awarding myself many gold stars for my performance.

Sidenote about our time in Mosgiel:
On top of caring for this elderly vehicle, we were also the sole care givers to:

Luke the dog, and a number of noisy unnamed fowl.

1 dog
1 cat
2 turtles
2 goats
5 roosters
15 hens
5 chicks

Katie and Billy

Everyone was pretty low key, even for the mass quantities of animals that were existing in this one lifestyle block, but I will be excited to hear the rumblings of a city rather than the crowing of a rooster all.day.long. in the very near future.

WWOOFED BEFORE

After two weeks, Hannah and I had successful acquired what I like to call "vacation stamina" (the ability to be constantly on the move, possibly even sleeping in a new bed each night and not caring what is half way down in your backpack because you have already decided you don't care anymore and will just be wearing the same thing everyday.) At this point though, we were both ready to a)stay in once place for a semi extended period of time and b) actually be productive members of society.

That's where WWOOFing comes in! WWOOFing is more than its totally awesome name, it's a program that encourages cultural exchange and ecotourism, offering opportunities for travelers to assist organic farms. WWOOFing stands for Willing Workers On Organic Farms OR World Wide Opportunities On Farms, so you can choose which one sounds better to you. 

After an evening in Dunedin, we boarded a bus headed for the presumably farm-tastic oasis of Clinton, New Zealand. The bus driver was pretty surprised to find out that was our desired destination, essentially saying "are you SURE you're sure you want to go there?" So that gave us heaps of confidence. Nevertheless, he dropped us off on a pretty deserted road that was supposedly located in the town of Clinton. Luckily, I'm in New Zealand so you never really need to be worried about anything.

We stopped in the nearest gas station to ask for directions and almost before I even finished my question, the cashier, Jo, said "You're going to Wairuna Organics aren't you?" She had seen our kind before.

Jo decided she didn't want us lugging our backpacks up the road so she said "Run 'round to that wee red car. I'll give you a lift." Welcome to New Zealand.

Wairuna Organics is owned and basically solely operated by one man, Shaun. He is equal parts endearing and terrifying. His entire income relies on the money he makes from the Dunedin Farmers Marker each week. He also relies entirely on WWOOFers to keep the place going. Therefore, you are literally dealing with this mans livlihood each day you work on his farm. Hence, the terrifying-ness he can have at times. He hosts approximately 170 WWOOFers A YEAR. So, he definitely knows what works, who works, and what doesn't.

He hosts up to 15 WWOOFers at time. When we arrived there were two Korean guys, a French guy, a German guy, and a Malaysian girl working. Pretty cool international crowd.  Everyone is given their own sleeping space, and then we share "The Station" where we can cook/eat/watch TV/hang and such.

Our humble abode. 

 The deal is that you work from 10am-2pm every day in exchange for a bed and three square meals. Pretty good set up, I'd say. 

Our first day of work, we were sent straight to the fields. Garlic fields. Our mission was to weed the garlic and Shaun gave us a little inspirational speech before we began, "Don't you f*&^ing pull out the garlic!" So with that attitude, and the anxiety over potentially ruining an entire crop of garlic, we were off! Later, our job was to weed the raspberry bushes. Luckily we got to start this job just as it started to rain! Shaun asked us, about 45 mins into this job, "Have you guys WWOOFed before?" I said enthusiastically/apologetically, "Nope, this is our first time!" and he replied, "It shows." But then he smiled and laughed so its hard to actually dislike this guy, because I'm sure he was completely right, our weeding abilities were most likely not up to par.

Not a terrible view to look at all day while wedding garlic.

For the next week we continued to weed the garlic and raspberries, we picked lettuce (at least five different kinds), we picked and cleaned carrots (white, purple and orange carrots) and tended to the crops in the massive greenhouses he owned. We also hung out with his dog Chloe, a lot. 

Sorting carrots to sell.

Shaun was very stern and precise about what he wanted you to do, but then one second later he would give you a lesson about the type of vegetable you were working with. Where it comes from, what its used for, its likes and dislikes, all those sort of things. 

Each night we prepared dinner together, usually including a minimum of 2 completely homemade items, including but not limited to; bread, cheese and cheesecake. This was great because I really love food a lot. 

Cheese, passionfruit cheesecake, veggies and veggies.

Even though the farm ended up running out of water, and we had to sleep in layers on layers on layers each night (seriously 2 pairs of pants and 5 sweatshirt kind of layers) our time on the farm was amazing. It felt great to be doing something helpful, and we met interesting people. To top it all off, when we visited Shaun at the Dunedin Farmers Market a week after we left, he gave us a deal on the lettuce we bought! Can't beat that!

DRIVEN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD!

Okay folks, I have really hit the ground running with this whole "try something new" game I'm playing. Today I drove on the left side of the road. And no one got hurt. Not even any sheep! This is how this came to be:

So, once upon a time there was this little thing called "Twitter" where people were free to post sarcastic, funny, self-deprecating, sometimes mean, sometimes nice things about the people and places in their lives. Businessmen and advertisers (sometimes also considered "people") also use this service to make themselves known in the lives of us mere citizens. When I decided I was going to NZ, I promptly began following a number of NZ affiliated Twitter accounts (including but not limited to: New Zealand Wine, and the NZ Rugby team All Blacks)

This brought me to JUCY. And although the Twitter account was labeled "JUCY LUCY", a name I have  reserved space in my mind (and heart) for a particular beef + cheese item, I was intrigued. And you know what else? They had chutzpah.  Maybe it was just the green and purple website, who can say for sure, but I decided they needed to be followed by me. On Twitter.

Turns out they are a car rental company. Didn't see that coming.

After months of helpful advice and the kind of sassy tweets I have come to expect from this service, this arrived in my newsfeed (or whatever the Twitter version is called):

And I was like "ME! I feel like a free roadtrip!" Because A) free is my favorite price and B) it is called "Coco our Social Cabana", how can I pass something like that up? I entered the contest and the rest is history--except that I should really mention how incredibly helpful they were! They responded in lightning speed fashion and emailed back and forth with me until we were able to find a date that would work for all of us; me/Hannah, the JUCY staff and Coco the Social Cabana. 

So here we are. After making initial plans to start in the North Island, this fabulous opportunity had us racing south, to Queenstown, to pick up Coco for a week long luxury vacation. 

 We step off the plane in Queenstown and are immediately struck by the insane beauty; gorgeous snow capped mountains surround the area. Then I become struck by fear and anxiety as I begin to realize that I will soon be placed behind the wheel of a vehicle, on the right side of the car, driving on the left side of the road. This was my overall emotion as a I sat behind the wheel, willing myself to drive out of the parking lot:

After what seemed like at least 32 roundabouts/rotarys we were on the main road that lead us to Wanaka, luckily it was a straight shot, no turns needed! I started to relax and by the time we made it to Wanaka I think I was downright confident in my driving abilities. 

Wanaka is a beautiful lake down, dedicated to the life of skiing and snowboarding. One of Hannah's friends has been living in Wanaka since July, so we popped on over there to check it out.  After two nights in Wanaka, and a hike to the top of a hill for a wine tasting at Rippon Vineyard, we decided we needed to actually fully utilize the free van we were given, so we headed north to check out the famous Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers.

The drive north took us nearly four hours through some winding roads. I held my own though and made it through, continuing to keep us safe on the left side of the road. We stopped at the famous Blue Pools, then continued to the glaciers. As we walked toward the glacier it felt like something straight out of Land Before Time (or Jurassic Park I guess, whichever one you identify with more, picture that). As with most everything, it costs money to go on an actual tour in which you are able to touch the glaciers and walk through them. Seeing as how we have minimum amounts of dollars, we decided to do the free version, so we were still quite a few meters away. But we felt/saw the beauty, even from afar!

Afterwards we drove to Okarito a tiny tiny tiny "town" where we were able to set up camp and stay the night. We were able to make dinner in the back of Coco and enjoy the company of a lovely Kiwi/UK couple fishing for whitebait, which is apparently a type of fish that "Doesn't taste particularly good and you don't use it for anything" yet it is an expensive commodity...

The next day as we began to fill up our gas tank, we realized that gas is actually extremely absurdly priced here in this lovely little island. SO we decided to head back towards Wanaka for some cheaper activities.

We decided to tramp (hike) through Mt. Aspiring National Park and stay over night at one of the huts located on the hike. It was a two hour tramp from the car park, through a beautiful valley. Walking just a few feet away from cows and sheep, fording rivers and climbing lots of rocks. We arrived at the hut, which is used primarily in the summertime (remember its winter here right now people!) as a pit stop for trampers as they continue on. 

Because we are super smart and clearly very well prepared in all aspects of life, we somehow thought it would be a good idea to begin the tramp at 4:45pm. (Our late arrival was also in part due to the sheep blocking our way!) Meaning we arrived about 10 minutes before the sun set, reealllly cutting it close! There was no electricity, just a bunch of mats to sleep on and a fireplace. Again, this is meant to be used primarily during the summer months...and now we know  why.

We quickly built the fire (thanks to all of our cumulative girl scout skills) and promptly huddled around it (along with the bottles of wine that are obviously important additions to any long hike) all night long. The fire of course went out in the middle of the night, just as a massive rain storm came through the valley. The next morning we had to hike back....still a two hour hike...through rain rain rain and winds reaching close to 70 or 80 mph. If you recall, it seems as though the only way I like to hike, is if I am going to end up being in miserable pain the next day; 35 mile overnight hike. This experience wasn't nearly as bad as that though, it was actually pretty amazing, the land was virtually untouched making 360 views constantly breathtaking.

For our final night we drove to Queenstown, the location where we were meant to return the vehicle. Queenstown is the "adventure capital of New Zealand" but we didn't have time to take part in any of those crazy activities, stay tuned in the coming months for those...

It was sad to see our purple gas guzzling monstrosity go, but it was time for another lucky few to have their way with her. She definitely earned her stripes as we drove through the Crown Range and up the West Coast. She provided a lovely sleeping facility + kitchen + lounge PLUS she was FREE so it was really beyond splendid.

GONE THIS LONG WITHOUT LEAVING THE COUNTRY.

It has been 648 days. Six Hundred and Forty Eight Days.

648 days since that last time I left the country. That is equal to exactly 1 year, 9 months, and 9 days. You guys, I'm struggling to say the least. For me, a person who has been traveling consistently and internationally since I was 16, that is a very, very, long time.

I know I'm spoiled. I'm well aware of my indulgent ways. But it's really a sick addiction. You really should be feeling bad for me more than anything else.

I thought that by studying abroad I would be able to kick the habit, you know, get it out of my system. Then, I ended up risking it all and became an illegal alien just so I could continue traveling around Europe. At that point, I knew there was no turning back.

My modus operandi most days.

"Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life." -Michael (no relation to Sarah) Palin

So you see what I'm getting at? A terrible affliction.  My brilliant fix this time, as the cabin fever set in was..... New Zealand!

I have a year long work visa, a one way ticket and two lovely travel companions.

Hannah and I, 2009. Prague Style.

Hannah and I met while studying abroad in Prague. We were both lucky/smart enough to have chosen the best program and the best semester ever to arrive in the Czech Republic. We quickly bonded over our love of 90s dance pop, burcak, and Vaclav Havel. We spent hours and hours each day in cafes planning our future jobs as vagabonds.

Courtney and I, Halloween 2008. We did not end up at Bacci on this particular year, luckily.

Courtney and I met while at Loyola Chicago. We originally would discuss our meeting as happening during our sophomore year, but upon closer inspection of our friendship, turns out we met freshman year at a Halloween party held above Bacci Pizzeria (yup.)

Example of some of the awesome things we got to do in EVOKE. I'm the 1st "E", Courtney is the "O"

But what really brought us together was E.V.O.K.E (Encouraging Vocation through Knowledge and Experience) at Loyola Chicago. An amazing group/club/experience that allowed college students the opportunity to say "I have no idea what I want to do with my life, and that's okay." Since then we have become connoisseurs of the wine + life chat scenario and love the uncertainty that our lives hold.

Suffice to say, all three of us enjoy the feeling of answering the question, "But, what are you going to do?" with, "Anything and everything!"

This is a good reason, too.

So that's where New Zealand comes in. We are going because we can, and we want to. What other reasons do you need? 

We will make our way around the two islands of New Zealand by WWOOFing, Workaway-ing, Couchsurfing, and at some point even working the old fashioned way-- for a paycheck. 

I love being able to share my stories and experiences with you all, and of course, I want to keep it interesting. In order for me to follow through on that promise, both to you and to myself, each post will be highlighting my experience as I try to do/eat/learn something new; food, activity, game, whatever. (Hence the name "Never Have I Ever...") 

I'm not saying they will all be extreme, (although skydiving is on the shortlist) but I hope to take full advantage of my time in NZ, and this will help keep me accountable for that!


We've all heard the Eleanor Roosevelt quote, "Do one thing every day that scares you."  And while that is the over all idea here, I do still have a life/potentially a job/commitment issues so once a day is going to be hard for me to accomplish. I will try really really hard to stick with once a week. 

                    Suggestions and advice are welcome---let the good times roll!