Wellington Part 1 of 4: Work It

With Mai and I having gone our separate ways, the blog has indeed suffered.  No need to fear though, we are working tirelessly to remedy that.  I have just completed an entire overview of my time in Wellington and will be breaking it up into parts.  Rather than the standard "day-by-day" format, I have formulated my time in Wellington into categories.  The sheer magnitude of all this information (let alone the amount of words I wrote) is so great that, just as Quientin Tarantino was forced to split Kill Bill into two volumes, I must split my time in Wellington into FOUR.  Today we start with my work experience.

"HOUSKEEPING"

I continued to clean rooms after Mai ventured back North.  Taking her place was another German by the name of Enno, who joined Ernesto, Eric, and I to form Squad BEEE.  Together, we cruised through room after room in a clear display of our awesome and unmatched cleaning powers.  We passed the time listening to whatever we could find on the radio very loudly.  I know pretty much every word to "Little Black Box" at this point.  Our musical prowess didn't end there.  We often created our own lyrics to popular songs, particularly when the radio signal in a room was poor.  Probably our favorite one was to the tune of Aqua's "Barbie Girl", from which we took the line, "Come on Barbie, let's go party" and replaced it with, "Come on Enno, clean that toilet."  I know what you're thinking, and yes, for a time we did consider quitting our housekeeping jobs to pursue a career in music.

On a more earnest note, it was quite a surprise to learn the extent to which music travels.  It's not a secret that bands tour world-wide and therefore have fans far-reaching across the globe, so when my work mates know all the words to Lady Gaga songs, I'm not at all surprised.  It's the lesser known songs that caught me off-guard, for example: as the opening chords for Blur's "Song 2" rang out from the speakers one morning, and I prepared to sing out the opening line of, "WOOO HOOO!" I stopped mid shout when I heard all three of my fellow cleaners sang along.  Not only did they know the song, they knew the little known fact that the lead singer of Blur is none other than the lead singer of the more current Gorillaz, a fact that many of my peers at home are not aware of!  Moral of the story: music knows no limits or boundaries, and is best listened to when sung with a thick German or Spanish accent.

I finished the housekeeping job after a solid three weeks and can honestly say I'm not too upset about leaving.  I had may fond memories with my commrades, one of the fondest coming the second to last day, which just so happened to be the day after St. Patrick's Day.  We may or may not have celebrated the night before and we may or may not have struggled immensely to wake up let alone clean for four hours.  Our manager had a grand old time laughing at us in our misery, though she was merciful enough to bring us some tylenol and water.  Another moral!: with the right set of people, what should be a horrid, unbearable day can turn out to be just the opposite.

"BAR TENDING"

With accommodation covered by the housekeeping gig, I landed a paid bar tending position at The Fringe Bar.  This corner-situated bar (located on the end of the Cuba Street strip) doubled as a performance site and a karaoke bar.  With comedy shows three or four days a week and karaoke EVERY night, it served as a perfect Mecca for all sorts of characters to gather.  And with it's operating hours lasting until 6:00AM during the week and as late (or you might consider it early) as 8:30AM on the weekends, it often housed the masses when all the other bars closed their doors.

I began working Sunday and Monday nights, but have worked a couple of Saturday nights as well.  After more than a month of tending bar, I think I've seen it all.  One night we will close at 2:00AM because there is no one there, while one random Sunday, I didn't leave until 5:00AM because we had about 30 people in the bar, 20 of whom were from the Swedish Circus group that had been performing all week and were celebrating their last night Wellington with some karaoke, flaming shots, and break dancing.  That same night, we were also graced with the presence of a contestant from New Zealand Idol and I was hit on aggressively by a transvestite.  Surprisingly, I made it home without a scratch.

Monday nights were fairly standard.  Comedy ended each night at 9 and the regulars wasted no time cleaning up afterward to begin karaoke.  "Mustang Sally" was always the first to be sung, followed by other karaoke greats.  I routinely sang "Time Warp" and "Come Together" with two of the comedians.  When I got more comfortable on stage, I rocked a few solo songs such as "Snow" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Fever" by Michael Buble, "Seniorita" by JT (that one was for you, Steve) and "Layla" by Sir Eric Clapton.  One night, I met a few members from the Brooklyn based group Antibalas who were performing here in Wellington.  They were quite entertaining and you should have a listen to their unique Afrobeat style of music.

My last weekend of work came abruptly, as bad weather slowed our operations and I was sent home early most nights.  I have plenty to take away from the experience: I have solidified my basic bar tending skills, interacted with all sorts of fun individuals, conquered a fear of singing solo on stage, and made some friends along the way.  I know one thing for sure though: I won't miss getting off work after the sun has already come up.

"OTHER"

Having emailed an application to the Madison Recruitment Agency, I have received a number of random work opportunities.  Although declining a door-to-door salesman job, I did accept two one-day work opportunities.  The first, working in the ticket booth at Westpac Stadium for the Hurricane's rugby match.  With only a few situations of disgruntled customers annoyed they couldn't get a particular ticket, it was reasonably easy.  And I caught the last five minutes of the match, just in time to watch as the Hurricanes sealed the win with a final stop.

The second was a bit more random.  TesltraClear sponsored 48 of their employees and family to come watch as New Zealand faced off against Australia in the fifth and final One Day International match of cricket.  I was hired as an official food and drink runner, which basically meant I waited on hand and foot to run down the 13 steps from the stadium seats to the concession stands below to retrieve food and drink.  Now that might not sound all that appealing, but considering this is New Zealand and everyone is exceptionally nice, it was quite enjoyable.  I became fast friends with both the TestraClear employees as well as the concession stand workers.  Although Australia had already sealed the series, winning three out of four matches, the fans were energized and supportive of the Black Caps, and they ended up winning!  I also ALMOST witnessed a "Hat Trick," an extremely rare occurrence where the bowler tallies three wickets in a row... have I lost you yet?  Cricket is actually kind of fun and I enjoyed watching all 8 long hours of the match.  I also made out like a bandit, bringing home enough food to feed a small village (though it barely lasted the weekend with four hungry young housekeepers).

Headin' Down The Kerikeri Highway...

So after the week of housekeeping and repeatedly comparing myself to Cinderella, I decided to jump ship and head north where I've felt most at home during this trip, Kerikeri.  I also knew chances were high that I would get a job.

It was a Wednesday morning.  I had orignially designated this day as an application day- a day to act awkwardly chipper while handing in resumes. As you can imagine, I began this Wednesday by waking up slowly, deciding how I was going to procrastinate (some things never change).  While standing in the kitchen, I was startled by a "goodmorning" from hostel mate, Fatima.  Fati is a tall, skinny, bronzed and BEAUTIFUL 20 year old Argentinean girl.  She has plans to hitchike all of the South Island, solo. I think she is crazy but I decide to help her practice hitchiking, the perfect procrastination.  I have slim to none experience, so in actuality, we were both newbies.

The sun was bright, the clouds were MIA and the heat was dripping.  Clearly, the only place to go was  a beach. Paihia is the closest beach town (about a 30 min drive) and a 10 minute ferry ride from Paihia brings you to another Island: Russell- home of some of New Zealand's millionaires. Our goal was set, Russell it was. We start the walk. I had little faith... 3 minutes later, a police car pulls over.

My heart skips a beat. "Is it illegal to hitchike in New Zealand? But everyone does it?!"

The window rolls down and the Officer asks where we're going. Yes folks, we got picked up by Officer Mark who happened to be the only police officer in Russell. Lets go over that again: 1. picked up by a police officer while hitching 2. this police officer was driving to Russell and 3. he is the only police officer on that island of a population near 800.

We should have played the lottery.

What I learned:

• police officers in NZ can carry firearms depending on there situation. Mark has one because he's the only police officer on the island. generally speaking, police officers are unarmed in NZ besides some pepper spray and a baton.
• nz police officers get to use vacation homes located all over new zealand, including big cities, for only 50 dollars a week
• faux hawk hairstyles are not just for twenty something year olds. 
• Russell has the oldest "police station" (Mark gave us a tour of his house which is connected to the police station). The "police station" was a small room with no holding area.

After declining to join Mark for lunch, Fati and I headed to the beach and toasted in the sun a bit.  A few hours later, we hopped on a ferry back to Paihia and continued our hitching journey back to Kerikeri.

After 5 minutes of extending our thumbs, we were picked up by a small pick-up truck- the 3 of us squeezed together like sardines in the front seat.  While opening Stellas with a lighter, Shimon, an Israeli who has been living in New Zealand for 15 or so years, invited us to a small gathering he was having on the weekend (we never went). Shimon was a bit of crazy, but a nice crazy.  He offered us a beer and because it is legal to drink in a vehicle as a passenger, I had no choice but to accept.  I am trying to fit in.

Eventually, we made it home safe- best hitch hiking day ever.

Good Morning, Housekeeping

We began our housekeeping days in early morning on the first of March. We were briefly introduced to the two young men we'd be working with - Ernesto from Mexico and Eric from Germany.  After moving our stuff into a room, with two bunk beds and a spare twin bed, we learned that our first cleaning experience would be to clean our own place.  Because our predecessors left it a mess, it proved to be a daunting task, but we endured.  

Cleaning rooms wasn't all fun and games, as to be expected.  Making beds was quite boring.  Nobody likes to do dishes, no matter how mindfully they do it.  And the chemicals used for the bathroom were anything but healthy, especially with little to no ventilation (I believe I was on the verge of developing asthma- Mai).  But it was something and for twenty hours a week, we had a kitchenette, a living room, a tv and free wifi.

In our spare time, besides exploring the city, we took advantage of the free gym facilities.  It wasn't much, but there were free weights and some machines, even a three-lane pool.  After a nice workout, Mai taught me the basics to boxing (1-2, 1-2, 1-2-3-4).  It’s always fun to punch at your best friend. 

During our first weekend in Welly, we experienced a palate memory at Camille’s apartment: Burrito night.  Although we know we will never experience the equivalent of a Mission Burrito, Camille’s bean burrito was a close second.  Post the serious food sesh/ food coma, the members of apartment G10 shared one night of debauchery where we learned three important things: how to say the F word in German, Son of a *Bleep* and A$$hole in Spanish. We spent the night imbibing and singing our hearts out at Fringe Bar. At the commencement of festivities, Fringe Bar was just a bar Brian applied to and at the end of the evening he was their new bartender. This is probably due to his excellent vocal skills. 

To The Left, To The Left!

Look now to your left.  No, not as in right next to you to the left, and not everything you own in a box to the left.  To the left of what you are reading right now, on your screen, you'll see a little side bar.  UPDATE: I figured out how to make a "Links" category, so under the word "Links", you'll see a link to a Picasa Photo album.  Said album has a TON of pictures from our entire trip, categorized by location, for your viewing pleasure.  Take a minute and check out our skilled camera work on Mai's sweet SLR camera.  Booyakasha!

And if you can't figure out where it is to the left, just click here.

Haha, just kidding.  Click here.

I Love It When You Call Me Te Papa

The Te Papa Museum = Sweet As.  

Located on the waterfront (and also positioned on stabilizers to keep it from shaking during an earthquake) Te Papa means "Our Place" in Maori and it felt like our place.  We owned the museum in 3 hours.  So a few of the highlights: 

GIANT SQUID- New Zealand is home of one of the few or the only (unclear) giant squids on display.  This deep sea creature is disgusting.  It has a beak like a parrot (I know you're probably gagging already, because I was).  The squid has fully rotating suckers that have small hooks on them, a killing machine.  It's eye is the size of a soccer ball.  The Squid, however, like every giant squid that has been found, was female.  She hooked on to a deep-fishing boat's line and held on as it was cranked up (she is not the brightest squid).  

So we watched the video of this giant squid, the color of a Ruby Grapefruit, being pulled up from the ocean with it's long tentacles and in a way, it was beautiful.  Now it's lying in some sort of preserving jelly under a glass case for viewers to admire.

Yum. 

Te Papa also houses numerous Maori carvings, wakas and building representations.  It is the sole place to have a cultural experience from a learned perspective as this is the main and, from what we understand, the only real museum in New Zealand.  

A sailor went to sea sea sea to see what he could see see see...

In addition to the traditional Maori artifacts, there were modern sculptures as well as the "Black Hole". The "Black Hole" is a giant black carpeted circle at the center of the Te Papa.  The following pictures display how we had fun with this one:

Brian and I, being children at heart, enjoyed the interactive aspects of the museum. Yes, we watched the 3-D show of the Squid being pulled up from the ocean and yes we stood in an exhibit house that shook to represent an earthquake as well as played with many other touch screen games... so as you can imagine, we had fun.

One interactive piece stands out most for both of us.  This piece separated different parts of a particular song and allowed the viewer to play parts of the song that pleased them, or all parts. In order to play the elements of the song, one only needed to place their hand over a circle, triggering a sensor that started the music.  Fat Freddy's Drop, "Roady" was our personal favorite. 

Go DJ!  That's my DJ!

The final aspect that I will elaborate on is the "myspace" like room.  In the room, there were multiple large screens running along one wall. Using a large white controller, you could click on an image on the screen and move it around. At first glance, this seems kind of lame until you realize that you can take a picture of yourself, upload it to the main screen and play with it! Being the narcissists that we are... Brian and I took a few photos and short videos of ourselves. FUN!

Narcissism at its best.

After a day of fun, we had some Mexican tacos that were pretty okay. Have we mentioned how much we MISS the burritos from the Mission?!

Taking advantage of the Te Papa's stage.

Vassar in New Zealand!

Thursday, we met up with fellow Vassar Alum, Camille!  We had been in contact with her since we even thought of the idea to come here, so it was a pleasure to finally meet her.  She took us to a sort of hidden area that housed a hole-in-the-wall, yet masterpiece of a Malaysian Restaurant.  We chatted over some delicious dishes (curry soup, a noodle dish) accompanied with the local favorite (though Australian) Ginger Beer. 

Camille works in the public health sector for the New Zealand government.  She has been in New Zealand for four years now and is a legal resident.  Information we learned from her:

• New Zealand is a small country thus everyone gossips. if you're working a particular field, such as the health field, you are more than likely going to come across the same people multiple times in your life-- so don't step on any toes
• There's about 25% of the population that is out of the country at a given time- traveling.  Although it is expensive for a New Zealander to travel the world, they don't view it as an option rather they view traveling as an essential life experience. 
• Because healthcare is free, kiwis don't receive the higher end medicines although if they genuinely want to spend the money, they can often order their medicine through Oz. 
• Healthcare is also taken less seriously.  People generally don't go to doctors anytime they get a sniffle. They also wait for long periods of time to see specialists such as gynecologists without complaint. (is this in America's future? doubtful)
• Abortion in this country is common and free. There is a check process where the woman intending to receive an abortion must see various counselors to ensure that she has not rushed her decision.  If the doctors/counselors feel that the woman is not getting an abortion for the "right reasons", she may be denied. The woman is also offered counseling after the abortion process is complete.  For a non-resident, an abortion costs around 850 kiwi dollars.
• Abortions are common because sexual practices in this country are apparently "loose".  Camille was told by a friend that she should "sleep around until she finds a person she wants to see again"!  (New Zealand has a high rate of STDs such as the "CLAP") Thus Durex uses New Zealand as its test population for all of its new products. crazy!
• In New Zealand, workers must be given 4 weeks of paid vacation every year.  If an individual is injured at work or sick, the ACC covers everything.  For example, if they are in a car accident, the individual will be paid their salary as well as sent a nanny to care for their children and clean their homes.  Their job must also remain open for them during this period.  The downside is, from the American point of view, if some idiot slams into your vehicle- you are not allowed to sue. LET ME REPEAT: NO SUING. 

We also learned that Wellington is on a fault and I guess any minute now the city can crumble.  Sweet.  The honeycomb (New Zealand's parliament) is built on springs so in case the city falls, at least Parliament can still be in session. 

So after our meal with Camille and our lesson about New Zealand life, we had some of the best gelato I have EVER HAD from Kaffee Eis (pronounced "caffe ice"... clever, huh?). There are a couple flavors we would suggest: Coconut and Biscotti. 

Wellington = San Francisco

During our travels, we heard a lot of things about Wellington: how it is rich with culture, how it is a beautiful city, how much better it is than Auckland.  All these things are quite true.  There was one other description that is hinted at in this post's title: the comparison of Wellington to San Francisco.  Considering we stopped in the Bay Area on our way over here (and the fact that I lived there for a summer), we feel it is out duty to settle once and for all the age old question: how similar is Wellington to San Francisco?

Let's start with the weather.  San Francisco is often warm and sunny with little to no humidity.  However, it is better known by the Mark Twain description: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."  It's true that the city, surrounded on three sides by water, is subject to cool rain, gusts of wind, and heavy fog, but it's evident that Mr. Twain never lived in the North East or the northern Mid West from December to February.  Wellington is similar in that is subject to crappy weather in the summer time, plagued with clouds and rain that are about as unpredictable as the San Francisco fog, though there is swimming through such dense fog here.  When there are clear skies, both cities enjoy similar, comfortable weather.

How about structure?  Well both cities are major sea ports, with shipping equipment and docks lining the waterfront.  That being said, there isn't a residential beach to speak too enthusiastically about in either place.  They both lie near or on major fault lines, meaning the threat for earthquakes is relatively present and therefore, precautions are taken during construction.  This also accounts for the hills on which the city is situated, although Wellington's hills are not quite as drastic (from what we've seen) as the hills in San Fran, such as Lombard Street.  Both cities have webs of cables and wires hanging in the air over the street that allow buses to connect to and run off the electricity.  Seeing this, along with Wellington's famous cable car, gave us the eerie feeling that we had in fact returned to the states.

Of course, there are differences: the culture, the size, the people, etc.  Instead of AT&T Park for baseball (home of the Giants) and Candlestick Park for American football (home of the NFL 49ers), Wellington has Westpac Stadium and TSB Bank Arena, housing a variety of sports from Rugby (Wellington Hurricanes) to football (soccer for all you Americans, Wellington Phoenix) to cricket (which I have learned and now understand).  But the similarities are amazingly present (I mean, isn't it comforting to know that corporate sponsorship is global?)  Even the Mount Victoria, situated to Wellington City Center's east, although not separated by water, is basically Wellington's Oakland, dotted with houses all the way up to the very tip.  We took a trip to the top of Mt. Victoria and learned a few fun facts, one of which was that the airport, situated between Evans Bay and Lyall Bay, sits on reclaimed land from an earthquake.  Crazy.