Random Commentary

Here are random things that I've thought over the past week about life and people in New Zealand.

- Because everything is flipped here (with driving), I'm often amazed by it. Sam tells me to stop talking about it, since I repeat it so much: I keep saying "Look, the steering wheel's on the wrong side!" or something to that extent. Also, the things I understand unconsciously surprise me. For example, Sam and I will stand at an intersection and almost get run over because when checking for oncoming traffic, we keep looking in the wrong direction by habit. Sometimes we do double-takes because we're like, "Wait, are we looking the right way or the wrong way?" and it takes us a couple seconds to figure it out.

- A question I got a lot back home was "Why don't you go backpacking in Europe?" Believe it or not, there are TONS of backpackers here, and most of them are from Europe. Also, I've met some people who really are hardcore travelers, going all over. One person I met said she hadn't been back home (in Britain) for more than 2 years! Another said that she'd been in Australia, Fiji, Taiwan, other South Asian countries, and her last leg of her trip was going to be through the US going from California to Boston. Living in NZ, you're bound to meet people from all over. But in the US, you could live your whole life there and never meet a backpacker. Kinda sad. Also, I notice that here, hostels are really good/cheap alternatives to hotels, and sometimes even temporary apartments. A guy here in our dorm is up in Auckland (from Gisborne, east coast of NZ a bit down south) to see his kids and maybe buy a boat. Back in the US, I think most people would have found a hotel instead. I've also seen senior citizens here in this hostel too. It's pretty interesting.

- Almost every single Korean/Chinese/Asian I've seen here is a fob. They all have the same hairstyles too, haha. But I wonder, what do you call someone who's ethnically Asian but grew up in New Zealand? Sam and I are Korean Americans. Are people here called Korean New Zealanders? Or just Korean Kiwis?

- Auckland's pretty boring... it's not even that nice to look at. Sam and I are anxious to leave this city. What we plan to do next is go down south to the Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay, or Wellington to look for jobs. We definitely don't want to stay here.

- The Queen St of Auckland is like the Michigan Ave of Chicago, but Queen St is nothing like Michigan Ave (in a bad way).

- At first Sam and I were like "We haven't seen any police so far." Once we did, we had to comment on how weirdly colorful they are (and the design's weird too). Also saw another police car with blue and yellow, with the yellow replacing the orange.



- A couple of Asians moved into our suite a couple nights ago, and instead of getting the free dinner the hostel offers, they cooked themselves some real-good-smelling ramyun (the good kind too, like the ichiban or shin ramyun). Totally reminded me and brought nostalgic feelings of my Korean home (or maybe just of the food. We're not homesick yet). And funnily enough, another suitemate was cooking himself up some Americanized ramen, which reminds me of home too, but the American side, haha.

- Sam and I really wanna go to a rugby game. The 2007 Rugby World Cup is coming up in about 3 weeks, and after that, we won't have a chance to see a game. Hopefully we'll plan one out before the season ends.

Last note: I realize how hard it is for me to keep up with people back home. I don't get a lot of internet time, and most of it is just writing in this blog and checking status of things Sam and I are doing. But I'd like to know how you guys are doing too. So if you can, leave comments about you at your school/work, kupc yg, ec, ncpc, bu, etc etc. Also, I try to go on AIM, but if I suddenly sign off without saying goodbye, it means that my time ran out and the computer cut me off. So I'm saying sorry in advance. =]

Waitomo Caves

So I warn you, this is a massively long blog (that is, if I can write it all before my time online is up).

After several days of just wandering and doing nothing but the basics, Sam and I went on a one-day trip to the Waitomo Caves (ride provided by our hostel). First we went up to Mt. Eden, which is the highest point in Auckland. Best view of the city. Mt. Eden is actually a dormant volcano, and apparently, Auckland sits on top of 64 dormant volcanoes. Any place in Auckland that's like a large hill with trees is one. Crazy, right? Here's a picture of the crater of Mt. Eden. It's huge!
From this point you can also see Eden Park which is where NZ's pro rugby team, the AllBlacks, play their games. Oh, and there's also a point in Auckland called One Tree Hill (unfortunately, the tree was cut down long ago). I wonder if this had anything to do with that TV show.

After that it was a 3-hour drive south out of Auckland to Waitomo, famous for its many caves. We decided to go blackwater rafting. It isn't like whitewater rafting (although it's called blackwater rafting because it's underground), but you go along the underground streams on inflated tubes. Some parts were so deep that Sam couldn't feel the bottom.

We donned our wetsuites, which I've gotta say, are so weirdly uncomfortable. Hard to put on, hard to breathe in, and hard to move in. I swear, the walking we had to do to get to the caves was so tiring. Anywho, underneath it was crazy! Pitch-black, except for our headlights and the gloworms overhead. It's like looking up at the stars, but they're so close you could touch them. The cave we were in was called Te Anaroa, which means the "long cave" (I think). Crawled through narrow openings (really really narrow..), stood under underground waterfalls, floated down streams, jumped down a 5-foot high waterfall, sang in caves with amazing acoustics... definitely a crazy experience!
Spelunking would be a great hobby.. So as you can guess, this totally has us looking forward to the other crazy adrenaline-packed stuff they've got in NZ. But last night (and this morning), we were pretty chill. The ride back was not that enjoyable; Sam and I were both cold with slight headaches.

Ooh, I almost forgot to mention that on the way to the Waitomo Caves, we saw an animal's fur being sheared. Guess what animal?
That's right: a rabbit! Seriously. It's an angora rabbit - it's fur grows out long and furry and soft, and they're sheared every 6(?) weeks. It was a pretty interesting sight, and you won't believe how soft it is (I got a sample).

I've got so much more to write, but this will do for now. Next you guys can read about all the random thoughts I've got about NZ.

Mailing Address

So Sam and I set up an address that you guys can send letters/postcards/packages to. I'd advise you guys to not send a lot of packages if you were thinking about it (at least big ones), because the place that holds our mail isn't that big, and I know they'll get annoyed if they start getting a lot of packages, although letters are fine. Plus, shipping overseas can get expensive, so don't bother. Oh, and make sure you guys write the entire address down:

Fat Camel Hostel
c/o Lois (or Sam) Kwon
Mailbox #5403
38 Fort Street
Auckland CBD 1010
New Zealand

First Pictures

Okay, so seriously, why do you guys email me or post on my facebook wall when I got this blog going? You guys are so weird, haha. I mean, email's fine if you guys are expecting an answer or if it's a really long message, but for the most part, I was expecting that people would leave comments on this blog. But it's no biggie, do whatever floats your boat, haha. I do appreciate any comments you guys leave for me though, so thanks.

Sam and I are trying to save money (without starving ourselves to death) so we don't know how often we'll go online (it's about $2.50USD for an hour on the internet). So if you guys write comments or send us email, we can't guarantee how often we'll get to read them or respond (I personally might even forget to respond unless you ask a specific/important question, sorry). And if you guys can help it, please don't send me individual emails if it's not a big deal, only because it's too much for me to deal with, since I want to write in this blog as well to keep everyone updated (I dunno about Sam). We will also have a permanent address within the week so once I post up the address, feel free to send us letters, and I'll definitely respond to those individually.

So I promised pictures, but to be honest, we don't have that much. We haven't done much but to relax and wander around the Auckland Central Business District (CBD). Which by the way, is pretty dirty..

Here's our first meal in Auckland, which unfortunately happened to be a Mickey D's because we were starving and got lost wandering around. They have this breakfast sandwich called the Massive McMuffin, which Sam ordered, and says the US should have as part of their menu.
One thing that didn't occur to me back home is that the plant life is totally different, but that's an obvious "duh!" So of course, the trees and plants they have along the streets and around the squares are totally interesting to me and Sam. I also wanted to take a picture of this really colorful bird, but I lost my chance. (In the first picture, the tree trunk actually twists its way up).

I don't have that many more interesting pictures yet, but we sat at the harbor for awhile. If you guys know me, you know that large bodies of water always do something for me. And there are tons of ferries, cruises, etc etc. I love it!

Our days are very willy-nilly, but it's cool just hanging around with Sam. Oh, and it's like spring here in NZ, so it's been a lot of gray skies and rain the past couple of days. Summer should be coming up soon, but Sam and I both agree that our bodies are craving autumn and winter..

Jet Lag Sucks

Sam and I are finally here.

I have journal entries that I wrote in my notebook during the actual journey, but I don't feel like going upstairs to get it. But just so you guys know that we're all right, here's a short recap of what's happened the past 24 hours.

Oh, by the way, here in NZ, it's Sam's birthday (even though technically it's the 22nd there in the USA), so make sure you wish him a happy birthday through email or even through here.

Anyway:

Sam and I were excited after passing through security at o'hare, but it all died down with the delay of the first plane and the length of the second plane ride (13 hours!!). But we're at a hostel right now in Auckland, and we're gonna stay a week here at the very least. We don't know where we'll be next, because it depends on where we find work. But while we're here, we're gonna take care of the basic stuff like set up a permanent address and open up a bank account (and yes, look for a job).

Today after checking in at the hostel, Sam and I went out to eat, and to buy groceries for the week. Now it's almost noon, but I know that in Chicago that it's almost 7pm. I can feel the difference, and my body's getting tired. I didn't take a short nap like I usually do, so I'm guessing that if I don't take a nap now, I'm out for the night by 7pm for sure!

Sorry, no pictures this time, but I promise to have some for my next blog. After all, I got a haircut the day I left, so no one but my family has seen it. Too bad, I really like my haircut this time. =]

Side notes:
- Sorry Grace, for not posting as soon as we arrived, but we were soo hungry..
- Thanks to Jae for warning me about those fees and such. I did some research on it before leaving and now we know how to deal with it.

I'm sure other little things will pop into my head as the week goes on, so you'll probably see random posts with comments here and there.

And please keep us in your prayers. I'll try to post up specific prayer requests as often as I can.
This week: finding jobs, or at least finding out what we should do next. Could be anything.