Finding Work

So I finally found some work. Believe it or not, I'm waitressing at a small Indian family restaurant in town, about a 10 min walk away. Never thought I'd be waitressing, since most places want people who've had previous experience. But apparently they're used to having waitresses with different ranges of experiences that work for short periods of time, since they hire from the backpacker that we're staying at. But it's small, only 9 tables, and more than half the orders we get are take-outs (or 'takeaways' as they call them). So I'm their only server.

The owner's name is Goldie, his wife is Manjeet, and their other cook is Dula (don't know about the spelling). Goldie is a very good cook with heavily accented English (sometimes it takes me awhile to get what he's saying), Manjeet is very sweet and softspoken, and Dula, who speaks English with less of an accent than the other two, likes to ask me about the differences between the US and NZ. Today he asked me what I think of George Bush, and since I really don't have an opinion, he simply responded to my neutral answer by saying "George Bush is a killer." I thought it amusing.

I've never really tried Indian food before, but I already like the two dishes that I've tried: butter chicken and honey chili chicken. In addition to paying me for my work, they give me dinner every night, which is a nice change from the food that sam cooks every night - which is actually very good, but consistently the same.

Sam starts work tomorrow, in the kiwifields, tipping and pruning. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what that means, and what it's like, except that it's supposedly really boring and bringing your ipod is highly recommended, haha. I actually wanted to do that kind of work too, because you can work more hours, but seeing as this is a lull month, I don't mind working at the restaurant. It's interesting, and more often than not, the customers like to chat up with me, especially if they're regulars and they know that the waitresses are usually backpackers.

A couple last interesting notes:
- People do not tip in New Zealand. In fact, most will find it offensive, if you can believe that!
- The use of debit cards (or EFTPOS cards) began in NZ, because the country was small enough to try it out on.

Well, I'm running out of time, so I'll leave it at that. Next blog will probably be about the people I've met here in the hostel. It's nice living in a backpacker where people stay for extended periods of time. Gets to be a bit homey. Oh, and I will also post a phone number where you can leave a voicemail for me, if you'd like (or need to, like my parents). Take care!

Te Puke

That's right, we're no longer in KeriKeri. After being there a week and looking around for jobs, we couldn't find anything. We thought that the hostel would help us look for jobs, but they were actually not that great about it. So Sam and I left. We had gotten in touch with a couple hostels down south that would help us out, and Sam and I were a bit tired of the one in KeriKeri anyway (it was too easy to just kill time, because they had cable tv that showed like 5 movies a day).

So we're in a small town called Te Puke (pronounced te POO kee), which is a short ways north of the bigger town called Rotorua. The hostel we're staying at is really nice. Because it is a small hostel, the staff are really friendly and always looking to help you out and things like that. It's also great because a lot of the people who are here stay for months at a time, so it has a bit of a homey-ness to it. I'll tell you about the people once I get to know them a bit more. As for jobs, they should be starting up next week, so we can't wait.

We were able to hitch a ride to get down here. The ride from Auckland to Rotorua takes a little more than three hours. We figured it'd be a good idea to catch a ride with someone than ride a coach bus (because it's pretty expensive). Found an ad on a website for backpackers, and we met up with him on Friday. Really nice guy, his name was David, also happened to be a Christian (which he mentioned when he saw the bible verse attached to my emails). I was half hoping that he and I would get to share about our lives a bit, that doing what he does (which is interact with a lot of backpackers) he'd have a different, hopefully more passionate, spiritual life than mine, and that I'd be challenged and encouraged by his testimony. But it wasn't anything like that. He did bring it up by asking if I'd grown up in church, but when I asked what his life was like, if he was willing to share his testimony, he kinda gave a glib summary that barely mentioned how God worked in his life. In the end, the only thing we had talked about was church. I was disappointed, but when I thought about it later, I realized that it could have been the other way. I could have been an encouragement to him too, but when he failed to be excited and to excite me, I lost my willingness to share.

Sam and I haven't been doing a lot here while waiting for jobs to become more readily available, but I'm thankful to God for the time he's allowing for me to think and reflect about my life, and who I am. I had several talks this previous summer with my mom and a couple of friends. These conversations keep coming up in the times that I'm silent and in thought, and it has made me more aware about the kind of person I am and why I do the things that I do. There are so many reasons for having come here. But one thing I really want is for this year to be one where God's will for me comes clear. Not so much about what I will do with my life, but more like who I will be for Him. There are so many hindrances, but that's what I'd like to see happen. Please pray that it does.

P.S. Sorry about having no pictures. I didn't bring the usb cord for my camera, and this computer doesn't have SD card readers. I'll see what I can do.

KeriKeri

Sam and I finally left the city. For a couple days, we were torn between going north to the Bay of Islands, or anywhere south like the Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay, or Wellington. In the end we decided on the former because an employee at the hostel in Auckland said that the Bay of Islands has nicer weather in the spring, and despite the fact that October is a bad month to be looking for jobs, there are plenty of vineyards/orchards that might be looking for employees.

We're in a town called KeriKeri, which means "dig dig" or "keep digging." I have no idea why it's called that, but it is a really nice, peaceful place. The slogan for the town is "It's So Nice They Named It Twice" haha. There are no big skyscrapers or big buildings. Almost all the shops and buildings here are one-story, so it's just a lot of small shops, large open fields, and open skies. Sam and I like it a lot. I don't know if I could live in a small town like this for the rest of my life, but still.

We're still unemployed, but the hostel we're staying at helps its guests look for jobs, and Sam and I aren't really worried. However, the internet here is so much more expensive than it was in the city, so I think I won't go online more than twice a week (unless I really have to).

To tell you the truth, we don't have that much more exciting information for you guys, but I'll definitely try to keep you guys posted. I hope you guys are doing well, and thanks so much for those who posted on my previous blog. It was really nice to read those comments after several days of no contact.

Unni - how was your retreat to ki-do-won?? I'm so glad you finally got to go, because of your job and all, so write me a long email about it and send pictures! =]

Christie - I know you're not in another country, but hey, it sounds like your life is a bit more interesting than mine at the moment. I hope you enjoyed your salsa dancing classes and that spanish catholic church! Congrats on understanding some of it =]

Grace - I haven't been able to go to a church yet, but last Friday night as I was wandering the city, I came upon Aotea Square, and a local church was having a praise night out on the square. It was really nice to just sit there and listen or sing along to the songs. There is a church here in KeriKeri, and I plan on going there to see what it's like, especially since I might be here for awhile. I'll let you know how that goes. And as for the bears.. ::shakes head::

Boaz - Your post made me laugh a lot. I miss your sense of humor! Thanks =]

Please keep me posted on what happens in Chicago or in your lives! =]