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!