Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Homesickness

Dear friends and family,
I’m sorry to tell you that I do not miss the snow or the cold or the work, in fact, I haven’t suffered from homesickness at all.  I know it will happen, I can't prevent it but I’m doing my best to cause a delay...and doing a pretty good job.  I'm leaving no time for homesickness during my week:
  • Running:  I’ve decided to take advantage of the time off and the hills to make an attempt to get back into shape again...it’s going slowly but at least it’s an improvement over what I was doing in Chicago – which was nothing of late.
  • Walking:  For the most part I walk everywhere.  With nothing but time on my hands and no desire to spend money on buses I’ve walked all over downtown Auckland, Avondale (suburb of Auckland) and everywhere in between. 
  • Socializing:  The number of people here that are visiting or working makes it really easy to meet new people.  On St. Pat’s Day, for example, I was hanging out with people from Ireland, America, Canada, Australia, Germany, and of course, New Zealand.  It made for a great evening out.  In fact, at one point, I met a girl who gave me her name and then stated matter-of-factly, “I’m a Kiwi,” I, of course responded with the only obvious answer, “I’m an American.”  She then paraded everyone she knew at the bar, and some she didn’t know, over to meet me.  I love this country. (My new best Kiwi friend and I are pictured right)
  • Catching up on American TV programs:  I'm catching up on all of the shows I should have been watching years ago (Entourage - my new favourite, 30 Rock, and Modern Family)  
  • Day Trips: I have now made it to the beach on two occasions.  The first time I was navigating the car through the streets of Auckland on my own so I just went to a local beach that wasn’t too exciting but a beach nonetheless.  And the second time we went up to the north shore of Auckland to Takapuna.  The walk along the beaches took us directly in front of gorgeous houses with amazing views of the harbour and Rangitoto (the volcanic island in the middle of Auckland Harbor – it is nearly a perfect cone shape where the top blew off many many years ago).
  • Rock Climbing: I attended a birthday party at a rock climbing facility here in Auckland and finally had a chance to attempt a climbing wall.  Although I didn’t make it to the top, I still had a great time and climbed a bit higher on each attempt.
  • Job Hunting:  Not applicable.
And now for some terrible news from this side of the world:  Brace yourselves Americans... I am sorry to report that the Kiwis have not heard of or tried s’mores, which explains their absence from our camping trip a few weeks ago.  I have now taken it upon myself to show the entire country what they have been missing all these years.  The difficult part is finding the graham crackers, which must exist but I couldn’t find them anywhere in the local market and are not an easy thing to describe to someone who isn’t familiar with them.

About the photos -  right: Walking path near Blockhouse Bay Beach; center: Views of the beaches and homes around Takapuna; left: Looking at Rangitoto from Takapuna

 

1 comment:

  1. glad you are having fun and embracing the whole experience!!

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