Friday, December 30, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Where am I now?
Today I was definitely called out on my lack of blogging, so I thought it was time to revisit and start answering a few of the questions I've been getting a lot of lately:
What exactly are you doing?? This is my favorite and given the insane amount of activity I've had in the last 18 months, it seems quite boring to just say I'm living in Chicago now. But if you know me, you know that my life is never without activity. After all, I rescued a lost child, aided a woman who fell in the street, helped a woman who had a seizure while shopping, not to mention my crime fighting job... just your everyday activities. Alright, well, maybe not the fighting crime, but all of the other things really did happen. What I don't think I've ever experienced before is such a connection to so many of the people around me. I have stopped to help countless people with directions, I've had brief conversations with some of the most random people including the guy begging for change (and in our brief connection he never once asked for anything). I don't know if this is because I have more time to appreciate the people around me or because I've become more open to everyone after living in New Zealand. Either way, I like what has happened.
And, when I'm not saving lives, I stay busy with other activities (including shooting guns, hosting a Friends-thanksgiving, and a few bar crawls). I'm make ends meet with contracted jobs and temp work. I haven't resorted to standing on street corners yet...
How are you handling all of this? I am naturally a pretty positive person. I have confidence that things will work out eventually, at least, based on my past experience I have no reason to believe they won't. One of the positives: I get to spend more time with my family around the holidays.
Have you thought about moving back to New Zealand? Absolutely. If I were to move anywhere right now that would definitely be on the top of my list. But it's hard for me because I have such wonderful friends in Chicago and my family is now close enough for me to easily visit. With summer hitting the Southern Hemisphere and so many friends still back in New Zealand, I constantly think about what it would be like to move back there again, but for now, I'm sticking to Chicago.
What is your next adventure? I love this question because it means that people are supportive of my crazy whims. I just took my first train ride from Chicago to Kansas City and I loved it! I think it would have been even more fun if it hadn't been dark outside for a majority of the trip, however, it was still a great experience. Monday I fly out to Colorado where I am meeting up with more family for a week of skiing. Saturday afternoon I head back to Chicago to enjoy the holidays, hopefully with some snow and a picturesque walk along Michigan Avenue. I'd like to make it to Miami and St. Louis early next year to visit friends and as the weather warms I'm also hoping for a trip to Washington DC. But much of this planning has to be put on hold for now so that I can build up my savings again and be able to afford these trips and adventures. In the meantime, I have a guest bedroom and an air mattress and anyone is welcome... just don't expect much food in the refrigerator.
What exactly are you doing?? This is my favorite and given the insane amount of activity I've had in the last 18 months, it seems quite boring to just say I'm living in Chicago now. But if you know me, you know that my life is never without activity. After all, I rescued a lost child, aided a woman who fell in the street, helped a woman who had a seizure while shopping, not to mention my crime fighting job... just your everyday activities. Alright, well, maybe not the fighting crime, but all of the other things really did happen. What I don't think I've ever experienced before is such a connection to so many of the people around me. I have stopped to help countless people with directions, I've had brief conversations with some of the most random people including the guy begging for change (and in our brief connection he never once asked for anything). I don't know if this is because I have more time to appreciate the people around me or because I've become more open to everyone after living in New Zealand. Either way, I like what has happened.
And, when I'm not saving lives, I stay busy with other activities (including shooting guns, hosting a Friends-thanksgiving, and a few bar crawls). I'm make ends meet with contracted jobs and temp work. I haven't resorted to standing on street corners yet...
How are you handling all of this? I am naturally a pretty positive person. I have confidence that things will work out eventually, at least, based on my past experience I have no reason to believe they won't. One of the positives: I get to spend more time with my family around the holidays.
Have you thought about moving back to New Zealand? Absolutely. If I were to move anywhere right now that would definitely be on the top of my list. But it's hard for me because I have such wonderful friends in Chicago and my family is now close enough for me to easily visit. With summer hitting the Southern Hemisphere and so many friends still back in New Zealand, I constantly think about what it would be like to move back there again, but for now, I'm sticking to Chicago.
What is your next adventure? I love this question because it means that people are supportive of my crazy whims. I just took my first train ride from Chicago to Kansas City and I loved it! I think it would have been even more fun if it hadn't been dark outside for a majority of the trip, however, it was still a great experience. Monday I fly out to Colorado where I am meeting up with more family for a week of skiing. Saturday afternoon I head back to Chicago to enjoy the holidays, hopefully with some snow and a picturesque walk along Michigan Avenue. I'd like to make it to Miami and St. Louis early next year to visit friends and as the weather warms I'm also hoping for a trip to Washington DC. But much of this planning has to be put on hold for now so that I can build up my savings again and be able to afford these trips and adventures. In the meantime, I have a guest bedroom and an air mattress and anyone is welcome... just don't expect much food in the refrigerator.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Quotable
"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it."
- Thomas Jefferson (3rd President of the United States)
- Thomas Jefferson (3rd President of the United States)
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Go the All Blacks!
Every four years twenty teams from around the globe compete in the Rugby World Cup (RWC) for the rights to the Ellis Cup. The tournament is only surpassed in viewership by the Soccer World Cup, the Olympics and the Tour de France. This amazingly rough and exciting sport is viewed in more than 200 countries by millions of viewers, but most of the people in the US don't even know of its existence. This year, the RWC was hosted in New Zealand which is a huge ordeal and great opportunity to show off the country. And, even better, the New Zealand team (the All Blacks), were playing well too! It was looking to be a good year for New Zealand rugby fans.
In September, just after moving into my apartment in Chicago the RWC kicked off with an amazing opening ceremony. I stayed up late to watch it on my new flat screen tv, purchased so that I would have it in time to view the event. There were several hakas performed and some beautiful effects. Little did I know, this would be the last rugby game I would be able to watch live during the tournament.
I kept up with the news, I tracked my friends' updates on Facebook, I followed my teams as best as I could from the other side of the world (the time difference didn't help as most games were played at 11p and 2a). The United States didn't make it out of the first round. But the All Blacks were still looking strong winning games and showing promise.
In this video the All Blacks perform the haka before playing Australia in the semi-finals.
After years of preparation and speculation, and seven weeks of games the All Blacks made it to the final round. The game was slated for 9pm in Auckland at Eden Park against France. That meant it was a 4am kick off time in the Eastern United States, where I was staying in Tampa. After a fruitless search of the sports channels, I resigned myself to the fact that I would not be able to watch the game. I was wrong. Thanks to Skype, amazing friends, and my uncle's internet connection, I was video skypped (is that a word?) into the viewing party at my friend Daniel's house. Daniel, his girlfriend, and 10 other people were watching the game and were more than happy to include me (via Daniel's laptop) in the party.
Bright and early (3:45am), with my hair in a rough ponytail, my glasses on, no makeup and a sleepy glaze over my eyes, I waited on Skype to say hello to many of the friends I left over 8 months ago. Aside from the occasional nudity (courtesy of my friends in the room having a little too much fun with the computer cam), I had an awesome view and was able to watch the game in a prime seat (a table directly in front of the flat screen) for the entire game.
The haka took on a new excitement when I was around my Kiwi friends again. And then as the game progressed, I could hear the shouting and cheering as the time ticked down and the All Blacks scraped out a win against the French (final score NZ 8 v France 7). The raucous singing of "We Are the Champions" was the perfect end to my night (or morning) and it reminded me of how wonderful that country and the people that live there truly are... one more great memory to add to an incredibly long list.
 |
| My new flat screen tv for the RWC |
I kept up with the news, I tracked my friends' updates on Facebook, I followed my teams as best as I could from the other side of the world (the time difference didn't help as most games were played at 11p and 2a). The United States didn't make it out of the first round. But the All Blacks were still looking strong winning games and showing promise.
In this video the All Blacks perform the haka before playing Australia in the semi-finals.
After years of preparation and speculation, and seven weeks of games the All Blacks made it to the final round. The game was slated for 9pm in Auckland at Eden Park against France. That meant it was a 4am kick off time in the Eastern United States, where I was staying in Tampa. After a fruitless search of the sports channels, I resigned myself to the fact that I would not be able to watch the game. I was wrong. Thanks to Skype, amazing friends, and my uncle's internet connection, I was video skypped (is that a word?) into the viewing party at my friend Daniel's house. Daniel, his girlfriend, and 10 other people were watching the game and were more than happy to include me (via Daniel's laptop) in the party.
Bright and early (3:45am), with my hair in a rough ponytail, my glasses on, no makeup and a sleepy glaze over my eyes, I waited on Skype to say hello to many of the friends I left over 8 months ago. Aside from the occasional nudity (courtesy of my friends in the room having a little too much fun with the computer cam), I had an awesome view and was able to watch the game in a prime seat (a table directly in front of the flat screen) for the entire game.
The haka took on a new excitement when I was around my Kiwi friends again. And then as the game progressed, I could hear the shouting and cheering as the time ticked down and the All Blacks scraped out a win against the French (final score NZ 8 v France 7). The raucous singing of "We Are the Champions" was the perfect end to my night (or morning) and it reminded me of how wonderful that country and the people that live there truly are... one more great memory to add to an incredibly long list.
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