My life at the moment is like my hair was this morning on the way to the bus, tied up in knots and whirling at a million miles an hour around my eyes and mouth. It has been a crazy few weeks. There has been no time to really think, let alone write and although I have thought about my blog every day there just hasn’t been a second to do anything about it! Someone at a party told me a few weeks ago that I live my life like I’m in a movie. I’m not quite sure what they meant but they also mentioned that I’m always moving so fast and that I never seem to slow down. Whether this is a good thing or not I don’t know...
Life has picked me up and is whirling me around and around on a never ending spin of excitement, hilarity, new experiences and random encounters. Work is as full on as ever and my alarm most mornings is a call from work at 6A.M asking me to come in. And my bedtime has usually been only a few hours before it. There is no time to sleep. I now have a name badge that actually has my name on it and my two stars have also been fixed in place. I am very excited about this! So much so that I jumped up and down on the spot non stop as my manager added the stars! I have since also helped four other people earn a star by being the only one who knows the answers to the test! I am also the only person who passed the test with 100% on the their first attempt but you know...no biggie!! However I still talk to much and have had to have people ‘separated’ from me during shifts because apparently I am the cause of most disruptions. I am appealing my case! But when I decide to try and be quieter on my shift the managers will come and ask me if I’m feeling o.k. and why they can’t hear my voice. It’s my school life all over again! I can’t win can I?!
Ollie is away a lot at the moment and that is hard on both of us. More so for him because he is living alone in hotels for days in a row but at least he gets a break from me I suppose! He always has stories to tell though when he gets back, usually involving some sort of awkward experience or encounter with other human beings! We are both very much looking forward to being on the road again and are already planning the next part of our trip. It feels so strange to think that our New Zealand adventure is almost through. I think I was starting to like it here...
Last Saturday I went to help out at an Indian restaurant for the afternoon. It is owned by Nirvisha’s parents in law to be and I was very honoured to have been trusted to help. When I arrived I found it was a private event for a 21st birthday party. As I helped set up the party, preparing drinks, setting tables and chopping veg (very well I might add!), I noticed that everyone arriving for the party looked to be of islander decent. Soon it became apparent that the birthday boy and his guests were all from the Cook Islands. They had a great three piece band complete with Ukulele and singers that sounded like they were from a romantic movie set on an exotic island. How stereotypical do I sound?! But that’s all I could think of! Anyway as I stood listening to the pastor give his sermon (it wasn’t like any other 21st I’ve ever been to!) in a fascinating language, watched girls in coconut bikinis dance with men in grass trousers wielding huge spears and heard the most beautiful song sung by all the guests standing at their tables, it suddenly hit me as to what a unique situation I was in. I was working at an Indian restaurant for a Cook Islanders party and was the only ‘white’ person in sight! Utterly brilliant! And I loved every second! O.K so I got a few confused looks but I certainly didn’t care! It just proved to me that no matter what your colour, race, beliefs or language, we’re all just the same, we all love a good party!
That evening I took Ollie to meet my employers for the day and he loved them as much as me! They are such friendly, welcoming people and extremely funny too! Since my first encounter with homemade curry, I have since been treated to a more palatable cuisine that I have enjoyed very, very much! Although I think my gastric system took a moment to adjust at certain times! I just feel so honoured to have been able to meet such a lovely family over here and how wonderful they have been to me.
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Another new found appreciation for me recently has been Rugby League. Now I have always preferred ‘proper rugby’ as I used to call it, but after coming to terms with the fact that Union and League are really entirely different games I have learned to embrace each for their own merits! So now I am hooked on league over here. So much so that I have been to two Warriors (New Zealand’s best league side and the only one in the Telstra Super 15 league) home games in a fortnight! It’s an awesome experience and both games have been super fun. The amount of smashes and heavy tackles is superb for someone like me who loves a heavy handed battle! Oh and the player’s legs aren’t too bad either! Those guys are huuuge! So yea Ollie and I have found a fascination with the sport, although I suppose English as we are, rugby will always be best!
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Last Sunday Ollie and I went into the city for the afternoon, hoping to meet up with my lovely friend Liz who I hadn’t seen since our wedding and not properly for years. On the way to the bar where we had arranged to meet, Ollie asked me if I thought it would be awkward seeing as Liz and I hadn’t seen each other in such a long time. I explained that I had known her since I was seven and that we had been through all of school together and had gone to flute lessons every Wednesday evening for seven years. Of course as soon as I saw her it was like all time in between had been erased and it was Amy and Liz chatting and gossiping as always. And there was so much to talk about! It was so surreal to be meeting her so far away from home, and while she was on holiday from her job in Sydney.
My favourite friends are the ones I know that however much time has passed in between we will always pick up just where we left off the time before, and Liz is one of them. The friends she was with were lovely too and we all had a great Sunday evening together. Well I had a good time and I hope they did too! Well actually, I had a bit too much of a good time and when it came to saying goodbye at 1A.M I could barely walk straight. All the talking and not realising how many pints of cider I was sipping hit me as Ollie and I walked out into the freezing night. At the time I remember thinking Ollie was being very unreasonable about certain things, but as my sore head woke me in the morning I realised that perhaps it had been the opposite way around!
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So now it is May and we don’t have long left at all. Part of me doesn’t want to leave. I have ended up doing what I tried not to do, to get effected by places, moments and most importantly, people. Thinking of leaving Nirvisha, to whom I’ve become so attached, is almost unbearable. I know we will keep in touch. I know we will be friends for a very long time. Even so, I can’t help feeling like our time together is being cut short. But these worries are not to trouble me yet, we just have to enjoy all the time that is still left.
I am happier here than I have been in a good while and I seem to be finding an old me that I convinced myself had never really existed. Even Ollie has commented that he had forgotten the ‘me’ I have ‘re become’. It’s as if I’ve woken up from a big sleep and am ready to take on the world again. I feel young, excited and ambitious. But I hope I have learned things during my quieter time, that I am back to my old self but with a slightly more mature approach. Well. We can hope can’t we...
14/5/12
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