What I'm Going to Miss

I have less than a week here, and I'm really, really sad about that. I am super excited about what lies ahead: Southeast Asia, then a new job and new apartment in Boston, but it's still really hard to be saying goodbye to my life here. There are definitely things I am not going to miss (the mess in this flat, the wind and rain on my walks to and from work), but there are more things that I am going to miss, below are some of them...in no particular order.

• The Wellington wind shaking the house, all night long
• Sitting on the deck, reading, chatting, listening to music, watching the boats, grilling food, and drinking
• Having arguments about America, oil, fascism, Iraq, China, New Zealand
  
• Sharing stories about my life before Wellington, hearing about their lives growing up in Wellington
• Cooking dinner all together
• Flat shopping...and the struggle to get vegetables into the cart!
• Being sat on while watching TV, just because they wanted to annoy me
• Watching Boston Legal all together
• Playing table tennis and wii
• Walks into town together on the weekends
• Teaching and learning new drinking games
• Talking about break-ups & giving and receiving advice about relationships
• Living in a huge flat, above the harbor, in a central location, next to a former Prime Minister, and not paying more than a modest place, in an inconvenient location in Boston
  
• Walks to get lebanese kebabs, coffee and gelato
• Silly Saturday purchases
• Creating facebook groups
• Walking to football and rugby games together across town, then watching those games in Westpac stadium
• Gchatting at work
• Football (soccer) every Thursday evening across town, and coming home muddy and bruised after we lost, together
• Being included from the start, not letting me stay in my room and be "anti-social" ever
• Being made fun of for my music, and only being allowed to play it later in the night, when they don't care much anymore (yes I will miss this strangely)
• Sailing on the weekends and weekdays, on boats that were literally right below my flat.
• Walking to the beach, 5 min away

My Final Weeks

My last week at work, the week after Horse of the Year, went very quickly thanks to having a lot to do each night (kinda stinks to be getting so popular right at the end, haha!). Monday night I went out to dinner with some of my flat mates and their workmates. Tuesday night was 'Girls' Night' (which was really nice for me b/c my life here is always 'guys' night), which consisted of dinner at Daawat (a fabulous Indian place) and then watching P.S. I Love You. From 7 minutes into the movie all 4 of us were bawling the entire length of the movie. Even the next day I felt extremely emotionally drained. I absolutely loved it, and Jess and I could not stop talking about it, even into that weekend, so we decided to see it again the next week!

Thursday, during the day, my workmates had an afternoon tea for me and they all gave me an awesome shirt and sweatshirt. After work some of us stayed to have a couple of drinks. It was really nice what they did for me, and I am going to miss them. Although, I will not miss the actual job. I learned a lot about the world of horses, and running non-profits, but not using my brain really got to me, and I cannot wait to feel more useful. Friday night I went out into town with my flatmates for a couple of drinks. Saturday was a beautiful day which I spent reading outside on our lovely deck. Saturday night was another "Girls' Night," this time we went to Jess' flat (up the street). It was with 3 other American girls, and I really enjoyed drinking wine with them and talking about things, like what we miss back home, what we love here, and laughing at the funny way Kiwi's say things (like Nissan).

Monday, Emily arrived! Next post for that...

Horse of the Year

Last Tuesday morning I left with the CEO, Jim, and the endurance manager (endurance = they ride horses for 100+ ks in a race...), Caroline, to drive up to Hastings where the Horse of the Year show was about to start. It was sunny in Wellington, but Hastings was experiencing rain and cold weather- something very rare for that part of the country! The drive was beautiful, except for the normally green landscape being rather brown (due to the region's severe drought). We arrived in the late afternoon. I had hoped that because 3 others from the office had gone up the day before, they would have set up everything, so there wouldn't be much for us to do. Unfortunately, the tables had to arrive in our tent, so nothing was up. The lack of tables meant there wasn't anything Caroline or I could do until they arrived (which was the next day), and the others that were there had a lot of little things to do, running around and talking to people about final arrangements. This was frustrating b/c it meant that we just sat there in the cold with nothing to do. Finally around 5 I went with Jim to the Warehouse (kinda like Wal-Mart, but less classy-if you can imagine), picked up some extension cords and then we drove to the motel to check in. The motel was really nice, a big bathroom, lounge area and three beds. I shared the room with Caroline and Megan (the Showjumping Manager). Emma (The PA), Warrick, and Megan (all three had arrived the day before), went to the supermarket and bought dinner, which we all enjoyed in Emma and Warrick's room while we had a glass of wine and watched Dancing with the Stars. The night ended early, and seemed like it was off to an alright start despite the bad weather.

Wednesday morning we were up at 7 to head to the showgrounds to set up the tent. We had breakfast in Warrick and Emma's room while watching the Breakfast News program (their weather guy was based at the Horse of the Year show for the week). We then all piled in the rented van and arrived at the tent with our gumboots on (while it was done raining, it was really windy, muddy, cold and overcast). The tables arrived around 830, so we quickly set everything up--put out the trophy's, hung up posters explaining the different memberships, and set up the table from which we sold the magazines. By 9 we were passing out flyers, and repeating the phrase "Good Morning! Do you subscribe to The Bulletin?". By 12, I was already sick of the rejection, the standing on my feet, and the general lack of success. This pattern pretty much continued until Sunday. Long days, aching feet, and low morale shared by all.

Wednesday night, I had a pretty good time. There was a 2 story marquee that was put up for the duration of the show, and on Wednesday night they had a dinner and entertainment. The entertainment was the famous comedian, Mike King (famous for New Zealand). We sat at a table with some representatives from Bell Tea (they are the major sponsors) and I sat next to a 60ish year old millionaire, a Dutch guy (but has lived in New Zealand for a long time). When he found out I was from Massachusetts, he said "Ah, that's where the Kennedy's are from, they're all Democrats there, are you a democrat?" I didn't really know how to answer this, since when people had been asking me about the elections before that, they just wanted my opinion on Obama vs Clinton. As an American traveling, it's smartest to let people assume you are a Democrat, but if some one asks me outright, I have to be honest. So, I responded, "No, actually I'm a bit of a rarity for Mass, I'm not a Democrat". The Dutch man's face lit up, and then he kept repeating how great that was, and then repeated it to the whole table. Thankfully, the comedian came on right then, so we didn't have to go into it anymore! Mike King (the comedian) was pretty funny, rather vulgar, but my cheeks were sore at the end of the night from smiling, so that must mean he was good!

We woke up at 7 on Thursday to get to the tent as the first events were starting. The same process as the day before continued until lunch, when Rachel (the Eventing sports manager) and Alice (helps out doing the same job as me but part time) arrived. This made things a little better because with two more people we could take breaks, and also we all quickly bonded over how unhappy we were to be doing this job. Thursday night we were absolutely exhausted by the end of the day. We ordered Hell's Pizza (one of my favorite take out joints, it's a Kiwi chain) and then went to bed rather early. Friday was pretty much the worst of the days. Not only were we all really frustrated by the low sales, but we ended up working later than we expected. Our boss, didn't understand how unhappy we were, how frustrating it was to be on our feet all day and be selling something that we didn't really want to be doing in the first place. Oh, on top of that, the wind was constantly blow dust all over us. The main problem here was that there were no instructions or briefing at the beginning of the show. There was no meeting outlining expectations or guiding us on how to sell and what we should do, when we should take breaks, and how to best represent our organization. While I had some experience from senior gift tabling, the others were really at a loss of how to go about approaching people, and a lot of the time were at the table looking less than enthusiastic. This frustrated me because although I didn't want to be there, when I was up trying to sell, I was acting the part and making an effort, and I wanted them to do the same, but I knew it wasn't my place to say anything. It was then that I realized how important it is for the boss to pay attention to the little details. Yes, Jim needed to be networking with the sponsors and appearing at the important competitions, but he also had a responsibility to his staff, and because that was neglected we pretty much fell apart.

Friday night was the HOY "Extravaganza" there was horse vaulting and some other "fun" horse competitions, which I really could have cared less about, but it wasn't too bad to watch. Afterwards, we were all so tired and not in good moods, and that's when we all really bonded. Sad that it took a joined hatred of the situation we were in to get us to bond, but I'm glad that we did anyhow. That night we ate Thai while watching American Idol. I haven't been interested in American Idol since the first season, but after seeing it on Friday night, I now am really interested in it! Hopefully, it was just my exhaustion and the company, because I do not want to be hooked on another reality show!

Nothing too important happened during the day on Saturday. Saturday night we went out to dinner at the pub/restaurant across the street. The dinner was an absolute disaster. The longest wait for our food, rude staff, and then when we got it the order was wrong. We got free dessert and some great laughs out of it. We also met some locals who were sitting behind us and sympathized with our situation. It was good to talk to them for awhile about their impressions of Horse of the Year (its a huge deal for such a small town). Sunday morning was a pretty good day because we all knew it was the last day and also we got to pack up early to watch the final competition. We got to watch the Showjumping Horse of the Year (1/2 million $ cup) from the VIP room of the marquee, which was pretty neat because I was sitting around all these really well known equestrians, Olympians and news people, and I didn't have much of any idea who they were. The actual competition was good to watch. The girl who won is 22 years old, and she had a phenomenal ride in both rounds.

We flew home Sunday night. The strangest thing about the flight was that it was like hoping on a bus. There literally was no security. No one even asked for my ID when I got my tickets! You just get your ticket and walk out to the tarmac to board the plane! When I got home to Wellington on Sunday, I was so happy to be "home". So happy to see my flat mates. It felt like I had been gone forever! Catching up with everyone was so great, but all of the sudden I got pangs of sadness because it hit me how little time I have left. I know I shouldn't think about that too much, and enjoy what time I have left, so that's certainly what I have been doing. Hence, why I'm so tired this week and haven't had time to write this until now!

Monday night I went out to eat at Chow with Richard, Dan, two of the coworkers and Richard's girlfriend (it was 2-for-1 special). Chow is an Asian restaurant I've been wanting to try since I got here, so I was really happy to go with them. Tuesday night we had a "Girls Night." Sarah (my American friend from up the road) and I went to Daawat (another restaurant I've been wanting to try- Indian) and then met Jess (Sarah's flatmate and another American friend of mine), and Maria (my new flatmate) at the movies. We watched PS I love You. We all cried the ENTIRE time. We all loved the movie, but it was so emotionally draining. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good cry and also a great movie.

This past week at work has been alright. I am so glad it's my last though. I really cannot take this lack of intellectual use anymore. Also, there are many changes that desperately need to take place to get the office to be more effectively run. Now that the database is mostly fixed and Horse of the Year is over, hopefully those changes will be implemented soon. I am glad to be leaving now though, because I know that at such a small office, changes will probably not go over well with at least one or two people.

Recommended Reading

I've posted a link to the book I just finished reading on the right here.

I cannot stop thinking about it, and in this case, that's not good because it's making me more and more depressed. The book isn't all depressing, this man has made a huge difference in the world, which gives me hope, But, at the same time, it's really heartbreaking to read how much needs to be done in terms of education in world because that is the key to a peaceful, sustainable future all over the world, especially in the Middle East.

So, I hope that by encouraging others to read the book, it can be one step in the right direction to getting more support for educating and aid in Afganistan and Pakistan, areas that clearly need it if we actually want to make lasting and effective steps to erradicating terrorism and hate. If you don't read the book, at least click on the link and read about what this man, Greg Mortenson, has done with so little and made such a huge difference.

GOLDEN SHEARS!

To the right is a slide show of my recent trip to Masterton (about a 1.5 hour train ride north of Wellington) to see the Golden Shear Sheep Shearing Competition. I was impressed with how seriously the event organizers and competitors approached the competition. I knew sheep shearing was a serious business, but I didn't understand just how much fitness and practice it takes to properly and speedily sheer!

For those of you jealous about my recent trip to the "Golden Shears 2008"--the Southern hemisphere's premier sheep shearing competition, I have posted a brief video. This is a clip of the semi-final, senior shearing. There were 6 shearers, and they each had to shear 10 sheep. (TO COME SOON)

ENJOY!

Sailing: A Brief Summary

Every time I tell people here that I just got done sailing and I'm exhausted, they look at me like I'm crazy. Then I explain to them what my day was like, and they tell me I shouldn't say I was sailing because it sounds like I'm just sitting and cruising on a boat all day. So, I figured that I'd explain my experiences here for a greater audience to know, and also, honestly, to help me verbalize it better.

I sail on a boat called Andiamo. It is owned by a late 30s (I think) man, who is called Tails (real alias= Andrew). There is a permanent crew of 9, most of whom have been sailing with Tails since he bought the boat 12 years ago. It is a 60 ft boat (Dont remember what kind), and it has a lot of expensive and complicated accessories to make it really fast, so they typically sail with 12 people when they're not offshore, which is why I am invited along for the harbor races that they participate in most Saturdays (run through the Port Nicholson Yacht Club, the Club where I took the Skills course). When Tails bought the boat him and his friends did not know too much about sailing, which I really think is cool because they all became dedicated to becoming good at it together. They developed a system where after a race, they would have a debriefing to discuss what went wrong, and whoever messed up the most, had to take this Barbie doll with them to the bar wherever they were, and then display that Barbie doll all week at work (they even get into each other's work buildings to make sure the rules are being followed). After 12 years and many, many mistakes, but also many, many successes they are extremely accomplished sailors. Their knowledge of the wind and its affects on the boat and the surroundings is absolutely astounding, along with their knowledge of all sails and parts of the boat. Even though they are really good at sailing, they are not pretentious in any way, in fact they are often pretty vulgar, but that makes the boat fun to be on...if they didn't get a long so well- like to the point where they can openly criticize and take criticism, then it would not be a sustainable racing boat.

For me, a typical harbor racing day consists of arriving around 11. I help bring sails down from the shed and then try to help out getting the boat ready to go. Usually, I'm extremely intimidated, and try to remain out of the way because I'm not sure what to be doing. After sunscreen, filling up water and final checks, we're on our way around 12. We then sail around checking new stuff out around the harbor (boats, statues that have been put in, or last week there were dragon boat races) and then head out a little bit to start testing out the wind and figuring out how we're gonna start the course. By 1 we've usually started the race. My job is either to adjust the runners in the back, or help at the bow. I get really nervous every time I have to do my job, not because I don't know what to do, but because I feel so out of my element around these people, that I do not want to mess up. Most often, I get to my post with the correct timing and only need to be told what to do a couple of times, but those times are rather intimidating. I usually wind up with bruises all over my legs, b/c the most important thing is throwing your body over to the other side of the boat at the proper times, and getting to where you need to be, no matter who or what is in your way. Depending on my job--pulling in the sails, the kite, hoisting the sails or grinding, I usually get my heart pumping pretty fast after every tack or jibe.

The boat we're on is the biggest out of the fleet that sails in the harbor races, so the race is basically against the handicap, yet they are still very focused on the other boats making sure they're are aware of absolutely every moment. One persons sole job is to call the wind. The other boat that Andiamo used to have a rivalry with had some major crew problems a couple weeks of ago. They could no longer get along, so the owner decided to put the boat up for sail. Even though Andiamo loved to hate this boat, they were disappointed b/c it meant less real competition for them on the water. I found it interesting that they immediately began to discuss any crew they might want to grab from the boat...they decided no, because everyone on that boat had been rather disrespectful to the crew members on our boat, one throwing his beer bottle onto the dock when they were done sailing one day.

After we finish the races and derig the boat. Everyone loosens up and brings out lots of alcohol. They make rum and cokes, poor wine and serve beer while they talk about the race and everything else going on in their lives--the exchange rate, the government, moving houses, setting up a farm, their kids. It's really interesting to be a part of, and a nice change from the conversation of 20 somethings. We then close up the boat and head down the road to the yacht club. This is where everyone from the day's races gathers for more drinks, socializing, and the reading of the results. I usually only hang round for one drink b/c it gets awkward since I don't really know that many people. Around 7, I leave in a great mood, a little more bruised, but happy for doing spending the day on the beautiful harbor, racing a sail boat and learning an immense amount more about the sport.

Weekly thoughts

The past few weeks have been the type that make me never want to leave Wellington. The relaxed summer atmosphere of the town, combined with the fabulous, long sunny days and moderate temperatures. The soccer games every Thursday evening. The sailing every Saturday. My close friendship with my flatmates and other Kiwis and Americans I've met here all make me feel like I've found another place where I belong. The major drawback at the moment is the face that I'm going insane not being mentally challenged at my job. Today, b/c the database was down, I was on the verge of tears as I sat in a back closet filing papers. I did not spend hours learning over the past sixteen some years of my life to sit in a closet filing seemingly meaningless papers (they were horse passports...). While I accept the fact that I do need those little experiences to help me appreciate the bigger ones, today was rather rough. Thankfully, I had a good evening making pizza and watching House and Boston Legal with Richard and Dan so that made me end the day with a smile on my face. And, since falling asleep with a smile on one's face is the best sign of how they're doing in life, I would say I'm doing pretty well.

Yesterday evening was a summer night I will remember forever. Vault, the energy drink, sponsored a free concert in the park that is located below my flat's deck. Therefore, I spent the night outside listening to my favorite Kiwi band, Opshop, while hanging out with friends and meeting some new people (friends of friends, who all loved our prime seating!). The music and company was great, and it was a perfect way to start a week. PS I will be playing everyone Opshop's music as soon as I get back to the states, so get ready for some greatness!

This weekend, instead of sailing on Saturday (which I'm sad to pass up, as I was flattered to have been put on their schedule by the boat's 'manager') I am going to a Sheep Shearing competition. As my friend Sarah put it, this will surely be a great sociological experiment. I figured that there will be times in the future to sail in my life, but I'm not sure how many sheep shearing competitions are going to pop up. We're taking the 9am train out of the city, which I heard is a beautiful train ride and then spending the day at the farm. I will be sure to take lots of pictures.