December 20, 2010
December 20, 2010
When my nomadic life took roots I planned on transitioning my blog into a scathing expose on the seedy underbelly of life in New Zealand. Stones would be over-turned. Muck would be raked. The whole world would know about the harsh realities of a first world country with no HDTV, expensive internet and a shockingly bland palate. Alas, it is difficult to write about life when it’s every day. Traveling made it easy because my life was naturally broken into events. Life, however, isn’t measured in discrete leaps or measurable moments. Rather it is a hike up a glacier; progress is measured by the view but if we stand too long and enjoy it the slow entropy of life will take away our advances.
I am still committed to the blog, but instead of the sprawling opus entries I am going to try to keep it to a few tight paragraphs. Hopefully it remains enjoyable.
Nearly five months of living in Wellington. The skies have turned from blustery, grey and frigid to clear, warm and beautiful with the occasional relapse. Overcoats disappeared and the sidewalk cafes are always full. Summer is coming. Or maybe it’s here. I can’t really tell with the seasons flipped for the Southern Hemisphere. Either way, even my particularly motivated co-workers are gone by 5:30—motivated to drink up the remaining 3 hours of daylight.
Six weeks ago I moved from my house up in the hills to one much closer to town. I lost my stunning view, but no longer does the bus schedule rule my life. My new place is a 5-bedroom, 2 bathroom house at the base of Mt. Victoria on the eastern edge of downtown. My commute to work is a 20 minute waterfront stroll and nearly everything I need from week to week is within a few blocks.
My roommates are all in their mid-20s, and quite social. On any given night it’s difficult to find more than 3 of us home. My room is large and the sun streams in through the curtains every morning making it impossible to sleep in. That is, when the neighboring college kids aren’t blasting house music and getting drunk at 6am during their summer vacation. Noisy neighbors aren’t a problem, even if their taste in music is atrocious. I like the lively feeling of Mt. Vic. One of the concentrations of Wellington bars is just down the street on Courtney Place and it’s at the crossroads of the wealthy waterfront and the gateway to the eastern suburbs. Parking mostly sucks so I leave my car in my old neighborhood and take the bus to it when I need to drive somewhere. It sounds like a much bigger hassle than it is. When the new year rolls around, I’ll make the effort to get a parking pass but with short time remaining, I can manage a few bus fares.
When I first started working, my social life consisted of going to the gym after work. 4 months on and I barely make it to the gym twice a week. I’m not nearly as stoked on my 3 year membership. In LA, the highlight of my social week was a coed beach flag football league. I have been trying to find the equivalent in Wellington. So far, I have joined coed touch rugby and men’s indoor soccer leagues. I’m hoping to take sailing lessons soon but it will probably have to wait until January. The boyfriend of one of my roommates plays in a Gaelic Football league. Not exactly sure how it’s played but I’ve been invited to join them. Summer also means cricket season. The guys in my office are excited about cricket season but that’s probably because they’re mostly small white and Asian guys who probably didn’t spend their high school years dominating rugby matches. We’ll see about cricket. I’m skeptical.
More soon. I promise.
