New Zealand Kiwi... Fruit, Bird or Native?

2008-08-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

An update on life.... after realizing my company was in some serious trouble, they managed to stay in business until June. When June came around they came to realize they were no longer able to commit to any sort of time frame on constructing homes and they were better off "temporarily" closing the sales offices. Admittedly, I held some hope they would come around and open back up, but as the months go by, I feel less and less confident they can turn the business around. At this time, it is my understanding they are still fighting with the banks to work out a deal and continue building. We are seeing a change in heart and more flexibility with the banks on the resale end, maybe a little bit of that will trickle down to this builder.

Realizing I couldn't sit around forever and wait for Element to turn around, I began to focus my energy and time into the resale market. I quickly picked up a client and got back in the groove of resale. To say resale is rough in the market is an understatement. These were first time buyers dealing with some of the most complicated and constantly evolving loan requirements we have seen in years. On top of that, they placed 8 full price offers on homes, were haggled on each one, and lost every offer until the last one accepted. Its not pretty out there.

While working with these clients I came to realize I have a passion for working with home buyers especially first time buyers. There is something about taking the time to get to know the buyer, and educate them on what is involved with buying a home that is enjoyable and rewarding. As began to get back into the resale side, I started remembering the oddity of this industry. With real estate, in most instances, if not all, you work with a Realtor who is working on their own. Maybe they have an assistant or they are part of a team, but one way or another the client only deals with that one individual. Personally, it never seemed logical. Maybe it is my education and experience in the corporate world, but I always felt the buyer would have a better experience if they were able to work with a company and a fluid team of Realtors. This way their questions could always be answered, they wouldn't have to worry about finding time in their Realtor's schedule to make an appointment or preview homes, they would be able to find a Realtor at anytime. Its is a unique way of looking at the industry. In my discussions with agents and home buyers, I have found a strong resistance from the Realtors, they think it takes away from what real estate is and.... ohh yeah, they didn't have much else to say except they didn't like the idea. The home buyers on the other hand really liked the idea.

And with that, I have started a new company, focusing heavily on buyers and being a resource to their needs. A couple weeks ago, we launched our website. Its a blog style site that is already loaded with great information for home buyers, sellers and owners. While it is focused towards Arizona real estate, it includes countless articles on market overviews, real estate news, mortgage news, home buyer tips, inspections, home warranties, loan officers, loan programs, the purchase contract, all contract forms, realtor qualifications, and statistics on Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, Queen Creek, Maricopa, Gold Canyon, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Casa Grande, Coolidge, Fountain Hills, Peroria, Cave Creek, Anthem, Glendale, Avondale, Laveen and Arizona as a whole. Here is a screen shot, I have no doubts this will be outdated in a matter of weeks, but I think it will be fun to come back to this post and remember how it all started. Here is the address: www.flinskrealestate.com

2006-12-25T22:47:00.000-08:00

Aoy Mates!

So my x-mas was interesting... I went to a fellow manager's house for
dinner. It was great to meet his wife, kid and a few friends.... for
some reason i didn't think much about being the outsider, since the
family was somewhat american and i will soon be working with manager
at his store soon. Nevertheless, i have never met the family, and
hardly know the manager.

what i found wierd was the quiet japanese girl that came along as
well.... at first i thought she might be a coworker, or a friend of
the family, but i was wrong. She was a customer that walked into the
store that very morning. As she ordered her drink the manager asked
her what she was doing that day, and she said she had nothing planned,
because her family didn't live here and because she was traveling
around without friends. Instantly an invitation was offered for the
girl to come to dinner with the rest of the family... and thats how
the sweet japanese girl came to x-mas dinner.

She didn't speak or understand a lot of english, but that didn't keep
her from being part of the family, and joining in with the movies,
games, and festival.

The food was amazing, the endless supply of red wine was heavenly, and
the company was some of the best. It was a great x-mas in New Zealand,
one that truely reminded me of the Kiwi hospitality i heard so much
about before coming over here.

... and then i got up and worked a 12hr day the day after... good old
starbucks :)

How was everyone else's x-mas?

Marcus

2006-04-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

If you plan on coming to New Zealand be prepared to answer these questions...
Category: Blogging

If you come to New Zealand be prepared to answer these five quesitons
and probably in this order...

1. Are you American?!!! - good guess dumbass, was it the accent that
gave me away? By the way, was that a question or just a statement said
SO loud that the rest of the room could hear the announcement?

2. Where are you from? - the country is so damn big, that if i told
you what state i'm from you'd just nod your head anyways and assume
you know where it is... and if you give two cents, then you'll
probably ask me if its next to california or texas... which brings you
to the next question.

3. What do you think of Bush? - by this time the entire room has been
silenced, as they want to know what the american has to say about
Bush... don't be stupid, there is only one answer to this question...
Bush is a fucking dumbass, plus or minus the fucking part, either way
its the quickest way to the next question.

4. Have you ever been to New York or California? - What are these, the
only two places on the earth? Come on people, you could fit 60 New
Zealands into America, and the two places you are interested in are
New York and California?! Give me a freakin break!

These next three questions are pretty much in either order, and often
are based on the level of intelligence of the poor kiwi you are
talking to.

5. What do you think of the war? - I already told you what i thought
of Bush isn't that enough? ... its never enough... ok fine, i think
the war is stupid, we may have achieved great things but who knows
just yet, yes its probably just daddy's vengenance, and don't you dare
ask me about Bin Landin! I personally don't have any opinion about the
war, but good luck telling that to a kiwi.

6. What's up with American Football? and why do they call the baseball
World Series, when only the states are involved? - Football is the
sissy, over regulated version of Rugby. and Baseball, well who the
hell knows, the game is far less boring than your stupid five day
cricket game, so why don't you start there.

7. Ever been to canada? - who the hell wants to go to canada? its
cold, canadians are a bit off their rocker, and they enjoy thier weed
a bit too much... not that i blame them for it... see canada is to us,
what australia is to them, and they want reassurance that they are not
the only other country in this world that has an odd love/hate
relationship with the big country next to them.

For those of you that finished this blog, congrats. As you can see i'm
just blowing off some steam from the kiwis that i just met on the bus.
And well i guess i'm rather tired of the same 5questions being asked
everytime someone picks up on the accent. Its 12:30am here, and i
gotta be up for work in about 6hrs so i'm off to catch a taxi home.

Can't wait to come home to the states!

Coming Home
Current mood: anxious

Alright, so i've talked about it a ton of times, i've considered it
even more frequently and now its finally going to happen... i'm coming
home people!

I gave my one month notice at work on Tuesday and that begins the
plans for my departure. Feb 28th will be my last day at work. March
1st I will celebrate my birthday, a coworker's b-day and my final day
at work with an all out party. This is becuase the coworker turns 18
and that's same as the big 21 in the states. After that i am giving
myself one week to travel around a bit and spend some of the money i
have. Since it pretty much dissolves into nothing when you convert it
into US currency, i'm doing all i can to get ride of it before i
leave. :)

Wednesday March 8th begins the journey home. I will be taking a 12hr
train ride through the beautiful country side of the north island.
then i'll hope onto an 11pm plane to LAX... and from there back to
PHX. I am sure after 24hrs of traveling, i will be exhausted, but it
will be a great trip to take.

Upon arrival at home i'm going to take a week to just relax and enjoy
the ammentities that i have missed so much... things like american
television, the comfy home my folks have provided for the family, and
its time to catch up with all of my friends that i miss so much!

After resting and eating for a week, i'm going to Real Estate School.
This among other things has been on my list of things to do with my
free time, i just never thought i would turn it into a job. With
Karyn's help, once again, i hope this will become a successful venture
for me. I'll need a part-time job to bring in some cash. So i'm back
to teaching yoga, and i'm going to look into bartending.

and that marks the begining of my venture home... Whee!!!!

vacation
Category: Blogging

So here it is, 8pm on a Thursday night and my family is dead asleep!
Come on people! You're in a beautiful country and you fall asleep
watching TV at 8pm! You have got to be kidding me.

These guys wake my ass up every morning at 6am to get ready for a
6:30am breakfast. The problem is that New Zealand doesn't start
business till 9:30am. So what the heck am I supposed to do between 7am
and 9:30? I go back to bed is what I do, and the family pays for a
movie from the hotel, at 7am! What's wrong with this picture people?

Tomorrow we head off to Queenstown, the supposed adrenaline capital of
the world. And that's where I get to jump out of perfectly good
airplane, jump off some crazy ass bridge with a rubber band attached
to my ankle, and ride a hot-air balloon. What is this insane desire
that my sister has about risking her life? I just don't get it, but
supposedly I am going first... yippee...

New Zealand white wine is good….

2006-02-21T22:43:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

Well i've decided to push my time table up and come home early! On
March 8th I am going to take a beautiful train ride through the heart
of the north island. 12hrs of nothing but amazing views and solitude,
as the railway is far from any roads or cities. After the train ride
i'm jumping on the 12hr plane ride home. I managed to get a flight
home on one of the new and really comfy planes. Each seat has a tv
screen on the back, which allows you to watch your own movie, pausing
and stopping at any time. and for the kids out there (like myself) you
can play computer games!... yes mom, somethings just never change =)

With my last two weeks I've come up with a short list of things to do.
First, I must see a rugby game. its the crazy version of football and
all the rave in new zealand. I have tickets to a game on friday, and
all of the starbucks girls are taking me out! yay! Second, i must be
the first one in the world to see the sunrise. This little town just a
day's travel up north is the first place in the world to see the
sunrise and is supposed to be beautiful. Its the first place to see
the sunrise because it sits right on the time line. Third, I have to
go shopping for kiwi stuff! I'm not real sure what i am going to bring
home just yet, but i'm sure i'll come up with something.

So if anyone would like anything from New Zealand, let me know now!

When I come home, I'll be around for a couple of days and then I am
going up to Oregon to rebuild a fence at my Aunt's house... yes i
know, six months of vacation and then another week! After that I'm
going to real estate school and finding a part time job somewhere. Who
knows where. I'm open to ideas and suggestions!.... however anyone
suggesting starbucks will be punished... =)

I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all and I am really looking
forward to coming home,

Marcus

2006-01-25T22:45:00.000-08:00

Then there is sky diving...
i thought this was bound to be worse than bungy jumping. Laura was
sweet enough to pay for it (that was the only way i was going bungy
jumping... and sky diving was my highschool graduation gift...) Since
laura paid, we did the highest jump available... 15,000feet. ...

I had no idea what the distances meant, only that the higher the
distance the longer the fall.. and if your falling for 30secs, why not
fall for 60secs right? We showed up for the informational, sell you
more stuff meeting and sign "knowledge of consent" or something like
that... basically it wasn't a waiver, because you can't sue anyone in
New Zealand... it was pretty much a piece of paper stating "I realize
what i am doing is stupid, i could die, and i'm happy with that
choice... ohh yeah and i'm paying a ton of money for this
experience"... seriously, that's what you're signing, its no more than
a page long. But then comes the piece of paper for the 15,000feet
jump... little did i know that you get to suck on oxygen when you jump
this high. It sounds simple enough, but the list of precautions went
through the roof, and the mere thought of sucking on oxygen with my
tiny asthmatic lungs gave me a bit of a startle... never the less,
with the little sis sitting next to me, i went ahead and signed the
waiver.

the bus driver taking us to the jump site was great... a total kiwi,
soooo cute! sooo blonde... she failed her driving test three times in
new zealand until she promised the instructor favors if he passed her.
being the idiot that he was, he passed her. i'm sure he was never
repaid... nevertheless this is what she told us as she was driving us
to the site, on a scary two lane narrow road.

we arrived, and were instantly geared up and the first ones in the
planes, nothing like not having a chance to back out. i got this great
little russian guy, barely spoke english, but was awesome. we jumped
in the tiny plane, three jumpers, three instructors, and three camera
men, we were all sitting on each other's laps, there was no room left
in the plane. As we ascended, i watched the instructor's altitude
watches, like a second grader in math class watching the second hand
slowly pass around the clock.

13,000feet... out come the oxygen masks... this is the point where i'm
getting a bit delusional and thinking twice about all the precautions
listed on the waiver that i signed.... damn, should have read them a
bit closer... what did it say about asthmatics again?!

15,000feet, the door opens, out goes the first camera man, and the
first pair of jumpers. and i'm thinking.. Ohh shit this IS going to
happen... but i'm half high on altitude and oxygen, so why not!... out
i go, free falling and flipping for 60seconds. During this 60seconds,
the guide opens a small chute to keep us from flipping and now the
camera man is floating in front of me trying to get pictures... good
luck buddy!!... i'm enjoying this view and trying to remember how to
breath.... breath, breath, ohh yeah, open mouth and let air come in...
so i open my mouth, falling at god knows what speed and go figure, my
lips peeled back to my ears, and the wind just fills my mouth with
air, but nothing is going to the lungs... for some stupid reason i try
breathing through my mouth for a bit longer. Then i try breathing
through my nose, which believe it or not is pretty congested... and i
remember the warning about congested noses, and having any sort of
congestion... shit! i'm going to die, or at least pass out... which
i'm sure will give the camera man great pictures to take. to my
surprise i can breath through my nose... and now its time to make
faces for the camera man... i'll save those surprises for later.

once that part was over, the main chute was pulled, and it was just an
amazing view from there. i pretty much sat in a harness and let my
guide do fun little circles in the air, while i enjoyed the view....
what a view!!! beautiful, city free, mountains and clouds, just
amazing.

when we landed, i was ecstatic! i wanted to go again and again!.. the
camera man was still taking pictures and i instantly grabbed hold of
my guide, gave him a huge hug and made sure he was in the picture. my
new best friend =)

the pictures had to be mailed to us, but with any luck they took at
least one picture of me with my lips peeled back to my ears. =)

Cheers!

Marcus

2005-12-23T22:48:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

I can't believe its christmas eve already. Its weird to not go
shopping for christmas, and even wierder to sit here wondering what i
am going to do on christmas day. One of my coworkers has mentioned
that we could probably do dinner with her friends.... maybe i'll be
one of those people that go to the movie theatres on christmas day.

Life in New Zealand is excellent. Its getting a bit windier and wetter
these days, just the way i like it. =)

I am moving flat/apt next week. I've had my fill of crazy, rude,
ignorant and flat out moronic flatmates. So i'm off to the other side
of town, to move in with a 28yr old guy, and his 21yr old partner.
Partner of course being the term for long-term girlfriend.

I'm still having a hard time with this whole partner thing. There
seems to be a lot of gay people in Wellington, and of course working
at starbucks you get to work with a good number of them. But how do
you figure out if someone is gay? you can't just ask them if who they
live with or if they are dating someone, because just about everyone
refers to thier significant other as a "partner" unless they have only
been dating for a couple of weeks. So i've just given up, and i ask
the girls to figure it out for me.

Work is going extremely well. The store that i have taken complete
responsibility for running while we have an absentee manager is
running smoothly, and everyone is getting along great. Don't get me
wrong, starbucks wouldn't be complete with the one mis-hire, and we do
have her. But i like to look on the bright side of things. =)

The store its self isn't doing that great sales wise. As i may have
mentioned before, New Zealand already had a coffee culture long before
starbucks showed up. So starbucks is nothing more than a confusing
mess of options. Our competition, well the mall is just across the
street, and they have five coffee shops in the mall, and on the
opposite corner of us, there is yet another coffee shop, not to
mention the other countless ones spread through out the town. I have
yet to figure out why anyone would seriously put this store where it
is at, but a lot of people seem very happy to have it in thier tiny
little town.

I opened my first christmas gift yesterday!... well before i make
myself sound like a miserable alocholic, let me explain the situation.
I have just trained a new shift, she only got a week's worth of
training, and has only been with the company for three weeks. She's
got what it takes, but anyone would find this too much responsibility
and since our manager doesn't seem to care about her development, i've
taken to coming in on my days off, and coming in early on other days.
So its been a constant mess of 12+hr days, with crazy christmas
customers, and store problems that just boggle my mind somedays.

At the end of her shift yesterday a customer came up and told us how
nice it would be to have some Baileys in her coffee. Which got us
talking about how nice it would be to have some alcohol in the store
for days like this. And i mentioned how i've always wanted a hip
flask... its something i've wanted ever since i moved to flagstaff.
Not that i would ever use it(often), but its just one of those "cool"
things that i've always wanted. So at the end of my shift, my new
trainie came in with a gift for me... my very own stainless steel hip
flask! - note: i do not plan on filling it up with whiskey and
caring it around with me... however i might put redbull in it, and
take it to work to get a reaction out of the manager :)

speaking of managers, the CEO of Starbucks in New Zealand came in for
a visit a couple days ago... it appears that he was very impressed
with me, and that he wants me to consider staying with them past my
nine month term.

I'm loving it hear and looking forward to a quiet christmas without
the flatmates. I hope everyone is having a great holiday season and
thank you for all the christmas cards!

Marcus

2005-12-11T22:49:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

I've found an apartment in Wellington with two great girls. They have
parties about twice a week, but are very conscientious about not
waking me up. I've been looking for a bed for the apartment, but 10yr
old beds that have been heavily used run for about 300bucks, and
that's just out of my budget. Then I start thinking about what it
would be like to be a 10yr old bed… I think about the things people do
on new beds, and I begin to feel bad for the bed, wondering how
insulted it must have been because the owners didn't put a mattress
protector over it. Ok, so I gave the idea too much thought, but never
the less it grosses me out! So what do I do instead? ... I sleep on
the floor. I bought a comforter and some bed padding on sale, and
that's my new bed… which actually isn't too bad if it's not a cold
night.

So I don't know if this is happening in the states, but I've been
noticing some seriously pimped out DHL vans. I'm assuming that each
driver owns their own van over here and as a result they get to do
whatever they want to, after all its only mail delivery. The two
things that remain constant are the vehicle make and model, and the
yellow color, everything else is game for retrofitting. Yesterday the
mail man pulled up in a lifted bright yellow DHL van, he was blaring
Eminem while his thousand dollar rims where spinning backwards.
Another one pulled up with some D12 rap music, pimped out tail lights,
and a guard dog in the back. I wonder if DHL realizes their delivery
vans are the new mobilized gangster vehicles.

Work is going smoothly. Just last week I opened a new store in the
ghetto part of Wellington, fortunately it is right across the street
from a new shopping mall so its not too ghetto. To my surprise we
opened the store with a brand new La Marzocco. But it doesn't have
timers on it at all! The team of employees is pretty good, however
they are rather quiet like most kiwis around here, and it's really
hard to get them to communicate with the customers who are just as
quiet. It almost seems like a really bad combination.

The customers are really shy about walking into a Starbucks. Everyone
likes "American" things, and therefore Starbucks is trendy, but the
excessive drink selection is really confusing to them, and before you
know it they give up and get typical New Zealand coffee drinks, which
are rather disgusting and boring drinks. So whenever I am bored, I
torture a poor kiwi and make them decide on a flavor of syrup to put
in their coffee… you should see the amount of agony they go through to
decide to put vanilla in a latte!

That's about all that's new with me, how are things going for everyone
else? I must admit I am getting a bit home sick, I'd do just about
anything to go out to dinner and get some good American food! Send me
some e-mail!

Missing everyone!

Marcus

2005-11-08T22:53:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday was a Halloween and you wouldn't have guessed it by looking
outside. Here is a country that doesn't celebrate Halloween. There
were the few Americans and Canadians that decided to throw a couple
parties and light a few fireworks, but that was just about it.
Everyone else carried on with life as normal… which I found odd.

I'm in Wellington these days, the capital of NZ. The city is built
right of the southern coast of the northern island. It's a beautiful
and clean city. The weather is perfect, one day cloudy, the next sunny
and the following a mix of cloudy cool weather with some wind and some
sun. Due to its location, Wellington is supposed to be the windiest
city in NZ, and no one doubts that so to say the least I think I have
yet to see the true meaning of windy…. Oh yeah and the city is built
on a fault line… so someday in the near future they expect the entire
city to collapse… I'm dead serious… till then I enjoy calling it home
:-)

I found a great apartment last week! It's actually a pretty big place
and pretty cheap to. It's located just behind the downtown area, so
it's a close walk to everything, and it has a remote feeling to it.
There is a small school right next to the apartments and plenty of
beautiful places to go for a morning jog. The roommates, or flatmates
as they call them over here, are a couple of girls. One is 19, and the
other is 18… I haven't met the 18yr old, but the 19yr old is a lot of
fun to hang out with. I know you are all thinking to yourselves, "what
the heck is going through his head?!", in all honesty, I went looking
for the younger roommates so I wouldn't be bored and sitting in a flat
all by myself. I came for a good time, and who better to show it to me
then these girls. Oh yeah, the drinking age is 18 over here, which I
will come back to later.

I'm still looking for a job, actually I'm waiting for Starbucks to
call me back, along with another café manager. Hopefully one of the
two will call me this week.

I think I broke the world record… one week after going to Starbucks
and I am now getting free coffee! Oh yeah!... And it didn't come from
the girl that I have been hanging out with. I guess I haven't
mentioned much about her. Well let's see, her name is Jessie and she
is from Canada. You don't see many Canadians or Americans traveling in
NZ, so when we do meet, we tend to have a lot to share and talk about.
Plus she works for Starbucks and also worked for Starbucks in Canada,
which means we could talk about customers and different business
practices for days on end. There are always good stories to talk about
like, those customers who come in looking for espresso brownies
everyday (Dad and Bob), or those who know exactly how their drinks
should taste because they visit Starbucks too often (again Dad and
Bob!), then again… those are the customers that can turn a bad day
into a really good one by just showing up. :-)

Jessie has pretty much turned into my Wellington tour guide. She took
me to the botanical gardens (pics on ringo) on Monday, and shows me a
lot of the great shopping and eating places. And she has become my NZ
linguist. Over here they have a lot of weird words, some of which I am
still picking up, but what's weirder is that they say the most common
words in a manner which I just don't understand. It turns out that
they just like to drop the "r"s out of all the words. So Starbucks
turns into "Stabucks", and Garden turns into "Gaden"… I'd love to know
who decided that would be a good accent to teach kids!

Coming back to the drinking age… over here is it 18 and of course they
are thinking about raising it to 21. mainly because a lot of the kids
are drinking and driving. Just as big of a problem seems to be the
speeding. With NZ being a pretty spaced out country, its easy to get
on a motorway (highway) and in five minutes you are pretty much in the
middle of nowhere. Where it doesn't make sense to have police
patrolling because it is too far from town, and it is too hard to
monitor. So when these kids do get into accidents, it can be awhile
till anyone finds them and normally the collision is so bad that
everyone dies. So what's one of the best ways to make people aware of
this issue? Advertising of course! And in NZ they hold nothing back.
Ads that would be seen as too emotional are played over and over here.
And a lot of the ads that are on TV will be 2parts. During the first
week they will air the first part of the ad, and the second week they
will air the first and second part of the ads.

One of the commercials starts off with a girl coming home with a
terrible hangover, the second commercial she will realize that she
blacked out, doesn't know who she had sex with, but is pretty sure she
didn't use any protection and then she mentally breaks down, while her
roommate asks her why she does this to herself every weekend. They are
pretty emotional and shocking commercials, and there are a lot of
them. Billboards on the highways say things like "Slow Down" and then
the next one will say "We are killing our kids." I was driving in the
southern part of the south island I saw my favorite one, which
actually freaked me out… the first one of course said "Slow Down" and
then next one wasn't a billboard, it was a sign where you would see
facts like "City Name, Population etc" and on the sign it clearly
stated "No Hospital, No Doctor, One Cemetery"… that alone made me want
to drop the speed down to about half of the limit. And I wasn't
speeding!

Well it's about 10am over here and finally the shops are opening up so
I think I am going to do some grocery shopping. I'd love to hear how
everyone is doing. And thank you so much to those who sent me snail
mail, it's really cool to get hand written letters over here… plus it
gives me something to brag about to those in the hostel :-)

The wanna be Kiwi,

Marcus

2005-10-10T22:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, I did makeup that word, oddities. :-)

I'm in TeAnau now. I'll have to catch you up on Wanaka and Queenstown
in another letter.

As I mentioned in an earlier letter, I have been picking up new
vocabulary as I travel. Words like "proper" and "mate" are a part of
my daily vocabulary. Some words like "cheers" and "bloke" are still
finding their way into daily use. With each new word i try to write it
down somewhere handy, a place i might come across frequently to
refresh my memory. Lately I have a lot of trouble with the word
"trouser". To me a trouser, might be something you would use if you
were out milking cows, and you wouldn't want to get the jeans/overalls
dirty, or they might be a lot like the Chaps that bikers where....
just a bit less disturbing...

As I travel from hostel to hostel, not only is the weather getting
colder, but I have yet to run into an American!!! some days i think
this is good, other days i feel a wee bit out numbered, especially
when Bush says things like "God told me to go into Iraq while i was
sleeping", I can't tell you how many cracks have been made about that
one!!! thanks Bush. To say the least Americans are a rare breed out
here, and I'm starting to understand why. There are however a lot of
Brits. To the Brits, New Zealand is what Great Britain was 20-30years
ago. So everyone from Britian comes here for the beauty, and the lack
of civilisation. Fair enough, I kind of came for the same reason.

As the cash flow begins to run low, I have an ever burning desire to
spend it at ten times the rate as before. I don't know why this is,
all i know is that God certainly didn't come to me in my sleep and
tell me to do this, i might however end up working as a hostel slave
if i don't slow down. so back to the point, i'm in probably one of the
most beautiful parts of new zealand, and what has probably become my
favorite past time, kayaking (i don't do it much, but it is an amazing
activity), is really popular out here. So i decided i would take a two
day kayaking trip into the Doubtful Sounds. if i'm lucky i'll get
right next to dolphins, penguins, and all sorts of really great
animals.

The really amazing part about New Zealand is its purity. A lot of the
water out here is still very pure, and in fact Doubtful Sounds is the
last part of the world not to have it's water infected by this nasty
little parasite, i won't even both trying to name it, because i won't
do it justice. However i'm sure the little sis will be able to tell
you all about the side effects if you really want to know.

So with this purity comes the world's biggest tree huggers. (just like
my kayaking tour guide)... you know, the ones that are sooo happy
about this toilet that was installed five years ago, and how it
automatically biodegrades all human wastes, but it doesn't like
certain types of waste, so you have to do number one over in the bush,
and number two in the fancy dancy waste biodegrader..... i kid you
not, this lady would have gone on for hours about this device if we
let her, and i have no doubt that we will here more about it on the
trip tomorrow.

So tonight was the orientation, an hour long lecture solely on what to
bring on this kayaking trip! my head was hurting, i doubt i have
everything i need, and i know that i will probably freeze my butt off
tomorrow, (i have been doing a lot of that lately.) So at the end of
the meeting we all pay for the trip, and being the putz that i am, i
find myself the only one paying in cash. so i put myself in the back
of the line to prevent showing the whole world that i have this wad of
cash in my pocket. the last thing i need is rich American jokes
floating around. so i'm the last one at the meeting, and i'm hanging
around waiting for change. I say goodbye to this treehugger, i mean my
guide, and as i walk away she shouts out, "nice trousers!"... of
course in my mind i am trying to figure out what she is saying...
::trousers, trousers, what the hell are trousers???? ohh yeah, those
overall things,.... ahh i got it now, she means my pants!!!:: jackpot
i got it, this one is going down in the book of new words.

so i proudly (this is new for me too) shout back, "Yeah these are my
yoga pants! the most comfortable pants in the world. Back in the
States i was a yoga teacher!"... the second i closed my mouth i new i
was in for it. she gets this big old grin on her face, that grin like
everything just got a whole lot better, and she just met a new best
friend. this is because her logic is 20-30years back dated, she thinks
yoga is sitting crossed legged with the wrists on your knees and
saying "humm" all day long while waiting for some sort of alliance
with the natural elements (dad :-) ). Which now makes me the prime
person to talk "biodegrading toilets" with tomorrow...... if she only
knew about the countless pieces of paper that i waste, just so i can
remember words like, trouser, to keep myself from getting into lengthy
talks about toilets!

the next two days should prove very interesting.

thanks for all of the great e-mails! i love hearing from everyone!

love ya, miss ya, namaste,

Marcus

2005-09-23T22:59:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for your e-mails, much appreciated!

I am in Wellington today, and tomorrow, and then I plan on heading off
to the south island for about a month until the vineyard season
begins. By november i should be able to find a few jobs in vineyards,
ranging from wrapping the vines, thining the vines, quality
inspection, etc.

I am slowly refining my backpacking skills. I think i am going to do
away with the suitcase, which i brought since i didn't exactly have a
plan before i came over here, beside to just live and enjoy the
culture. I quickly find myself spending a small fortune on little
things that make backpacking much easier, and more compact, it is very
interesting what kind of toys they have made for backpackers... i
almost feel like a little kid shopping for legos again. :)

Once again i scored with the hostel that i am staying at. Great
people, wonderful chats, and great advice! The little tips and pointer
you pick up from fellow backpackers here are priceless, and have a way
of saving you a ton of money. right now i am rooming with one guy who
has been staying in the hostel for the last three weeks while looking
for a place to stay in wellington. he landed a job a few weeks back,
and now is staying at the hostel until he can find a flat to rent out.
Another gal, shelly is from england, a PE teacher, and a load of fun.
She spent four months in australia with a friend working to save up
money for her year long venture. and then we have the guy that is very
nice but very hard to understand. enrique, as we think he name is,
comes from switerland, and i can't say i recall much of what is game
plan is... like i said, hard to understand, but a great lad.

I have yet to pick up an accent, but wierd "proper" english vocabulary
seems to be intergrating into my speech. things, like "proper",
"mate", "lad", etc, are all becoming common phrases.

there is a world mountaineering race going on tomorrow. people from
all over the world have come to run in this race. at first i thought
about entering for the fun of it.. but quickly realized that would be
a disasterous idea. the trail goes almost completly vertically up a
mountain, and the same slope on the way down the mountain. A handful
of germans that are running in the race are staying at the hostel, and
all i have to say is "wow". the amount of food that these guys eat,
the amazing shape they are in, and how goofy they can be is pretty
awesome.

good time in new zealand!

keep me updated on what's going on with you guys!

Marcus

P.S. i hope e-mail files are not too big with all of the pics!

2005-09-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

September 21st, 2005:

It has been a long two weeks since i have arrived in New Zealand. The
sights out here have been amazing, and the days seem to slowly go by.
Life seems to be slowing down, and I am finding myself enjoying what
feels like an additional 6hours each day.

Today I am on a train headed to Wellington. The capital of New
Zealand, and the second largest city next to Auckland. Which I found
to be overwhelming, ugly, and just not the New Zealand that I came
for. The locals all agree with me, and suggested I travel south,
because the further south you go, the more relaxed the people are.
With any luck i might find some yoga studios down here, i really
would love to pick up a mat.

I just left the Chateau, one of the oldest and most historic hotels in
New Zealand. Built a mere 75 years ago, and on a world national park,
it holds a lot of memories, and possess a lot of character. The job
being offered sounded wonderful. 50 bucks a week covered rent, three
meals a day, seven days a week. endless opportunity to learn and grow
in the hospitality industry, and unlimited potential to save money
since it is located in the middle of freakin nowhere... well it is
right up against Mt. Doom (Lord of the Rings)... But i decided to turn
down the job after seeing how terrible the customer service was, how
old and aged the hotel rooms were, and finally after seeing the total
dump that they wanted me to stay in! Absolutely appalling.

On the way from the Chateau to the train station, an employee drove me
in his cousins car. I learned about how a large number of his family
members worked there, along with his girlfriend of 23 years, and their
18yr old son. As the american that i am, i blurted out something
about being married for so long, and he quickly corrected me. For 23
years these two have been dating passionately, they have an 18yr old
son, and never once became engaged. Trying to understand i tried to
figure out if perhaps this person not being religious didn't want to
bother with the marriage ritual. But to him, the only thing that comes
after marriage is the divorce papers. He feared getting in an argument
and the threat of divorce arising, then push come to shove and they
are divorced, more out of a show of ego than reason. Instead he
prefers to go for a walk, or fishing for a day or two to let
everything calm down and then coming back to his girlfriend, instead
of a wife.... .... then I was informed that on their 23rd anniversary
they discussed getting married on their 25th anniversary... it was
rather cute and romantic how he described their talk, and how he
brought it up... almost as if setting her right... .... i continually
wonder, if one is not religious, then what is the point of getting
married, this gentleman made it very clear that you don't need
marriage to stay together and that he has never thought about another
woman in the past 23yrs....

as i go from hospitality job offer to hospitality job offer, i think i
am starting to realize that if i want to enjoy the new Zealand
culture, hospitality is the last place i should be working. it is full
of transient workers, and visitors from around the world. Thus far, i
feel that i have seen very little of the culture that i came to see.
... its a good thing i've become mr. spontaneous ; - )

will send pics soon

2004-01-24T11:35:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my Blog, here i will post the random thoughts and events that occur in my life, along with quotes that i cherish or create from my daily experiences.