June Update

Living in the Southern Hemisphere means rethinking the seasons, so I find myself often saying "this would be December back home". So what exactly does that mean? Well today I was out walking in a tshirt, hoodie and scarf and was warm. My trusty laptop said it was 9 degrees but with the sun it certainly felt much warmer. It is strange to think that this would be December back home as it feels unseasonably warm here, considering it is winter. They have been threatening for weeks that a cold front will be moving in with sleet. The weather for tomorrow is supposed to be sleet, wonder if it will actually come this time.

Things have been much nicer living in our own place. You really take for granted how nice it is to not have to worry about planning when you want to use shared space when you live on your own (or with just a partner). I have learned being here that my home is really important to me, and that includes not having to make allowances for someone else and how they use the space. It is different with partners because you can find that balance together but I found that moving into a home where someone had already been living I always felt like it was her space and I was just using it for the time being. Now this is my space, and I am loving it. Best thing about it is that it is really close to downtown so it is easy to take a wander to the city. Whereas before we were quite isolated. The act of moving has made me feel like I could stay in NZ longer than the year. Just being able to find stability in one aspect of living has made me feel much more at peace. So glad we found it.

I still find myself being surprised by New Zealand and the differences that exist. For example, you can shop around for cheaper electricity prices. It is quite the maze looking at all the different companies and the rates that they charge and trying to delineate which would be the most cost efficient.

Bandwidth is insanely expensive here compared to Canada. Its weird to have to think about what you are doing online and how much bandwidth you have left to be able to do it. In Canada you can do whatever you want essentially without too much worries. There is also only one cable operator in all of NZ. The rest are ADSL which require a landline which is itself quite expensive.

I have discovered though that I love driving on the left hand side of the road. The driving rules are becoming easier to remember, and I rock at parallel parking here even in our beast of a vehicle. I am not sure what it is exactly about being on the opposite side of the road that I enjoy so much, but its starting to feel very natural. To the point where both Drew and I have found ourselves thinking "they are on the wrong side of the road" when watching an American Film before catching ourselves.

I am patiently waiting for a new job to start up sometime in July. It is in a home for people with traumatic brain injury and they are currently doing renovations to get it set up so the start date is whenever that finishes. Best thing about it is that it should work well with my Cattery job so I can still do that. I have come to the conclusion that the Cattery is probably one of the best jobs I have ever had both due to the nature of the work and also because I have a really amazing boss there. I have decided to stop working at the retirement home as it is very inconsistent hours and I have been having conflict with the amount of gossip and negative speak that goes on there. I found that it was making me feel frustrated and unhappy, which is something I didn't want for myself in a job.

Next week Drew and I are hoping to get down to Dunedin to do some South Island sightseeing. Hoping this nice winter weather holds until then.