My New Idea

Mmmkay, so....I have had a new idea. Well it isn't a new idea it is more like an evolution of a pre-existing idea. I am going to share it with you peeps and see what the feed back is before I start publishing anything. But first lets back up and talk about how this idea got started.

So where to begin? Well lets start here. In my life I have had some pretty awesome experiences with some pretty random people. As you are all aware of I love a good story and I have collected a sweet Rolodex of stories from my adventures and regular life. Thanks to my father I have the artistic flare of telling stories that can keep your entertained. That coupled with the fact that family has some crazy unbelieveable aura around them creates opportunity for great stories. I also believe that everyone has a story. Even if you think it is nothing special, everyone has a story to tell. I am a people watcher, and a people talker. I love human behaviour. Some of my most memorable random encounter stories are; The time I got a ride home with a snow plow driver on the new years eve we had the blizzard. The time I learned how to walk backwards from a ninja. The time I met the 1985 Iditarod champion in the New York airport. The time I got a ride to the Tuahara mountain with a Maori cowboy that went to Stampede. The time (just recently) I got a ride home from a van full of Samoans and went to McDicks with them. I have also had uncomfortable encounters of the random kind like the time on Quinpool when the guy wanted to stab me at the bus stop..... But on a whole I think the interactions I have had with random people and the kindness of others is what keeps my faith in humanity. I actually really love talking to strangers and truth be told I do it all the time. How else are you going to meet new people!? I think this is why being a traveller suits me so well because I don't know if I have a shy bone in my body.

In today's day and age everyone is so busy txting and messaging and have their heads down to notice the people around them. People pass by others on the street without a second glance. How many people did you walk past today that you didn't even notice? Also the kindness of strangers is becoming a dying thing and people raise an eyebrow when you walk down the road smiling. When did it become strange to smile? Ya'll know that I am a pretty icy person, but I do believe in spreading happiness and think the world would be a better place if we just slowed down a bit and smiled more often. If we all just acted a little kinder to the person standing next to us maybe some of the worlds problems would lessen.

This comes to the last part, and the part that really kicked off the idea of this new idea. How many have walked past a homeless person on the street without even acknowledging them? How many of you know why that guy you just walked past and rolled your eyes at is actually homeless? I know we all make assumptions, but how many times are we right? We don't know how many times we are right, because no one ever takes the time to find out. For the peeps in Halifax, how many of you know the story of how the rose guy started selling roses? Wouldn't it be interesting if you did know? Wouldn't it be a neat idea if you could hear the stories of all these strangers you see in the run of a day? I was inspired by the 'Stranger a day' blog from Vancouver. This woman did a project where she had to speak to a stranger a day for a year, then she blogged about it. I remember reading her stories and thinking, " Wow, what a neat idea! What a cool way to learn something new about someone you just met. " I was inspired to start talking to strangers myself, I mean hell, you never know who you are going to meet. Since I have been in NZ I have met two millionaires, TV personnel, NZ politicians, professional rugby players, the Springboks, and countless other interesting people with stories to tell. The stranger a day girl used tattoos as base for her project so each participant told a story about a tattoo they had. It was so interesting reading the stories of how they came about or what they meant to the person.

After being inspired by the blog I took it upon myself to not dismiss those around me and actually start talking to people. Maybe bring the world a little closer together? Maybe learn something? Maybe just have a good laugh? Either which way it has become something I find incredibly interesting and I have decided to maybe share the stories of my interactions with all of you. So this is how it would go, I would keep this blog but start a new one too. The new one would be called "These Are The People In Your Neighborhood" and it would be a compilation of stories from the people I talk to and meet and hear their stories. So it wouldn't be my stories, but theirs, shared on this public forum for all to read. What do you think?

Now obviously when I talk to strangers and hear their stories I stay clear of aggressive behaviours, Jesus freaks, and generally anyone talking to themselves, so I am being safe and the stories I hear aren't always a mess of crazy. Although sometimes they are, and that's okay, because obviously that is what that person perceives is real and I find it fascinating to hear that too. But sometimes their stories are cautionary tales, or amazing stories of triumph, you just never know what you will hear when you talk to strangers. Anyways shout me some feedback on what you think, and I think I will be doing a test run on this idea with a story about an interaction I had the other day with a man selling shells on Queen street. I also am starting a pass it on movement with one of the shells I bought off of that same guy.

So, would you read it? What do you think? Maybe I am as crazy as the people I talk to?

Catching Y'all up!

Okay, so I haven't posted in a few weeks. It has been a busy couple of weeks trying to find a job, trying to find a place to live, just trying to get things sorted so I haven't felt much like writing about the shenanigans I have been up to. Rest assured that I have been still up to plenty of shenanigans, but undocumented ones. Probably better if some of them remain undocumented ;) So instead of giving you the detailed play by play of each weekend past that I haven't written about I am giving you the long story short version.

Some of the things I have been up to since I last check in are; I went to a great Maori fashion show where Grahams sister was a model in the show. It was one of those things from the movies! She was to another show earlier in the day and whilst hanging out after the show one of the designers asked her to be in the evening show. Amazeballs! Of course she rocked it, and was awesome! After that the three of us went to have some wobbly pops with the Homai boys down in Newmarket. That turned into a crazy drunken night where I lost my debit card. Lame! Oh well, lucky for me down here they don't have your name on them or anything so I just popped into a branch the next day and picked up a new one. Sweet! It was a super fun night tho, those guys are always a lot of fun and we had a crazy ridiculous photo shoot that kept me laughing the next day when I went through my camera.

One of the Springboks told us a joke about
something with a beard and dipped his
chin in his Guiness.....

That same weekend on the Sunday Steph and I went out for a beer which ended up turning into a Sunday sesh with the South African rugby team, the Springboks. That was pretty random and funny, especially because I know diddly about rugby so to me these guys were just a bunch of tanks at the bar. They were all huge. Apparently they grow them big in South Africa. It did pose a small problem getting up for work on Monday but it was all good by about noon.

The following weekend could only be described as epic in a true Jessica fashion. Here is the shortened version of that story. Ngaire invited me to a rugby social not far from my house, I was keen, it sounded like a good idea. So she picked me up on Saturday afternoon and we did some running around then went to her house to pregame before the event. There were four of us and we drank 4 bottles of bubbley wine and a shot before leaving the house and brought a bottle of white wine for a pass around on the walk up. It was pouring rain, but we decided that the 25 minute walk up there was a good idea, and I don't think any of us realized how much it was raining or how wet we were actually getting. Part way there we did a ticket check to see if we all still had our tickets to get in, I thought I lost mine but it was in my pocket and somehow got ripped in half. So after finding it, for whatever reason, I kept it in my hand like it was my job. I guess I thought that way I wouldn't loose it?
Anyway the four of us rocked up into the bowling club through the back door (we didn't even properly enter) soaking wet from the rain and went up to the ticket table. The fellow behind the table asked if we had our tickets to which I happily replied that yes I did. I promptly dropped a wet crumbled ripped in half mushy paper ticket onto the table in front of him with an air of pride that I had actually managed to keep track of it. So that was fine they let us in and it was dudsville up in there. It was like a bad junior high prom there were small groups of people at tables, music was playing but you could hear the deafening sound of proverbial crickets. So after a few shots and beers Ngaire and I soon became the party ambassadors of the event. We made friends with every person there and in no time had started a huge dance party and everyone was having a good time. It was ridiculous! We just pinballed around the room making sure everyone was having a good time and makin friends. Pretty sure we owned that place by the end of the night! So at the end of the night I turned around and Ngaire was gone (had gone home, no biggie), Alex was gone and Chloe was getting a ride home with someone else. So Jessica being Jessica says, that's no problem I will just walk home, I just live around the corner..... Nek minnit..... Haha! I was in the parking lot going to head home after the event when a crazy tall fella asked me if I was going to walk home. When I said yes he said, oh no you're not, get in the van. After a little back and forth I decided to take the sober ride home I was being offered. I got in the van with a whole load of Samoans and went on a little tiki tour including a Mc Dicks stop before getting dropped off at home. That's how I met my friend John  the Samoan. Unfortunately in all the raging I did manage to loose my phone with I was pretty choked about but I have another so it's all good.

And most recently this past weekend I took Steph to Homai Te Pakipaki and had a great time there. We had some pre clap beers at the bowling club and then headed over for some red handed fun. I did manage to make Rei blush in front of the whole Homai audience, which was hilarious, and then they invited us for drinks after the show. As always it is always a fun time with those jokers and by the end of the night my cheeks hurt again. They took the piss out of me for being Canadian and kept an eh count, but none of that is anything new. Saturday I went to the boys rugby game which was great but the weather was a bit grey and cold. I also went to the night markets for the first time. That was mega cool and I found a duplicate of the owl ring I broke before I left Canada, choice!

So now I am being a regular gypsy with a little crashing and couch surfing happening until I manage to get a job. The goal was to stay in Auckland but not so sure that is in the cards, I will keep you updated on that. Also be sure to read the blog I post after this one about my new idea to make things here more interesting.  Haha!

This One Time In Waipu........

So after reading my tale of a great weekend a while past let me tell you a little story of a great weekend just past. This past weekend was one of those, let your hair down hope the media never finds the pictures of you naked in the hotel room covering your junk kind of weekends for moi. Also, that was a prince Harry reference I was not photographed in any hotel rooms covering my junk. All things blog worthy are mother appropriate :)

My weekend started on Friday with a lunch with Graham. He took me to Yum Cha in Newmarket where I had a first time experience. First of all I had never been to Yum Char before and that was great! It is like a roaming buffet. These Asian ladies walk around with trolleys of food and come by your table to see if you want any of it. It does get slightly annoying if you are trying to have a conversation tho. I let Graham do all the food deciding because I didn't know what half of the food was on offer. One of the things he chose was, chicken feet. Yea! I know.......I thought the same thing. But I am also a firm believer that I will try anything once and as Graham said, "You haven't come to the other side of the world to eat the same things you do at home!" I actually had a bit of a hard time mentally prepping myself for that tho. When he told me I had to bite it down by the knuckle and spit out the bones I actually did get a little quiver in my tummy. Anyway after a few deep breaths and some stomach turning I bit into it, down by the knuckle. It was pretty tasty, but It actually is a little tough to think of it not as chicken feet. I used to say that I could do fear factor no problem because it is just mind over matter, blah blah blah. I am not so sure now that I would be able to choke down a raw cow heart or something. Although the money prize makes it a little easier. Anyway, I digress. Lunch was lovely, and he invited me to go to the Marae with him in the evening after work. Friday was the beginning of Grahams whakapapa weekend at the marae and his moms whole side of the family was going to sleep over at the marae. Whakapapa (remember Wh is pronounced F, hehe) is genealogy, so his family was gathering there to trace back their relations from the first two right down to the youngest baby. It was great to be a part of that and meet a  lot more of his family, and see some of the ones I have already met. It was also great to see what the marae is actually used for in regular everyday life rather then for tourist ceremonies and stuff. It was a wonderful night spent among the most welcoming people I have met to date, looking at old pictures, sharing a meal, learning about Grahams family and sitting under the blue moon debating indigenous affairs with Grahams best friend. It really is like a breath of fresh air for my soul hanging out at the marae for those functions, I love it! We slept in the meeting house on mats on the floor with the whole family and when I woke up I thought to myself, when I looked up at the awesome paintings on the ceiling, "What a beautiful and wonderful place to wake up."

That was my beautiful start to what turned into a crazy wild Saturday night. I got up early and Graham gave me a ride in town to the bus station where I would be meeting my German friend Steph. We were headed north to meet up with another friend of mine, Kate. I had never been north of Auckland so this was another holiday for me. We took the bus part way and Kate met us and picked us up, this saved her from driving all the way down to Auckland to get us. She picked us up and we headed north to Paihia. The weather was a bit crappy and was cloudy, windy and cold so although the Bay of Islands is known for its beaches it wasn't really beach weather. We were driving along and we came to the next little town and Kate said, "So this is Waipu...." and I interrupted her with, "Are you serious!? Awesome! It is on my list to go here but I had no idea where it even was! I didn't think I would ever make it here!" This was very exciting because I was just saying the other day that I hadn't checked anything off in a long while and had a hankering to check something off. Perfect! So, Waipu is so special because the founder of the town was from.......wait for it...... NOVA SCOTIA!! Boom! Yea, that's right good ol N.S. in the N.Z! So the guy who founded the town moved from Scotland to Nova Scotia and established a community there. He didn't really make a go of it and the peeps were having a hard time hacking the winters. So he packed up all the peeps and moved the town to New Zealand! Before we got to Waipu Kate was saying about what our options for the night were, she said we could stay in Paihia for the night or we could go to her brothers rugby prize giving party and stay with her other brothers sister-in-law. When she saw how excited I was about the town of Waipu she said, "This is where the party is!" Hahaha! Imagine the odds! This was too great!

So we rolled into the township of Waipu and there was the museum and right out front, just up the road from Nova Scotia Drive, was a Nova Scotia flag flying high! I made the girls stop so I could get pictures of all things N.S. before we continued on to Paihia. Along the way, Kate, our wonderful driver guide made sure to stop at all the attractions along the way. We went to Whangarei and visited the waterfalls, we stopped in Kawakawa to see the toilets....I know what you're thinking, toilets? But yea! You know how some places have a little kitchy attraction like a gum wall or jandle fence? Well the only thing Kawakawa has going for it is the toilets. They were built by Frederick Hundertwasser and are now an attraction. The building is made of concrete and mosaic with glass, bottles, tiles etc. They are the artiest toilets I have ever seen. A big shout out to Kate for making sure I was able to see all the little things along the way! We even went to Waitangi where the original treaty between the Maori was signed. We made it to Paihia and had a look around the town, had some fish and chips for lunch and hung out. Kate had to meet a friend for a meeting there so Steph and I just killed some time walking around but it wasn't very nice because the weather was so windy and cold. I would like to go back to Paihia on a warmer sunnier day. Because of the cold crap weather and the promise of free accomodation in Waipu we headed back there for the evening. This would be great! Not only did I go to Waipu but I would attend an event for the Waipu rugby team too!

We got to Kates friends house around 6:30pm and this even started at 7ish so in order to pre-game with drinks we had to 'git er done'. Needless to say Kate and I were feeling pretty good by the time we got to the prize giving. It was kind of funny when we walked in and I felt like I was at the junior high prom. There were decorations over the entry way and some lanterns from the ceiling and it was dark and some music was playing. For the rest of the night I was no longer known as Jessica but simply as Canada. When Graham introduces me to people he always says, "This is Jessica, she's from Canada." Well Kate didn't feel the need for all the niceities she just said, "This is Canada and Germany." A few beers later and the prizes were handed out and the band was underway, the prom was in full swing! The rest of the story goes like this; Kate, Steph and myself had a lovely evening listening to the musical stylings of the band and meeting new people. We stayed perfectly sober, as all good girls do, and retired to bed at a reasonable hour after saying our prayers.............. The End!

The next day was a long one of doing nothing and then Kates friend Speedo giving us a lift back to Auckland where I really did go to bed early because I couldn't keep my eyes open. I would like to say a big thanks to Kate for the opportunity to get white girl wasted with her, everyone needs a time like that every once in a while! Well.....maybe not like that, but close enough Haha! Also, it was totally awesome to be able to say that I was from Nova Scotia and people actually know where that is and think it is cool you are from there! Haha!

Rewind....

Okay, so I am in the process of writing two blogs at the moment. The first is this one which is about a super awesome weekend I had like 3 weeks ago and then second will be about my trip this past weekend. I know what you're thinking...."3 weeks ago! It couldn't have been that great if we are just hearing about it now." I have been super neglectful on the ol blog front as of late. I honestly just haven't been into writing it. So I have a rule, that if I don't feel like doing this, I don't. I get a ton of comments about how well written these things are and it is because I just sit down and write it out as if I was telling you the story of my weekend. If I am not into it and force it then you guys are left with a sub-par blog and I don't want to tarnish my writing reputation. I need all the virtual street cred I can get. So, be rest assured, that if anything exciting happens you will hear about it eventually it just may not be right at the moment it happens.

So rewinding to about 3 weeks ago I had a super awesome weekend! This is mainly because of my friend Graham, who it would seem is the Maori mayor around here. Not seriously, but every where we go he knows someone. Friday night Graham picked me up from work and we went to the Maori television station. There they were broadcasting a live karaoke competition and we got to be in the audience. Whoo, what a lot of fun that was! So every Friday afternoon hopeful singers both young and old line up outside the station and audition for a chance to be on the show. Then the selected peeps get their 15 mins of fame on a live broadcast around the country. Unlike shows like American Idol, they don't televise the shitty ones, so they could all carry a tune. They film live with a studio audience made up mostly of family of the people performing. The mayor there knows a couple people that work at the station so we got to go in before everyone else and got the 'VIP' treatment, it was great! There were ten performances in total and then the viewers at home txt in to vote a winner and it all happens right there in front of us. Being in the audience was a lot of fun, and it had a great atmosphere. During the commercial breaks they play music, they give away things to keep the crowd pumped and of course I was there with the nutbar Graham so he made his own fun. Like playing the 'who can start a clap' game. The rules being you have to single handed (well double handed because you can't clap with one hand) start a studio wide applause at a time of your choice. He was actually really good at this, and successfully started probably about 5 applause's in total. I tried once, and failed miserably, lucky Graham picked it up for me and finished the job Haha! I just couldn't commit,

I started the clap and and chickened out so it was a weak spastic sounding clap from the corner! Several times the crowd was clapping along to the song the person was singing, as you do. Then he started with the 'clap off beat and see how many people fuck up' game. Needless to say this experience was filled with laughs! After the show one of Grahams friends invited us into the editing room while they wrapped up. Only more laughing ensued there! It was very cool to see all the behind the scenes stuff but it was hilarious listening to those guys talk and harass the floor manager. Graham's friend Rei is the floor manager for the show so the editing guys talk to him through a headset while he is on set. The contestants and people around him can't hear what they are saying and these guys were hilarious! I don't know how Rei could keep a straight face with the people out on set with the behind the scenes comments. He said afterward that all he could hear was those guys giving him shit and us laughing our heads off in the background. Rei is super nice and totally gave me a T-shirt from the show with the name of the show on the front. The only problem with that is..... the name of the show. Sooo, the name of the show is Homai Te Pakipaki, of course it is in Maori it is aired on Maori television. The problem comes with the literal translation in English,  Pakipaki is clap, Te means the.........and Homai is to give to someone. Have you figured it out yet? Are you laughing? Here let me help you. I now have a shirt that says on the front (in Maori) "Give me the clap!" Hahaha! Maori is one of those languages that not everything can be literally translated.

Rei and Piripi (Grahams friends that work on the show) invited us out to have beers with some of the staff after the show, and more good times followed. Rei, Piripi and Graham have been friends for a long time and they are really good friends. So listening to their stories of each other was a riot. I don't think I stopped laughing all night! They had also told us about a rugby game that was happening the next day it was New Zealand media personnel versus New Zealand politicians. Obviously this game may be more exciting for the people who actually knew the people playing but I was game!

After a side splitting Friday evening it was on to Saturday. I have been warned by people here in New Zealand and Auckland to stay out of South Auckland. I was telling this to Graham and he said, he was going to take me there. So Saturday morning we took a little trip to South Auckland. Don't worry we weren't just going to the ghetto to hang out on the doorstep with a bottle of malt liquor. Graham wanted to show me another side of South Auckland, the side with vibrant culture that often gets missed. He took me to a place called the Otara markets. This place was great! There were rows and rows of vendors, music in the air, smells of food trucks on one side etc. It is a massive market held in South Auckland every Saturday morning. It has a heavy Polynesian and island influence, as most of the people in the area are. He was right, the culture was vibrant and awesome! I am so glad he took me there, and I do want to go back some day soon. After walking around the markets for a while we went to a Vietnamese place in South Auckland and got something to eat. Then it was off to watch the media vs politicians game in Orakei.

The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day! We got a box of beer and went to hang out on the grass and watch the men clobber each other. Did you ever have those times when you are just happy? You know, those times when you are just happy inside, outside, upside, downside just feeling on top of the world? That is the feeling I had sitting in the sunshine with Graham, Mahaki and Ngaire sipping on a beer, listening to Graham play the guitar and taking in the rugby game. During the game one of the reporters got a penalty of sorts and had to sit out for 10 mins. Turns out, Graham knows him too, so he came over and was having a sideline beer with us. He told us to go up to the clubhouse for the prize giving after the game. So after the game we went up to check it out. Gee did I feel like a NZ VIP hob knobbing with the politicians and media peeps of Auckland. Of course I didn't know any of them from Adam, but Ngaire and Graham told me who some of them were. I even got my picture taken with a right wing controversial politician named Winston Peters. This was a lot of fun, and the beer drinking continued on downtown with them for a while too. Needless to say Sunday was a bit of a write off, but it was such a fun and awesome weekend!

A great big huge thank you to Graham for one of the best weekends I have ever had in New Zealand!

Eruptions Of All Kinds!

Well, what an eventful half week this has been. The weekend was dull as, but it is only Wednesday and already I have some material for an interesting read.

I don't know if any of you have been following the news or read the link I posted yesterday about the Tongariro volcano, but I will fill you in. Late Monday night a history making, ground shaking event occured here in the North Island. You see, New Zealand on a whole, and especially the North Island has ridiculous amounts of geothermal activity. Here in Auckland there is a whole circuit of dormant volcanoes and it is also home to the countries youngest volcanoe called Rangitoto Island. Some of you may recall that I hiked to the top when I first got here. Just a mere 600 years ago Rangitoto didn't exist at all until one day the ground started moving and out of the water with a violent bang sprung the flows of lava that would later become the island that the tourists like to hike on. We all have heard of devestating earthquakes happening down here, and the most recent one being in Christchurch. New Zealand is a hub of mother natures bitchy set backs. I gotta say, you don't really notice much though for the most part. I mean there are lots of times in certain areas where there is steam coming from a hole in the ground, or the number of geothermal parks in the hot spots but you never remember that that shit can be dangerous. Well my first reality check has occured.

I am sure that all of you have seen the pictures I post regularly of the mountains on the other side of Lake Taupo with the snow on the top? The are huge majestic looking mountains and being from Canada we have some of the best mountains around. However the key difference is our mountains were formed when to plates rammed into each other causing crazy amounts of up lift forming the beautiful and breath taking rocky mountains. These mountains were formed because they are volcanoes. Real deal, crater havin, rocky volcanoes. Late Monday night one of those beautiful mountains I always take pictures of erupted! It hasn't had any signs of erupting for 100+ years and scientists say the last time it erupted was 1867. There is also a very very popular 1 day hike called the Tongariro Crossing that many many people do, and I have planned on doing myself when the weather gets warmer. Wellllll it was the Tongariro that blew up! Eye witnesses said that there was bright flashes and what looked like lightning coming from the crater of the volcano. It threw hot rocks and a massive ash cloud a kilometre up into the air, and the ash cloud blanketed several surrounding communities. Shit. Just. Got. Real!! It is crazy to think that stuff actually happens in peoples backyards and not just in the movies. I was no where near the eruption, but I know lots of folks in Taupo and they were just a lake away from it. They were actually pretty lucky that they wind was blowing the right way because they would have gotten ashed otherwise. There was no lava flows, but they are wondering if this is just the beginning of a period of activeness from this volcano. I am glad though, that I was here when it happened there is a neat side to being privy to history like that.

The second eruption I am writing about is not of the geothermal type it is of the drunken fucktard type. I don't know how or why on this fair planet we live on but if there is a crazy person within a 10k radius of me it's like they can smell the Moreeeny on me and are attracted to it like flies to stink. I, for whatever reason, seem to have this inner magnet that attracts all of the insane asylum candidates right to me. It is either that or it is the Great Spirt's way of making sure you all have a good read every once in a while! I would like it to be noted, before I start, that I have been told by several people to stay the hell away from South Auckland because of how dangerous it is. I have been given warnings of where to avoid when the sun goes down etc etc. Well this story takes place in the quite little streets of Mt. Eden village, which is chalk-a-block full of rich white folk. The streets are lined with boutiques and fancy little cafes for the nice white housewives to meet with their girl friends for lunches and brunches, and for the men to stop for a frappachino on their way home from there CEO jobs. They charge twice as much for everything and even their sally-ann is designer. I would also like it to be noted, that I have heard a lot of prejudice comments and accusations made by Kiwi's while being here, and this incident was with a white male in his late fifties. So take that stereotypes, crazy knows no colour or socioeconomic lines in the sand!

I was on my way to go see Magic Mike with a friend last night. Which side note to the producer, no one came to see the story. I don't know what all the talky bits at the end were for, shut up and take yer clothes off! I walked up to the Mt. Eden village to catch the bus to the theatre and our movie started at 6:40pm. It was around 6:00pm on a rainy Tuesday evening and the bus sign said 10 minutes until my bus was there. I took a seat on the bench to wait and took out my phone to send a quick e-mail. It was a dreary night and there was hardly any people around. Normally the streets of Mt. Eden are bustling with soccer moms and closet gays but tonight, no one was around. There was a very very drunk guy walking from the crosswalk up the sidewalk towards me, and there was a young career type fella walking down the sidewalk towards the crosswalk. The drunk fellow, although drunk on a Tuesday early afternoon, didn't appear to be homeless at all. He had obviously had a shower in the past few days, had clean clothes on, a small over the shoulder bag with an umbrella sticking out and a can of beer in his hand. He did look a little scruffy, but obviously he had some sort of something going on, he was drunk at 6:00 on a Tuesday night! As the drunk guy passed the other guy he reached out and shoved him by the should closest to him. The sober fellow looked rather bewildered, turn around to see the drunkard pass him but kept walking to the intersection to cross the street.

The drunk guy was obviously giving him the stink eye, even though I couldn't see his eyes through his sunglasses he was wearing over his regular glasses even though it was dark already.......and raining. I could tell because he stayed half turned looking at that guy as he stumbled up the sidewalk. He stumbled up the sidewalk until his homing device obviously synced up with my magnet and stopped right in front of me sitting on the bench waiting for the bus. Now, I have had my fair share of run ins with the bat crap crazy and I have picked up a few tips along the way. The first is, be wary of the drunk ones because they are unpredictable. They have conversations in their head and whoever is talking to them on a cerebral level could convince them that you stole something from them, lied to them, etc. Or it could convince them that you are new buds, 'you totally get them' etc. This can depend greatly on how you react to them. If they are already drunk and agitated (as our friend in this story was) your goal is to not engage them, but don't do anything that is going to agitate them more. Key things that would have agitated this guy would have been walking away from him or ignoring him. So, he turns to me and says, “You know, I love that man. (said in 'cursive' speech and referring to the fellow he just shoved in passing that is now long gone.)” I, not wanting to offend or piss off this obviously angry fellow just said, “Yep” The majority of my answers over the course of our conversation were “Yea” or some variation of. Be agreeable, don't piss them off, don't engage and hopefully they go away. He said a few times that he was in love with that man and some unrecognizable drunken gibberish. Then he said, “Yep, but I gotta kill him!” As he said this he was reaching for his umbrella with his hand that wasn't holding his beer. There was a store behind me that was open and it was now when I decided I should probably try to make my way in there and get them to call the police. However, I can tell by the way this guy is acting he thinks we are having a fine conversation and if I turn and walk away right now he is going to get pissed because his agitation level is still a 8 on a scale of 1-5. So, I stay, but keep a mindful eye on where the door is and estimate how many steps it would take to get inside.

He is wrestling with his umbrella, trying to get it out of his bag with one hand and I see his angry level rising as he continues talking about how he is going to kill that guy. Then he gets it free and it is about 2 feet long with a 3 inch metal tip on it. He takes it and says, “I would just go like this!” And stabs the air towards me, but not at me. “These fuckin punks they think they can take me on, but I am the toughest guy in this town. I don't need no fuckin weapons (at this the threw the umbrella, metal end first, down behind the bench that I was sitting on) I'll take them on with my fists.” Then he sat down next to me on the bench. And asked me for a smoke and kept talking about taking on the punks with his fists. I told him I was sorry but I didn't smoke and he said, “No smokers hey. Where the hell am I anyways no mans land!” Then he passed me his full beer and said, “Here, hold my beer a minute would you.” I told him I would set it on the bench beside me. “No, hold it!!” I told him I couldn't hold it right now but I would set it on the bench and keep an eye on it for him. To which he replied, “I am serious, hold my fuckin beer!” And his agitation level went from an 8 on a scale of 1-5 to about an 11 and he had his crazy sights set right on me. I knew then I had to make a move either run for the shop or, at that very moment a huge orange metro angel showed up with open doors. So I hopped on the bus and hoped he didn't hop on after me! Thank jeebus he didn't, and the bus drove off leaving him on the sidewalk.

So after hearing that story I want to know, how many of you picked up on the fact that the sign said 10 mins till the bus? All of this crazy parade happened in a span of about 10mins! I can't make this shit up folks but thank goodness the Moreeeny luck had enough sense to let me keep safe so I could tell all of you about this crazy adventure. Hahaha!

A Vacation From My Vacation

Today was back to the grind after a week long vacation. It is weird to say that I was on vacation because isn't this whole trip a vacation? So the family I work for went away for a week, which means I was able to go away for a week. If you had any doubt where I went you obviously have not been reading anything I write about. I went to Taupo of course! The little gem of the North Island. I also know more people in Taupo then I do in Auckland so it makes my time a bit more enjoyable. So after the amazing kite day festival I packed up my stuff and hit the road to Hamilton first and then Taupo.

My only reason for going to Hamilton was to visit the United Sweets outlet store, or as I like to call it, the mecca. I stumbled upon this store online while searching for places to get Reeses in New Zealand. This store, United Sweets, is a family run online store with an outlet store located in Hamilton. Lucky for me Hamilton is both, on the way to Taupo and only 2 hours away from Auckland. They also have a HUGE online store and shipping that is cheap as. They carry a ton of the good ol sweets that they ship over from America. Whilst I am a proud Canadian, all of us Canucks know that most of our products are either from America or the company name started there. So they have so many delicious sweets in stock that you just can't get anywhere else here in New Zealand, including a wide range of Reeses products. The best part of the United Sweets is that they are very reasonably priced in New Zealand standards. The first Reeses I bought here was a gouging $5.50 for one pack of 4 cups. After digging around a bit I have since learned that that store is stupidly over priced. The United Sweets store sells things for more then we would pay for it in North America but still reasonable for getting yourself a little treat. I have browsed their online store in great detail and had a wish list a mile long, but the reality was that I could only afford a certain amount.  The item I was most after was their 'Smores pack.' I know that some of you have heard me drone on about how they don't even have graham crackers here, their marshmallows are crap so the poor kiwi children are deprived of the joy of smores. So in the smores pack, which is priced at $26.60NZD, you get an entire box of Honey Maid graham crackers, a whole bag of jet puffed marshmallows and 4 regular sized Hershey chocolate bars. I know you are all thinking that is outrageous, but it really is a good deal for the money down here. I also had my eye on some cans of Root Beer and some Reeses.  I wasn't greedy and shared my loot with the peeps in Taupo. I think I have forever changed the lives of some people with the introduction of smores. The Root Beer wasn't actually a huge hit, but oh well! I was lovin the smores, and so did everyone else!

From Hamilton, which I keep wanting to call it the Hammer, I headed down to Taupo to settle in for the week. The week previous we had great weather so of course I was planning all these day trips from Taupo. Turns out the ol Moreeeny law just shat all over my parade. It started raining on our way from Hamilton to Taupo and didn't stop until Thursday of that week. Yep! So all the bush walks, day at the races, etc were all down the toilet. Instead though, for the first part of the week, I did a whole lot of nothing and drank a lot so I guess it was still a good vacation. I did make it out to the Opepe reserve to do a short little bush walk in the dreary weather and owned Thursday, Friday and Saturday with some sweet vacation activities. Thursday my friend Dave and I went for a sunshine cruise down to the other side of the lake and back stopping in at all the little beaches and inlets. It was nice to get a different perspective of the lake from different vantage points. Friday was a sweet day of mountain biking and Saturday I spent gliding along the the great lake on a catamaran before heading back to the big smoke.

Friday mountain biking was great! Big thanks to Ross at Rainbow Lodge for hooking me up with a bike and helmet. There is a pretty good bike trail from town up to Huka Falls and back and taking our time we were out for about 3 hours or so bumping around the trails. After the ride I thought it would be a good idea to reward myself with a glass or two of wine and maybe head to the pub to catch up with Tintin and have a few beers. It was a good idea, don't get me wrong, but when I woke up the next morning and my body was stiff as a corpse that is when I thought that maybe I wrong about that. Luckily it didn't take much for me to get going again, and even managed to bang out a short run. I met up with PK at the pub and he offered for me to go out on his boat with him and some other peeps the next day. What a great day we had for it! It was so nice to sit back and relax on the boat on the water and have a few beers. It made me want summer time that much more because instead of a sweater and pants I would be doing the same thing with a bikini on!

After the boat it was back on the ol coach bus for a sweet 4 hour ride back to Auckland. It actually isn't that bad of a ride, but around 2.5 hours into it I am pretty much ready to get off. Pulled into Auckland just in time to run home, throw my things in the door, change my clothes and head back out for a drink. It was a bit of a whirlwind, but it was fine and I was glad to have Sunday to myself to hang out and do whatever.

Before I go I will tell you a little story about how there are still good people left in this world and as a matter of fact I am one of them. Of course you all knew this already, but Imma go ahead and tell you this story anyway. The Friday before the kite day I found a black camera case with a little pullout slot for memory cards. There was no camera in the case, but there was two 2GB SD cards full of pictures. I popped them into my camera and had a quick flick through the pictures. It was evident that I was now holding a couple hundred of this couples New Zealand vacation pictures. I would like to take a side bar here and share with you a tip I picked up in L.A. That is to take a picture of your e-mail address and leave that picture on your memory card. Take a couple, one at the very beginning, one in the middle etc. That way if you ever loose your camera or memory card someone (if they are honest) can contact you to return it. This couple did not do that. I thought about how gutted I would be if I lost my couple hundred photos I have taken down here, and how I would be praying to the sweet baby cheeses that who ever found it would do the right thing. So I contacted ifoundyourcamera.net and sent them some photos from the camera and the deets of where I found it and stuff, but would they look on there, who knows. So I used my detective work to look through the photos and see if there was any identifying pictures that would help me track down these peeps. I was flicking through them and then I found one! There was multiple pictures of staff of a restaurant on one of the cards as well as a picture of 'the girl' from the couple holding a specials sign for a restaurant. So good ol Google helped me out and let me know that there was a location of that restaurant here in Auckland, on the North Shore. I got their contact info from the website and e-mail them with that picture asking if anyone knew how to get a hold of the girl from the photo. Low and behold, today I received an e-mail back from someone that worked with her at the restaurant and would be more then happy to help me get the SD cards back to the rightful owner. The girl from the photo has actually returned to Scotland but we will work something out. So I can imagine the girl will be pretty stoked to get her pictures back, I did a good deed for the day and all is well with the world. I also told her that there is no camera, I don't know if they lost one too, but when I found it it was just the case with the cards, so hopefully they don't think I jacked their camera!

So there after a week of vacation I am back at er for the next 3-4 weeks and then movin on. I have a funny feeling that some exciting things will be happening in the next 3-4 weeks so there will be stuff to blog about I am sure. Thanks to all that read along today!

Maori Kite Day

Ahhhh! Vacation! I am currently sitting with my feet up in front of the lake enjoying the start of my week off. Some of my friends are feeling a little worse for wear this morning after our vacation kick off last night, but I surprisingly fared quite well. I am looking forward to having the week off, taking some day trips around and having time off to relax. I will keep you updated on any interesting things that I do this week. For now I will tell you about my super great experience at the Maori kite festival.

Yesterday was one of the coolest experiences I have had since coming to New Zealand. Since coming to NZ I have been interested in the Maori culture. It is a prominent culture in the North Island and from what I noticed the Maori people are still very traditional and unlike other indigenous people have maintained many aspects of their culture. I am quite eager to learn more about the culture and traditions but I have been wanting to learn from the people themselves, hear of the customs from the people that practice them. The city of Auckland does a pretty good job of marketing the culture and turning it into a novelty so the nice white people can feel cultured. That isn't what I wanted, I want to learn first hand. So I have been going to some of the events around the city for the month long Matariki festival despite that they are put on my the city. It was the best way for me to learn more seeing as I didn't know any Maori people. Well not anymore!

Some of you may recall a photo that I posted on facebook of a fella doing a traditional moko tattoo at the Kapa Haka Super 12 last weekend. That fella's name is Graham and he is now my Maori connection. I had chit chatted with him at the cloud and took his business card because I am wanting a moko too. Later in the week he invited me to go to the kite festival on the Saturday being held at a Marae. A marae is is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes. I was planning on attending the kite festival anyway but Graham invited me to the official opening before the public festival kicked off. I am so grateful to him because it really was an amazing experience to be able to attend that. We arrived at the marae and I was introduced to many many people, to many to remember all their names. Family is a very big part of the culture and they have very close and large families. I had told Graham about my list and how I have to hug 10 Kiwis, he just laughed and said that I would fill that there at the kite festival. It is a traditional greeting to hug and kiss on one cheek. So I was a little uncomfortable at first but got over it pretty soon actually. So Graham was performing in the Kapa Haka group and couldn't join me for the welcoming ceremony. He asked his friend to look after me, because there are certain areas of the marae that I wouldn't be allowed on and a specific order of the ceremony. She gladly said I could stick close to her until he was done and could show me around. I don't know how to express the way it felt to be there with Grahams family. It was amazing the way that each of them gladly welcomed me with open arms, hearts and minds and they were all so lovely and nice and that in itself was an experience.

So we were assembled at the entry to the meeting house and given instructions as to how to position ourselves and what the steps would be upon entering the meeting house. We assembled in a group, the women were at the front, the children in the middle and the men in the back. A woman started singing to signal the start of it and the Kapa Haka group started their singing as well. We walked as a group to the doorway of the meeting house, removed our shoes and entered to an area with some seats. I would try to describe what the inside of the meeting house looked like but there is no way with words you could understand. I have posted pictures before of some of the carvings and artwork in there but it really is beautiful. We all sat and several people did some speaking. The kapa haka group and several important members sat in one area and the rest of us in another. Of course I hadn't the foggiest clue what they were saying because the whole ceremony was done in Maori. Although I couldn't understand what they were saying it was great because it was exactly what I wanted. An authentic Maori experience, not just a show for the people. This was the real deal so I just sat in awe of the whole thing while the speeches were done in Maori. I did understand one thing though, when Graham was speaking he said, "maori maori maori, Canada." And pointed at me. I assume he was telling them all that I was visiting from Canada. The speaking was about 20-25 minutes and then we all got up and they formed kind of like a receiving line. The people that were chosen to speak, the kapa haka group and several other of the more important people stood in a line and all of us spectators were to travel down the line and greet each of them before exiting the meeting house. The greeting we did with each of them is called  hongi. Hongi is not for people with personal space issues, that is for sure. The hongi is when you shake hands and press your nose and forehead together with the other person at the same time. It symbolizes the breath of life. So when you and the other person press your forehead and nose together you are breathing the same breath. This isn't just used in a ceremony or formal setting. Maori men often use this as a greeting in everyday life. So in order to fully experience this I set aside my personal space issues and did this with each and every of the about 20 people in the line.

After everything was said and done the public event kicked off and all of the people I just met split up and went to their designated areas and were busy doing jobs and things. Graham showed me around the meeting house and pictures of his ancestors and family. I was so pleased that I was able to come and learn and experience the culture. Outside there were huge kites flying in the air on the hill overlooking the harbour. It was a spectacular site to be seen! The kites were huge and colorful and there was a lot of wind so they were sailing high. There was music in the air, food stalls, and hand made goods. Graham took me around and showed me the marae and was so good to me. Then I got to sit and watch their kapa haka group perform and it was so good. I will post pictures and videos of their performance.

I couldn't thank him enough for letting me experience that and thank his family for being so open and welcoming. He also is teaching all the good Maori slang ;) Also he is teaching me how to properly say things. Like you actually pronounce Maori like moldy, without emphasis on the 'd'. So, that was my first real authentic Maori interaction and although I have written about the things I did it could never describe what that meant to me and what it was like.