Die Arbeit
I know everyone is dying to know how that is going. I mean, you only know the crazy-'oh so important'-no-time-for-fun-because-I-have-a-superduper-career-Maaike. Or perhaps that is the only person I know...Well, you can see: that was my biggest fear after travelling for a year and finding that new joyfull job again: would I dive into it again and loose track of the important fun things. Verdict after 6 weeks of work: work is really fun, I have great colleagues (who already offered to help me move!) and amazing (not to mention huge...) projects but so far no scary late nights! I had and will have a few business trips up to Auckland, I did some teaching already (really love that!), I'm doing some curriculum design, I'm getting my head around all the literacy and numeracy issues and I will be doing some courses. First one is about Maori culture and history. Fantastic!
The fun things
Where do I start? I'm climbing twice a week with different people. With Berit, with whom I introduced 'last climb with one arm', or with Julia, who forces me to climb the fire ladder on a time schedule or with Volker and Ivor who won't let me get down if I think I can't do a climb...
Val introduced me to Salsa dancing which I tried before in South America and absolutely sucked at...I'm still no good, but I like it that much that I will take lessons in a few weeks time!
And the good thing about Christchurch is that the hills are that close, so last week I went for a 2 hour hike up the hills after work! Great, no flat country can win that one...
My weekends have been filled with the outdoors (that's why I am here!!): I went snowboarding almost every weekend (see pictures) which results in the fact that I am now feeling confident enough to go down a blue one nicely (and a black one with hesitance and swearing...). But the other week I even went off piste (with Steve who basically said I was an absolute wooz if I didn't...Yes, I am a sucker for peer pressure (meaning: no one tells me I am too scared to do something!)
Then I went along with Berit on a girls weekend to Hanmer Springs where a normal 'girls weekend' would have been spend in the hotpools. We went mountainbiking instead: I absolutely loved it and I even wanted to go along with the advanced girls but they talked me out it...Since it was my first time, they reckoned it wasn't a smart idea. I totally agreed (after some persuasion of course). But I decided to buy a bike though, so I am a proud owner of an amazing fancy super bike (and that's about all I know about the bike...). So as soon as we have day light savings it's biking in the hills after work!
Anything else?
Well yes, some things (at work for instance!) were giving me more pleasure and energy than others. After some 'heart feeling' (here we go again...) I knew it was my house: it was too modern, not cosy, very boring and the guys were ok, but not fun. So putting 1 and 2 together I have decided to move in with Suzie who just bought an amazing nice character house: wooden floor, beautiful garden and just a superb house. Suzie likes mountainbiking too and apparently she is a reasonable surfer...I hope she can teach me a thing or two!
Anyhow, I moved last weekend in a record speed. It took me (and Jill and Julia: thanks!!) 2 hours to move my dear belongings (amazing how much you collect in 3 months...)...
What's next?
So, I will try to do my best in updating. Next time I will tell you more about the culture differences in work (the Dutch and being direct...my gosh, Im asking for trouble!), the fact that I'm by far the youngest at work and that people tell me about that one time they were in Ireland (and if I tell them I'm Dutch they don't know whether to laugh or say sorry...or just blink)
I promise to take some nice pictures of the house, my bike, 'my' hills...but the snow pictures will have to do for now!
Oh, and if this isn't convincing enough that you have to come and visit...I will throw in a treat next time. Not telling you what it is though just yet, and Eefje is NOT allowed to tell either!
