New Zealand trip

4 Opposites about NZ:
1 Seasons
2 Light Switches: up = off, down = on
3 When entering a store, you push doors instead of pulling
4 All driving is on the wrong side of the road

5 Things that were unique about this Christmas:
1 Went swimming in ocean
2 Got too much sun on the beach (while listening to Frosty the Snowman)
3 Went to Work
4 Didn't talk to my family
5 Popped a Christmas Cracker

Three Tui's:
1 Bird
2 Backpackers
3 Beer

4 Things I'll have to reaquaint myself with upon my return to the US:
1 Tax won't be included in any of the prices
2 Less mystery when trying to guess what accent someone will have
3 Driving a car everywhere
4 Actually talking on the phone instead of just sending txt msgs

My top 10 CD's of 2005
1 Ryan Adams - Cold Roses
2 Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
3 New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
4 Gorillaz - Demon Days
5 White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
6 Coldplay - X&Y
7 Kanye West - Late Registration
8 Spoon - Gimme Fiction
9 Decemberists - Picquaresque
10 Ryan Adams - Jacksonville City Lights

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I'm still alive and still in Paihia and still waiting tables and still cleaning at the hostel every day. In other words, not much has changed since the last update. It's absolutely beautiful living here, but in a town this small there isn't a lot to do beyond the touristy stuff when you're here long term. That's good in some ways because I can save money for when I go to Australia sometime next year (though after the shock of my miniscule first paycheck I sort of missed my temping jobs in Wellington even if they were office based). Waiting tables in New Zealand is done without the expectation of tips, so whenever I get a couple from the US I immediately make them my frist priority and hope they haven't read that theres no tipping... So far my free time is spent reading or swimming or just laying on the beach. Rough, eh? Hope everyone's enjoying winter back there in the States!