Employment

Well, it wasn't easy, but I finally found a job.... two actually. Apparently no one wants to hire someone for only three months, even in the restaurant world. I apparently took for granted how much New Zealand accommodates to travelers. I was starting to worry because the more time passed, the smaller my time frame of being able to work was. People were telling me I needed to lie about my timeframe, but I didn't feel comfortable with that. I had no idea how I would be able to talk about me without anyone knowing I was leaving.

Fortunately my grandpa invited me to a happy hour down the street last week. I was introduced to the owner and the next day I was working there. I worked as a hostess the first day, had a training day on Tuesday and had my first real shift yesterday. The people are really nice and helpful, and I'm quite excited about it. Its a million times easier than the restaurant I worked at in New Zealand which is refreshing.

My other job is teaching in an apartment complex after school one night a week. The complex is a unique community and they offer this service to their residents for them as an opportunity for them to learn. I can teach whatever I feel I know about and write my own curriculum. It hasn't started yet but we have discussed the possibility of soccer or art. It should be a lot of fun and an experience at the least.

Sean booked his flight to the US so I am just counting down the days until he gets here. I'm waiting on a few documents to come in for my visa, which will hopefully only be another week or so, and then I will get my visa application submitted. It will be nice to finally have everything set in stone.

Moving.... again

I have finally got over my jet lag and am sleeping at night. (Horray!) A few weeks ago I moved back down to Houston and am living with a friend of mine from Rice. I had a storage unit of my stuff that I had to empty out, so I hired movers. A whole apartment of stuff in one bedroom was going to be entertaining, but fortunately I didn't have much and I'm a good organizer. Here is the room right after the movers left:

And here is it about an hour later (I was quite proud):

Once I got a desk, the room got completely organized and actually looks like a room. Fortunately there is a spare room that I've been able to throw some stuff into.

Once that was sorted I started working on finding a temp job. The house doesn't have internet yet (it will tomorrow!!) so its made things a bit challenging, but its making procrastinating harder to do as well. We don't really have TV either (and won't be getting it) so unemployment has been pretty slow. Fortunately I've got quite a bit of homework done and its looking easier than I expected. Hopefully I will be done sooner than I expected as well. I've also demolished two books in the past week. I'm starting to feel like my sister. If you are looking for a good read, Stone Cold by David Baldacci was one of the best books I've read. Also made me somewhat terrified to be alone in the house, but I got over it.

I'm at the point in my visa application process where I'm just waiting for everything to come in. I'm anxious to get it in and see how it turns out so I can put some plans into action. I managed to use miles to get a flight to Hawaii on January 9th, so unless something goes terribly wrong, that's when I will be heading back out.

While I love being back and seeing everyone, one of our 4 channels had an educational show on yesterday. It happened to be on New Zealand and seeing all of the scenery (and not even the really pretty stuff) killed me having to watch. I'm enjoying my time here, but can't wait to get back.

Oh and a fun picture of my favorite welcome home gift, complete with Texas shaped chips!