I feel like it's been a while since I wrote anything so I thought I'd better get onto it. What better way to spend my Saturday night?! It's been a pretty up and down week, and every time I came to write this I found myself in a bad mood. But now, I'm in a good mood and I have time to spare!
Since last time I wrote - my Canadian visa came through! Very pleased. I was really relaxed about it anyway, I had never heard of anyone having a problem getting one for Canada. But I'm glad it came through before I left NZ. Another weight off my mind. Now I'm relatively confident I don't need to worry about any more visas. (I am going to check all the other countries one more time though, you never can be too sure.)
I also managed to finally get my car to the wrecker, thanks to Hugh, the guy who's taking over my job. When I had a proper look at the map to see where this particular wrecker was, it turned out to be right at the side of the motorway, and there was no way I could've walked back into town - close as it was. I was trying to think of any friend I might have who had a car and time to drive out there with me during the working week, and Hugh turned around and offered, which was incredibly nice of him. So we drove out there on Wednesday afternoon. As soon as they'd weighed it, while I was still standing there, they literally drove it into a pile of metal. Which they then had to climb over to tear the licence plates off it, so I can get it deregistered. (Daaaaad.... might need your help there, since it's in your name! I have the form at home already.) So I got $178 for it. Which, to be fair, is more than I would've got selling it to anyone else.
Hey, if anyone wants to buy a queen sized bed, a fan heater, or a stereo, or if anyone wants free clothes, blankets, shoes, electric blanket, or digital alarm clock, I'm your man! Still got a lot of stuff to get rid of and I'm not having any luck with trademe. My bed in particular is really good and quite new, and it'd be such a shame to have to take it to the Sallies and get nothing back for it. I'm going to put a sign up at work as well, and offer it all to my existing and new flatmates.
I've also had the first of the Leaving Do's this week... Thank you so much to Karl for taking me, Hugh, Jay (our newly appointed Training Manager) and Graeme (the awesome guy who oversees the factory side of things) out on Wednesday night. It was a great night. Far too much alcohol consumed by all of us, an excellent meal at Monsoon Poon, 10 or 15min spent winding up the staff who were working at our shop that evening, and then they all took turns to beat me at pool. Next up, staff drinks on Thursday night, and dinner and (MORE) drinks with my friends on Friday. There will be texts and facebook invites to everyone in Wellington who doesn't already know the plan or hasn't already been invited. It was going to be Saturday with my friends, but apparently there's some rugby game that some people want to go to.... You know who you are....! I actually have to be at work in the shop at 8am on Friday (or I chose to, whatever) so by Saturday I'm going to be totally exhausted.
Family - if you can, it would be great to see you either in Rotorua (3 - 7 Aug) or in Auckland (7 - 10 Aug) before I go.
Aside from having trouble getting shot of the rest of my stuff, I'm finally feeling like I've got everything under control and I'm ready to go. I'm much calmer, and I seem to have got past that feeling of still having a lot to do. Most of the time. I did have a pretty bad case of the butterflies yesterday, for no apparent reason. And I'm just not thinking about flying into Russia because that really does scare the shit out of me. I'm telling myself that it's good to scare the shit out of myself occasionally. Feel the fear and do it anyway, right?
Saturday 23 July 2011
Wednesday 13 July 2011
No, I'm Not Excited, I'm Nervous
Everyone keeps asking me how I'm feeling, now that it's all getting really close, but only one person has hit on how I do feel. Stew, my stepdad, asked me if I was nervous. YES, I'm nervous. So many people have asked if I'm excited, but I'm actually not. There's so much else to tidy up before I can even think about getting excited, and things like leaving my job are strangely stressful. You kind of imagine that finishing up in a job will be a really nice feeling and that everything's going to be easy and rosy and everyone's going to be hugging you and crying, but that's certainly not the way it's going for me. Hugh and I are both working really long hours - him more so than me, to be fair - and because we're doing everything together at the moment and I'm getting him to figure things out for himself, it all (quite naturally) takes a bit longer. He is doing a good job though, he has a very naturally fair and honest and nice way with people, and he'll be absolutely fine without me. Also, I think most people at work have kind of forgotten that I'm going, or not realised just how soon it is or SOMETHING because there sure don't seem to be many people who are particularly bothered! It's only just over two weeks until I finish at work now, it feels very soon.
So I went back to the Russian Embassy on Monday morning. It was howling a freaking gale up in the hills in Karori, and I just about got blown away with the door, trying to get it shut behind me. There were a group of people already there, and this little old lady started talking to me in Russian. I kind of smiled and shrugged, as you do when you don't know that you share any language with someone, and so she carried on talking to me in Russian. I was feeling pretty awkward by this stage cos she was obviously going to expect a slightly more verbal response at some stage, but luckily one of the other people there cut in and said something to her in Russian, and she turned around and said something else to me in Russian, which I HAD STUDIED ENOUGH to understand!!!!!!!! She was asking if I was not Russian. So I said "no" in Russian, which I also remembered, and she asked again, more disbelievingly, and I said no again, and she asked again, and I said no again, and then she asked something else and everyone in the room just about died laughing, except me cos I didn't understand that bit. Then her friend told me she'd asked why I wasn't Russian. Which kind of set the tone for the next hour and a half. The old Russian lady was hilarious, and the people she was with all spoke really good English and so they'd all translate for me. She was talking about things like going to get her passport photos done in Australia cos it's too expensive in New Zealand. Anyway, long story short, I spent an hour and a half sitting around at the Russian Embassy, talking to the other people who were waiting, to find out that my visa is perfectly fine. At the very bottom of it, like on your passport photo page, they have lots of arrows and letters and numbers. What I thought was probably meant to be my name read "JEQMS LAURA MARJORI". But they assure me that so long as everything else on the visa is right, then it won't be a problem.
I went to the doctor too. There's nothing wrong with my eyesight, and he suggested that next time I get my license renewed I go to a different place to do it. He was surprised that they checked my eyesight in the first place because he didn't think they did that until you were a senior citizen.
Haven't managed to get the car wrecked yet though. I went to the place in the central city, and they only take cars at their outlet in Ngauranga Gorge. I can probably walk to my house from there, in well under 45 minutes, so it's nowhere near as far out of town as any of the other scrap metal yards. This is important for two reasons: 1. Last time I tried to drive to Petone (10min up the motorway) my car overheated before I got there and I had to sit on the side of the road for an hour waiting for it to cool down. 2. I don't have to try to find an alternative means of transport back into town once I have Done The Deed. And, bonus, they seem to buy cars for a pretty good price - $220 per tonne, and the guy I was talking to guessed my car would be about 700kg. Most of the places I looked at pay $100 for any car.
By the way, I promise that when I get overseas I will start putting photos on this page, instead of just massively long stream-of-consciousness posts!
So I went back to the Russian Embassy on Monday morning. It was howling a freaking gale up in the hills in Karori, and I just about got blown away with the door, trying to get it shut behind me. There were a group of people already there, and this little old lady started talking to me in Russian. I kind of smiled and shrugged, as you do when you don't know that you share any language with someone, and so she carried on talking to me in Russian. I was feeling pretty awkward by this stage cos she was obviously going to expect a slightly more verbal response at some stage, but luckily one of the other people there cut in and said something to her in Russian, and she turned around and said something else to me in Russian, which I HAD STUDIED ENOUGH to understand!!!!!!!! She was asking if I was not Russian. So I said "no" in Russian, which I also remembered, and she asked again, more disbelievingly, and I said no again, and she asked again, and I said no again, and then she asked something else and everyone in the room just about died laughing, except me cos I didn't understand that bit. Then her friend told me she'd asked why I wasn't Russian. Which kind of set the tone for the next hour and a half. The old Russian lady was hilarious, and the people she was with all spoke really good English and so they'd all translate for me. She was talking about things like going to get her passport photos done in Australia cos it's too expensive in New Zealand. Anyway, long story short, I spent an hour and a half sitting around at the Russian Embassy, talking to the other people who were waiting, to find out that my visa is perfectly fine. At the very bottom of it, like on your passport photo page, they have lots of arrows and letters and numbers. What I thought was probably meant to be my name read "JEQMS LAURA MARJORI". But they assure me that so long as everything else on the visa is right, then it won't be a problem.
I went to the doctor too. There's nothing wrong with my eyesight, and he suggested that next time I get my license renewed I go to a different place to do it. He was surprised that they checked my eyesight in the first place because he didn't think they did that until you were a senior citizen.
Haven't managed to get the car wrecked yet though. I went to the place in the central city, and they only take cars at their outlet in Ngauranga Gorge. I can probably walk to my house from there, in well under 45 minutes, so it's nowhere near as far out of town as any of the other scrap metal yards. This is important for two reasons: 1. Last time I tried to drive to Petone (10min up the motorway) my car overheated before I got there and I had to sit on the side of the road for an hour waiting for it to cool down. 2. I don't have to try to find an alternative means of transport back into town once I have Done The Deed. And, bonus, they seem to buy cars for a pretty good price - $220 per tonne, and the guy I was talking to guessed my car would be about 700kg. Most of the places I looked at pay $100 for any car.
By the way, I promise that when I get overseas I will start putting photos on this page, instead of just massively long stream-of-consciousness posts!
Sunday 10 July 2011
Definitely the Right Decision
The more that happens around here, the more I'm sure I'm doing the right thing by moving on. The number of pretty decent earthquakes that have happened in or very near to NZ is getting pretty spooky, and I'm currently living right on top of The Major Fault Line in Wellington (it literally runs right down our street) in a 100+ year old house. I guess, since the house is that old, it's probably stood up to quite a lot. But I don't really want to experience first hand how it handles a big earthquake. That 6.5 on Tuesday that was centred just out of Taupo (so, like, 350km away) was enough of a rattle for me. Our house was swaying, and I was upstairs.
Had a few more of those Achieving Things days this week. Quite proud. I finished sorting out my new credit card application (I already have a MasterCard but it was rather difficult to use in places like Jordan, so I am applying for a Visa); called MasterCard to get my card updated before I go, and to let them know I'm going to travel so they don't cut me off while I'm away; went to get my driver's licence updated and an international drivers licence, and discovered I need an eye exam because when they got me to do their eye test all the letters were crossing over and I couldn't read any of them; called the doctor and made an appointment to get that done; found a car wrecker in the central city that I can take my car to, instead of having to traipse out to the Hutt; finished my resignation letters to Karl and Christine and handed them out; and I booked flights from Athens to Vancouver... with 3 days in New York City on the way!!!! So excited! I LOVE New York, as most people who've met me will know. Oh yes, and I found what could potentially be a problem with my Russian visa, so it's back to the Embassy for me tomorrow morning. Damn it! At least the Embassy is reasonably close to wear I live (hahaha, "wear"!! Didn't see that til I proofread... I mean "where") (well, the Embassy's on the same side of town as my house, but it's not exactly a light stroll away). It's likely that it's going to cost me money to get it fixed, since I didn't spot it when they asked me to check it over when I picked it up.
Now that I've told a whole lot of people that I'm going to live in Vancouver, I'm totally reconsidering. It's still going to be Canada, don't misunderstand me, but who knows, Canada's a big place and maybe I'll go somewhere else. I'll wait and see how I feel when I get there. I was thinking Vancouver because I've been there before and I know I like the place, and it's easy to get home, and it's a big city so it's likely I'll be able to get reasonably cheap flights around the country when I want to, and I shouldn't have any problem meeting people. But then I thought, there are other big cities in Canada. There's Toronto. There's Victoria, on Vancouver Island. There's Winnipeg, if I really wanted to get cold over the winter. And the other thing is, I don't have to stay in one place the whole time I'm there. I could go and live in the north for a while, and see the whales and the icebergs and the polar bears. My gut feeling is that since I'm going to be by myself, I'm going to want to base myself somewhere reasonably permanently, and then do weekend trips from there. Unless I happen to find someone who wants to move around with me. Who knows, it's a whole new world of opportunity (cheese!).
Today's the 10th of July... Right on a month until I fly out. Sorry Mum!!! I couldn't not mention it, it's on my mind every day. I still feel like I've got a lot to do, but I think it's more that I'm stressed out. I've written list after list of what I need to accomplish, down to things like drop stuff off to the Sallies. I've even written it all into a week by week timeline, so that I can plan out when I do things like start trying to sell my bed... AND I ticked off everything I had on the list for last week, which was the busiest week. Whenever I get something done I feel really relieved, but then a day or so later I'll be back to thinking "oh my god I've got so much to do before I go". I am eating a LOT of chocolate lately!
Had a few more of those Achieving Things days this week. Quite proud. I finished sorting out my new credit card application (I already have a MasterCard but it was rather difficult to use in places like Jordan, so I am applying for a Visa); called MasterCard to get my card updated before I go, and to let them know I'm going to travel so they don't cut me off while I'm away; went to get my driver's licence updated and an international drivers licence, and discovered I need an eye exam because when they got me to do their eye test all the letters were crossing over and I couldn't read any of them; called the doctor and made an appointment to get that done; found a car wrecker in the central city that I can take my car to, instead of having to traipse out to the Hutt; finished my resignation letters to Karl and Christine and handed them out; and I booked flights from Athens to Vancouver... with 3 days in New York City on the way!!!! So excited! I LOVE New York, as most people who've met me will know. Oh yes, and I found what could potentially be a problem with my Russian visa, so it's back to the Embassy for me tomorrow morning. Damn it! At least the Embassy is reasonably close to wear I live (hahaha, "wear"!! Didn't see that til I proofread... I mean "where") (well, the Embassy's on the same side of town as my house, but it's not exactly a light stroll away). It's likely that it's going to cost me money to get it fixed, since I didn't spot it when they asked me to check it over when I picked it up.
Now that I've told a whole lot of people that I'm going to live in Vancouver, I'm totally reconsidering. It's still going to be Canada, don't misunderstand me, but who knows, Canada's a big place and maybe I'll go somewhere else. I'll wait and see how I feel when I get there. I was thinking Vancouver because I've been there before and I know I like the place, and it's easy to get home, and it's a big city so it's likely I'll be able to get reasonably cheap flights around the country when I want to, and I shouldn't have any problem meeting people. But then I thought, there are other big cities in Canada. There's Toronto. There's Victoria, on Vancouver Island. There's Winnipeg, if I really wanted to get cold over the winter. And the other thing is, I don't have to stay in one place the whole time I'm there. I could go and live in the north for a while, and see the whales and the icebergs and the polar bears. My gut feeling is that since I'm going to be by myself, I'm going to want to base myself somewhere reasonably permanently, and then do weekend trips from there. Unless I happen to find someone who wants to move around with me. Who knows, it's a whole new world of opportunity (cheese!).
Today's the 10th of July... Right on a month until I fly out. Sorry Mum!!! I couldn't not mention it, it's on my mind every day. I still feel like I've got a lot to do, but I think it's more that I'm stressed out. I've written list after list of what I need to accomplish, down to things like drop stuff off to the Sallies. I've even written it all into a week by week timeline, so that I can plan out when I do things like start trying to sell my bed... AND I ticked off everything I had on the list for last week, which was the busiest week. Whenever I get something done I feel really relieved, but then a day or so later I'll be back to thinking "oh my god I've got so much to do before I go". I am eating a LOT of chocolate lately!
Saturday 2 July 2011
CHARLEY TIME!
Less than a month until I finish at work. And only 39 days until I fly out. This shit just got real.
I got my Russian visa! Woohooooo!!! I picked it up on Thursday morning, and it was a much less intimidating experience than when I dropped it off. Now I can stop worrying that I'm going to have to change my entire itinerary and all my flights because of that visa, and start worrying about the ash cloud. What a relief!
I thought about posting a photo of my brand new Russian Tourist Visa in my brand new passport, but I wasn't sure that either country would've been too happy about that. So you'll just have to believe me that it's bright and shiny and red and mostly indecipherable. Must start learning some Russian. At least enough to get me through the airport on the small chance that they don't have at least a few staff who speak English.
Hugh is doing well, learning the ropes to take over from me when I leave. He now has roster writing down to about a 5 hour mission, including the two of us looking at it together for an hour and a half. I remember those days... such frustration!
So much still to do before I go overseas. Every time I cross one thing off the list, I add something else to it! I had a really big think and chose one of my staff who I know loves me to bits (she's the only one I've kept in touch with since she's left Kaffee Eis), and who's now studying management at Waikato, and asked her to write me a reference. That was another one of those learning curves, figuring out how to explain to her how to write a reference without telling her what to say! I know you usually get references from your superiors, and I'll do that as well, but if I was hiring a manager I'd be just as interested to know the thoughts of the staff who had reported to that person in the past. And I've written my formal resignation letter to Karl, which is currently a page and a half long. Might edit that a little before I give it to him! When I thought back over the almost six years I've worked for him, I suddenly had plenty to say. And I've drafted one for Christine, but I haven't got anywhere near finishing it yet. I also got all the forms filled in to get my driver's licence renewed (it's due to expire in April of next year and I have to be in the country to do it); started the process to get a Visa card and now just have to collect ten tonne of paperwork to prove that I do currently earn money and have some idea of how to manage it; signed the letter from MasterCard offering me an extention on the limit on that card but am still deciding whether to return it; booked a flight to Greece from Istanbul to meet Charley for a week at the end of my tour!! (Charley is from the UK and came to NZ for six months on a work exchangey thing over summer, and rowed with my crew for the time she was here); photographed my stereo with the intention of listing it on TradeMe to sell it; and went to the travel agent to book accommodation in Hong Kong and a flight from Greece to Canada - but she wasn't in so I'll have to go back.
For those who don't know, my plans (dates are very vague at this stage) -
29 July - Finish at Kaffee Eis
30 July - Some kind of leaving do (will make details known when I figure out what I want to do!)
3 Aug - Goodbye Wellington :-(
10 Aug - Goodbye NZ!! Hello Hong Kong!
13 Aug - Midnight Flight Delight from Hong Kong to Moscow... And TOUR DAY!! You can see my tour itinerary on the company's website: http://www.tucantravel.com/tour/overview/eastern-europe-discovery/eeed
8 Oct - My birthday! Tour ends, fly to Greece, YAY CHARLEY TIME!
16 Oct - Fly to my new home in Caaaaanada....
I'm really excited! And now I have to go and try to get to sleep. I don't really see this working out for me.
I got my Russian visa! Woohooooo!!! I picked it up on Thursday morning, and it was a much less intimidating experience than when I dropped it off. Now I can stop worrying that I'm going to have to change my entire itinerary and all my flights because of that visa, and start worrying about the ash cloud. What a relief!
I thought about posting a photo of my brand new Russian Tourist Visa in my brand new passport, but I wasn't sure that either country would've been too happy about that. So you'll just have to believe me that it's bright and shiny and red and mostly indecipherable. Must start learning some Russian. At least enough to get me through the airport on the small chance that they don't have at least a few staff who speak English.
Hugh is doing well, learning the ropes to take over from me when I leave. He now has roster writing down to about a 5 hour mission, including the two of us looking at it together for an hour and a half. I remember those days... such frustration!
So much still to do before I go overseas. Every time I cross one thing off the list, I add something else to it! I had a really big think and chose one of my staff who I know loves me to bits (she's the only one I've kept in touch with since she's left Kaffee Eis), and who's now studying management at Waikato, and asked her to write me a reference. That was another one of those learning curves, figuring out how to explain to her how to write a reference without telling her what to say! I know you usually get references from your superiors, and I'll do that as well, but if I was hiring a manager I'd be just as interested to know the thoughts of the staff who had reported to that person in the past. And I've written my formal resignation letter to Karl, which is currently a page and a half long. Might edit that a little before I give it to him! When I thought back over the almost six years I've worked for him, I suddenly had plenty to say. And I've drafted one for Christine, but I haven't got anywhere near finishing it yet. I also got all the forms filled in to get my driver's licence renewed (it's due to expire in April of next year and I have to be in the country to do it); started the process to get a Visa card and now just have to collect ten tonne of paperwork to prove that I do currently earn money and have some idea of how to manage it; signed the letter from MasterCard offering me an extention on the limit on that card but am still deciding whether to return it; booked a flight to Greece from Istanbul to meet Charley for a week at the end of my tour!! (Charley is from the UK and came to NZ for six months on a work exchangey thing over summer, and rowed with my crew for the time she was here); photographed my stereo with the intention of listing it on TradeMe to sell it; and went to the travel agent to book accommodation in Hong Kong and a flight from Greece to Canada - but she wasn't in so I'll have to go back.
For those who don't know, my plans (dates are very vague at this stage) -
29 July - Finish at Kaffee Eis
30 July - Some kind of leaving do (will make details known when I figure out what I want to do!)
3 Aug - Goodbye Wellington :-(
10 Aug - Goodbye NZ!! Hello Hong Kong!
13 Aug - Midnight Flight Delight from Hong Kong to Moscow... And TOUR DAY!! You can see my tour itinerary on the company's website: http://www.tucantravel.com/tour/overview/eastern-europe-discovery/eeed
8 Oct - My birthday! Tour ends, fly to Greece, YAY CHARLEY TIME!
16 Oct - Fly to my new home in Caaaaanada....
I'm really excited! And now I have to go and try to get to sleep. I don't really see this working out for me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)