Welcome to 2007... it's been good so far!

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2007. That's crazy. I had a really good New Year's Eve this year. We met up with one of our German Greenpeace friends, Martin, at his flat to play cards and figure out what to do for the evening. The first thing we did was go to a sweet beach themed church service at Martin's church. It was cool to hear Kiwi praise music.

After that we went back to the flat and got to talking. Martin's roommates were moving out and he was needing to fill the space. Meanwhile, earlier that day, Matt and I had been talking about how restless we were getting at the hostel. The cleaning lady who was our boss for the hostel work (the condition for our free accommodation) left and the new lady who replaced her is horrible. Gale, the former boss, was like a grandma to us, always chatting about her grand kids and asking us about our time in NZ. She was sweet and we got our work done and everything was happy. But the new lady is a fascist who has no concept of moral. She just cracks the metaphorical whip all the time and we end up getting done way too early and then have to pretend to be busy until 1 since there is nothing left to do.

Also, dorm life just gets really old really fast. Having 8 beds in one room gets crazy and the girls from Chili would come back wasted at 4 am shouting in Spanish (which is really nothing more than gibberish with the word mierda thrown in every three seconds for emphasis) and turning on the lights. It was terrible. And, the cool thing about hostels is that it is full of travelers. The downside is that it's full of travelers. Therefore the last two months have been the same conversation over and over and over...

"Hi I'm ________ from _________. I've been in NZ for ________ and will be here until _________. I have also been _______________________."

Fill in the blanks, rearrange, and regurgitate. I loved meeting so many people from so many countries, but at the same time I'm ready to hang out with people for more than one or two nights.

Anyway, back to the flat, Matt and I decided to move in to it. It is only $20 a night (for our own room, laundry, hot tub, sauna, gym, phone, shower/bathroom, tv, dvd, fully stocked kitchen... you get the idea) while the hostel, assuming we were to pay, was $28 a night (8 beds, messy dorm showers with sporadic puke and feces from wasted morons, crowded kitchen where your stuff gets moved and stolen, etc). The flat is beautiful. And so is the privacy. We have our own little deck with a view of the sky tower.

We moved in yesterday (New Year's Day. Good start...) and watched Monster last night (good, but freakin heavy!).

Today we woke up, went and worked out in the gym, sat in the hot tub, did laundry (for free... no more waiting a week after everything is already dirty to do laundry), and Martin cooked a delicious pasta with vegetables and chili sauce lunch. It was amazing.

Tonight we are going to get some "Fresh Made Waffle Cone Ice Cream" (yes, that is the name of the shop. A lot of Asian shops here, and there are tons, are named things that are nothing more, really, than a description of what they sell or do. It's really funny sometimes.) and then see Casino Royale (since it is Tuesday and movies are cheap at the cinema on Tuesdays)

After that we are going to cook again (which is great because Matt and I literally ate Burger King everyday... sometimes twice. I have eaten far more Burger King since landing in New Zealand than my American years cumulative. A triple cheeseburger, large fries, medium onion rings, and a large "Lift" which is basically carbonated lemonade. Everyday. Todos los dias. And did I mention I've lost 10 lbs since landing in NZ. I walk a lot.). I'm stoked about making food and eating things that come from the ground and are not deep fried. And working out again felt good too. The three of us are going to start working out everyday. I'm working on the plan for us.

Ok, well, I'm sure there is more, but I'm almost out of time and I don't want to keep you from doing the very important things I'm sure you are doing this the first day of 2007. Enjoy and be well.

I love and miss you all.

Again, feel free to write me back with what's up in your lives. I love stay up to date.

Cheers,

Dan

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