Wellington

Got dropped off here yesterday. Cool city, plenty windy and cloudy, long days right now. Lots o' friendly folks at the hostel I am staying in. After I dropped off my bags I wandered around for a bit, feeling rather lonely. Started talking to a (in all probability a bit mentally ill) homeless man. Traded some stories, gave him some peanut butter on a piece of bread, and he gave me a can of beer (not consumed in public, of course). India's lesson of not being afraid to talk to anyone pays off quickly!

Went dancing with some kids at the hostel. Great night scene, lots of music, venues open later than I could stay up. Seeing as I did not want to feel sick and stupid today, I consumed a bit of Kava Kava after having the one beer. After near-complete teetotality in Hindustan, I figured it would be better for my system than booze. Also seems appropriate for the Polynesian cultural region that I find myself in. Good feeling, made me talkative and dancy, but not stupid or uncoordinated. Completely legal, and no noticable negative aftereffects today.

The plan is to head to the immigration office Monday to pick up an application for the Working Holiday Scheme. Lots of "help wanted" signs all over Wellington, looks like the world economic slowdown hasn't hit too hard here just yet. Some street musicians around, I might assemble my clarinet and try to make a quick buck doing what I love for random strangers.

A quick list of things that I like about New Zealand:
1) Friendly, compassionate people.
2) Low cost of living (a liter of milk, two bananas, and a 440 gram box of cereal sets me back 11 dollars New Zealand, or about six U.S, and my hostel with free coffee and dinner in the heart of downtown is 27 dollars a night).
3) Far away from the world's mad wars.
4) Pleasant (for a Seattlite) weather.
5) The foreigners who come to travel and work here seem to have a common mindset, and its a good one. "Lets chill out and have a good time in a laid-back and safe country."
6) Beautiful landscape. Mountains, forests, hills and ocean.
7) Great human-to-land ratio.
8) Pride in the native Maori culture.

And aspects of New Zealand that I am not so found of:
1) The Queen of England is on the money. Even on bills that don't seem to have have her she is hiding in a watermark. I much prefer Gandhi, thank you very much.
2) Haven't gotten used to the accent, so I have a hard time understanding what the heck they are talking about. Might as well be Hindi half the time.
3) At the risk of being a bit hypocritical, there are too many honkeys.

So, all in all, the positive is far outweighing the negative.

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