Temporary Work In Waiouru


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September 17th 2007
Published: September 17th 2007
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A - T - G - September 17th



I am currently living on the Army Training Grounds in Wairouru, which is a bit north of Wellington. I have only been here for 4 days, and I am very unsure of what I think of it so far. Some aspects are good, and others I don't much care for. I was hired as a steward to help work in the main mess hall. The hall seats about 800 soldiers. I have yet to actually see that many dining at once, but from what I hear, it does happen. My job consists of cleaning tables, doing dishes, and basically just keeping the mess hall tidy and ready for service.

I am living in the barracks. The particular building I am living in houses most of the employees working in the mess hall. I have made a few friends, but living in this environment is quite different from what I have done so far while in New Zealand. I have my own room, so that I like. But the town of Waiouru is basically just the base. That's all there is. On the base there is one bar, two stores, and the rest of the buildings are all for military personnel. It's very boring here. I am use to the cities at this point. I miss the cities. I thought getting out in the middle of nowhere would be a cool side to New Zealand that I had yet to see, but there are no people here. No travelers, no fun days, just work and sleep. It's not being in the middle of nowhere that I don’t like, it's Waiouru

However, there are some things that I have kind of laughed at that I thought were pretty cool. Like today for instance, my boss and I had to go to the main office to get me an ID card. On the way there I hear her say "oh know they're doing road blocks" and I looked up and there were two heavy military vehicles in the middle of the road, with soldiers doing traffic stops. Two guys were sitting up on the vehicle on the machine guns, and there were like 5-6 soldiers on foot stopping traffic, and they all had machine guns. It was funny because my boss forgot her ID card so they almost didn't let us by.
Army TankArmy TankArmy Tank

Outside The Army Museum In Waiouru
Fortunately I had my passport, and apparently they just need a form of Identification. So they let us pass. Good times. I couldn't help but laugh after we passed thinking to myself "that was friggen cool".

Anyway, I'm still deciding what I want to do. There is potential to get a position at the backpackers in Wellington, which would be awesome, so I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that they hire me. In any case, working either job is going to be good financially. Right now on the military base I'm making 14 dollars an hour working 40 hours a week with free accommodation and free food. And if I get a job at the hostel in Wellington, it would be similar, accept the rent would be like 70 or 80 bucks a week which is cheap. We'll see what happens...

End Of First Week - September 20th



Where do I begin? I very much dislike this place. I did some math, and I was wrong about working 40 hours a week. It's more like 60 something. Once again, financially it's nice, but it's killing me mentally and physically. It's almost as if I'm
Mount RuapehuMount RuapehuMount Ruapehu

Near The Waiouru Military Base
IN the military. I don't always have to get up too early, but today I had to get up at five. Over the weekend they scheduled me for split shifts, so I'll basically be working all day. I am going to lose my mind. I see it coming already ha-ha. I feel that I've grown since being in New Zealand, because I remember getting stressed at work back home and just flipping out and losing my head. This is twice as bad as any job I've ever had, and somehow I keep a straight face all day and keep smiling. No one really knows that inside I’m losing it. I feel like George Costanza. "I'm losing it"

Soldiers Are Better than Waitresses



I work at the Main Mess Hall on the base. Every day, we serve breakfast at 7ish, lunch at 12ish, and dinner at 6ish. Basically, the center of the building is the kitchen, and on both sides of the kitchen are two gigantic halls. Both halls also have two sides to it, making four eating areas total. Groups of soldiers line up outside in anticipation for us to open the doors, which we can’t do until the chefs have brought out all of the food. It's basically buffet style. Once the doors open, the soldiers come in and grab plates which are right at the end of the buffet. With both sides of the Mess Hall combined, we can seat like five of six hundred soldiers. The past couple days, I have volunteered to do the dishes because that's where I feel most comfortable. It makes me feel like I'm just in another kitchen. Since its buffet style and the amount of people in line, soldiers are finishing eating while people are still in line.

Here comes the best part. The thing is, the plates aren't just left on the tables like in a restaurant. The soldiers are required to scrape off their plates into the trash and put them in the dish room. The dish room (where I have been working) is right on the way out the door and the trash cans are right there as well. Not only do the soldiers clean off their plates, stack them properly (unlike every waitress I've ever known), put their cups into the cup racks, and put the cutlery into the bucket; they also say "thank you" as they are leaving. Not all of them, but just about. It amazes me. I mean, I would rather work in a restaurant any day, but for those of you who have done this work before, you know how rare it is to see such a thing. Hundreds and hundreds of plates, spoons, forks, cups, and somehow everything is so organized. All I do is stand there and wash plates and say "you're welcome......you're welcome......you're welcome" for the whole time that people are dining. It's great stuff. However, other than that....the job SUCKS

September 26th



Three More Days, and I am done with this place for good. I got the job that I wanted in Wellington at the Downtown Backpackers (hostel). I am excited to get back there for so many reasons. I miss the environment, I miss friends, but more importantly, I miss my sanity. I am very surprised that I haven't just freaked out here and gotten into tiffs with people. I think it's a sign that I am growing up a bit, because I remember what I was like a year ago when I was working at the Purple Cow in Fairfield. We would have little issues and it would create huge problems for me. But nothing I have experienced in any restaurant compares to how much I dislike this job. It's all good because it's almost over and done with, and it was a fun experience for the most part. I try to look at the positives.

Yesterday I went to the army museum. It was a pretty small museum, but I spent like three hours in the place. For some reason it was very interesting to me. I kept thinking of my brother Josh the whole time I was in there, because I think he would have enjoyed it the most out of anyone I know. It was interesting to read up on New Zealand’s war history. They were involved in a lot of wars that I was unaware of. I took in a bit of knowledge about the New Zealand-American connection during war. I thought it was interesting to read about it....

For Instance

In Wellington, there is a street mall called manners mall. It's basically a section where it's as wide as a road, but there is no road, just a walkway with shops, stores, restaurants, etc. It's very similar to Quincy Market in Boston. I used to walk down there all the time when I was living in Wellington. It's a popular hang-out for young people, and is a major Wellington tourist attraction. Many buskers go there due to the constant people trafficking through.

In the early 1940's, American soldiers were stationed in Wellington. Apparently, there was a famous brawl called the "Battle Of Manners Street" on April 3rd 1943. What was happening was Americans were becoming quite popular with the New Zealand women, and a lot of New Zealand Men didn't like it very much. Thousands of New Zealand men had left and the New Zealand women had to take on a lot of the hard jobs, and received lousy pay. Basically, during times of war, and with no men around, they were quite lonely and life wasn't very great.

Suddenly, in strolled the Americans: all smiles, perfect teeth and looking like Clark Gable. Their uniforms were smart and well-tailored (at least by comparison with the New Zealanders' 'baggies'). They had money (about £5 a week in pay, which was about twice what New Zealand soldiers were paid and about the same as the average wage for civilian New Zealanders who had of course to cover living costs), and they were looking for fun. The lucky date could expect taxi rides, meals out, exciting new tastes such as ice-cream sodas or cocktails with Manhattan names, evenings spent dancing wildly to bands or snuggling up at the movies, and a gift of nylons to clinch the deal. There might even be trips away to see the tourist sites. And the next day there would always be the thank-you bouquet of flowers or the box of chocolates. The Americans brought excitement and glamour.

Some New Zealand soldiers were stationed in Cairo, Cassino, Waiouru (where I currently am) or elsewhere, and learned that they're wife/girlfriend was going with "one of them". The whole situation led to skirmishes, fights, and even deaths.

Mount Ruapehu Eruption



The other day, I was in the barracks and was watching the news when I learned that Mount Ruapehu had an eruption. New Zealand is covered with volcanic activity, which is quite different from where I'm from. I believe the closest volcano to Maine is in Canada somewhere near the great lakes, so you don’t hear about much volcanic activity. So it was interesting to learn that there was an eruption on a mountain that you can see from the Military Base. There were no casualties, but one skier was trapped in a ski hut and suffered some serious injuries in which his leg had to be amputated. My first thought after hearing about the eruption was wondering if the base would be evacuated. I mean, the mountain is like right there, so I was expecting more talk about it. But I guess it's nothing new around these parts. As I said, New Zealand is a series of volcanoes. Just moments ago I learned that Wellington Harbor is an extinct volcano. Crazy stuff...



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24th September 2007

Haha!

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