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Published: January 6th 2007
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Woah, can't believe Christmas and New Year have come and gone...as usual it's been a whirlwind few weeks...
I'm still loving life as a gelato scooper although it's been getting busier and busier lately and so I end up returning home quite exhausted...New Year's day ended up being way busier than expected and my cheeks actually hurt after 11 hours of continuous smiling...got to the point where my brain stopped functioning (no rude comments please 😊) and so I ended up just staring at a customer as I couldn't figure out which button to press on the till...not sure how good that was for ensuring returning custom...now have an American colleague who is just awesome to work with...when asked what a hazelnut was she replied "it's a nut"...I was in stitches...a kid was given a free gelato the other day as he asked Allie how old she was and Lyn (our boss) replied that Allie was too old for the kid...quick as the flash the kid told Lyn that Allie was too young for him...had a new query recently: was asked which was the plainest flavour we had as the customers dog is a bit of a fussy eater...used the
Little Elf
Jo's husband Kev tried and tested smile and nod routine and checked that no sharp objects were lying around...had to tell a a lovely gentleman off for trying to get an over 80's discount when he was in fact only 79...the cheek 😊...they sure don't make oldies like they used to (we also don't offer an over 80's discount)...thinking of extending my stay till the middle or end of February but haven't quite sorted out the details yet...
Apparently my accent is now fully contaminated and I am often asked whether I am Canadian or American - not really sure how that happened...on a few occasions I've chatted to South Africans and after asking them where in SA they're from, they ask me whether I have ever been to South Africa...am thinking a visit back home may be required (although it won't be before January 2008)...
The work Christmas "do" was fun...we tried to visit every bar in town (considering the size of Paihia it wasn't really hard)...my boss was suprised that he outlasted all of us...yip, they don't make young people like they used to...
Jo & Kev came to fetch me so that I could spend Christmas with
the van Breda family...spent a happy day showing them around Paihia (okay it took 10 minutes of which 5 of them were spent at the Gelato store trying to choose a flavour)...we ended the day with a braai on top of Mount Bledisloe...great food and stunning scenery...
Christmas in Auckland was fantastic...it started off with a Christmas eve dinner at the Van Breda house...scrumptious food and great company...was awesome being in a family home again...On Christmas day Jo cooked a great bacon and egg breakfast after which we went to CLC church...the service was lovely and really touching...we then whizzed back to the Twiggins apartment to do some frantic vacuuming before the extended family arrived for Christmas lunch...as expected there was loads of food and great company...had a lovely little nap in the sun afterwards and then went cycling to keep Jo company on her run...Boxing Day was spent trying to get some shopping done in Auckland but this proved quite hard as most of the shops were closed...the Boxing Day sales craze hasn't quite hit NZ yet...the next day we were at the bus station at the crack of dawn as I needed to be back in Paihia
The Big Cheese
While most people received wine or gift vouchers from their employers over Christmas, Aunty Catherine was given this "huge" slice of cheese...how the company has managed to retain any staff is beyond me as I can't imagine that any of the staff felt at all valued... in time for the afternoon shift...
Back in Paihia I headed to the doctors as I have a curious ring shaped pussy scabby thing on my foot and another few were starting on the same leg...the genius asked me whether I had been to the Pacific Islands recently and when I replied in the negative he said that I had a skin infection...I concurred...Don't understand why I had to pay $65 for the pleasure of being told something I already knew...I was given a course of antibiotics and was instructed to return before the antibiotics are finished...not sure how well they're working as a new scab has started up behind my knee, but still have a week before I have to go back...am looking forward to paying another $65 to be told I STILL have a skin infection...
In an effort to improve our fitness Laura and I decided to take up swimming (as running with a scabby foot isn't that comfortable at the moment)...we've been donning our togs and swimming to one of the tiny islands and back...it's always and interesting experience as Laura dislikes both cold water and seaweed...she is also capable of very high pitched
shrieking...am prety sure that the whole of Paihia know exactly when we are swimming...I have also had the pleasure of having 2 jellyfish stuck to my arm while swimming...not quite the pleasant calming experience you imagine...I now wear a long sleeved top when swimming (am thinking of patenting this as a jellyfish repellant outfit)...BTW jellies in NZ, like everything else, are harmless...they also look like alien brains when flipped upside down (coz everyone knows what alien brains look like)...
I got to celebrate New Year's twice this year...Christina passed through Paihia on her round-NZ-family-trip and so we decided to stage an early New Year 2007 as we wouldn't be able to celebrate it with her on the actual date...the big event took place at 00:16 on 28 Dec 2006...we did the whole countdown and were given a few weird looks but still ended up having an awesome time...very cool to see her again as I had been missing her loads...was round about this time that I met Julien who is the son of Jenny & Michel the owners of Kaihu farm where I HelpXChanged in October...awesome to meet another member of the family as each one is as lovely
as the next...
The actual New Year's was fantastic as well...Laura & Natalie cooked a delicious fish pie...Alex did his world famous (perk of being a backpacker and hanging out with an international crowd) kumara salad and the rest all seemed to have scrounged bottles of bubbly (yip Aunty Catherine...even lowly gelato scoopers get proper festive season gifts from work)...after dinner we headed for the beach where we watched fireworks over the bay before heading off into town and high fiving random people...sadly this is not a tradition the locals are accustomed too (maybe not too many people from
Las Vegas hang out in Paihia)...was in bed by 2am as I was scheduled to work in the morning...
Have spent sometime babysitting Pippiana and absolutely love hanging out with her...she can do both high 5's and high 10's (but only when she wants to)...loves tea and water (or at least those words) and has decided that a few of us are worthy enough to have our names attempted...I am referred to as "Meech", Laura as "Aura" & Nikki as "Neetchi"...she is currently potty training and apparently refused to let her mom flush her first-number-two-in-a-potty away before her dad had
seen it...am sure that was a welcome sight after a hard day at the office 😊
Not been getting that much sleep lately as our little room of 4 has been graced with an INTERESTING person...my newest roommate is out in the big bad world for the very first time and so is still coming to terms with washing her own dishes and budgeting...when she is awake she talks...we are interrogated on how much we spend on food...I actually started justifying how much I had spent on sundried tomatoes until I remembered that it was my cash and that I could spent it how I liked...when she is asleep she talks...apparently she is really concerned about the number of hours she works in a day...I now have earplugs which were kindly donated by my good friend Laura...
Wishing you a wonderful 2007, filled with love, laughter and lots of luck!!!
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Christina
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Great blog entry as always ;-)
Hi Mez Was going to say thanks for sticking a photo on the site but then i saw it -- arrrghh!! Ive gone and found a cheap flight to paihia so lookin forward to resuming the Ruling role with you once more ;-) Keep tabs on Paihia in the meantime and dont do anything i wouldnt do .......!!! See you on the 24 january, God Bless C x