Perin's First Update

I start work tomorrow and I figured it was time I put an update on the blog. Its been interesting how different, yet how similar Wellington is to San Francisco. I must admit that at first I was dissappointed. I mean why move all the way around the world to live in a city that is so similar to where you left? But as we have been here for over a week, I'm noticing a lot of differences. 

The first difference is that I have a lot of trouble understanding what people are saying. Paul and I do a lot of "uh-huh's" and "sures" after we have asked people to repeat things for a second or third time and we still don't understand them (and I thought the Irish accent was hard to follow). I think I will find this most difficult at work. Nodding and saying yes isn't going to cut it there (hehe).

The second difference is that people here walk incredibly fast. Paul and I thought we had a pretty fast gate, but we get passed left and right everywhere by people of every age. We have decided that since it rains here so much, they have learned to pick up their pace!

The third difference is that the hills here make San Francisco look flat! I remember my Aunt Barbara once saying that she had to get in shape to live in San Francisco, well I'm going to have to get in shape to live in Wellington. 

We met the landlord of the house we wanted yesterday and she liked us, so now we get to move in next week! The house is huge and it has three full bedrooms, a kitchen/living room, an office, 1 full bathroom and 1 3/4 bathroom a laundry room and the main attraction, a big deck with an incredible view of the city. I'm excited to have so much space, especially after our 1 bedroom/ 1 bathroom apartment. Our house is in Brooklyn, Wellington and is very near Central Park (named after the one in NYC).

When we were coming into the city from the airport we passed a penguin crossing sign. The taxi driver told us that little blue penguins live around there and they cross the street mostly at night. We are going to have to check this out! I will also make sure to grab a picture and post it to the blog.

Today we go car shopping. I'm not willing to test drive as I'm not comfortable driving on the other side of the road just yet and really all that matters is that Paul can fit in the driver seat comfortably. Looks like we are going to buy a mid-sized SUV so that we can camp in the back. Because of the delicate ecosystem here, they didn't allow us to bring any of our camping gear (tent, mattress pads, etc.) so we are hoping to find a car that can substitute.

I have to fly to Auckland next Thursday for work. Its our annual meeting and I think a great way to start my first week as it gives me a chance to meet everyone. Of course everyone is a total of 120 people for all of New Zealand.  That's pretty neat as well considering we had 700 practitioners in just our Bay Area offices. I also learned from our local banker that Deloitte is considered one of the most prestigous places to work in Wellington and that was a very nice ego boost!

The rain has subsided at least for now and New Zealand is heading into spring. But even with the sun its still pretty cold (I can see my breath). I wear my red rain jacket with my multi-colored hat everyday and I get some pretty silly looks. Its not that I look silly but I'm not adhering to the dress code of all black! I guess I must stand out as a foreigner.

Mostly we've been shocked by the cost of living. We heard that our cost of living would go down, but since groceries, rent and auto's are more expensive (even considering the exchange rate) we are beginning to think its only less expensive to London or Tokyo. That being said, I am still excited to be here.

The grocery stores here have a really smart idea. They took the little baskets that you carry, put wheels on them and added a long handle so you can basically drag them around the grocery without having to hold them. Its like a mini shopping cart and I love it, it makes buying soda and other heavy, yet small items quite easy.

Also, a quick way to figure out the time difference is to subtract 8 hours (if you live on the east coast) and remember it's the next day for us. So for example, if it's 9pm on Friday in NJ, it's 1pm on Saturday in Wellington.

Ok, I'll end my post here and add more as I start work and find more interesting things to tell you all about. We miss everyone tons, though it feels like we are just on vacation!

Much Love,

Perin

Busy looking at houses.

We've been very busy looking at houses and apartments to rent. I think we've seen around thirty of them now. However, we did find one we like.




Supposedly, there are a lot of people interested, but none of them meet the qualifications of the landlord - a single individual or a couple. No families, no more than two people. We're going to try and meet the landlord later today, sign for next weekend, and then move in a little early later next week. Hopefully everything works out. Click here to see what Perin's commute could be like:)




We'll take some better pictures if we end up getting the place.....

Important information

We're learning all kinds of new slang: breakkie is breakfast, Wellington is Welly, Melbourne is Mellie and Brisbane is Brissie. Runner up is also ran and layaway is layby.

When dealing in cash here, there are no pennies and no nickels. If the last decimal of the price ends with 1-5, it's rounded down and 6-9 it's rounded up. The debit cards here are called EFTPOS cards and if you use one, then the exact price will be debited from your account. Pennies are stupid anyway.

We stopped by the liquor store and they have the greatest beer service in the world. You bring in your own [empty] two liter bottles and they fill them for you straight from the keg. For numerous dollars less than buying it in pre-packaged containers. Genius! I even took a picture, but since we shipped the cord to copy photos from the camera, you'll have to wait to see it.

Olympics Coverage

Every country emphasizes the events that it does well in. Accordingly, New Zealand is crazy about the "twins". Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell won gold medals in the skulls (rowing). So they are on the cover of every newspaper and magazine and interviewed on the telly quite frequently.

Additionally, many newspaper inches and lots of media coverage is dedicated to discussion of MPC - medals per capita. New Zealand was doing very well for most of the Olympics but then were usurped at the end by a few very small nations getting a bronze or two. In the end, NZ finished 9th in the world with one medal for every 462,717 people. Feel free to let people you meet at parties know that the Bahamas "really won" the Olympics with one medal for every 153,725 people.

New Gym Experience

So Perin and I have been busy looking at apartments to let. We've exhausted all of our possibilities within three blocks of the hotel and now have to venture further out. That's unfortunate because it's raining today.

During our brunch yesterday at "the best" pub in all of Wellington - The Black Harp - we asked our waitress about letting an apartment and she said that between November and February is the best time of year to get a place. That was pretty good information because there aren't too many places to look at. The Black Harp is apparently the best because it's an Irish pub and they serve Guinness. We'll have to check some more places out to verify its "bestness."

We are staying in a corporate apartment - like a hotel room with a kitchenette and washing machine. It's pretty nice and we get a newspaper every morning and a free gym membership while we're here.

I went to the gym yesterday and it was satisfactory. It's literally across the street from us which is nice and yesterday it was empty. I went again this morning and had an experience I've never had before. In the locker room there are irons and ironing tables. That's right: plural. And there there were: two naked guys ironing their shirts and talking to each other.

Newspaper Headlines

I'm still working on finding linkable pages for these headlines, but here are a few of our favorites so far:

The Dominion Post - Friday August 22, 2008 - "Keep boobs in babies' mouths."
The New Zealand Herald - Thursday August 21, 2008 - "Ninja pupil kills schoolmate."

Our apartment in San Francisco

Here you can see a slide show of our apartment in San Francisco.