I’m sitting in my room and it’s very quiet here in the hall. The reason is that it’s the Easter break and everyone jetted out of the hostel late last week. I actually went up to a little town north of Auckland named Kerikeri where I spent two nights at my friend Jesse’s farm, but I discovered that the ‘country’ in New Zealand is just as boring as it is in the United States. So, just as in the US, after about two days of being in the middle of nowhere, I desperately needed to get back into town because I just couldn’t sleep without the noise of car alarms, rubbish trucks, and drunken groups of people which I’ve come to expect from my dorm room window at night.

Although most people aren’t around, it doesn’t really bother me that much. I find that it’s much easier to get along with and socialise with the people remaining in the hall (which is only a handful on each floor.) I suppose that’s not surprising since I’ve always been better getting along in more personal situations than large group functions. It’s also an opportunity to get out and see what’s around more. I really want to find where the best thrift store is here in Auckland so I have more time to do things like that. Someone told me that thrift stores are called opshops here, supposedly because you have the opportunity to find a really good deal. As an aside, a question that I’ve gotten a lot from people here is whether or not schools in America are really like those portrayed in the movies with different groups of jocks, dorks, ‘popular kids,’ etc. I tell people that there certainly are schools like that and everyone seems to be perplexed as to how kids could be so segregated. Anyway, when I was coming back on the bus from Northland (where Kerikeri is) I met a traveler from Switzerland and her and I are probably going to meet up tomorrow or the day after to see some of the sights around Auckland. I have to keep reminding myself that there’s more to life here than just university stuff.

Another thing that I can keep myself occupied with is continuing to do some work for the firm I’m now working for in Arizona. I can’t remember off hand what I’ve written about that before, but as a refresher I’m doing research for an Internet firm my Cousin is the CFO for. It’s pretty sweet so far because it pays well, I have total discretion of my work environment and when I work, and I can obviously work from anywhere that has an Internet connection. I found out that the first project I did for them, which was to find the best online credit card gateway, was really helpful for them and my research lead them directly to the best solution. I hope that I can continue to do this for quite some time and that they come to rely on what I do.

To be perfectly honest with everyone, there are several things I wish I could write about on here more candidly, but I have to keep in mind that anyone could read this so I do keep some subjects off limits. I’ve found writing about things can be very helpful in clearing my head and I’d like to do it for some more personal things, but at the same time I don’t want to write something if I’m the only that will ever read it. Besides, I know that I can always call a friend or family member if I need to discuss something important, and it’s not like EVERYTHING has to be written down.