One of the coolest people I met in Auckland was my very good friend Kai (rhymes with “sky”) who was also one of my O’Rorke podmates a.k.a. neighbors. Anyone who’s ever met her can totally appreciate her coolness, but for the unlucky ones who haven’t, the best way to describe her is to borrow a phrase and say that she totally “reeks personality”. She has a remarkable ability to appreciate people and bring out their inner joy. It took me a while to realise how important this ability is, and I’ve been trying to learn from her in hindsight. We actually dated for a bit which had its ups and downs, but I consider it an absolute privilege to have been friends with her and look forward to visiting her in Vancouver, Canada in December before we both return to Auckland for another rockin’ year.

When I was back in the States between my first and second years at uni, besides getting addicted to The West Wing, I got to do some pretty wicked stuff. I took a trip to New York City for New Years ‘04/’05. Besides being cool on it’s own, one of the best things about going was being able to unequivocally say “yes” when people in NZ would inevitably ask me if I’ve ever been to New York City (since I lived close to there as an infant and couldn’t exactly so no before.) I suppose it’s natural for people outside of the US to associate the States with their “Hollywood” perceptions of NYC/LA/Vegas, but NZers seemed to be a little more into that notion because there’s not too much domestic media going around (although there are a lot of great bands and movies.)

I also remember feeling very sad around this time because of the Indian Ocean Tsunami that happened on Boxing Day, 2004. In addition to being of an almost incomprehensible scale, it was an odd experience for me because I have two friends that could have easily been in the area at the time. Thankfully, they weren’t, but it was surprising to me how close the event was to personally devastating me. There was also a moment in New York when I was really drunk in the back of a cab and remember looking up at a scrolling news sign and seeing the updated death toll of 126,000 (about half the eventual total.) I couldn’t help but feel miserable, helpless, and just a little bit guilty about what I was doing at the time.

On my way back to Auckland, I made a three week stop in Phoenix to stay with my family and work at the offices of the firm I had been doing research for remotely while in Auckland. It was really great to actually have three weeks of solid interaction with the people I had been communicating with solely through emails and phone calls. By the time I was done with the three weeks, the idea of me moving to Phoenix and working there full time had been casually floated. That’s crazy speak! I was loving life in New Zealand and totally committed to studying there for two more years. Oh, how things change…

This is the second of nine posts recapping events between April 2004 and November 2006. Click here for the overview.