Found

I wrote this on the plane ride back in July. It just resurfaced on my computer so I'm posting it.

After years of saving up mileage with United Airlines I have finally taken a return. While in New Zealand I decided I would use my mileage for the plane ticket home. Unfortunately for me I didn't yet know all the necessary details about award travel. Each plane allots only a handful of seats to customers using miles. I am unsure if the route between Nadi, Fiji and San Francisco, CA is just a really popular trip for July or if the allocated seats are just precious few. Either way, there were no seats available on my initial call. I was told that reservations are constantly changing though and I should try back the next day. The next day I was able to put a hold on a flight. It wasn't a pretty itineray, but at least I found something. Finding this fast change heartening, I continued to call back every day for the next two weeks. Even though my flight wasn't for another six weeks, absolutely nothing else came up. I even tried for them to give me longer layovers. I was stuck with a schedule that had me at airports at 37 hours. Oh well...

When the day came to fly, due to bus schedules in Fiji I found myself at the airport an hour earlier than I would have liked. I found a friendly woman from Illinois to pass the time. Fortunately for me she was paying a bit more attention to the airport announcements. As we were talking the time was passing more rapidly than I realized. Before I knew it they were calling my name on the intercom and I swiftly making my way to the gate.

My flight was a late evening flight with Air New Zealand. With only 36 passengers it may have been the most empty flight I have been on yet. An easy four hours brought me to Wellington, New Zealand at midnight. After stowing my bag in the storage room at the airport I hitched a ride with another traveler in a taxi. It seemed so natural, with a tinge of strange, to be returning to my former home of five months. I got spend the next four and a half hours with four friends. We played a board game, drank tea, chatted, traded a few massages and watched Rocky Horror Picture Show. When five am rolled around the movie was just ending. Perfect timing. We piled in the car and headed back to the airport. After checking in to my 6:45 flight there were many hugs and fairwells. I count myself fortunate to have such good friends. This was definitely the best layover I have ever experienced.

Time passed quickly at the Wellington Airport. Going through security and browsing the duty free shelves ate up a good portion of the 80 minutes before my flight. Wellington has some comfy couches to sit on while waiting too. From Wellington I had a four hour flight to Sydney, Australia.

A six hour layover is such an awkward amount of time. It isn't enough to do much exploring because you need to be back with plenty of time before your next flight, just in case security takes a while plus they always board about half an hour before scheduled departure. In Wellington it worked alright because I had friends there, plus the airport is located pretty close to the city. Already having a valid visa helped too. Six hours in Sydney however was another story. I'm not close with anyone that lives even remotely close to the airport and public transportation is time consuming. I wasn't sure how long it would take go through customs, nor did I feel the inclination to bother with getting Australian money just for a few hours in a city I have already seen. I decided I would just stick it out at the airport. Having my own laptop to watch videos I decided to continue with the series The Wire. And what luck! Sydney Airport has free wifi.

The United Airplines plane I rode from Sydney to San Francisco was huge. I suppose it was the same size as planes I have been on before when I have flown to and from Australia, New Zealand and California, but before I didn't notice the stairway up to the second level. My seat was an emergency exit seat, meaning plenty of legroom. Thank you kind United lady for offering it to me. The vegetarian food was actually not bad. Though I had no idea what the mash they served me for dinner was suppose to be, perhaps gnocchi, it tasted alright and had a pleasant enough mouth feel. Breakfast was surprising good, consisting of cook spinach, tomato and scrambled eggs with a croissant on the side. Between sleeping, watching The Wire, eating, more sleeping and a bit of writing I found the 13 hours flew by (har har har, “flew” by).

I know flying isn't the most environmental way of traveling, but when people talk about that are they also including the waste that is involved in the food service. Every change they got they tried to give me another cup. Even with efforts to reuse my cups I still managed to use eight. Mostly due to the fact that they left things for me while I was asleep. I wonder if they started doing that due to complaints. I recall a flight years ago on which I missed a meal because I was asleep. It was disappointing. The cups are plastic, so they could be recycled, though I'm not sure they are. It seemed so wasteful to me. Then there is the question of unused condiments. When they take the tray there are often unused, perfectly clean items; such as butter, packaged toothpicks, packaged breadrolls, salt and pepper. What happens to those things? Are they thrown away too?

as of May 7, 2011

I left Wellington the morning of April 2^nd. The ferry ride to Picton is just over three hours. From the ferry I drove to the west coast then enjoyed the coastal views as I headed south to Hokitika. Unfortunately I wasn't able to stop and explore any of the numerous walking tracks along the way. I injured my foot about two weeks before leaving Wellington so extended periods of walking or standing range from uncomfortable to painful. After two nights couch surfing in Hokitika I drove on to Wanaka. The section of road between Haast and Wanaka is beautiful, especially at this time of year.

When I left Wellington the weather felt like Summer was coming to an end but it didn't feel like Autumn quite yet. Heading south I am reminded that Autumn is well under way. Autumn is has been busy transforming the colors from luscious green to a spectral of yellows, oranges and reds. Wanaka is particularly beautiful right now. The lake, the mountains with a sprinkle of snow, the trees with their various colors, the crisp air. It isn't quite freezing yet but it is definitely chilly.

I stayed one night in Wanaka then headed on to Invercargill. My initial plan for the south island included a lot of hiking. However my foot was still bothering me so I reluctantly came to terms with the fact that this idea was not going to come to fruition. When the friend I was visiting in Invercargill offered me a house sitting gig for a couple weeks I figured it would be a opportune time to let myself heal. The next two weeks were entirely uneventful. I stayed off my foot as much as possible and went to the hospital twice. Once at the beginning to be told it should get better if I stay off of it for a few days. For the next week I put practically no weight on my left foot. I didn't have crutches but I did have a chair with wheels that I put my knee on and used as a leg substitute. When I didn't notice much improvement I decided to I return to the hospital to get an x-ray. It was confirmed that no bones were broken and I was told that foot injuries just take a long time to heal. How fun. Oh yeah! I also went to the world's most southern Irish Pub, located in Invercargill.

When the house sitting gig was up I went to Queenstown. I had previously thought about living there, but after a weekend I am glad I decided against it. It is a beautiful part of the country, but the feel of the town is entirely different from why I like New Zealand. It is very touristy. In Queenstown my friend Rien met up with me so we could travel together for a bit:

I found the Cromwell/Alexandra area pretty, but very different from Wanaka/Queenstown. The hillsides are covered with small shrubs and a lot of rocks. Bluff supposedly has the best oysters in the world, if you're into that. Lake Hauroko is the deepest lake in New Zealand. Clifden has a neat cave system, glowworms and flash floods warnings included. Gore is the brown trout capital of the world, a fact they proudly let known with a huge statue of a fish.

Due to my recent change in hair style I have been thinking a lot about hair. The hardest part of my decision to cut off all my hair was my concept of beauty. Hair on the top of your head is often connected with beauty. I finally had to decide that I didn't care if I was less attractive with less hair on my head. I am happy that I decided to follow through with this idea. I am also glad I chose to keep half my hair long and the other half shaved for three months. The only reason I am sad about not being able to grown a beard is that I can't do the half shaved, half full beard look. I would definitely play with my facial hair styles if I had a beard. Not that I want a beard, I don't. Instead I can play with the styles of hair on the top of my head. It was a fun hair style. Many interactions and conversations were sparked. From this experience I started to think more about hair. There are many strange views having to do with hair in our culture.

Hair on your head is acceptable, but as soon as it leaves the body it is gross. Hair in the drain, hair on a plate, hair on the bar of soap: these are often met with disgusted reactions. Then I started thinking about the various places of hair on one's body, especially associated with gender. Why are we so accepting of leg hair, arm pit hair, and facial hair on men but not women? From these thoughts I decided to try to change these ideas within myself. I made this my April resolution; this included the ceasation of using a razor. It didn't work after one month though so I am continuing into May. I don't think a couple decades of being ingrained with social norms is going to be eliminated by a couple months without a razor. We'll see how I feel in a few weeks.

Notes on Skipping

Couple things to think about when dumpster diving. Have a look around the dumpster for cameras. Finding out when they empty the dumpster is good to know. Some places do it every day, some don't. If you go the day after it is easier to sort through because there is less in the dumpster. The dumpsters here almost always have real trash burying the "treasure." So we have to take out the rubbish bags, put them next to the dumpster, get the good stuff then clean up. Clean up is VERY important. If the dumpster isn't already locked they will start to lock it if you leave a mess. You mustn't make it obvious you were there. Even if they know people dumpster dive employees often don't care as long as they don't have to pick up after you.

Knowing when they empty the dumpster is also good to know because then you can go when it is fresh. This is particularly important when the weather is hot. Imagine it like an oven. It can get REALLY gross with meat and even more so with seafood. They usually put stuff in bags but not always. Depending on the dumpster it may or may not matter how big of a mess you make inside the dumpster. Sometimes they just throw stuff in there so ripping open bags doesn't matter. But perhaps they are careful to put everything in bags to keep down smell or whatever. In that case you should try to untie the bags, look through them and retie afterwards. BE VERY CAREFUL not to open a bag with seafood in it! You might vomit from the smell. Then you have to sort through your vomit as well. Not fun.

It is best to bring at least one other person with you. That way one person can be in the dumpster finding the goods while the other person is the helper. The helper takes the stuff from the diver to pack it in the bags you brought. Remember not to put bananas on the bottom, especially when you find canned goods. Sometimes we put a large plastic bag inside the backpacks so they don't get REALLY gross, but they still get dirty. There is always something broken in the dumpster, be it shampoo, yogurt, lotion, or something unknown. Therefore when you get home you have to wash everything. Be careful not to just put everything into the bathtub or sink of cold water because some things are open. For example, maybe someone in the store opened up a container of hummus, then didn't buy it. The store throws it away. It is still suitable for eating, but the container isn't sealed so you don't want to submerge it. And naturally you don't want to submerge bread in water. I'm sure you know that though.

We haven't figured out a best time to go. The grocery store we go to is open till midnight. We were going sometime past 11pm. Employees often don't go out the back door so late so we weren't worried, though we did keep an ear open for anyone stumbling upon us. Then we got caught a couple times. The have both told us to just take what we needed and get out and they have made us put the food back. Of course, we still cleaned up before we left. You must not forget to clean up! Even if you get excited or afraid or whatever. Last time I went someone came out while I was in the bin. I froze, the helper hid and we waited until the store employee was done with whatever he came outside to do and went back inside. As soon as the door shut I jumped out, we hurriedly cleaned up, grabbed the goods and swiftly walked away.

When I was walking home last time I was thinking about how much skipping is a part of my current life. I wondered if I would continue when I leave my current house. One thing though, it sure will be strange when I go back to shopping for ALL of my food. At least for a little while.

100 Seasons

I haven't been feeling motivated to sit down and write lately. There is plenty to write about, but taking the time in front of a computer to put it to words in another thing. Though I do feel like I have been out of touch with many people that I would like to catch up with; know that you are in my thoughts and feel free to drop me a line. I'll try to get back to you without too great of a time gap. Admittedly though, I recently responded to an email over a month old. It isn't that I don't want to talk with you, it is just that I don't want to sit in front of the computer for copious amounts of time. Even now I am antsy to stop typing and go do something, anything but sit here and type. I will do my best to continue this update though. It may take a few sittings, be unorganized as who knows what, and/or be not quite as thorough of an explanation of the splendid things that I have been up to lately. But hey, at least it's something... right?

Wellington is wonderful. I like it here a lot. The house I am living in makes it particularly enjoyable. We call it the feral house. This name was coined by a neighbor. I liked it, started using it and it wore off on the other flatmates as well. On afternoon of Halloween I heard childrens' voices, trick or treating, so I went to the front door excited to give them candy. I had never been on this side of trick or treating. Sadly though I found that they skipped my house. Boo! It must look too scary, but not in the Halloween sense. What's wrong with having a pond in the front yard?

The feral house is like a constant treasure hunt. Every time I set to cleaning up a certain space I find cool stuff. I cleaned and organized/labeled the spice rack and found not only lots of useful spices to cook with but also a tea-baller. Now I can drink tea made with loose leaf tea without getting the tea leaves in my mouth. As I cleaned other bits of the kitchen I found the various pieces to a food processor. Some of it was in the kitchen while other pieces were in the lounge. Go figure. I decided the the dresser cabinet in the lounge was a good enough place for it and put all the pieces together there. Hey! It's a small kitchen. I was pretty excited about this find and have since used it many times! I also found the pieces, again in various places, to a juicer. Sweet! One morning my flatmate Hugh found a travel sewing kit on a shelf in the lounge. The house also has a genuine junk drawer. There is all kinds of stuff in there, from felt pens to tape, screw drivers to stickers, labels to foreign coins.

Aside from the house providing things that I didn't know I even wanted, Wellington in general has been generous in offering me basically anything and everything I have desire or need for. A few examples. One week I was really wanting some wine. I couldn't buy any because it was January (see below for further explanation) so I figured I would just have to wait until February. Then one night while skipping I find a nearly full bottle of Merlot. And it was good! Another evening I was walking home from work. I decided I would walk through the bus tunnel. Some would say this is a very risky thing to do. I have been told that there have been cases of people getting badly injured. I figure as long as I am aware and not drunk I'll be okay. I'll even go so far as to say that I reckon it is actually pretty safe. There is no lighting and no side walk, just enough space for the bus to go through with a small buffer on each side. There are however alcoves every 48 strides when I am walking at a swift pace. These alcoves could probably fit three people in them, as long as no one is wearing a backpack or carrying bags and stuff. I don't use a light though I do have a cell phone if need be. So long as I stay aware and count my steps, I'm good to go. Also, in the evenings the buses only come through every 15 minutes. Anyway, this one evening I decided I couldn't be bothered to walk over the town belt but would rather walk through the bus tunnel to get home. I start to walk through and think to myself that I have never seen a bus while walking through and it would actually be pretty cool. There have been a number of times that a car driving on the road on the other side shined its headlights into the tunnel, which psyched me out enough to run to the next (or previous) alcove, but no bussed yet. But what is this? About 100 paces before the end I see the lit up front of a bus coming my way. I quickly pop into an alcove and anxiously wait for it the pass. And you know what? I was right, it was cool :-)

In regards to the above comment. I decided that for the month of January I would not purchase any food. It worked very well. Sure there were a number of times I would have liked to buy something, but really I didn't need those things. It was a fun experiment. I am buying food again now. Not much because we still skip, but sometimes we would like to consume things that we didn't find in the bin.

For the month of February I chose to leave Hataitai every day. I found myself getting sucked into my house. Time goes by so easily here. I realized that I should really be taking advantage of living in Wellington. February was an excellent month to do this as it is summer and there were heaps of things going on. Unfortunately I caught a cold for the last week of the month, but I still managed to follow through with my plan. March starts tomorrow...