Church was really good yesterday. Tiana and I tried a church, City Bible Church that was recommended by Luke. They don't have a website which made it hard to find them, but we did get their number in time and found that they had just moved to another location, closer to us--in the Frankton Market area!! That was great. This was their second week there.
We don't know what to expect when we enter the warehouse that is their church location. But friendly faces greet us immediately and we have a good talk with people from all different nations--including America. One of the pastors is from Texas and he and his wife just moved here in January. He LOVES Ohio State Football because he graduated from there. The other, main pastor who's been running the church for 6 years is Campbell. He knows Luke. He was very cool and down to earth. Then there was a girl who introduced us to everyone, Laurie, and she works for Campus Crusade for Christ at the University. There were also a few people who worked with Word of Life. I even managed to meet a few Graphic Design people and a few more sketchers and closet artists. Nice! The church is mostly made up of young adults, and people in their 30's I'd say. There are some young kids from all ages and a some of the older generation. It's definitely a newer church feel. There were about 120ish amount of people. Maybe more. We were all sitting on cream colored plastic lawn chairs. It was very casual and relaxing, but the message was awesome!! Since it was Pentecost Sunday, we read in Acts and the pastor had everyone turn to Acts in their Bible instead of just putting it up on PowerPoint. I love that. I've missed that the past few weeks since the other churches were bigger and put verses up there. I liked how Pastor Cal at home always made us turn to the verses in our Bibles so we can see it for ourselves as well and make notes, and sometimes he'd put the verses up too. It shows the value of individuals knowing the Bible instead of just the pastor.
After church we were invited to a lunch for the young adults group and met even more people!! My head's still swimming with faces and names!
Tiana and I were looking for a church that had a young adults group. We want to connect with others our age. Many of the churches in Hamilton that had a good amount of young adults and programs for young adults were churches that were not Biblically sound. No wonder the Malaniks were sent to plant a church in Hamilton. The churches that seemed Biblically sound didn't have a program or Bible Study for young adults. So, we feel kinda left out.
This church seems good so far, but we don't know all the info about the church yet. We are having lunch with Campbell and his wife next Sunday and so we will find out more, but we'll keep going there to learn a bit more about the church.
Please keep us in prayer!!!! We like this church a lot, but we don't want to get too involved until we know that they are Biblically sound. We've learned a lot about some key things, but we still need to know more. Pray for us!!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!
Yes, I am not happy.
We found out a few days ago that we can only do temp work from an agency because of the nature of our visas. Fine. I've been avoiding them all my life, but Hamilton's not huge and we do need work.
We had our inverview today with the agency. It was a joint interview with Tiana and I. Not a good idea. That's like comparing two people.
And of course my resume holds artsy and creative as my strong points, with a bit of casual secretary work and retail thrown in. I tried to turn in a left-brained resume. I really did. It was very professional. It just was handed in to the wrong profession! Our interviewer glanced over it with a kind of "...eh.." attitude. She was friendly enough. Just not into the whole "art" thing. She said that maybe I would be good for an Advertisment company.
Could I just really stand up and say, "Look lady. I need money. I heard that yall might know how to get me some. Bills are due and I wanna have fun on my working holiday. Please, give me a job."
As we were taking various skills tests that I could care less about, and signing forms, forms, and more forms, I was thinking to myself, this is horrible!!! I just wanted to grab a simple job, retail or something, and enjoy New Zealand that way. But now, I have to think about temporary (thankfully temporary) work, 9-5, blah blah blah behind a desk, in front of a computer, typing number after number after number. Ugh!!!! I want out!!!!!
but i need a job. bills are due. very soon.
We found out a few days ago that we can only do temp work from an agency because of the nature of our visas. Fine. I've been avoiding them all my life, but Hamilton's not huge and we do need work.
We had our inverview today with the agency. It was a joint interview with Tiana and I. Not a good idea. That's like comparing two people.
And of course my resume holds artsy and creative as my strong points, with a bit of casual secretary work and retail thrown in. I tried to turn in a left-brained resume. I really did. It was very professional. It just was handed in to the wrong profession! Our interviewer glanced over it with a kind of "...eh.." attitude. She was friendly enough. Just not into the whole "art" thing. She said that maybe I would be good for an Advertisment company.
Could I just really stand up and say, "Look lady. I need money. I heard that yall might know how to get me some. Bills are due and I wanna have fun on my working holiday. Please, give me a job."
As we were taking various skills tests that I could care less about, and signing forms, forms, and more forms, I was thinking to myself, this is horrible!!! I just wanted to grab a simple job, retail or something, and enjoy New Zealand that way. But now, I have to think about temporary (thankfully temporary) work, 9-5, blah blah blah behind a desk, in front of a computer, typing number after number after number. Ugh!!!! I want out!!!!!
but i need a job. bills are due. very soon.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Pictures!!!!!!!!
I've got pictures!!! Tiana and I went to the library and uploaded the pictures from our camera onto that computer, then burned them to a disk. Here goes. Make sure you've read the last couple of entries to better understand the pics.
Day 1. This is me, super-excited about being back in New Zealand!! We were staying with Luke and Kristin and they lived out in the country in Cambridge. Beautiful!
This is me, cleaning the apartment before we moved in. See how excited I am--NOT!!
This is Tiana standing in front of our apartment building.
Frankton Market. Can you find Tiana?
Lake Rotorua!!
The "Go bus". Yes, it's really called "go bus." And boy does it fly down those streets!!
Me and Tiana. Happy in New Zealand. Don't you want to visit us?
By the way, you can always leave a comment here, on my blogs. You don't have to sign up for anything. Just do it as anonymous and be sure to leave who you are! Otherwise, drop me an email. Please!!!
Sunday, May 20, 2007
FYI #2
The Bus
Note to self: when attempting to catch a bus in another country, make sure you are standing on the correct side of the street.
When we were catching the bus yesterday, we thought we were so smart, having been on a bus numerous times at home. So we walk right up to the bus stop, smiling to ourselves, confident that we knew what we were doing and stood there for awhile. Now, the bus stops in Hamilton, New Zealand have the schedule information posted in the bus stop pole. It so happened that ours was rubbed off, so we thought we should check the stop across the street. Before we crossed, we noticed a car coming from the direction that we were expecting our bus to come from. The only thing is, it was on the other side of the road. You know, in New Zealand, everything is switched. Cars drive on the left side of the road instead of on the right like in America. We were on the wrong side! Boy, did we feel dumb! So we hurry across the street and just as we get to that bus stop, here comes good ole mister "Go" bus, speeding towards the stop. Had we not crossed the street in time, we would have missed our bus!! Fun times. Nevermind that we pushed the "stop" button when the bus was at the bus station in the city center, only to find that everyone gets off at that point. Brilliant.
Note to self: when attempting to catch a bus in another country, make sure you are standing on the correct side of the street.
When we were catching the bus yesterday, we thought we were so smart, having been on a bus numerous times at home. So we walk right up to the bus stop, smiling to ourselves, confident that we knew what we were doing and stood there for awhile. Now, the bus stops in Hamilton, New Zealand have the schedule information posted in the bus stop pole. It so happened that ours was rubbed off, so we thought we should check the stop across the street. Before we crossed, we noticed a car coming from the direction that we were expecting our bus to come from. The only thing is, it was on the other side of the road. You know, in New Zealand, everything is switched. Cars drive on the left side of the road instead of on the right like in America. We were on the wrong side! Boy, did we feel dumb! So we hurry across the street and just as we get to that bus stop, here comes good ole mister "Go" bus, speeding towards the stop. Had we not crossed the street in time, we would have missed our bus!! Fun times. Nevermind that we pushed the "stop" button when the bus was at the bus station in the city center, only to find that everyone gets off at that point. Brilliant.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
A Busy Day Indeed and FYI #1
Today...ah...was very eventful--in a good way.
First, Tiana and I got up early and bummed around for an hour or so, then we headed down the street to Frankton Market. This is an outdoor market where everything from clothing and fruits & veggies, to artwork and trinkets that no one really needs are sold. It was fun.There were a lot of Maori shops where they were carving special symbols out of cow bone, and musicians walking around with guitars and singing. We were able to talk to one of the guys carving and shaping the bone. He knew we were from America and was explaining about the carving and trying to convince us to buy a "prosperity" symbol as a souvenir for family and friends back home. There were plants that we could buy for a lot cheaper than anywhere. There were fruits and veggies displayed everywhere at very good prices. And they looked very good and fresh. We're going to get our veggies from the market for as long as they sell them. As it is, we picked up a couple of fijoa fruits that were juicy and plump. I've had them before and I wanted Tiana to try them. There were also handmade jewelry spots and rugs and fabrics. The street it was on was near another train station and had a "quaint" feel to it with lots of people from different cultures passing through. It was very nice. We also met a South African Man who said he saw us as was debating whether we were from his country or not, and then said he knew that we "must be American". I guess it's the mixture of cultures we have in our blood. People from other countries just cannot figure it out. It's not like they're going to say, "aren't you African/Irish/Portuguese/Native American?" Haha.
We were also able to catch an early lunch of lamb kabobs, corn dogs, egg foo yung (which was more like an omelet than what we know from America), and sweet and sour pork. Don't worry. It wasn't as much as it sounds. We split our food with each other and portions here are at healthier portions than America's "supersized menu."
Next, we decided to walk to Lake Rotarua which wasn't too far away. We saw mountains in the distance and so we wanted to see if we could get a better view of them from the lake. It was beautiful!!!! People were out walking around, renting lake bikes & canoes, and there was even a guy playing a guitar. Classic! We stayed there for awhile and then thought we were out for a long time, so we checked our watch and it was only 12:30pm!!! We decided to catch a bus to the city center instead of walking and we were able to for $2.30 a piece. Then we checked out some overpriced department stores and finally ended up at the Warehouse (like a wal-mart). At that point we were very tired so we had to sit down at on of their resting spots.
After the Warehouse we stopped off at a grocery store and bought some sarsaparilla because we heard it was like rootbeer and they don't have rootbeer in New Zealand from what I've seen. It didn't have as strong a flavor as Rootbeer, but it still worked out nice for a rootbeer float.
Yes, we're tired. Tomorrow's church and we're going back to the same church from last week for an info lunch with people from the church. We're still looking for a church home and yes, we can be bribed with food to at least visit a second time :) Sad, but true. We took lots of pictures, but we still can't hook our camera to the comp yet. i hope mom get that instillation disk to us soon.
FYI
I decided to write a random thought for (almost) each day so here we go:
A trip to the Post
So the other day we went looking for a post office and found one that was empty and said they had moved. So we walked over to where they had moved and found out that particular type of post office didn't have envelopes. Actually, I'm not sure if they actually mailed things either. So we were directed to go all the way down to the city center to another place that did have envelopes, but you had to mail letters outside in the post box. Now it doesn't sound as confusing as it really was at the time, but all we wanted was to mail a simple letter and ended up walking all around the city to find a place that did mailings. On our way back home, we stopped at the place where the Frankton Market is usually held, and found a post office that is much closer. This is good, except, we don't actually know if they mail out letters yet. Hmm. It's probably more of our incompetence than it is of New Zealand's quirkiness. Like I've said before, everyday things are such an ordeal!
First, Tiana and I got up early and bummed around for an hour or so, then we headed down the street to Frankton Market. This is an outdoor market where everything from clothing and fruits & veggies, to artwork and trinkets that no one really needs are sold. It was fun.There were a lot of Maori shops where they were carving special symbols out of cow bone, and musicians walking around with guitars and singing. We were able to talk to one of the guys carving and shaping the bone. He knew we were from America and was explaining about the carving and trying to convince us to buy a "prosperity" symbol as a souvenir for family and friends back home. There were plants that we could buy for a lot cheaper than anywhere. There were fruits and veggies displayed everywhere at very good prices. And they looked very good and fresh. We're going to get our veggies from the market for as long as they sell them. As it is, we picked up a couple of fijoa fruits that were juicy and plump. I've had them before and I wanted Tiana to try them. There were also handmade jewelry spots and rugs and fabrics. The street it was on was near another train station and had a "quaint" feel to it with lots of people from different cultures passing through. It was very nice. We also met a South African Man who said he saw us as was debating whether we were from his country or not, and then said he knew that we "must be American". I guess it's the mixture of cultures we have in our blood. People from other countries just cannot figure it out. It's not like they're going to say, "aren't you African/Irish/Portuguese/Native American?" Haha.
We were also able to catch an early lunch of lamb kabobs, corn dogs, egg foo yung (which was more like an omelet than what we know from America), and sweet and sour pork. Don't worry. It wasn't as much as it sounds. We split our food with each other and portions here are at healthier portions than America's "supersized menu."
Next, we decided to walk to Lake Rotarua which wasn't too far away. We saw mountains in the distance and so we wanted to see if we could get a better view of them from the lake. It was beautiful!!!! People were out walking around, renting lake bikes & canoes, and there was even a guy playing a guitar. Classic! We stayed there for awhile and then thought we were out for a long time, so we checked our watch and it was only 12:30pm!!! We decided to catch a bus to the city center instead of walking and we were able to for $2.30 a piece. Then we checked out some overpriced department stores and finally ended up at the Warehouse (like a wal-mart). At that point we were very tired so we had to sit down at on of their resting spots.
After the Warehouse we stopped off at a grocery store and bought some sarsaparilla because we heard it was like rootbeer and they don't have rootbeer in New Zealand from what I've seen. It didn't have as strong a flavor as Rootbeer, but it still worked out nice for a rootbeer float.
Yes, we're tired. Tomorrow's church and we're going back to the same church from last week for an info lunch with people from the church. We're still looking for a church home and yes, we can be bribed with food to at least visit a second time :) Sad, but true. We took lots of pictures, but we still can't hook our camera to the comp yet. i hope mom get that instillation disk to us soon.
FYI
I decided to write a random thought for (almost) each day so here we go:
A trip to the Post
So the other day we went looking for a post office and found one that was empty and said they had moved. So we walked over to where they had moved and found out that particular type of post office didn't have envelopes. Actually, I'm not sure if they actually mailed things either. So we were directed to go all the way down to the city center to another place that did have envelopes, but you had to mail letters outside in the post box. Now it doesn't sound as confusing as it really was at the time, but all we wanted was to mail a simple letter and ended up walking all around the city to find a place that did mailings. On our way back home, we stopped at the place where the Frankton Market is usually held, and found a post office that is much closer. This is good, except, we don't actually know if they mail out letters yet. Hmm. It's probably more of our incompetence than it is of New Zealand's quirkiness. Like I've said before, everyday things are such an ordeal!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
So today Tiana and I spoke to people on skype for like half the day. Our mornings the next day are your evenings the previous day. It's hard to keep track. It's nice to talk for free!
It's crazy here in New Zealand. Everything is soooo expensive because it's imported. You can get jewelry cheaper here, but electronics are ridiculous. Our phone and answer machine cost us enough for a fancy phone back in America. Hmm.
We've found a good Christian radio station called Life FM. It plays a wide variety of music that I love. Kudos to them!
We've gone to two different churches so far. The first one was great!!! And I recognized some people from when I was in New Zealand before. But, the church is in Cambridge and so we cannot get there. We went with the couple that we stayed with last week, Luke and Kristin. Last week we went to another church around Hamilton. It seemed okay, but we are going to keep searching. Please keep us in your prayers. We may try to catch a ride to the cambridge church again, by bus or by carpooling with one of the guys who picked us up.
Speaking of Luke and Kristin, the high-school history teacher by day and rock singer by night, with his wife the M.I.A. Kiwifruit 18 hour working day maniac for the next few months due to the Kiwifruit packing season for her family's farm...yes, they were a big blessing to us. If someone would have told me that my first week in New Zealand would include a tour of a Kiwifruit packing site, a highschool Maori hangi competition, and a NZ battle of the bands with the bass guitar and electric guitar players of the "Holy Rollers" picking us up from the airport, and the lead singer being the guy that was a friend of a friend who we'd be staying with-not to mention our stay on an open land of beautiful rollings hills and cows and sheep and all the things that make New Zealand so beautiful,....yeah, I probably wouldn't have believed it.
Whew!
Too bad I was sick for the first few days. But the bad cold is wearing off and the jet lag is slipping away. It's all good.
We moved into our apartment last Thursday. It could have been cleaner, but, it's very nice. We just a lot more cleaning to do than we expected. Internet is up and running again after some wiring problems. Sorry I couldn't post sooner. We just recieved our couch and two dressers today from Habitat for humanity who not only builds houses, but also fixes furniture and sells it at thrift store prices. Oh, and they deliver, so thus we were able to get a bit of furniture in our apartment. Beds cost tooooooooooo much, at least twice as much as home. So, we'll be sleeping on our air matresses a little longer. We tried to find tall air matress than can last a year. Y'know, so we're not sleeping on the floor with little ones. We've had no such luck so far. We'll such the web for a little, then we'll turn to ebay or somewhere to see if we can get one shipped here.
Well, I need to get some decorating done. Pictures of NZ will have to come a little later.
Cheers!
It's crazy here in New Zealand. Everything is soooo expensive because it's imported. You can get jewelry cheaper here, but electronics are ridiculous. Our phone and answer machine cost us enough for a fancy phone back in America. Hmm.
We've found a good Christian radio station called Life FM. It plays a wide variety of music that I love. Kudos to them!
We've gone to two different churches so far. The first one was great!!! And I recognized some people from when I was in New Zealand before. But, the church is in Cambridge and so we cannot get there. We went with the couple that we stayed with last week, Luke and Kristin. Last week we went to another church around Hamilton. It seemed okay, but we are going to keep searching. Please keep us in your prayers. We may try to catch a ride to the cambridge church again, by bus or by carpooling with one of the guys who picked us up.
Speaking of Luke and Kristin, the high-school history teacher by day and rock singer by night, with his wife the M.I.A. Kiwifruit 18 hour working day maniac for the next few months due to the Kiwifruit packing season for her family's farm...yes, they were a big blessing to us. If someone would have told me that my first week in New Zealand would include a tour of a Kiwifruit packing site, a highschool Maori hangi competition, and a NZ battle of the bands with the bass guitar and electric guitar players of the "Holy Rollers" picking us up from the airport, and the lead singer being the guy that was a friend of a friend who we'd be staying with-not to mention our stay on an open land of beautiful rollings hills and cows and sheep and all the things that make New Zealand so beautiful,....yeah, I probably wouldn't have believed it.
Whew!
Too bad I was sick for the first few days. But the bad cold is wearing off and the jet lag is slipping away. It's all good.
We moved into our apartment last Thursday. It could have been cleaner, but, it's very nice. We just a lot more cleaning to do than we expected. Internet is up and running again after some wiring problems. Sorry I couldn't post sooner. We just recieved our couch and two dressers today from Habitat for humanity who not only builds houses, but also fixes furniture and sells it at thrift store prices. Oh, and they deliver, so thus we were able to get a bit of furniture in our apartment. Beds cost tooooooooooo much, at least twice as much as home. So, we'll be sleeping on our air matresses a little longer. We tried to find tall air matress than can last a year. Y'know, so we're not sleeping on the floor with little ones. We've had no such luck so far. We'll such the web for a little, then we'll turn to ebay or somewhere to see if we can get one shipped here.
Well, I need to get some decorating done. Pictures of NZ will have to come a little later.
Cheers!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Greetings from the southern hemisphere
Hi. Yes. I exist.
In the future!
New Zealand is 16 hours ahead of most of you guys from home, so, yeah.
It's been eventful here. We had internet, then we it messed up so we had to get another type that cost $100 kiwidollars more. Right now i'm at the library, but hopefully by tonight or tommorow I will be able to use the internet at home.
I have a short time limit at this computer so, I'll have to get back to the whole UPDATE thing.
For now, just know that we miss home, love all you guys, and really need continued prayer as we are going through this adjustment stage.
Thank you so much for all of the encouragement notes and emails. It made me very happy. And Tiana too, I'm sure.
For now, bye bye.
In the future!
New Zealand is 16 hours ahead of most of you guys from home, so, yeah.
It's been eventful here. We had internet, then we it messed up so we had to get another type that cost $100 kiwidollars more. Right now i'm at the library, but hopefully by tonight or tommorow I will be able to use the internet at home.
I have a short time limit at this computer so, I'll have to get back to the whole UPDATE thing.
For now, just know that we miss home, love all you guys, and really need continued prayer as we are going through this adjustment stage.
Thank you so much for all of the encouragement notes and emails. It made me very happy. And Tiana too, I'm sure.
For now, bye bye.
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