The Day the Earth Stood Still; A Rotten Peach

June 24, 2009

Betsy is working at the pack-house until 4:30 today. What have I done with my first morning alone, one day after the departure of our dear friends Eric and Elena? Watched “The Day the Earth Stood Still” of course. When else will I watch a cheesy, Keanu Reeves science-fiction movie? Well, come to think of it, Lee is visiting soon…

Eric and Elena’s visit was awesome. They’re great! …as Tony the Tiger would say. I took 6 hikes in two weeks, easily a record for me. Mt. Maunganui, Papamoa Hills, Waitomo, Rainbow Mountain, Cathedral Cove, and Papamoa hills again. Goodness gracious; a lot of hiking. Betsy was working for one of them, Eric and Elena were taking a highly rated tour of the Waitomo Caves on another. For the most part, they were all amazing. New Zealand rarely disappoints, and these tramps were no exception. In addition to hikes, we spent lots of quality time together. Eric and I played quite a few games of chess, some of them epic! One game in particular stretched on for approximately 3 hours. These games often happened (or started, anyway) when Betsy, Elena, and Wendy watched Shortland Street. Shortland Street is a soap opera, New Zealand style; Wendy, for those of you that don’t know, is our All-Star flatmate here on Range Rd. One night was spent playing poker, with the losers facing dish duty the following day. I’m proud to say the game ended with my girl Betsy sitting in front of the biggest pile of chips! Another evening was spent playing Euchre, then consoling Eric and Betsy… after Elena and I cleaned their clocks! Have no doubt, there was some movie watching sprinkled in there too. We viewed “Man on Wire” (thumbs up), “Once Were Warriors” (a New Zealand movie; good, but very hard to watch; NOT a feel good movie), and “Whale Rider” (also a New Zealand flick, but good and feel good). Best of all though, there was lots of conversation. Betsy and Elena each seemed to solidify the opinion that their growing friendship is fantastic, and that the other party is an awesome, amazing person. Refreshingly to them, they see eye to eye on a lot of things, sometimes in areas where Eric and I can be stubborn. Eric and I also enjoyed one another’s company. Eric is my man! I really like that guy. He continues to mature as a person, and I’m proud to call him my best friend. The four of us also took walks on the beach, and occasionally paired off in the less common Chris and Elena, Eric and Betsy combos. That too was very enjoyable, as I find Elena to be an increasingly delightful person as the years go by. Betsy and Eric, for their part, have developed a fun friendship that involves its fair share of good natured debate and competition. In short, the four of us get along wonderfully, and loved spending so much quality time together.

Goodbye Sidetrack Café. I’m no longer the American dishwasher extraordinaire. After being told it was “too slow to come in” four days in a row, I loaded up my pride and self-respect, and told my boss that I’d look for another job. She fed me a few lines of her usual bullshit, and that was that. …Until they came calling again. Turns out some of the pricing I was working on can’t expediently be completed without my services. Who knew? What I do know is that I’m not going to continue my habit of going above and beyond the call of duty without feeling properly appreciated. And properly remunerated. When I stopped in to help out for a few (20) minutes on Friday, I made sure Eric and Elena received a free flat white (NZ’s standard coffee) for my troubles, and picked out a (free) boysenberry mudcake muffin for Betsy. Tomorrow when I show up to help out officially, I’ll get a 60% raise over what I was making as the dishwasher.


June 25, 2009

Betsy is working again, and I just got back from the beach. I watched the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean. Attempt to describe beauty in 3… 2… 1… It was so beautiful that someone must be writing a song about it right now. God plopped down some heavenly pink right where the sun would rise, then smeared it all across the horizon until it dried on his fingers and left only heavenly pink streaks. Throw in some clouds to bring out the texture and depth of the display. Let the sun burst through in some spots, and shyly peek from behind in others. Let the shimmering ocean take care of itself. Bingo. Another day at the Papamoa/Mt. Maunganui office for God.

I won’t be going in for that 60% raise after all. I was text messaged last night by one of Peach’s (my boss) employees letting me know she had changed her mind, and was going to have her boyfriend Paul complete the job instead. Poor Paul. There are so many reasons I’m thankful I’m not Paul.

We have a new flatmate named Bridgette. Like Wendy, she is from South Africa. Also like Wendy, she seems to be a very pleasant person. It is amazing for the sheltered little American that I am to hear stories of her home country. Bridgette parks her car in front of the house here in Papamoa, but would never do so in Johannesburg, for fear of it being stolen. She also wouldn’t walk around the house with the blinds open; especially when home alone. In fact, after dark, it would be ill-advised to be home alone at all. The same goes for stopping at “robots” (traffic lights) after dark. Even further, don’t even drive a car that is more than five to seven years old, or has more than 60 or 70K on it, as breaking down is dangerous. This is all amazing to me. What’s more amazing? As most of us know, on that continent it gets much, much worse.