The Big OE

Lets just start with the absolute truth. Ireland, was without doubt my hardest year abroad. It wasn't because of the rain or all the bleak grey buildings, the knackers or the tinkers, the bogs, the drinking or the potatoes. It was a little more complex than all that. However on the flip side, it was also my most rewarding year.

I arrived on the 29 of September 2008 on a wet miserable day in Dublin. I found an apartment almost immediately in the center of Galway city. Eager to settle in and get unpacked I moved into a three-storey apartment called 'The Cobblestones'. Johnny was a builder and Caroline worked in a Call Centre. Arlene, a student was a ghost whom we never saw.

To say I struggled to find work is an understatement. I applied for everything, dropped CV's in to any store who would actually take one. I landed an interview with a marketing company as a trainee. I got a call back, but ended up in Tuam, a small town out in the country with a door to door sales man trying to sell makeup. I walked away saying it wasn't for me, and ended up having a complete Bridget Jones moment, by getting completely drenched by a passing truck - is that karma or what? But that wasn't my low point. I eventually got a bottom of the barrel job doing tele-marketing for an Insurance company a couple of hours a night. It drained my soul, but in the end my jaw put an end to that. On the outside I was keeping my composure and standing strong, but internally I was at breaking point. My jaw eventually packed in, and locked itself. You have no idea how often you use your Temporomandibular joint until it hurts beyond belief. I couldn't eat anything that involved biting or chewing, it hurt to talk. I found a dentist who couldn't find what the exact problem was, and unfortunately at €80 a pop the problem got worse. I was stressed beyond belief. He tried everything, but the problem didn't budge.

I exhausted any savings I had, and eventually had to ask for help from my Mother and Sister. Although they were supportive, neither could really understand why I was so determined to stick it out, when everything was going against me. They gave me a deadline of Christmas, to get work or move home. I couldn't even afford rent at that stage, and Caroline my landlord, who was living in Australia took pity on me, with out her understanding there was no way I would've been able to last as long as I did.

It wasn't until my birthday in the middle of December till I got a break work wise. A large cafe around the corner from my house gave me a job as a waitress. I busted my guts, worked ridiculously long hours with minimal breaks. My first day, I had less than a €1 to my name, and honestly didn't know what I was going to eat for dinner. A grumpy old man who'd hassled me constantly during the hour he'd sat at his table eating his one bowl of soup, came up to me when he was leaving the cafe and slipped €5 into my hand and smiled at me. He had no idea of the predicament I was in, and I could have burst into tears then and there but he slipped away without a word.

A week later I went in on my first day off, to pick up my pay and got told not to come back. I had apparently mislead them about my previous experience even though I had said I had never waitressed in that sort of Cafe ever before. I was distraught beyond belief. It was a week before Christmas, and all options had seemingly been exhausted. That was my low point. I had an appointment at the dentists immediately after I'd been fired, and tried to hold it together, but couldn't keep the fat tears rolling down my face while the dentist worked away. I started laughing/crying at the ridiculousness of the situation, and told him to ignore me and work away. He stopped what he was doing, and demanded to know what was going on. I explained the situation and he immediately said "Stop right now, you're not paying for another cent." He ended up doing well over €300 worth of treatment for free, and even called a few times to check up on me in the months afterward. He didn't know me from a bar of soap and didn't have to be so kind but for whatever reason he took pity on me.

So Christmas came and went, and at the beginning of January I did one last massive CV drop. I applied at every factory and fastfood outlet, as well as any store who would even take a CV (which wasn't many). I had a successful interview at Quizno's, an American Sandwich chain and was due to start at the end of January. In the meantime I got a call from a Temping Agency to come in to do a Computer Competency test. Scoring above average, I was absolutely ecstatic to get called a few days later to say I had got a contract for 6 weeks at the Business School in the local University. I took a risk and chose to do the 6 week contract rather than the permanent Sandwhich job. It paid off and 4 months after arriving in the country, I was set up in my own office, with a view of the river and a job that I thrived in. I loved it at the University, and they must've picked up on that - because every time my contract was due to expire I kept getting asked back. The University even put an embargo on all new hires due to the Recession, but I still got to keep my job. I was at least 10 years younger than all the people I worked with, and the same age as some of the students but I slotted in and soon made a name for myself. It was tough to say goodbye thats for sure.

So with work sorted out, I focused on travelling and exploring. In March I went to Glendalough and Dublin. My Sister Ana came to visit, and we drove down to meet up with her boyfriend and friend to do the Ring of Kerry. In April I went to Edinburgh and did a tour around Scotland. In May I got offered a Nissan Micra by Mairead a woman I worked with. Since she wasn't using it, I paid for the Insurance and got to have the little car to run around in. I ended up doing roadtrips to Dingle, Achill Island, Donegal, Northern Ireland, and Cork. Cath from my Uni days, Aimee my sisters high school friend, Sam my cousin and his Girlfriend Anneke all came to visit at various points. I also had several fantastic Couch Surfers (Paul, Christina, Heinke, Kelly & Rinkse) come to stay who have since remained good friends.

At the beginning of June I found out my mother was sick. Very sick actually. And the question to stay or go was beyond tricky. With her consent and strong approval I made the decision to stay. She wanted me to finish out my Visa, see out my summer plans and neither of us knew when I'd be able to come back to Europe. She was feeling relatively ok, and had the support of my stepfather Neil, her friends and rest of the family at home. My sister flew back from London for her first lot of Surgery and we kept in constant contact.

In July I went to Poland and the Czech Republic to catch up with Jitka and Jan, two cool cats I'd made friends with in Vancouver. At the end of the month I spent a week with Lisa (high school friend and her husband Andrea) travelling all over the west of Sicily. And in September I returned to Germany to visit my old Au Pair family, and to see old friends. I loved being back, and it was good for the soul to be back in Germany.

So now that I'm back home in New Zealand, abd have said good bye to the Emerald Isle, what are my final thoughts? Well you may have noticed a distinct lack of new friends being mentioned, and thats because this country, no matter how friendly the people are, its incredibly difficult to make good friends. I have nothing in common with other 24 year old girls there, who are obsessed with wearing Neon coloured belts as dresses, who cake on the fake tan, clock up notches on their bedposts and drink till they pass out in the street. The boys are easier to chat with, and are great for a laugh but unless you're born and breed there you'll always be the newbie. I couldn't keep up with the drinking, and wasn't interested in Hash. I couldn't go out when I had work in the morning and struggled with the noise from the pub across the road. I was ready to leave, lets just put it that away.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. Its a beautiful country (Dingle being my highlight) I wanted to move to Ireland almost as long as I wanted to live in Germany. I was going to go there straight after Germany but the Visa Application process didn't really allow for it. It was the hardest, most challenging year I've ever had, but I wanted it bad enough and stuck it out. Thanks to the generosity of my family, friends and a couple of crazy locals, it all worked out. I couldn't have asked for a more quintessential Irish experience. Broke, unemployed on the West Coast of Ireland in the middle of winter. I always thought I was a quitter, but I've got more strength than I ever gave myself credit for. People can be insanely generous, and you should absolutely trust your instincts. Its not always good, but sometimes it can be absolutely brilliant. I am done with traveling for the next 6 months at least, I'm worn down and I need to be around people who love me, its been nearly 4 years since I was last home. I am planning on heading to Japan next, to teach English in a few months times. But lets just see how things go :o)

Its the things you don't do, that you regret.

xxxx

Niki

The days grew shorter, and the cold seeps in easily, making the prospect of curling up in bed with a good book all the more appealing.

Halloween was barely a blip on the radar but I did venture out to the rather disappointing Parade of the Lost Souls, complete with a rather brave yet still hilarious Borat impersonator, and a few days later to a Fright Night held at a local slightly derelict theme park, and found the scariest rides were surprisingly the Ferris Wheel and Giant Swings.

Dan and I, Halloween Party at Tobys

Jenna (The Bearded Lady) and I at Fright Nights

When Remembrance Day Weekend rolled around in early November, I jumped at the chance to take a few days off work, and headed to Port Angeles, in Washington to visit a good family friend. She had come to NZ as a Masters student when we were living in the Te Urewera National Park, and had kept in contact with the family and visited a couple of times over the years. After 10 years of not seeing each other, we had a lot of catching up to do and I was ecstatic to finally be in her neck of the woods. She took me to the small Victorian coastal town of Port Townsend, and we strolled around the little boutiques and galleries, and stopped in at a little rustic café for some French Onion Soup.

The following day we headed to the other side of the Olympic Peninsula along Highway 101 to the West Coast, past impressive Lake Crescent, and little towns called things like Beaver and Forks, to the small coastal village of La Push home of the Quileute Indian tribe. After a nice seafood chowder, I was shown around parts of Shoshannahs old stomping ground, in the Olympic National Park, and was more than impressed with Rialto Beach and its awesome views.

Of course since I was in America, I couldn’t give up the opportunity to go to Walmart and Costco, and brought a few bags worth of goodies. Shoshannah also took me to a Mexican restaurant, which I had never experienced before but found delicious and naturally we fitted in a trip to an American Diner, and a movie session complete with tubs of Ben and Jerrys – ahh bliss. It was so good finally seeing and catching up with her again, and seeing all her familiar sights and sounds.

Before heading directly back to Vancouver I took a day to tour around Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. An attractive city, with a distinctly European feel. Then back to Vancouver, and back to work, the days a lot colder, and definitely shorter. At the end of November my friend Jenna, not finding what she was looking for in Van decided to move back east, to Toronto, to try her luck in the concrete city.

The Empress Hotel, Victoria, BC

December rolled around, and it snowed. From out of no where came this white blanket, that covered the streets, and trees and put everyone in a more festive mood – well everyone except the drivers, and the homeless I daresay. I ran outside into the street in my pajamas, with out any shoes like a little kid. It had snowed briefly in Germany, but nothing like this. It didn’t stick around for long, but it kept coming back and although I loved when it snowed, Vancouver snow tends to turn to slush fairly quickly, and either melts or turns into ice, which when you’re a delivery driver is not a lot of fun. I had the joy of working one Sunday afternoon, after a particularly heavy dumping of snow, delivering food to a surprise birthday party on top of hill in a rather posh area. But having no experience of ever driving in the snow before, and having a rear wheel drive rickety old van, and compacted ice on the road doesn’t make fun driving conditions. I ended up fishtailing all over the road, and sliding back till I hit the curb. Then nothing, nothing I did would make the van move. I got out, shoveled away as much of the snow as I could and put salt and grit under the tyres, rocked it back and forth, being careful not to flood the engine – but nothing. And so inevitably the call to the boss got made, to come rescue me. I seemed to have missed the memo about loading the van up with cases of bottled water to weigh down the back tyres. This didn’t solve my dilemma though that I had a van load of hot food, a surprise party waiting to kick off and no contact phone number. So off out into the snow I go, hoofing it by foot I galloped the 10 blocks or so to the clients house, and wet as a dog and more than slightly puffed I arrived on their doorstep, and promptly told them my pathetic story of getting stuck on some ice. Never fear four sprightly men from the party came to my rescue and we ventured back to the van, and with three of them standing on the back and another at the wheel, (as by this point I had refused to drive in fear of crashing into the rather fancy parked cars) the men took off into the distance leaving me to gallop back the 10 blocks or so to the party to help unload. Rather exhausted with my efforts by this point, I was more than relieved to see a chain gang of party guests had been started by the time I arrived to help move the food into the house, and with the last dish safely inside, was the exact moment my boss showed up – bless him. Thankfully he offered to drive the Van back and I got to drive his snazzy four-wheel drive instead.

So then my birthday came and went, I had a small Ugly Sweater Christmas party, complete with my first glass of Eggnog and work got stuck into the crazy party season with gusto. The weather was still determined to play havoc with me, and I ended up slipping down some concrete stairs at a clients home while carrying a marble cheese board, and compressed several discs in my back making life fairly unpleasant until I got talked into finally going to see a Chiropractor. Just before Christmas rolled around Jitka, a true gem moved back to Europe, and onto a new job teaching English in Spain. I was gutted to see her go, but I know it won’t be the last I see of her.

Tabbie, Eliane, Jitka and I at Cascade Lounge

For Christmas I was asked to go to the home of two of my bosses for dinner, with several others from work who were also family-less during the silly season. Dinner was fantastic, complete with all the trimmings, they’d even ordered a Pavlova (a down under meringue type dessert) which I got to decorate, and with a fresh blanket of snow my Canadian Christmas went down a treat.

New Years Eve closely followed, and I joined a few friends on a Club Crawl around some of Vancouver’s Nightspots. I never have good New Years Eve’s, and this years was no exception. The night started off ok, getting taken to various clubs on a bus, but the last stop of the night was way out near the airport and if you know Vancouver – that’s no where near the city or anything really! At least I got to have my first ever ride in a yellow school bus, even if it was with 50 rowdy screaming University Students. Before the clock chimed 12, I made my escape and 4 buses later I was home, tucked up in bed ready for 2008!

January brought a welcome break from the madness that was December, and as everyone else had decided to take their vacations at the same time, I had little choice but to battle it out and carry on as per usual. However as I was able to get a good deal through work with a rental car, I grabbed Nic one Saturday and we headed up the Sea to Sky Highway to Squamish, a small town often used in movies and tv shows (such as Insomnia, Double Jeopardy and Men in Trees) as a backdrop for Alaska. After feasting on a massive lunch at a local diner, we kept driving further up the Squamish River and at Brackendale we found a Bald Eagles Winter Nesting ground, volunteers had set up and info centre and provided bincoluars. I love how just a short drive out of the city, you're completely surrounded by the great outdoors.

Cam, Grant, Stuart and Dan - the Ozzie Boys

The staff party in the middle of January in the form of a Hawaiian Luau, provided some much needed relief from the miserable gray doldrums. The whole Butler crew raided their closets and pulled out some real Hawaiian beauties, and nearly everyone got into the spirit of things. We’d hired out the ANZA clubs hall which was the perfect size and we put the dance floor to good use. Of course every staff party has a scandal or two and ours was no different, but boy was it a good night.

Me with Kathryn and Axelle

At the end of January I decided to move on from my place on Main Street, and jumped at an offer to good to refuse to move in with a friend from work who had a spare room, and lived in a trendy part of Vancouver, close to the beach, one bus away from work and at half the rent I was currently paying - I couldn’t say no. Then in order to reenergize both of our batteries we both took some time off work and headed to Harrison Hot Springs, just a couple of hours drive away from Vancouver. We had originally wanted to stay at a cabin further up the Fraser Valley but the heaviest snowfall of the season had made the roads to dangerous to venture further. But reluctant to give up on our little getaway we decided to treat ourselves to the Harrison Hot Springs Resort and Spa, and spent most of the days soaking in the hot tub, or reading books by the fireplace.

View of the Hotpools from our room

Once back in Van, I heard from Ayline one of the girls I lived with back when I first arrived, who was back in town on a month long visit, and quick as anything I jumped at the chance to take her out to dinner. Each January Vancouver has a Dineout festival where restaurants all over the city, offer a special menu at a discounted rate and it really gives you the chance to sample some fine dining for a fraction of the price. I chose to take her to CinCin, normally reserved for those with limitless budgets and we had a delicious evening of playing Ladies. A week or so later, a group of us ventured up to Grouse Mountain, over looking the city and dined out in the observatory, also part of the Dineout deal. For $35 we got a scrumptious three course dinner, a skyride to the top of the mountain, and all the activities we could want at the ski field, we settled for the sleigh ride through the Dr. Seuss looking trees. It was a gorgeous night, and well worth the effort of getting there and back.

Harrison Lake

So that really brings us mostly up to date. Phew! Of course I’ll remember some stories that I wanted to include in the next day or two, but really that’s the bulk of what I’ve been up too. Work, work, work oh yeah and a little more work with a dash of fun thrown in on the side. Forgive my laziness with keeping in contact, when I’m not working I’m recovering from working, and trying to stay warm :o)

It’s that time of year again, when the days have gotten shorter and cooler, there’s a chill in the air and the pull of the indoors grows stronger. This time last year I was road tripping through the heart of Fairytale country in Germany, this year I’m working like a maniac in one of North Americas most beautiful city’s; Vancouver. I’ve been here for four months now, and I’ve yet to slow down.

I've now moved into my new place and my new roomie Maia, a twenty year old Interior Design Student is really nice. I'm struggling at the moment to get adjusted to her schedule as she is a night owl, I'm the lightest sleeper in the world and I've turned into a nana lately as I'm usually in bed by 9.30 pm to get up at 5 to go to work - but we'll get there. The place is really nice, and although my room wasn't furnished I was super lucky to get a free bed off the internet. Craigslist - an internet based classified ads site which is huge here has a 'free listings' page and one day while on a break at work I found someone giving away a near new bed, and my boss told me to go get it immediately and take one of the vans and take one of the new guys I was training to help me move it. As I don't plan on being here long-term, I'd been putting off buying any furniture so this solution was ideal. Then because I've been so flat out at work, and hate shopping one of the managers at work offered to be my personal shopper and brought my Duvet, Sheets, Cover and Blankets for me - perfect!

One night while out with Jitka and Nic, we came up with the idea to have Thanksgiving Dinner at my place and invite those that had found themselves family-less at this time of year. I ordered an Organic Free Range Turkey from work, and managed to get one of the Chefs to make the stuffing for me. My first ever Turkey turned out fantastically, it was moist and full of flavour. I also made Candied Yams, which horrified the boys when they saw me putting marshmallows on them but turned out really good, and I cheated by buying a Pumpkin Pie. Jitka made the Mashed Potatos, and Michael carved the Turkey and made the Gravy. After Dinner we flopped in front of the couch, Michael treated us to neck massages and had a movie marathon that finally ended at 6 am - it was a really good night and was super relaxed.

For the past couple of weeks the Vancouver International Film Festival has been on, so I battled the queues and went with Nic to see 'Atonement' and 'Battle in Seattle' which both made me cry and were well worth watching, and Jitka and I went to see 'Jellyfish' a wacky Israeli film. It really surprised me how popular the festival was, as all three films were sold out theatres.

This weekend, I headed across the water to North Vancouver with Jitka and went to Capilano Suspension bridge, one of the major attractions in Vancouver. It was a beautiful day, and although we were both exhausted from a hard week at work, the fresh air and exercise walking around the canopy of a Rainforest on an elevated boardwalk and across the moving bridge was good for us. We took a bus, and missed our stop so got off at the Cleveland Dam (the town’s water reservoir) and were greeted with gorgeous views of Lake Capilano and the surrounding Mountains. We then headed back down the road and got off at the Capilano Salmon Hatchery. Not the most exciting place on the earth, but it was free and mildly educational. Hungry for Salmon Sashimi we headed back to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver, and soaked in the sights of Vancouver across the Harbour.

Apart from that it’s just been work, work and um….. more work. But now I’ve trained three new guys (two of which are Australian – us Australasia’s are taking over hehe) how to do a part of my job so at least there is the possibility I’m allowed to get sick now – heaven forbid.

The last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind of working twelve hour days, finding a new place to live, lots of dining out, movie watching and a random day of kayaking.

Deepcove

On one of the last weekends to enjoy some sun Jitka, Jenna and I jumped at our last chance to head over to Deepcove in North Vancouver for a spot of kayaking. It was a fantastic afternoon, and was over far too quickly. I'm thinking Im going to have to spend another summer here just to catch up on all the kayaking I missed out this last summer.

Jitka

Jitka and Jenna

And Jennas off!

I am really enjoying my new job, but am finding the hours quite intense at the moment. My body has adjusted to the 5 am wake ups, but Im turning into a real grandma at night. I haven't had the energy to cook properly or even go to the supermarket in weeks, so I've been dining out fairly regularly or simply not eating at all because I simply have no energy left. But don't worry, working for a catering company means I'm pretty well taken care of. Oh and after only two weeks on the new job I was given a pay raise! I don’t really have a clear role in the company, I’m more like a buffer, or the lubricant added to a pressure point. Where ever there’s a crunch point, or pressure spot I get chucked in and sort things out. I don’t really have a supervisor, so I don’t directly answer to anybody and am just left to get on with what I deem to be most important. It’s a very refreshing and good spot to be in. I don’t have someone constantly watching over me, Im just left to get on with things, and in their words they think the sun shines out my bum.

Dried Seaslugs in Chinatown

The company has a huge staff, and is largely male dominated - meaning its not somewhere you would last very long if you were super sensitive or very politically correct minded. But the energy, easy goingness and family spirit make it a fantastic place to work for me. I feel very anchored there, which is important when new to a city, I feel like I have a Mom and Dad there looking out for my well being, there is also annoying prank playing brothers, hilarious chatty gossipy sisters, random weird/goofy cousins and the occasional slightly dodgy uncle. So even if the hours are long, and hard - you still have a reason to keep getting up in the mornings.

Food Market in Chinatown

As I was only subletting my current place, my time has run out and I have since found a new apartment to live in, (three blocks away haha) and will be moving in tomorrow. It’s a really nice place, rooms a bit small but will be cosy in the winter. I managed to score a free (nearly new) double bed from jumping quickly on an ad I saw on a website, and my boss let me take one of the work vans to pick it up. I happened to be training a new driver at work that day, so he volunteered to help me move it - so I couldn't have struck it any luckier really. And after complaining that I didn’t have time or know where to go to buy bedding, one of the managers at work volunteered to be my own personal shopper, and is sorting out everything for me this weekend so I just show up on Monday and everything is ready to go. So you could say I’m being extremely well looked after here.

Mojito Night, Main Street - Nic and I

Next weekend I’m inviting all the random’s I’ve met in my few short months here and attempting to cook a Thanksgiving meal, for all those that are away from home. I’ve never cooked a turkey before - so ahh should be interesting. The Vancouver International Film Festival started a few days ago, so the next few weeks are going to be jam packed with foreign films, starting with ‘Atonement’ which I saw yesterday morning, and highly recommend. Oh and while I’m on films, Nic and I managed to score free tickets to a special screening of Good Luck Chuck a fortnight ago (just standing in the right place at the right time) and it was pretty much entirely filmed in Vancouver - so if you watch it, I’ve pretty much been to all those places and walk past those buildings most days.

Mojito Night, Main Street - Jitka and I

Im sorry if I’ve been useless at keeping in contact, I don’t have my own computer, I have very limited access to a computer at work, when I move I’m not going to have Internet at all, and no home phone just a cell phone. So until I can put enough money away for my own laptop, contact from me is going to be pretty intermittent but not impossible. I will still be checking email all the time, so if something comes up I can find a way to get in touch.

So now summer is over, fall has set in. The trees are changing, and the Halloween decorations are on sale and there is a distinct cold nip in the air.

Over the past month I've pretty much been swamped with work, but I have managed to fit in a few fun days and nights out, and I jumped at the chance to go exploring as often as I could. I've been getting familiar with some of the local restaurants (mostly so I didn't have to cook), and went to 'All you can eat Sushi' with Ayline, had a German brunch with Heike, somewhere in Richmond with Jessica, to a dinner party at Kristin’s and Nicks apartment and a Farewell dinner for Jörg (who returned to Austria).

Here is a bit of a photo montage to let you see what I've been up too (when I haven’t been stuffing my face).

Kitsilano beach

Ayline

English Bay

One day Ayline (my roommate) and I ventured over to Bowen Island (a 20 minute ferry ride from West Vancouver) and explored around Snug Cove. As we were on foot, we didn't venture far, but popped into a few shops and then settled down to a hearty lunch and a bottle of wine at a café right on the Marina. When it dawned on us, we'd been sitting there for well over two hours, a little light-headed we headed over to the Memorial park, and the causeway and did a spot of blackberry picking. Ayline’s a bit of a paparazzi with the camera at the best of times, so here’s a few shots of hers:

After six weeks of nonstop shows, mayhem, rainouts and fun we ended the TUTS season with a night out at an Italian restaurant and went on to a club where one of the drivers was a DJ.

Most of the TUTS crew

Jitka and Kristen

Nic and I

Not my finest hour

So I apologize for not keeping in touch as often as I should be, but as you can see I’m just having too much fun!