A few weeks later...

Yes it has indeed been a while since I updated my website. Reason for that is lack of time and lack of motivation. As a mentioned in my last post, New Zealand is a great country. However some things are going different then what I expected. I live very near the campsite where I work and however this convenient this may be, it's still a bit out of town. Adding this up with the total non-existence of a public transport system makes it hard to get around here and therefore I got quite bored at times. The thing with me is that when I get bored I lose all motivation to go and do something, which leads to more boredom, and so on. Right now I'm trying to escape from the downward spiral by moving to town and buying a car. None of which is successful so far but I'm sure eventually will be. 

To make things short then, the last three weeks or see have mostly been quite similar to each other. Next week however the pre-season rugby training sessions are starting and I signed up for it. Hopefully I meet some more people there which I'm sure I will. The surroundings here are still stunning and every day I wake up I am amazed by the natural beauty of it. Now that it's high season most companies that offer activities don't take famils (offer activities free of charge for people that promote their activities such as yours truly), so I have to wait a bit before I can do bungyjumps, skydives and hang-gliding. However by now I've been rafting as well which was really cool. I was around 2 hours in the water on the shotover river which at times can be quite rough. I also been on the shotover jet which is cool as well, although I'm not as psyched about it as most people are. It's quite passive and although that sounds weird about a jetboat but you just have to sit there and that's it. Myself, I would rather be driving the thing... however they wouldn't let me... bastards. 

The holiday park is getting a bit quieter now that new year is over. We still have heaps of Dutch people as guests and it's still fun to see their faces after they made a huge effort to speak English and I simply answer them in Dutch (it's not hard to recognize the Dutch I'm afraid). Because the park is mellowing down a bit I start to have more time for my school assignment which I found out will end up being a huge report. That's fine though since I have enough time on my hands to work on it. 

So anyway... not much to add at this moment in time. I will continue to find a suitable car and place to live, which I hope will be successful sooner then later.

cheerio!

New Zealand!

Well, it has been a while since I updated this website. Many reasons for that, the biggest one being that I was busy with school assignments. Another main reason would be the fact that I’m quite lazy and on top of that, there must be something exciting to write about. The reason I’m updating now is there is in fact something to write about.

Since the 22^nd of December I’m in New Zealand, Queenstown to be precise. I am here to do my internship and of course the much needed traveling around. All students in my year will do their placements in the first half of 2008. Since we are all doing international tourism studies going abroad is mandatory. At first I wanted to go to a Spanish talking country to learn the language. However, in Macau I didn’t do Spanish too much which resulted in not taking the exam and therefore getting a bit behind. I am pretty certain that if I would do my placement in South America I would get lost easily and wouldn’t actually benefit much from it, so I choose a country where communication wouldn’t be an obstacle. With this realization my choices where also narrowed down dramatically. Since only my Dutch and English would be sufficient and the Netherlands wouldn’t be allowed, my choice eventually landed on New Zealand. I then applied for a placement in Christchurch, which was offered by the school. Four people would be applying for it but eventually I wasn’t chosen. The manager of that placement company had my CV and sent out emails to fellow tourism companies in New Zealand of which one eventually responded and offered me a placement. This all happened somewhere around mid to end October and this left me 2 months to prepare myself for traveling to what is almost exactly the opposite side of the world. Soon enough visa and flights were arranged and I was ready to go. In the meantime school got quite busy and I had to work on several projects, which consumed most of my time. I finally finished my last exam on Tuesday the 18^th of December.

Four days later I set of towards New Zealand. I flew via Los Angeles where I had to wait nine hours for my flight to Auckland. In LA I met up with Crystal, which I met before and in Malaysia and Hong Kong. It turned out to be a nice afternoon where I saw some parts of LA whether intentionally or unintentionally. Naturally with the strong euro backing me up I had to do some shopping and I bought a new 160 GB ipod. I saved over 100 euros with buying it there instead of back in Europe, which I’d say is a good deal. Crystal dropped me of back at the airport and I was set for my flight to Auckland. The jet lag already got to me then and as soon as I boarded the plane I fell asleep. I didn’t even notice that we took of and I woke up four hours later in the middle of the night. Luckily Air New Zealand is much better then Lufthansa which has a shitty entertainment system. ANZ gave me a private screen and remote, which gave me the ability to choose my own movies and music. I actually enjoyed this flight and no, I’m not paid by ANZ although I wouldn’t mind a small donation after this small marketing talk. So I arrived in Auckland two days later and missed Sunday the 23^rd of December. The reason for this is that I flew over the International Date Line that is set over the Pacific Ocean. I was therefore flying for the 22^nd into the 24^th. It’s a bit weird, but think about it and you’ll understand (mind you, I’ll be reading this story when I’m older and I have to think about it again, so the ‘you’ I’m referring to might actually be myself). Getting into New Zealand was much easier then getting into the US where they wanted two fingerprints and a picture. I had to wait at US customs for about an hour where it took me 10 minutes to get passed it in New Zealand.

In Auckland I had to wait for about 4 hours for my final flight to Queenstown. This wet fast enough since I first had to wait in line to check my luggage in again. The flight was a short one, one hour and 20 minutes, and obviously I slept through the whole thing. And then I finally arrived in Queenstown. In the arrivals hall I was searching for a couple of about my parents age that where wearing or holding something that indicates that they are from the company I am about to work for. I couldn’t find them but eventually found a girl with the mentioned clothes. Her name is Cortney and she was there to pick me up and bring me over to the holiday park. Since I just slept on the plane I didn’t notice much from the jet lag yet and I was quite hopeful that I would last the whole evening. I was introduced to Kenneth and Sandra, the owners of the holiday park once Cortney had brought me to them and found out they are gentle people and have the best intentions with me. Cortney showed me around the campsite so that I could familiarize myself a bit with it. Once back in the office Kenneth explained what I would be doing over the next few days. He wouldn’t through into the deep end as I expected but I am to follow a trainee program that’ll last for about two weeks. Another thing I didn’t really expect is the fact that the company will also let me go on trips and activities, which are offered in the office. Kenneth wanted me to get on a jet boat that day but they were too crowded so this wouldn’t happen. However on Boxing Day a trip was planned to Milford Sound, a famous fjord some 4 hours away from Queenstown.

That day I was introduced to the family I am living with. They turned out to be really nice and apparently Kenneth had another surprise for me (at least I wasn’t expecting it), which was that all food expenses are paid as well as the accommodation. Basically this means that all living costs are taken care of!

Since this evening was Christmas Eve, my host family (consisting of Dave and Rebecca which are the parents of Brittany and Victoria which are 11 and 8 respectively) had a lot of visitors and a party going on which I joined for a bit. Around 9 o’clock however I got really tired and decided to go to bed. Next day they couldn’t believe I slept through all the noise they made but I did.

First day on the job, Christmas day, I had to do some work around the campsite. This basically meant tidying up some rubbish that lying around in order to make it suitable for receiving guests. Not much to mention about this so I’ll just leave it at that. I still am feeling the jet lag actually so that day I went to bed around 10-ish to wake up real early, around 6, in order to make the coach that would pick me up at 6.45. New Zealand is the first country I have been where the trip to the attraction was more impressive than the actual attraction. It’s truly a magnificent country where there is so much to see. The trip of almost 5 hours just flew by. Milford sound itself is something terrific as well and well worth a visit. It’s also quite remarkable that some of the mountains where snow covered to a certain degree which even the bus driver thought was unusual. Who says the world is warming up?! There were also possibilities for taking helicopter flights over the valleys and cliffs but I didn’t do that. I arrived back home that day around 7 o’clock where dinner was waiting. I feel like I’m leading a rather luxurious life considering the benefits I get so far! Today is the next day in the story and I want to work around 10.30. Now everything is getting a bit more serious and Kenneth wanted me to explore the campsite better and see the accommodations for myself. Afterwards he is quizzing me about it to see if I know what to tell guests. By now I’m quite familiar with the park and accommodations layout and am learning the prices of all of them. In the afternoon however, Kenneth managed to get me on a jet boat trip after all. The drive towards the dock took about 45 minute and led over an old mining trail. It was basically a small road where we drove over in a big bus-like vehicle and had no protection what so ever. There was no tarmac on the road and I’m pretty sure accessing it by foot would be forbidden back in the Netherlands. But this is New Zealand and the driver found it fun to see people this scared. The boat trip was fantastic. However, the weather is really bad at the moment so we couldn’t see much since the rain kept gushing in our faces. With the speed of the boat the rain actually hurt a bit. This trip also marked the first lord of the rings movie spot I visited namely the part in fellowship of the ring where the riders of mordor are flooded by the river while Frodo was on his way to Rivendel. I didn’t recognize it at first but the boat driver had a picture of the scene and it was quite obvious after that.

Getting back also meant the end of the story since this was only a few hours ago. Again dinner was ready when I got back and I’m just relaxing a bit now and typing this story. Hope you liked it and if not, bummer.

Cheerio!

Moscow - St. Petersburg - Home! (Vodkatrain part IV)

It's strange now the school has started again and I am still about to finish my story about the vodkatrain. Been home now since the 16th of August already. Tonight I am actually planning to finish it all. After this is finished I will work on making a book-like version of all this and put all the pictures online, since I haven't done that yet. This is mostly due to my lazyness but also because since I got back home I spend a lot of time with people I hadn't seen in a while. Back to the story then. last time I stopped just before arriving in Moscow, so there is where I am going to continue from here on.

On that saterday the 11th of August we finally arrived in Moscow after a full 3-day train trip. Relieved as we where we got out of the train where we were met by our honcho. We were brought to a van that took us to our hostel. The hostel was a bit outside the city centre. Our honcho said the red square is reachable by foot, but it would take about 20 minutes. Our hostel seemed quite good, it was a shared dorm, but boys and girls were separated. We all refreshed before heading for a metro station that would take us near the red square. Actually we first went to a theatre because some people wanted to see a ballet and wanted to get tickets for the next days evening performance. I hadn't decided yet if I wanted to go, but upon arrival I decided to go anyway. It's like Yoko said; when in Moscow, you've got to see a ballet. After purchasing we headed over to the red square. It was still light outside but soon enough night started to kick in. Red square is pretty awesome, just for the fact that it's the red square. The st. basils cathedral is beautiful and looks even better litten up during nighttime. Before entering the red square you see a big red building which serves now as the national museum. In front of it is a big statue of a guy on a horse... I forgot to ask who it is... Everything looks really impressive. Lenin's mausoleum is also located on the red square and looks quite dull. However with the kremlin walls on the background it sort of looks like Lenin is guarded by its immensity and this gives a strong feeling of history and what the kremlin ment for Russia and the former Soviet Union. Speaking of it, the USSR is still vividly appearant in the Russian streetlife. A lot of stands and tourist shops surrounding the red square almost exclusively sell Soviet stuff, and a lot of museums in the city remind people of the not so distant history of the country. However, it is obvious that Soviet times are history since Moscow on first account really is a cosmopolitan city. Especially the neighbourhood surrounding red square breaths capitalism, money and progress: completely something different than the rest we had seen from Russia. I found Moscow quite stunning and I wasn't the only one. That night we didn't do much more. We went to an internet cafe and back to our hostel.

The next day we woke early to go to Lenins mausoleum. Not everybody went though, Helen and Jack didn't want to go. I can understand why, but I still wanted to go for the sake of being able to say afterwards I've seen it. Not the best argument, but that's just how it is. We had to stand in line for an hour and were inside for not even 30 seconds. Lenin was lying there in a black suite lit up by lamps. I had my hands in my pockets but even that was seen as disrespectful because some guard came over asking me to get my hands out of my pockets. We had to keep walking as well, and in no time we were outside again. Lenin looked more like a doll since his body is preserved with the use of wax. Every 18 months he receives a full treatment and every 2 months a minor one. And imagine this, he actually wanted to be buried next to his mother in St. Petersburg... Outside we walked passed graves of significant Soviet leaders including Stalins.
Afterwards we walked through the park of the kremlin towards the entrance of the kremlin. prices to enter where quite outrages. If I remember well it was 250 roubles to enter if you aren't a student (not all of us where) and something like 40 for students. Never seen such a price difference, but so be it. Luckily I had a student card on me so I had the discount price. Afterwards I found out we have to pay seperately for the armoury (a museum within the kremlin which is filled with treasures and such). The armoury was way more expensive even for a student, so I decided not to get in. Steve, Dave and I just went around the kremlin grounds before going out again. We hung around for a bit, had lunch and wandered around the tourist stalls before chill in the park. By that time Dave and I lost Steve since he has the tendency to wonder off without notifying anyone. We rendez-vouz-d with the group in the afternoon and some of us went to see the insides of St. Basils cathedral, as did I. It wasn't as impressive as from the outside but it was worth it anyway. We then proceeded to the theatre for the ballet. The theatre looked nice upon entering, compete with balconies and stuff and I must admit that ballet itself wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it still isn't something I would do again in the near future.

The next day we headed to 'Sparrow Hill' where we could witness the skyline of Moscow to the fullest. However, it's not as spectacular as Hong Kong I'm afraid... Afterwards we to a local market and to a vodkamuseum where we drank vodka with certain added flavours which tasted real nice. Next we went to the Church of Christ the saviour which is a big white church with golden towers. Unfortunately we could not enter because most of us wore shorts which weren't permitted. Afterwards we headed for the park again and ended the day in a local pub.
The next day would mark the last day in Moscow and me, Tash and Dave went to the museum of revolution in the morning. Next we went to a park to chill out for a bit before having lunch and continued to do not to much. It was a relaxing day and not much mentionable happened. The ending of the day wasn't perfect by all means. The thing is that the night before we would depart to St. Petersburg a train was bombed between Moscow and St. Petersburg. It was the exact same train as ours but one night earlier. The Russian authorities assured that all trains would as scheduled that day from 3 pm and we arrived that evening at 0.15 am for the 0.30 am train. At first it was delayed half an hour but this became more and more and eventually we left by approcimately 4 am. It would only be a 7 hour trainride and we were supossed to enter St. Petersburg by 8 am the next day but this was not possible any more. I was hugely dissapointed by this since I already would have one full day in St. Petersburg because of our plane leaving the next day at 12 am. Things got worse however because when we all woke up we were only half way yet and not much later we stopped completely. Nobody knew what was happening or when we would arrive. Every once in a while the train would go again, but only for a short amount of time. During the stops airconditioning would be turned off and the temperature would rise immediatly. Even the train conductor ended up wearing nothing but his jogs. Eventually we arrived at 11 pm that day, a delay of 14 hours and Jamie and I only had 10 hourse left before having to depart for the airport. We then decided to just stay awake and wonder around St. Petersburg by night.

At 11 pm I was already quite tired but I might be in St. Petersburg only this once so I had to make the most out of it anyway. I already thought Moscow was awesome and beautiful, but St. Petersburg is way better in that aspect. Although I have only seen it by night now, I can tell it's like walking through a museums of buildings. The only people on the streets were either drunks or (Chinese) tourists. It was amazing that at 3 am we saw 4 tourbusses stop around the centre square. Having that said St. Petersburg is a city which I would love to visit again. It's a city of palaces, statues and cathedrals of the kind I've never seen before, and as I said it's like walking through a musuem of architecture.

At 8 am that morning we went back to the hostel to pack our stuff and say goodbye to the group. We had such a cool group and it was a pity to leave them and I hope to see them again in the future if I can. If everything goes according to plan I might see Dave soon enough since he says he wants to come to the Netherlands. Steve and I intend to go running from bulls next summer in Pamplona, Spain, and you never know, I might meet some of the others again as well.
That morning of the 16th we left the hostel at 9 am to go to the airport. First we took the subway to a certain stop from which a bus would take us to the airport. The bus was really late and we started to worry, but we reached the airport in time. it was the weirdest airport I've ever seen since all people had to line up in fron of the building to get there bags checked even before entering. Than we had to enter the building to get in line for our check in desk. However, this wasn't our desk yet. First they check a list and if you are on there we could proceed. There our handlugage was checked and finally we could proceed to the desk where a long waiting line was formed. Once we were finally checked in we had to wait in line for customs again. This process is so inefficient, it's unbelievable. But finally we made it through and set off back to home!

We arrived 2 hours and 45 minutes later in Köln where we were awaited by our family. It was good to see everyone again after such a long time. Since I hadn't slept at all for more than 24 hours at that point I felt like I was on drugs or something. My dad saw me and decided to not let me drive... probably a good call. After an hours drive I was back home, and noticed everything was the same as always. Not suprising, but it still felt weird, sort of an anticlimax. I felt like that for a couple of days before it went and over the passed weeks I met almost everybody again I know back here. It's now hard to imagen everything actually happened but writing this took me back a bit and I feel like going on a trip as soon as I can. And I will, because coming January we all have to go on an 25 weeks internship in a foreign country. I am now aiming at a place in New Zealands, Autralia or the Pacific. School has started again and I am in my first week now. Back to normal completely, but my class is cool so I'll manage. This marks the end of my story. It was a good experience and I would love to relive it all again. Unfortunately I can't but I hope to have a similar experience again.

For now,

Thank you, bye bye!