Here I am again...

So guys,...

I'm finally taking the time to write a new blog article.

Some things have changed since last time. I had to look up where my blog article ended last time.

My last blog article ended in Twizel when we stayed in this awesome accommodation with Jason, in case you don't remember. 😉

The next morning, we set off to Twizel, or should I say the 'city', because Jason lives in the middle of nowhere.

Twizel is a nice little town in the Canterbury region on the South Island of New Zealand.

After spending a total of 3 days in Twizel, we decided to start working again. Since we couldn't find a job in Twizel, one morning I decided that we should go back to Arrow Hostel in Blenheim. And so we did.

Just 5 minutes after I said it out loud, we started driving to Blenheim. After 7 hours, which was perfect timing because the Highway 1 closes at 8 PM due to construction work, we finally arrived in Blenheim. We surprised Lea when we arrived, and it was nice to see Alice, the hostel owner, again. She even has pictures of us in the living room.

However, when Alice told me that she didn't have a job for me, which I assumed she did, I decided that I needed a change of scenery.

It was a day that will stay very positively in my memory for a while. In the morning, I packed my things and headed into town. I started the day with breakfast and a book in town, then I went to Warehouse Stationary to print out my CV. I did what is called 'doorknocking' to find a job. I walked around town and looked for stores that interested me to submit my application or CV. I submitted my CV at Poppy Thai and had a nice chat with Dara, the owner. She told me to come by tomorrow evening so she could train me. Later that day, I decided to change hostels to do my own thing. And so I did. I changed hostels and I feel totally comfortable here. I spent the evening with Marion from New Caledonia and found a great roommate in her. So I'm really happy with the current situation and enjoying just thinking about myself for once.

The next day, I was familiarized with everything at Poppy Thai within an hour and she told me I could start working tomorrow.

So on my first day of work, I walked into the restaurant and went straight to the kitchen because there was no one at the counter. Jason, the chef, told me that Dara was in Nelson, and I would be doing everything today: welcoming and serving guests, cashing out, taking takeaway orders, answering the phone... all by myself.

Of course, I was happy that so much was entrusted to me, but I was still a bit surprised. It was a very quiet evening and apart from the takeaway orders, only 2 people came in. I managed everything perfectly except for the split bill. The cash register didn't cooperate.

This job is a great example of how fast and uncomplicated everything is in New Zealand. I suspect that work and travel in Germany is not as easily possible as here, where everything happens quickly and one doesn't have to wait long for job interviews or anything else. If you plan it right, you can go out in the morning and it's not unlikely that you start the job the same day or the next day.

A few days later, I went for an interview at AWF, who got me another job at a mussel factory in Havelock. So in the morning, I had my interview, including a drug test, and on the same day, I started working. By the way, drug tests are really common here in NZ.

During the week, I work in Havelock, where I have to drive 30 minutes each way every day.

And on weekends, I work at Poppy Thai. I really enjoy working as a waitress again and learning something in the kitchen as well.

At Stanford, the mussel factory, I feel like I'm constantly dealing with safety.

In my opinion, the introduction was quite funny, as I was extensively told that I can't carry weapons, use drugs or alcohol during working hours, or wear fake nails, and so on.

Recently, I tried to reschedule my flights because I wasn't mentally ready to return to Germany so early, but unfortunately, I was told that I couldn't change all my flights as I had hoped, which made me extremely frustrated.

I went through all possible options in my mind, and the option of returning to Germany was not initially considered.

After a lot of back and forth in my emotions, I made peace with the idea of flying back to Ravensburg yesterday. I can't tell you exactly when I will be back, but probably in about 2 months.

I'm incredibly excited for everything that is still to come and I'm trying to enjoy every moment to the fullest.