barista extraordinaire? well, barista anyway

I'm a bit behind and about to run out for a 2 week whirlwind tour of the North Island, but I'll catch you all up on the excitement this week:

I GOT A JOB! 
At least, I think I did.  I went into No. 7 Balmac and "tried" which I guess is the same thing as an interview/audition since I was trying for the job of Barista.  Sheryl, Vanessa's good friend, works there and, according to Vanessa and others who have followed Sheryl from cafe to cafe, is the best barista in Dunedin.  I'm stoked that I get to work with her.  So Monday, I went into the cafe/restaurant and met the owner, donned an apron and started refreshing my Starbucks taught espresso making skills - with Sheryl as my tutor.  I met a few other people who work there as well: one guy from Long Island who is getting his doctorate at the University of Otago.  We chatted about NYC, it was lovely.  After a few hours, the owner decided she liked my "manner" and the fact that Sheryl says I have potential being a barista.  I maintain it was the fact that I carried a tray with one hand that got me the job.  Either way, when I'm back in Dunedin in January I'll finish my training and start getting paid.  I think this means I actually have a job?  We've all decided it does...yay potential future income!

Wednesday evening wasn't raining (the first time this week) so Vanessa took us to go see glowworms!  They are so cool!  We drove about 15 minutes from the house and walked about 5 minutes into the bush up a wee hill along a stream.  All of a sudden, in the pitch black, it looks like twinkle lights are hanging in the trees like Disneyland, except they're real glowworms!  Coolest thing ever.  A really fun experience to see all these little bluish lights just hanging in the trees.

Nicols Creek - the name of this particular glowworm neighborhood

There are a couple very faint bluish spots - those are glowworms - I need a better camera

I wish I had better pictures of the glowworms because they are really rather surreal.  Maybe I'll get a better camera that I can adjust the aperture and get penguins and glowworms, but until then, here's a picture from elsewhere online:

Waitomo Caves

Thursday night was another big night.  I went to my knitting group first and then I hit the complete opposite of the spectrum and went out dancing and singing karaoke with my new best friend Matt Tucker.  After knitting, we went back to his apartment and met up with 3 other girls who work with him and we all hung out for a while.  Then at midnight, we decided it was a good time to set off some of Matt's fireworks.  So, out in the driveway, Matt set off the rest of his firework stash and Claire, Donna, Harriet and I "ooh"ed and "aah"ed appropriately and kept the lookout for cops.  None came.  Then we set off sparklers and there's this FABULOUS sparkler thing that's called 10 Shot.  It shoots out 10 colored bursts and I totally felt like Harry Potter (or Hermione rather, she has curly hair) casting spells.  Yes, I'm a nerd.  It was awesome!

Friday evening, we started watching the Lord of the Rings since we're going on a tour of Hobbiton on our Christmas vacation road trip.  Every time we saw natural scenery, we all asked Vanessa, "Where's that?"  It's kind of crazy because it switches between the North and South Islands in the same scene and Vanessa seems to know it all.  There was one point where she said, "there isn't a river down there, where they're looking."  I didn't know Murder, She Wrote wasn't shot in Maine, how does she know where ALL the rivers are in the whole country?  Shocking.  And the edge of Fangorn Forest is apparently her friend's farm.  How cool is that?

Saturday we had a Christmas dinner at Michael's house with a bunch of people.  Excellent food, lots of fun people, and to top it all off, I might have made a couple new new best friends since Matt has left me and moved to the North Island.  Fran, a friend of Michael and Vanessa's, loves to dance and stay up till 4 in the morning (score!) and Simon H. also loves to dance, especially Ceroc.  So Vanessa, Fran, Simon and I went out dancing in the Octagon.  We started at one bar with a live band and Simon started leading Ceroc with Vanessa and me.  I picked it up relatively quickly.  Reminds me of hustle with some salsa in there.  So. Much. Fun.  

There was also a stag party (bachelor party) going on and all the guys looked to be under 25 if not barely 16.  The groom-to-be literally had a chain attached to his ankle and was holding the 10 pound metal ball.  We talked for a minute and I learned he's getting married January 15th and is more concerned about giving a speech in front of 100 people than actually getting married.  Priorities, eh?

We barhopped a couple more places looking for good music and finally decided we should call it quits about 2 since Fran had to work at 8:30 Sunday morning.  She might officially be my idol: a married mother of 4 who still goes out dancing late when she has to work the next morning.  Inspiration, truly.  I can't wait until we all get to go out again.

It's now Sunday night and we've finished watching all of the LOTR movies so we know what to look for on our roadtrip.  I'm packed and ready to go; Vanessa and I drive to Christchurch tomorrow morning.  So, blog posts will be on a wee hiatus over Christmas and New Years.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all and I'll be sure to post boatloads of pictures when I'm back from this expedition!