This last week was pretty exciting! And by exciting I mean I spent two days moving, outfitting, and setting stuff up for my new apartment. I live in a place called Hobsonville and the first thing my mom said she thought of was “Hobbitville”, which is slightly better than Zack’s thought of “Hobosville”. Thus the name of my wifi was born. I want to give a big shoutout to Kmart, who has provided 95% of the things I’ve needed. I’m usually a big thrift shopper, but NZ doesn’t have the best non-clothing in their thrift stores (known as “op shops”) so I had to look elsewhere. I would usually turn to Walmart, but alas that isn’t an option here. But then I saw Kmart, like a shining beacon in the sky, and I now have low budget, kinda janky, beautiful apartment accessories. I’m really picky about having things match so I picked a color from my 3 Kmart options (beige, blue, and green) and now from here on out have to find all green apartment stuff. It makes finding things like blankets and rugs both easier and harder. On the one hand, I only have to look for one color. On the other hand, I can only look for one color. Curse the ’tism I’ve been touched with!

This is my apartment! But take away everything except the couch… and make it a little dirtier with a sagging middle. I used the listing pictures because my place looks a little sad right now. Once it’s all dressed up, though, I’ll show you my version!

I spent over 2 hours trying to get my wifi hooked up – which included a distress call to my personal IT department (aka my dad) – before realizing that I was supposed to let the company know when I got my modem so they could turn my service on. It also hasn’t been confirmed yet that I’m set up with the electricity company (I still have power though…) and I tried to get into my mailbox today, but the code that worked 4 days ago no longer opens it. So I wouldn’t say everything’s peachy keen just yet, but it’s getting there. Trying to outfit an apartment while being limited to what I can carry and bring on a bus has been a little tricky and put a bee in my bonnet, so that’s going to be this week’s project! The best place to get a good priced car here is Facebook Marketplace so wish me luck and safety.

With all the figuring stuff out for my apartment I didn’t have much time to do anything too fun. My big outing was last Sunday when I went to the Bishop’s house for dinner. He and his wife are empty nesters so they invite a handful of people from the ward over for dinner most Sundays. This really sweet woman from the ward, Eden, offered to drive me since the Bishop lives north of the city and I couldn’t take a bus there. She was the chauffeur for several of us women going and I had a blast getting to know them a little better. There were about 10 people invited total and it was fun to chat and play games in a more intimate setting. At one point in the evening, the Bishop’s wife casually said “oh look, the dolphins are jumping in the bay again” like it was a normal everyday occurrence. For a girl that’s lived in land-locked states her whole life that’s a crazy thing to say! It really is different living over here.

Before I sign off and add some pictures (which is the truly fun part of this whole thing), I have to talk about the food here. While I was doing a crap ton of research on NZ, I looked up what kind of food they have here and learned it’s mostly British influenced. I’m not gonna lie, that didn’t inspire much confidence. Now that I’m here and have tried some of the food, I can report that… it is exactly as I feared. Now, I acknowledge that I haven’t tried everything and my sample size so far includes 2 home cooked meals and 3 restaurants, but that honestly should be enough for me to have eaten something with flavor by now. I’m not sure the kiwi people have heard of spices. And that’s surprising in Auckland because I’ve seen a variety of ethnic people, many of whom come from countries know for their flavorful food. I mentioned this to my parents and my mom said I need to be careful if I invite anyone over for dinner because I could over-spice them. I also had my friend Alex asked if this is the result of living somewhere that doesn’t have Mexico as a neighbour. Well I say let the masses come and I’ll show them what real flavor is! I haven’t been brave enough to try Maori food yet so maybe that’s where all the flavor on this island is. I’ll report back if that’s the case.

I also had to add this. I ordered a Dominos pizza (with no need to tip the delivery guy, thank you NZ!) and this is what came… for the size large. The plate next to it is a small side plate. I thought I’d be eating pizza for several meals, but it turned out to just be two. I kinda miss overweight America…

I just have to mention one more kiwian weirdness before I kick off the picture portion of this post. Like many non-American countries, NZ doesn’t refrigerate eggs. Seeing the aisle with eggs in it at the store was second in weirdness only to putting my eggs in a kitchen drawer instead of the fridge. I know that they’re fine, but it’s messing with my head enough that I’m still kinda nervous to eat them… but at $10/dozen I’d better get over that fast!

Here’s more fun with buses! Several of the bus stations have multiple platforms and some require you to cross a bridge over the highway. Also, it’s kinda fun to sit in the little bus stop box while waiting.

I really wish you could have a 360 view of me in this first picture because I’m on a tiny little square of pavement in the middle of a highway intersection. There’s nothing like tyring to be more active by walking and then seeing your life flash before your eyes.

This second picture is what the bus closest to my apartment looks like. 90s acid trip or tons of fun? You decide!

This is the view from my apartment balcony.

And this is the view of my balcony from my apartment. I feel like a true kiwi now!

And these are just some pictures from me walking around town: At an op shop in Chinatown, the Hobsonville main street on my way back from the grocery store, ducks at a park nearby, and some fun spiky flowers in someone’s lawn.