The Farm

Hi everybody! I am staying on a farm in northern Auckland right now. We have only been here for about a week and a half, but it seems like it's been much longer. It feels like we've been in New Zealand for a long time as well. Things are going pretty well here on the farm. It has been a lot of work - something that I am not used to, at least not this kind. There were a few days where we were pulling weeds for six hours a day. After a couple of hours on the first day, I was pretty much over it. I was trying to get over my attitudes and gain some sort of patience. I attempted to come to terms with the fact that I didn't always have to have some sort of meaning in what I was doing. But, after about 3 days of pulling weeds, I didn't care anymore; I just wanted to not have to do it. Since then I have had a few odd jobs around the house, including cleaning the gutters from the roof. Yesterday, I worked at Glenys and Brent's flower shop in Westgate for the day. It was pretty cool. It's a small shop and everything was pretty easy to pick up. I even made a bouquet to sell. I think that it has given me a new appreciation for the art of arranging flowers, which is pretty cool because I see them at weddings all the time.
On Sunday we purchased a car!! It is so nice to know that we have some freedom now! We have been sort of stuck on this farm and haven't been able to do much exploring. Exploring is sort of the reason that we are here, so it's good that we'll be able to get out. They do drive on the left side of the road here, so I was a little nervous about that at first, but we seem to be handling it pretty well. It is actually kind of fun! We help each other out too by letting each other know if we are drifting too much (or driving on the wrong side of the road!) ;)

Besides the work, the farm is pretty awesome. The people that own it are really nice and it is good to get to know some Kiwis. They have a bunch of animals: about 20 sheep, 2 dogs, 1 cat, a bunch of roosters, a pig, and they had 5 cows, but they sold them a couple days ago. Tommy lamb is the cutest little lamb that sleeps on their front porch. He comes around every night for a bottle and they are pretty sure that he thinks he is a dog. He is really cute - I want a pet lamb!

We are probably going to leave here soon because we have a lot more to see. Now that we have that car, we can get going when ever we want. I think the plan is to go back into the city of Auckland and use some resources: IEP - International Exchange Program, free internet, phone, etc. and decide where we want to go next. Katie wants to work to make some money, so her finding a job will probably help determine where we will go. I don't really care - I don't really want to work, I just want to go see the rest of New Zealand!

From what we have experienced so far, the people have been absolutely lovely. They are really travel friendly and helpful. We can understand them very well and they can understand us (neither of our accents are super strong and the way we use English is similar). They seem to have a similar sense of humor as us as well.

The city of Auckland seems like a very safe, clean place. There is tons to do during the day and at night. We are never too far away from a beautiful beach! Well, I guess that's about it for now. It is Tuesday here and I am working on my final paper because I still have not finished up that class. I am really close to being done now though. We are thinking we will leave on Sunday or around there, but that may change...

I'm so far away from you all! I hope you are all doing well and that you had a good Thanksgiving! :)(We had a little Thanksgiving here too. It was fun. We just ate a lot and watched a movie. The farmers were happy to indulge us!)