observations
i went to this book exchange to get a book in exchange for this book I had called House of the Blue Mangoes. i would consider it Literature, as in it would be in the literature section at barnes & noble, like next to victor hugo and shit, except that it was written by some guy davidar, so it wouldn't really be next to hugo. anyhow, the lady at the exchange was like, we have a hard time selling "trade publications" so we can't take that. sorry. and i understood that very clearly to mean that the people who go to this book exchange like trashy romance novels and spy thrillers, like tom clancy the the kiwi versions of tom clancy. for fuck's sake. sheesh. i miss b&n. i did manage to pick up the fountainhead, though. something i figure i should read. i hope i don't get brainwashed.

it's really hard to find good literature here, even at legit book stores. any good books they do have cost NZ$40, and while i'd readily pay that at home if i really wanted to read it, there's something imposing about that number that makes me not want to buy a book. i am supposed to be living simply.

something else i have noticed is how technologified everything here is. every store, even the dinkiest snack shop, is capable of doing eftpos transactions, which is their way of saying debit transactions. you know, swipe your debit card, punch in your pin, and get cash back, if you want. it's really how everyone does things here. (my bank card is not able, however, even though it's from hsbc, and they have branches here, being a supposedly international bank and all.) the other thing that's big here is txting. yeah, like on your cell phone. at home, i txted, but only with three people. here, everyone does it. radio stations and mcdonald's even does contests where you txt a number and maybe win a cruise. interesting, no?

last night i went to my first party. it was cool, and it was nice to socialize with people from my course. i think the thing that impressed them the most and made them realize i wasn't some dopey shy quiet american was when i grabbed a ciggie and lit it up like a pro. yeah, so i have this problem where i like to smoke when i drink, but sometimes the nasty habit comes in handy. but man oh man those boys were dirty and gross. vulgar, more like. and a bit sexist and piggy. i'm starting to realize that american men aren't so bad after all. a good thing to learn; be grateful for what you have, i suppose.

guys here readily and easily drink "girlie drinks". you know, like smirnoff ice. and no one laughs at them. but what i've found my classmates and cohorts like to drink is jim beam and coke. premixed. for NZ$14, you can get four fairly generous bottles of authentic jim beam and cola (pepsi, it turns out) premixed. yes, it saves some effort, but in the end is more expensive. for fuck's sake. and last night, drinking and driving (and "smoking" and driving) was done quite liberally. i think i'll be lucky to get home in one piece.

i went SURFING TODAY! it was great!! i even stood up a few times, and had a pretty neat ride back to shore. my board was very very very very long, which thankfully made it easier, but i really enjoyed it. i'm looking forward to doing it again and hopefully eventually getting good enough where i don't drink half of the bay. i had salt water entering every orifice in my head. after two hours, i felt like a human pickle from the salt and was thoroughly convinced that if i laid out on the beach long enough i'd turn into human jerky.

my first visitor comes next weekend!! YEAY! and if you are really my friend, you will come too. ;)

love, me