Kara says: I am happy to report that I have moved out of my homestay and into the hostel where Lizzy works! I am staying in the "Ski Hut" which is basically a private closet for long-term stays. lol. I like it here! And I like having more time to myself. The homestay situation was not working out, as was mentioned in the last post. I've been debating how much of my experience there I should talk about, but all's well that ends well, as they say. I'm feeling a lot happier and healthier now, albeit also feeling poorer. Lizzy and I have been working hard and working a lot of hours cleaning, though, so I can still save a bit, which is excellent!
Lizzy says: I'm really enjoying being in Wanaka. The hotel work is hard but it goes quickly, and I really like the work at the hostel (which mostly consists of hanging out at the front desk and chatting with people, and telling callers that we're fully booked for the evening). I wouldn't want to do this forever, but I can already tell that I'm going to be looking back at this time in my life with fond memories one day. I'll be telling stories to the young'uns about the summer I spent in cleaning in Wanaka when I'm old and gray, and I bet when I do, I'll remember it as being so idyllic. And I figure if that's going to happen- and I know it is- then I'd better live it up the best way I can while I'm here! I'm just trying to soak up everything, the good and the bad, and make some memories for the future. Mostly I've been doing this by taking walks and also by eating as much ice cream as possible.
There are some characters at the hostel. I promised I'd update about a guy I'll call IQ, which stands for Insulting Quebecian (since he claims that he isn't Canadian). We've been having some very interesting philosophical discussions-- for example. he is of the opinion that the progressives in the United States could really mess up the Republican's organizational structure by all registering as Republicans but voting however they want, and I am of the opinion that he's crazy. I call him Insulting Quebecian because he has a really impressive way of giving a compliment that is also an insult (or is it an insult that is also a compliment?!?) He owes me ice cream for defining the world "miscegenation" for him, so we'll see if he pays up.
Also staying at the hostel currently is a Frenchman named Anthony. It is a stroke of very good luck that he's here, because I had been desperate to have a haircut (it was getting mullety in the back), and as with all things, it's crazy expensive in New Zealand. But Anthony is a hairdresser, and was offering cheap haircuts to anyone at the hostel who wanted one, and lest you think that he was just some rando with scissors, he's been a hairdresser for the past 5 years in France and is working at a salon in Wanaka too! So I got my hair cut by him out back, and it's a really good haircut, and mostly to the point is that he's really cute. (Also he has dreadlocks and wears his sunglasses indoors, it's pretty great. He is a sweetheart!)
Here is the hostel where I'm working and Kara is living: