Fresh of the boat
9/11 Got to Mt Roskill, Auckland, New Zealand by plane at night, lived in the first place (220$/w)
9/16 First bought lunch (I was starved), bought a bus card (5$), went to school to register, first time took Auckland bus, met a woman who gave me a hand
9/17 Met the woman again when I was struggling to withdraw cash from the ATM and she had just gotten off the bus to transfer
9/18 Got the BNZ bank card number (no bank card)
9/19 Went to school, attended classes, met classmates
9/20 Saw the large real vessel for the first time
9/21 Got a meal and some food from Bible Chapel church
9/22 Walked around looking for a job (Wu cha has promised with an opportunity)
9/24 Went out looking for kindergarten practicum opportunity, got a first practicum’s permission
9/27 Second time bought lunch and ate it with group members
9/28 Became a volunteer in the Bible Chapel church in Henderson
9/29 Moved to a second place (180$/w)
10/4 Registered a temporary BNZ bank card in the bank, got my deposit card on the same day when I got back
10/13 Got a part-time job in a Chinese restaurant
10/15 Bought a red bike, 190$
10/18 Rode my bike to school (Sweated a lot and was signed late)
10/20 Went to the house of the Justice of the Peace named Peter Chan, one of the Massey local board members in Henderson
10/22 Returned the bike, got my money back
10/24 Bought the e-bike, 500$
10/27 Started the first practicum
11/10 Went to the Sunday Market ( Ma Chang) first time and saw Fa Lun Gong’s banners and brochures for the first time, big surprised. Got a small blue cake from Mrs. Li (She is always so helpful and generous)
11/11 Tried yummy Dou Fu Nao which was made by Mrs. Li
11/13 Learned about community centre’s free dinner activity (But I didn’t go there at that time)
11/21 Got a library card and started checking out books
11/27 Have been told the first practicum can be failed
12/5 Tried He Luo Noodles which was made by the second houselord
12/8 Moved to the third house (150$/w)
12/10 First practicum finally finished (What a relief), was harshly criticized by Teacher Rose bcos of a midnight appointment
12/16 Was refused by the second practicum center (The manager is the wife of the first practicum centre’s manager)
12/17 First time went to the Greyfriars church (didn’t open on that day) , got the second practicum’s chance, first time as a translator volunteer helping christians
12/18 Occasionally did an activity about Christmas Tree in the Mt Roskill library (A man in the family gave me his seat)
12/20 First time went to an Indian supermarket, yogurt was cheap there(4$/2L)
12/23 Cut my hair myself, first time bought bread from the French bakery (good, not sweet, but expensive)
12/24 Got two free Santa-style cookies (shared one with the little girl from the third place family)
12/27 Tried making Macrame tree (Learned from the library) myself
12/31 Been under the Sky Tower at midnight to celebrate New Year but returned before enjoying the fireworks bcos of the cold weather
1/2 Got a 10$ US tip and saw the real US dollars for the first time
1/5 Tried making Shao Xian Cao for the first time, was attacked by ducks near the river at the third living place
1/12 Attended the local foreign church for the first time, Greyfriars church
1/15 Accidentally found a big mountain and climbed it, Maungawhau (Mt. Eden), I couldn’t find the way back to where I strarted, so I couldn’t find my bike firstly (I walked back along the road until I found the small path I came from)
1/16 Visited Auckland Zoo for the first time
1/17 Previous landlord (grandpa) fixed my bike’s brake pad
1/18 First time went to the Zumba class in the community centre, went to the salsa dance class for the first time and paid 10$ ( Which turned out to be a scam using the FREE claim in the FaceBook page, but they asked for fees when I got there), lost my bike after finishing the class (What a day)
1/19 Filled out the online police report but I knew NZ police would do nothing
1/20 Saw a chicken for the first time when I wandered around
1/22 Bought my scooter, 400$
1/25 Went to the library to join the dumpling-making activity
1/28 Started the second practicum, enjoyed dinner with my current landlord family (Gave the 10$ US cash in a red envelope to the little girl from the current landlord family as a present)
1/29 Enjoyed the other dinner with the family
1/30 Volunteered in the community center and celebrated Chinese New Year together with other volunteers, learned how to make lanterns with red envelopes
2/2 Went to that woman’s (From Xiao Hong Shu) house and got my satifying haircut, 10$
2/8 Made Shou Zhua Bing by myself, climbed the nearest mountain
2/9 Built my blog website
2/13 After some hesitation, I decided to go to the closest little mountain to see the sunset, saw a man taking photos of the moonrise, which led me to start a conversation with a local girl named Marie, exchanged contact information happily. Made me crazy for not working in a whole month.
2/15 In the Zumba class, the first song was September, at that moment, I felt like I was in a dream, I like this song very much bcos the anime movie Robot Dreams, and I lost in my mind and couldn’t catch up teacher’s steps in the whole song.
2/17 Really felt uncomfortable, I used to think I wasn’t prone to catching colds, but I’ve come down with one, indicating a slight fever, 37.3°C. I’m experiencing body aches, fatigue, a heavy and foggy head, a sore and swollen throat, thick yellow phlegm in the mornings. And I still didn’t figure out how to see a doctor here.
2/19 Today when I was using the rack to loose the sand pit (the indian teacher Mihiri told me to do it), the chinese teacher Joy stood next to me and mentioned that Mihiri can’t do this, because she has been diagnosed with breast cancer and had one breast removed, which limits her to do many physically demanding tasks. On one hand, I feel like it’s no surprise she developed a gynecological illness given her bad temper, on the other hand, I now more understand why she is so bossy and often delegates tasks to others.
2/21 I went to the church for play group activity, but only several children showed up, while helping around the church, I replied to piano inquiry emails. It feel nice to be more accepted by the members of the church, and Janine was always so helpful and told me it’s okay that I’m not a christian, everyone has their path in life. I wrote those emails to help Li to get a free new Yamaha piano and I did everything from head to foot. I reflected if I am a people-pleaser. If I don’t do it, I feel guilty; if I do it, I don’t really happy to prioritize others over myself. And finally, undoutedly, the free piano thing, it’s a scam.
2/23 Went to the malaysian restaurant to take an interview. Enjoyed BBQ in the church, it was more of a social gathering, I sat next to Mary and Elizabeth. Mary is a typical England lady who’s 81 yo. I forgot to tell her that her lipstick matched her top, both pink. Before that Elizabeth took me inside to fetch a book. After dinner, Mary told me about her love story, and she was curious about my hometown, I briefly introduced to her in my poor English, she even asked me to write down the city’s name so she can look it up online later.
2/26 I wrote several resume to apply for different jobs in seek web, but there’s a slim chance to even get one answer.
