Merry Christmas: We're All Shook Up!

When I started this blog I knew that I would be writing about my Christmas in New Zealand- and how I was going to be spending it alone- meaning with no family and without Wells.  What I did not know was that my first real earthquake would overshadow it.

Two days ago, on the 23rd of December Christchurch was hit with another round of earthquakes. My story as an earthquake novice has been amusing locals and visitors alike and I will retell it, from the beginning, here.

ROUND 1
On Friday I was scheduled to be at work at 2pm.  I had just walked back from the shopping mall two blocks away after a quick trip to the grocery store and was running a little behind.  I was rushing and only go into the car just a couple minutes before 2.  As soon as turned on the engine, the car started to shake.  That's odd, I thought, thinking it was my car.  Once I made it the two blocks down to the mall my car started really shaking while I was waiting to turn.  The only way I can describe it is the way something shakes in a cartoon-- before it explodes.  Needless to say I began freaking out and for a moment considered jumping out of the car and getting away.  I decided the car was not safe to drive and got back home as quickly as I could. I texted my boss, Sam, that my car was acting weird so I was going to ride my bike but I would be there soon. I was especially worried since I was alone and know fairly little about cars.  As I passed the mall on my way to work, I noticed that the mall was evacuating- something that I had kind of noticed before.  What a coincidence, I thought.

I arrived at work and saw the girl who was on before me standing outside in the courtyard.  As I came in Robyn asked me if I was alright.  Sam must have told her about my car, I thought, and she's being very concerned and nice about it.

"You have to come see the bar," she said, "It's a mess, so much broken glass." What? I thought, I was here last night and I know we cleaned up!  I went over with her to look and sure enough, broken classes we on the floor and bottles were knocked over.  In my apparent confusion, my earthquake naivety showed through.

"You do realize that was an earthquake?" she asked.
 What? What?!?

As the realization hit me I was overwhelmed with a strange mixture of embarrassment, relief and new fear that brought me to tears.
"Would you like a glass of wine?" Robyn asked.
"Yes, please."

Assessment 1
By the time we had finished our wine (sitting outside) a couple of other bartenders had arrived.  We began surveying the damage and taking pictures. Here's a simple shot:

A messy fridge, broken glasses and bottles tipped over, but bearable.

There were a couple of people coming in asking to be served and we obliged a few of them.  On one hand, we've got broken glass and everything to deal with, but on the other hand, I guess people are just looking for a drink after what was an unpleasant reminder of the shaky past year they've had. My boss has a shot of me serving in this bar condition and when I finally get him to send it to me I'll post it.

ROUND 2: 6.0
So, as dedicated workers, Claire and I began restocking, arranging the fridge and wiping broken glass off of the counter tops.  Then the second earthquake hit.  It started as a rumble and as we had had a couple of small aftershocks, we both looked at each other thinking, is this going to pass or is this for real?

Then the bottles started falling.  This is for real. After snapping out of stunned stillness, Claire gave me the shove I needed and we raced out of the bar Indiana Jones-style amid the falling bottles and glasses. Breathe and regroup. Luckily we weren't hit with broken bottles but we definitely did come out sticky.

This last one was intense.  What you can't see is the cocktail mixture that covers the ground.

I'm glad we made it out of there!

At this point Sam closed the bar and cancelled everyone else that was scheduled to come in.  We began sifting through the rubble on the ground to see what we could salvage. Amid the half-empty beers and the pond of Bailey's we were able to pull out some, albeit sticky, survivors. 

Our new collection.

We all felt really bad for Sam since he not only lost stock, but was loosing the business he was expecting as well.  The day before was out most successful night ever and Friday was supposed to be the best night of the year (apparently heavy drinking is a kiwi Christmas tradition).  At this point, with the bar closed, that wasn't going to happen.  Unfortunately, this was the same for many business that we trying to get back on better economic standing after the year they have had.  Stores and malls emptying on one of the years biggest shopping days was not good news.  A couple of hours later, after we had cleared the glass, wiped the counters and removed all wasted liquid, we were left with a clean but empty bar.  Not to mention we were feeling a bit drained ourselves.  Sam called a group meeting after learning that a couple of local bars were still open.  None of us were expected to work and we debated on weather it was worth opening: Would people be coming out after today? What if there is another strong aftershock? In the end he decided to try and open so we all rallied up and sorted things in the most shake-proof way we could, meaning no stuff on shelves and no glasses hanging above.  We did open at around 7 that evening but closed earlier than usual because it was a lot for us to handle when everything was in boxes and it was just the four of us.

Celebrating a successful clean-up. And Santa hats.

All in all, it was a very long day and I was very grateful to Robyn who did  not allow me to spend the night alone and took me back to her place for the night.  Especially since for the rest of the day I scrammed whenever I felt movement and there were a couple of decent tremors in the night.  Luckily everything was just fine at home, I live on very solid bedrock ground.  Only one lamp had been knocked over and Oswald was calmer than before, if that makes any sense at all.

I worked Christmas eve as well the next day.  It was not as busy as was expected but no bar was and I'm sure it had to do with the earthquake and how it at the very least had thrown present and grocery shopping plans.  The staff Christmas gig afterwards was quite lively though, mostly because I saw my boss very drunk for the first time. Gold.

I guess you could say my first Christmas alone was a little shaky... but I still managed to have a successful day, mostly getting ready for my parents arrival on Boxing Day.  Now I'm excited for Wells to get back and have a proper Christmas dinner and small presents :)  And by small presents I do not mean aftershocks! I think I have had my fill by now.

In Review 2: As Kiwi As...

As it nears the end of 2011, it feels appropriate to have a second 'In Review' post that highlights a few of the little things I have noticed living and working here.  At this point Wells has taken off to Antarctica and wil be living his dream come true until the 30th of this month.  Luckily, my parents will be arriving on Boxing day and Wells will be back in time for New Years.

Beautiful Scenery on the way to Hanmer Springs

Weather:
In my last review post I mentioned that the weather was a little less summer- or even spring- than I had expected.  It has still been pretty rainy and cold but this week has made drastic improvements- so fingers crossed it stays that way. This is the summer I have been looking for! I've decided I will take the rain now, as long as the weather is nice when we do our country tour.

In true summer fashion though, the days have gotten very long.  You can see the light start creeping in before 5am- which I sometimes see when I'm getting to bed after working a weekend night at the bar- and you still see light at 10pm.  I know it is nothing compared to what Wells is experiencing in Antarctica, but I love it. I love long sunlight... I'm not prepared for what it will be like in winter.

I don't know exactly what it is here- maybe the lack of people and pollutants!- but the sky can be very beautiful and clear.  Here is a beautiful sunset that Wells captured:

Sweet As:
Not only have we been adjusting to understanding the New Zealand accent, but we have also been learning some new Kiwi sayings.  Sweet as. I must have had a blank stare the first time I heard this, but it is said enough that I soon caught on. Sweet as = awesome/great/no worries.
For example: "Hey did you need anything from the store?"
                      "No, I'm fine, thanks"
                       "Sweet as"
The first time you hear it- or for the first month in Wells's case- you are thinking 'Sweet as... what?!'  Or: 'did that person just say "sweet ass"?'  This incomplete phrase that seems to leave you hanging also translates over to other areas:
"I'll have to get one of those too, that's cheap as!"
"Wow, these phrases are kiwi as"
As what? You'll never know.

Another kiwi as expression I have been adjusting to is using the word 'partner' for any type of relationship.  I first heard it being used when i was getting to know one of the other bartenders.  I mentioned that I came here with my boyfriend (now fiance) and she said that she had just moved back to Christchurch but that her partner was still in the North Island.  So I asked, "Oh, so what does he do?"  But then realized I hadn't gotten that much information, so not wanting to be assuming I added awkwardly and under my breath "...or she." It turns out it was a 'he', but I was still quite thrown off.  Partner here can mean boyfriend/girlfriend, fiance, husband/wife and there is also no gender indication. I imagine that this leads to some confusion for the kiwis, or maybe they just don't care how much of a 'partner' you are.  Still, it has let me to some tongue twisting moments when introducing Wells- there are so many options now! Still, I like fiance :)

Getting Around:
In my last review I talked about getting used to the driving around here.  Since then, we have pretty much decided that the driving here is... loose.  For all the strange rules they have, including a no left on red (like a no right on red in the US), sometimes they drive like you would expect in a big city or in South America.  Weaving, pulling out halfway into a lane before turning and running red lights like I have never seen.  I met a man at the bar that said he lived in London for a while and wondered why everyone was always complaining about his driving.  Then he came back to New Zealand and realized.

As it is everywhere, petrol is expensive here but many gas station have interesting strategies to lower prices and get people in.  At our local grocery store, if you spend over $80 then you get a receipt for 4 cents off per litre of fuel at a BP station.  Every once in a while they will run a deal where if you spend over $200 it's 10 cents off a litre and most recently it was 25 cents off.  Other supermarkets have their own similar deals with a different chain of petrol stations. Some gas stations give a gas discount when you spend so much in the convenience store and others draw people in with big prize promotions.  It's grown on me now, but it was definitely something new and different when we first got here.  A very interesting method of getting people into your store and to buy your fuel.



Coins:
Another adjustment we have made has been of course adjusting to the new money types and denominations.  It is a lot like Europe in the sense that the bills are different colors and there are $1 and $2 coins.  However, it wasn't until I started working at the bar and had a till system that I realized there were no coins lower than 10 cents.  They had 10, 20 and 50 cents but no 5 or 1 cent.  Okay, I figured, tax is included in prices, so it would be easy to work around the lack of small coins at the bar. Then I went to the store and bought something that was 14.98- and I bought it with cash.  I handed her $15 and awkwardly waited for any change, then realized I was getting nothing.  I later learned that New Zealand elimated the 1 and 2 cent coins in 1987 and the 5 cent coin was ditched in 2005.  So to me, the prices should reflect this and things should be priced in increments of 10 cents.  But still not everything is. Now I know why everyone uses their bank cards over cash- that way you are saving those cents! 


Occupy Akaroa: Our first camping trip
The first weekend in December Wells and I took our first camping trip together with some friends to the Banks Peninsula about an hour south of Christchurch.  This is the home of the little french town of Akaroa that we had visited before, but luckily the weather was 100% better. Seven of us total headed out, four were Wells's classmates and the other girl was Jessica, who we met on the night of the Rugby World Cup.  She is living and working in Australia but is actually from Texas! It was fun to have met someone doing the same thing we were and she came back to visit for the weekend.

We settled Saturday at a campsite at Okains Bay.  We were able to pitch our tent in a wooded area just meters from the beach.  The mismatch tents and campsites led us to name it 'Occupy Akaroa', but luckily we did have a stove-top and shower available. 

After pitching our tents a few of us set out on our first hiking adventure.  We decided to tackle the mountain across the stream, but it turned out that it was the stream that was going to be the challenge... at least for some of us. Since we weren't dressed for streams, we tried to find the shallowest crossing point, take off our shoes and roll up our pants.  However, poor Jessica found the deepest part of the stream and every step brought her lower and lower until all we saw was her hat! Hopefully I will get pictures from someone else to show, as I have no pictures since my camera was in her pocket! RIP camera!

Still, we managed to have a great climb and made it to the top with this great view of the bay.  The next day we took a more planned route as a group and had some great rock climbs and even saw a seal playing in the water from a high perch!  We finished with a lovely day day on the beach, enjoying the weather and gorgeous views.  It was a great first trip out and I can't wait until we take our South Island backpacking/camping trip!

Picture Perfect!