On the job hunt...

I obtained a cell phone today, a prepaid vodafone. (Process: purchase phone and sim card which has your phone number attached). There are two main cell company choices in NZ, or so it appears. Vodafone and Telecom. I went with Vodafone, which everyone I ran into seemed to be recommending. The things that have confused me about it so far are that I seem to be able to receive phone calls and texts for free. It seems like they are losing 1/2 their revenue opportunities, but anyway. It sort of also appears voice mail is a pretty good deal. You don't have to hook up and opt in, like back home. Of course, maybe this is made up for by the high calling out rates.

I also started the fun process of sending out resumes today. Fun! I haven't entirely decided if I actually want to start looking for a job just yet. I'll just wait and see if anything comes back. If not, I may do a bit of travelling around with a few folks that I've met here so far.

I called CIBC to attempt to transfer funds to my newly opened NZ bank account, which is what my NZ bank account who specialize in migrant banking indicated I should do. CIBC informed me I can only transfer funds from a branch in Canada. Isn't THAT helpful, when I couldn't set up a NZ bank account until I was in NZ. I'll follow up with my home branch on that front and hope the national branch was wrong. (I happen to have transferred funds via fax to another financial institution, so I'm a little grumpy with CIBC). Other Canadians have indicated that BMO is the most user friendly bank for travelling abroad. Too bad I don't use BMO, if that is true.

Interesting NZ facts that I've learned so far:

1) They do not use pennies. They round off to the nearest coin- I believe it is 5 cents.
2) Their currency appear to be the same colours, for the most part, as Canadian notes. E.g. - $20s are green, $5s are blue, etc.
3) Their crosswalks are sort of wierd. At the large intersections the traffic stops from all four directions, and pedestrians can cross diagonally.
4) I don't want to drive here. I can't seem to figure out which way to look for oncoming traffic.
5) They have ALL sorts of fruits. Funny looking prickly looking things. And lots of fruit crossed with other types of fruit creating strange sorts of fruit.
6) Books are EXTREMELY expensive here. I couldn't afford to keep my book habit here. Paperbacks alone seem to start at around $15-22.

The people do seem to be pretty friendly and helpful, so far, in Auckland. A young fellow stopped me on the street seeking some sponsorship for some sport team. As I wasn't planning on helping him the guy immediately behind me asked him what it was for and looked interested in helping him out. Also, when I failed to notice the fire truck coming through a red light at me, a fellow on a cell phone gave me a warning. Nice of him, wasn't it!

Winter has been pretty nice, so far, my three days here. It has yet to rain, and hasn't been too cold. Folks back home who have to go to through the -40 winter would be jealous. Although our hostel is none too warm in the evening. Brr... Sleep in polar fleece, I've learned.

As to the one think I keep meaning to check, I keep forgetting, so I can't verify that the water turns the opposite direction from home. Stay posted.