Perhaps multiple times a day while traveling here I have had people point out incredibly obvious basic facts of geography, knowledge, or plain trivia to me...as if I couldn't tell my left hand from my right. It was funny at first, but then got a bit annoying. It's primarily the Germans and French who have done this to me. Here's how it works. The person says something that I can't quite understand because of their accent or because they are mumbling (lots of people don't enunciate)...and, well, I say "what"? Then they tell me something like..."Paris, it's the capital city of France." One guy asked me in a patronizing sort of way that I can't replicate via blogging if I had ever been to Europe or if I've ever left the States before. Now, this was only a few minutes into our conversation. This guy later went on to talk about how Americans could be very close-minded, superficial and clueless. Another guy said most Americans don't get sarcasm (my comment: "Oh, that really hurts" -- hand to chest). It's a funny funny world.
Anyway, today is Thanksgiving, and I've managed to find one other American here in Wanaka, which is a town of about 5,000 people on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It's a sleepy little ski town with snow-capped mountains around a beautiful lake, and the less presumptive sister of it's more inland neighbor Queenstown (about 1.5 hours away) -- aka the adventure capital of NZ. It's a bit of a gray day, and I've found myself snacking the last couple days as if to make up for being away from the comforts of family and holiday cheer. I also, amazingly, think I'm a bit hiked-out. I think I went on a bit of a frenzy recently because I had not been able to do my fill of hiking, biking, running, kayaking, or whatever else, while I was in Baghdad. It's strange to think that just a year ago I was starting work in Baghdad this week. I have a lot in life to be thankful for -- especially the very fact that I am able to take a trip like this and do what I want for a bit of time. Maybe that's why I've tried to make each day meaningful in some way.
When you're traveling, aside form the wondrous landscapes a country might offer, it's the people that you meet along the way that make it memorable (or not). So far I've run into Michael, the Viennese guy from a few posts back, again in Nelson, then Greymouth. In fact, he'd messaged me about meeting up in Christchurch, and I'd messaged back. Then I didn't check his most recent message, but as I trudged over to the bus stop with all my stuff...I ran into him. He'd just arrived in town -- and I was leaving. Small world among backpackers. I met this lovely woman, Likun, who is from China and celebrated her 43rd birthday on the Abel Tasman track with me. She is a single mother of an 18-year-old back in Wellington (where she now lives), and she loves tango. Her own mother is visiting for six months from China, and Likun seized the weekend for a short trip on her own. It was her first time traveling alone, and she and I hung out and tried to make the day memorable. I gave her some extra pieces of my dark chocolate chili bar, we ran into each other in town again the next day, and exchanged info.
I also ran back into Hubert and Helga, that older kindly Austrian couple from Paihia. I ran into them in Franz Josef while boarding the over-booked bus. It wasn't the best of circumstances. I'd popped my stuff on the bus in a seat while I watched over my bag to make sure it was loaded. Hubert and Helga were waiting on their stuff as well; they had done the same. Well, when I got on the bus later it was crammed full and Helga was in the middle of a not fun situation. Some kids (a bit younger than myself) had decided to move their stuff and take the seats for themselves. These self-serving individuals (a couple) from some place in Europe sat smugly in their seats and gave no respect whatsoever to poor Helga. She was so upset. She called them rude and went over whatever other seat was open irrespective of the items on the seats. My seats. I came into this and softly told her, "Helga, this is my seat." Looking her in the eye as she had a panicked sort of look on her face -- "These people just took our bags off our seats." I ended up moving over to another single seat so that she and her husband could sit together and the bad taste of the morning could hopefully be a bit lessened. It was awful to see, but not one person seemed to give a shit. This older couple, in their late 60s, got no respect, and was in fact mocked by the people on the bus. What a lack of respect people have these days. In another age, or maybe another place, people would have gotten up to let their elders have a seat...but not now. It's a "me first" mentality. It makes me feel sad and sick.
I've been listening to James Blunt's new album "Some Kind of Trouble." It's a really great album and pretty therapeutic. A friend introduced me to him a while back and told me a bit about his background, and then I read more about him. He was in the British military and was the first Brit into Kosovo. He saw some awful things, and wrote music while there.
Hm, what's another random for this blog posting. Ah yes, New Zealand is damn expensive. The other day I paid $4.10 NZ for a Diet Coke! That's more than $3 USD. I didn't realize it was that pricey til I'd taken a sip (I was thirsty!)...and then well, yeah...I wouldn't have bought it otherwise. Oh well. Coffee here is typically $3.50 - $4 NZ, or $3.20 USD. Wow, right? Meals in most places are in their $20s NZ, or $16 USD. These are regular restaurants, not really anything special. I don't know how NZlanders do it, except...well, I think minimum wage is about $20 NZ an hour here. That might do it.
Okay, well, I'll be posting again soon with my time in Greymouth and Franz Josef (ice climbing!)...it has been an incredibly crazy week -- tough, stressful, fun...Tonight I'm hoping will be fun. The other Amercan (Amory) and I will be getting together with a Canadian and a German to share a Thanksgiving meal. I do miss the all the extravaganzas of my youth. Oh well, you make best with what you have.
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