Hello once again,

It is June now. What? What? And, once more, it is June in the Southern Hemisphere, so it is now winter. What? What? What have I been doing so far in June? BUYING COATS. It is so weird. Anyway, I have also been up to better things, like taking advantage of now living in the city, the city of Auckland (you are hopefully singing that in your head). Seriously, I have been running all around the city in search of entertainment. Here is what I have found.

Recap time:

Monday the 30th: I went on an exploratory mission to New Market, a city suburb of Auckland that is on the other side of where I live, so I don't really pass through it--ever. I went to New Market to watch a festival movie about performance artists who travel through Europe in a van and freak lots of people out...so basically the best Monday night viewing. I had heaps of time to kill before the movie since I went there straight after work, so I wandered the lit streets of New Market and gazed into closed fancy looking shops. I happened upon a small Japanese restaurant where I dined on some spicy soba noodles and got mistaken as a construction worker because of the hi-vis vest that I had attached to my backpack. Obviously the fun times were rolling. After I had finally convinced the waitress that I was not indeed a construction worker but merely someone who rode their bike around and needed to be seen (thanks to Aunt Cathy for the vest btw!), I hopped back out onto the exciting streets of New Market. And by exciting, I mean dark and abandoned. With my options for lit entertainment limited, I went to one of the TWO open bars, called the Cock and Bull. Teams of workers circled around tables getting ready for the impending pub quiz as I sat sipping the Dark Star brew. After the pub quiz started with three straight questions about the royal wedding, I took my leave to find more dimly lit pastures. Luckily, the movie was good, even though a woman came in late, sat near me, and snorted for a while. All in all, a pretty good Monday.

Tuesday 31st: I joined my coworkers for some drinks before we headed down to the premier screening of Odd Socks, a feature film made by our videographer we hire for work sometimes. It was a post apocalyptic musical about evil socks/ love story. Obviously it was awesome. Tuesday night win.

Wednesday 1st: I saw an advertisement on the University website about a free photography exhibit at the gallery that is connected to our school of fine arts. As I strolled through the door, I was handed a free beer, and met with a table full of nibbles like crackers, hummus, and a giant bowl of candy. And free art. This turned out to be the start of an amazing string of me accidentally wandering into art exhibitions on their opening night and getting handed more free beer/wine, sushi, etc. After this win, I checked out the free stand up comedy offerings at a local bar in Ponsonby. Mediocre best describes it. But, I did sit next to some guy who told me this long story about how he used to be an investment banker for a huge American firm, traveled all over on their money, then thought that he had become soul-less, quit, and now drives a truck that slows down traffic when larger trucks drive things over the Harbour bridge. Interesting.

Thursday 2nd: I went to an "Indie" concert at a small place called the Wine Cellar. As I sat there sipping feijoa cider in the atmospheric dim red indie lighting, a man who looked like a cross between an anamorphic snake and a zombie droned on about eating TWO lunches, one of which was Wendy's , the other chicken strips. This pretty much sums up Auckland's night life, which of course makes things interesting. This city seems to be a bizarre mix of people, and it is awesome to wander around and take it all in. Last night there was an impromptu circus performance at a bar that I was eating at. I bused by a church that said "This church is Prayer Conditioned." I stood next to a semi blind senior citizen with a guide dog who was buying polka dot tights and had punk hair and a nose ring. I got to sit in VIP seating and watch well oiled dance students perform cool Pacific Island dances. This city is pretty cool. Here are some pictures I took a couple of nights ago when I went for a wander around. I way trying to not use my flash, and I finally figured out ISO and etc. 'Til next time!