I was headhunted big time last week and my new work has offered to buy me out of my contract! I will be the supervisor of the Under Two year olds and am going to be working in a gorgeous new early childhood education centre in Ponsonby starting after we get back from our road trip to Punkfest in Wellington.
I am very excited about the whole thing and only have 16 more days at my current work.
This week I seem to spend my time at putting music on my ipod, hiding from the wind and rain, sleeping in my bed alone as Storma keeps on foregetting to come to bed and falls asleep in her nest every night, feeling confused everytime I hear the Goxxip song Red Hott as I keep expecting it to turn into Jump N Bump by Hawnay Troof, laughing til I cry, booking flights to Wellington, and receiving exciting packages in the mail.
After months of not connecting to my computer my ipod has finally connected and I can put more songs on it. I have space for 40GB and currently only have 1526 songs on it. This all happened today, a very productive day.
I got called a fag this week and have realised that my obsession with co-ordinating colour in outfits is quite odd. It will soon be a dire situtation as we're coming into winter and my collection of tights is horrendous. Literally a big full of tights.
I've been pretty unhappy at work, and have turned not to liquor, drugs or smoking to make me feel better, but instead to buying records and cds. Plus the new kaia tshirts that she is now producing. I am now the proud owner of Free to Fight both on vinyl and CD and was so excited when I received it in the mail from Italy to see that Team Dresch's track was called song for Ann(e) Bannon. I'm a bit of a lesbian pulp fiction nerd, and was really excited to hear it.
When you've always been with at least one or five other people at all times.
I realised last night that my last post didn't talk much about the amazing time I had here and how I don't really want to leave. But there are airports to tackle, friends to see, my aunt to stay with, Switzerland to travel across train on. Cole left this morning at 5:50 and I was awake, my body is in this hyper-sensitive state preparing for flying and organising and of course I have an irrational fear that I will sleep through my alarm set to go off at 4:30am, I'm getting picked up by the taxi bus between 5:40 and 5:50 and I need to be ready for my obsessive checking of tickets, passport, money, credit card until I am in the van. Then there will be my last sights of Budapest, and a feeling of sadness.
Whilst I have been here I have found something special, and my hips are betraying my love for réte - sour cherry strudel.
I went to a gay bar on Saturday night with my boss, and the lesbian couple I was studying with. It was rather interesting. The drag show lasted for hours, the lesbians seemed to be stuck in the 60s with their very clear roles of butch and femme, and I in the cutest dress in the world did not fit in. The bar was huge and had many different areas and I saw the highest g-string I have ever seen, and it was on a boy wearing lowriding jeans, and I could not take pictures. The most amusing thing of night was when my boss got hit on by one of the straight musicians from the band that had a drag queen as the singer, which reminded me of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Apparently they're coming to Mardi Gras in Sydney next year.
But today I have had a good day, and tomorrow will be even better in Munich, and then Berlin.
Tomorrow is my last day in Budapest and I am spending it alone, venturing off to post a whole bag of stuff to Új Zéland which mainly consists of tights, maps of Budapest, and a few other things that I don't need like waterproof trousers that have been replaced in my suitcase with $600 NZD worth of DVDs made by the Pikler Institute that are for my study.
We went for an early dinner to the Market Hall tonight and bought even more Christmas decorations as presents (another thing filling my bag).
And I had some flight drama when I realised that booking my flights through two travel angents was not too smart and I would miss my flight from Munich to Hong Kong as I would arrive in Munich just an hour between flights, in different terminals, needing to get my luggage and check it on to the next flight myself. On this trip I have learned a dislike for airports, hatred for long flights, and much more information about little mistakes that I can make when organising my own flights.
But on this trip to Budapest I learned much more about my future, how much I love Budapest, how much cheaper (and easier to find) retro clothing is, how amazing the cakes are here, how fast people drive in Budapest, and how much a simple two words in Hungarian can help, and how much I miss strong, hot coffee.
P.S. Red I have seen two ads for Malta on tv this week. I have thought of you each time.
On Thursday I venture off to Berlin, then on Friday to Switzerland, then back to Berlin, and on to London.
That it might be getting ready to snow. Everyone had gloves on the bus on the way back to the shopping area and I wished I had brought mine. I bought an incredibly cute scarf on Saturday and all of the kiwis bought matching Budapest t shirts that are not too naff and we're planning to wear them at a conference that will be held next year. I slipped over in the shower as the cleaner had cleaned too well and not replaced the non-slip mat properly, and am waiting to hear back from my chiropractor to see if he can send me some of my notes so that it will be cheaper to see one here without needing to get xrays.
I am loving the food and finally found a good coffee place by accident after we visited the most amazing sculpture I have seen in my life at the Big Synagogue, apparently coffee in London is terrible and I keep on thinking about Brazil and how I wish both my chiro and Brazil (the best cafe in the world) would travel with me at all times.
We went to the baths yesterday and sat outside in the hot water watching the sky change and stars appear and it all seemed so magical.
I am content and sleeping an incredible amount, more than 2-3 hours extra a night, but still am tired.
Christmas decorations here are coming out in great force and I am buying and buying and slightly overspent my budget, but things are great.
I arrived here on Saturday morning with three or actually four bad things that happened related to flights. From this I learned that Frankfurt airport sucks arse and that if the guards there are not helpful that people like me will set off alarms in the building causing men to yell at me in German.
I am still a bit jetlagged and feel dizzy most of the time, but think it is certain that after I have finished my postgrad that I will move to Europe. Budapest would be my first choice, but I am still trying to work out how that could work. Everywhere I see a sign saying Elado! (for sale) I want to rush in, look at the apartment and then buy it.
Career options for me here are far more realistic, and socially it would be much more fun.
My apartment is AMAZING, so cute and big and clean and warm, it snowed on Saturday night and I keep grinning with excitement.
If anyone wants to come to Budapest for the weekend I have room, so it'd be free accomodation and lots of fun! Apparently Ryan Air has cheap flights!
My only problems are: that not many people can understand my accent I can see myself spending far too much money on cute tights - I have not seen such a range of cute patterned tights in my life! I want to speak Hungarian very well and instead can only greet people, tell them I am a vegetarian, ask for orange juice, say yes and no, and thank people.
On Friday afternoon I fly to Bangkok, then on to Frankfurt and land in Budapest in the morning on Saturday.
I'm excited, and it feels sort of surreal, especially after I looked at the Budapest info page today and the forecast for the weather on Friday was the high at 4 degrees and the low at -2 degrees celsius!
I have packed lots of warm clothes, and have managed to squeeze in the cutest dress in the world into my suitcase along with other more sensible clothes. I am also the proud owner of a bright pink pair of crocs gumboots, that weight very little (unless you've stuffed them full of packets of miso). I kept panicking about them leaving my suitcase behind somewhere and have managed to squeeze in my pajamas into my backpack for the plane.
I may update my lj while I am away, most likely in Budapest.
I've been making connections, exciting connections over the past couple of weeks. Peaches is coming to the Big Day Out, and that's not so exciting. But those who are in her touring band are.
Radio Sloan, yes THE Radio Sloan may be coming with Peaches to the Big Day Out, and hopefully playing a show the night before at the Kings Arms. If only Rachel Carns were to visit NZ at the same time, life would be awesome.
Today I arrived home to a package from Cherchez La Femme Projects.
Cherchez La Femme is the brain child of Portland singer/songwriter/first ladyfest organiser Sarah Dougher.
Inside was a little note tucked in next to my new tshirt, kaia and sarah dougher seven inch split, and sarah's new album saying:
I'm playing in Auckland at the beginning of December, you should come xo Sarah.
Yet again I miss out on a concert whilst I am in Europe. 1. Erase Errata 2. Chicks on Speed 3. Ladyfest Wellington w Partyline and Sarah Dougher 4. Sarah Dougher in Auckland
Why oh why are all these bands I like coming to NZ?
giggly
tired