Sunday, June 29, 2008

Things I've learned in New Zealand

It's my last night in NZ so I thought I'd write some reflective posts.

I really wanted to title this post as "lessons learned" but I felt the word "lesson" is a little too harsh of a connotation to be appropriate. It makes it sound like I committed crimes and was punished and then had to repent. So I decided to stick to "things I've learned."

1. You *can* feel safer in a foreign country than at home
2. Some hostels are much better than others
3. I prefer hostels that are like converted houses or mansions because they promote more interaction among all the tenants and you don't have to go outside to go to the bathroom or kitchen.
4. A hostel kitchen with a sharp chef's knife makes a huge difference in my decision of whether to cook or not that night
5. People from other developed countries travel a lot more often internationally than americans do
6. Most people's rooms really *are* messier than my room and I wasn't lying whenever I told my mom that
7. People will travel with a lot less money than I'm comfortable with and a lot of people outside the usa prefer to travel and find a job at the same time. They're called "working holidays." Unlike americans, they don't find it shameful to work while vacationing.
8. NZ and Australia both pay taxes to the UK still
9. Some irish people *do* have accents like leprechauns
10. Marmite isn't very tasty or is an acquired taste.
11. I really love vegetables, even more than fruit. At home I'm just too lazy to buy and cook them.
12. The more and louder you talk, the higher the chance you have of being popular, even if everything you say is a joke or gibberish.
13. Napkins are a valuable household item.
14. Bunk beds are annoying in every way
15. Beans and toast is a very popular dish among irish backpackers
16. I can climb a stripper pole in a bar with no problem for a free drink
17. In laos there is a river that you float down all day long on an innertube and drink.
18. In cambodia you can pay money to shoot a rocket launcher at a car or shoot chickens with automatic rifles.
19. Bungy jumping is less scary than I thought but more expensive.
20. "Kiwi" is not a derogatory name for the locals
21. There were no mammals in NZ until humans came and brought others here.

3 Comments:

Blogger Spitfire said...

RE: 17. In laos there is a river that you float down all day long on an innertube and drink.

You don't need to go to Laos for that. There's the American River and Russian River in the Sacramento area for that. Also at the MGM in Vegas, they have a "Lazy River", which a couple of other resorts also have, that offer the same. Just don't lose your ID in the river like I did this weekend...

July 1, 2008 at 11:07 AM  
Blogger Jimmy said...

I see, I didn't know about that. However, I know for a fact that the one in Laos you can do all day for about 10 dollars, hehe.

July 3, 2008 at 7:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

jim, regarding #3: I prefer hostels that are like converted houses or mansions because they promote more interaction among all the tenants and you don't have to go outside to go to the bathroom or kitchen.

have you considered staying in a B&B or pension (as they call it in europe). most B&Bs are converted homes and cost the same as hostels.

if you are looking for recommendations for accomodations, you may want to try www.tripadvisor.com.

August 18, 2008 at 9:31 PM  

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