Major Life Update: Moving In (!), New (Old?) Job, Staying???

It’s been about 2 months since my last blog update, but in that time some big changes have happened, although while I’m writing this my life looks about the same from the outside at the moment.

To begin with, after I got back from Stewart Island, I was back on the job hunt. I was interviewed for 2 different jobs but got neither of them. One day, I reached out to a recruiting agency about a job I saw posted, and within the hour Cheryl (god bless Cheryl) called me back and told me that she had looked at my CV and had a different job for me that might fit my skillset. I drove in to see her that afternoon and she told me that I would be working in a factory that makes plastic things like yogurt tubs. She said that usually the people would want to meet me first, but they just wanted me to start on Friday (that day was Wednesday). So Friday morning in I went. My hours were 7:00-3:30 Monday to Friday, which was actually pretty ideal because it meant I would miss the morning and afternoon rush hour traffic, and so only had to drive about 20 minutes each way instead of 40. I was given my induction, shown how to put on the PPE correctly (dust coat, hairnet, hearing protection), shown around the factory, and then put on a machine. The work was not hard – it consisted mainly of making sure each piece had emerged from the machine formed correctly, and then packing a specific number of whatever it was into a box, sealing the box, and putting a label on it. Easy money, and a weekly paycheck. This video is of the factory I was working in.

I did wonder about how many microplastics I was inhaling just being in the room with all those machines that were heating and grinding up plastic. It was also incredibly loud in the room with all the machines, so talking to anybody else required yelling, and casual conversations were not possible. Because the work was fairly repetitive, they also played music over the noise of the machines – almost exclusively 2010s pop music, which slowly drove me insane. I took to wearing earplugs under my hearing protectors just to make the level of noise bearable.

Doing repetitive tasks with my hands all day gave me plenty of time to think, and maybe someday I will write an essay about some of the conclusions I came to with regards to beauty, convenience, and efficiency, but not today. All I will say today is that it was weird to work somewhere where nobody thought the work they were doing was making the world a better place, even a little bit. Most, if not all of the work I have done in my life has been with the goal of improving something and creating a positive impact, with the paycheck being a nice bonus (if there is one). There was none of that feeling there. It really gave me a taste of the kind of work I DON’T want to be doing for the rest of my life, and why people get degrees so they can do something that is more interesting and productive (although fat lot of good my degree was doing me in that moment).

All in all, I actually only worked at PackTech for a whopping total of 13 days until production slowed down, and I was informed that I was no longer needed. This meant that I was sadly out of work again, but I was a bit relieved to stop working there.

It was around this time period that Trump was inaugurated in the United States, and watching the news from here was a surreal feeling. Although there are a lot of things I had problems with in the US (like the healthcare system, the lack of regulation on chemicals that can be in food and the way food is produced in general, the lack of paid leave in jobs, and even small things like having to tip in restaurants because the servers don’t make a living wage), reading the news now takes it to a whole new level. The layoffs of federal workers was one that really scared me, especially as someone whose goal has always been to work for the federal government. The thought of moving back to the US now fills me with a sense of dread and hopelessness, and so I have begun to contemplate what it would mean to move here more permanently (maybe not forever, but for now). I still feel very conflicted – it’s a huge privilege to be able to move countries and leave because of a political situation. Also, do I have a duty to my fellow American people to stay and fight to make things better? Or a duty to my family to stay close to them? Or is it reasonable to take the opportunity to move away and protect my happiness and quality of life? Not that things are perfect here either – there is still a right-leaning government at the moment, and the job market is incredibly competitive. But it doesn’t feel like the same level of catastrophic as the US. Any insights or advice from my readers is appreciated here, although I can’t promise I’ll change my mind.

My best option for moving here is a partnership visa. The main thing missing for me to get that visa is that you and your partner must be living together for a year in order to get the visa. Travis and I had been talking about moving in together for a while, but this was the final push, and I am moving in with him this weekend. Although I’m a bit nervous – moving in with a partner is a big step and a first for me – I’m also really excited. It will be so much easier logistically – we effectively spend every night together anyways, but switch between each others houses. Also, his flatmates are lovely, and they have started doing flat dinners together, which I am very excited to join next week. The flatmates are Emily, Fenton, and Ruri – Emily and Fenton are both also on the tramping club exec like Travis and I are, and Ruri is Fenton’s little sister.

I also got a call from Dylan at Rāpaki on Monday – the team there has gotten an offer for more work and is hiring people again to have a bigger crew. He was keen to rehire me, and I start next Monday, and will likely work this job through the end of August, when my working holiday visa runs out. I’m really excited to go back and work with them again – it’s career-relevant work, it’s outside, and the people are great. I’m also a bit nervous because it is a very physical job, and last time it was hard on me (but I think the low iron was mostly to blame for that). It’s also over an hour of driving every day, which is not amazing but I guess I just need to find myself some good audiobooks – thank goodness for my hybrid car!

The last update (one that finally comes with some pictures!) is that my parents came for a visit! It was their first time visiting New Zealand, and I’m glad I got to show them around a little bit. We did some sightseeing in Christchurch, and then drove over and stayed in Hokitika on the West Coast for a few days. On the way there we visited Castle Hill, camped and saw a Ruru (Morepork – New Zealand native owl), and climbed Avalanche Peak. Avalanche Peak is a fairly climbable mountain in Arthur’s Pass, and although it is marked all the way to the top, it is still over 1000 meters of elevation gain over just a few kilometers. The weather was perfects and the views were stunning. My parents successfully reached the top and came back down, although they were sore for days afterwards (oops). Brian concluded he does not see the point in climbing mountains and would much rather take his time to explore the landscape.

We spent two nights in Hokitika and explored the town and surrounding area, which are beautiful. Hokitika is known for it’s driftwood sign, and there happened to have been a driftwood sculpture building competition just a weekend or two beforehand, and it was cool to see all the things people had made, with varying levels of skill. We also went to Hokitika Gorge and to the National Kiwi Center, where we got to see a kiwi but the highlight was feeding the eels.

On the Saturday, Travis met us in the morning for a tramp over the weekend. The first day we hiked into Casey Hut, which was quite a nice hike but challenging for Annika and Brian since they were still sore from Avalanche Peak. The next day we walked up the Poulter Valley and then up to Minchin Biv, which started as an easy walk and then turned into a river scramble by the end. The next day we crossed the Main Divide – the backbone of the South Island – and then headed down Townsend Creek. This creek was beautiful, but the boulder hopping was intense, and we made slow progress down towards the Taramakau River. Although a slip could have easily resulted in a twisted ankle or worse, we all arrived unharmed.

Travis had missed his first day of uni and booked it out that evening so he didn’t miss another day, while Annika and Brian and I stayed at Kiwi Hut for the night and headed out the next day. The hut is on the Te Araroa trail, which means that it was full of through hikers: there were about 22 people in and around the 12 bunk hut that night. TA hikers are some of the most obnoxious people – I don’t know if annoying people tend to do it or if it makes them annoying. It poured rain all evening and night, and so we were stuck in the hut whether we liked it or not. At least we all had bunks, although Annika was sleeping right by a window which happened to be pulling air out of the hut – air which contained everybody’s farts and kept her up with the smell.

The next day I woke up with terrible cramps – bad enough to make me throw up outside the hut. They finally subsided around 9:45, and we were last to leave the hut that morning. The walk out was easy enough, although there was one big river crossing. We ate a late lunch around 1, and reached the car around 2:30, just as the rain was starting up again.

Overall, a very successful tramp, I thought. Annika and Brian concluded that Travis and I had tried (unsuccessfully) to kill them, first with a long hot day, the next day with some river scrambling, the day after with bush bashing and boulder hopping, and the last day with a river crossing. Nevertheless, they survived, and have quite a story to tell.

Once back in Christchurch we spent a day resting at home, and then took a day trip to Akaroa and Hinewai Reserve, which was very nice. They also took my car in to get serviced and get new tires, which saved me a lot of money and I appreciated so much.

All in all, things are changing quickly all at once at the moment, but should hopefully stabilize again soon into something really nice – a lovely home, a stable good job, and continued opportunities for tramping on the weekends. There is a lot of uncertainty about the more distant future, but it looks like at least the next 6 months are pretty squared away, and from there we’ll take it one day at a time.