Adapting to life in Blenheim

19 February 2008
‘Time flies when you’re having fun’ and it certainly flies in Blenheim. Though the pace of life is a lot slower here than in Wellington. And some of you might be surprised, but I am even loving this slower pace right now (could that be the age?)

Last weekend I have been working in the hotel that employed me on a casual basis. So, for the first time in my life I have been a waitress in a restaurant. This was during a wedding dinner with 100 guests and was a bit of a challenge, but everything went perfectly fine (I think!). However, I could not carry those 6 plates with food in one go and I was not that fast in clearing the tables, I was surprised of how easy the rest was. What was of great help, was that the people attending the dinner were great. Moreover, I have been doing two days of housekeeping in the hotel which was not too bad either. The equipment and the rooms were easier than the ones I was used to in the Coromandel. It is a very nice 5 star hotel close to Renwick, for anyone who is interested: http://www.mvh.co.nz/photos.html

And since I am now in the biggest wine growing area of New Zealand I had to change my picture on this blog (as you have seen) with thanks to the creator of this image: Hanneke Broekema, who is the first person together with her family who we met in The Netherlands during our emigration process to New Zealand. That was way back in April 2005. She is now living in Auckland and we have been in contact ever since. She knows much more about creative imaging, so I needed her help and I hope you all like it too.

In the meantime I have booked my first two trips back to Wellington After that Marco will come to Blenheim for a long weekend, so he can get a glimpse of my life here. Of course life in Blenheim is not as vibrant as life in Wellington, but I can imagine he will love this lifestyle as well.

20 February 2008
At school we are all still trying to get into the routine, but since the schedules are changing by the day and every day is a surprise again. Our Programme Leader started just two weeks before us, so she has to get into the routine as well. So, we never have a dull moment, or have we? We spend a lot of time waiting and hanging around at the campus which not a lot of us can enjoy.

We have visited the biggest winery of New Zealand this week. It was like being at one of the huge tank storage facilities for chemicals/oils that I was used to back in The Netherlands; the products in the tanks here, are however much better to drink!! If you are interested: http://www.montana.co.nz/index2.html

And we also really started this week with getting to know a bit more about the vines and grapes, so finally it is like we are at the right course. Apart from this we have classes in Science, Maths, Computing, which are all necessary to be able to work at a vineyard and/or winery. It actually is a nice combination of several subjects which most of us enjoy. However, already one person has withdrawn from the course, because it did not meet the expectations – although that had mainly to do with Blenheim. It is a bit of a culture shock when you are used to a big city.

Cheers
Anita