Winter Is Coming!!

Things are going well! Everything is falling into place before winter. 

Winter wonderland

I got a job as a lifty (lift operator) at The Remarkables Ski Area! (about 40 minutes from Queenstown.) Since lots of people want to live in Queenstown and work on the mountain it's a hard to job to get. For the three mountains that NZski operates they got 5000 applications for all the jobs they offer. They interviewed around 100 people for 25 lifty positions. The interview was intense, there was both a group and an individual interview. All of this for a silly lifty job, that requires (as I told them in my interview when they asked what I thought the job required) "standing outside, keeping people safe, shoveling, sweeping and being friendly." (Nailed it.)

I'd like to credit my mom for getting me the job because she has always insured me that I was great at interviews. She has no way of knowing this of course, as she has never interviewed me or witness me being interviewed. None the less I think it's given me the confidence to actually be good at interviews.

Now that I have my job on the mountain I am so excited for winter. It snowed in town today and I made chocolate chip cookies so it felt especially cozy.

SNOW! (view from my porch)

The Remarkables with snow and clouds

I asked my dad to send my snowboard because I thought it would be much nicer to stand in snowboard boots instead of ski boots while working. Turns out I wildly underestimated how much it would be send my board here. I thought it would be around $200 but its actually around $800 to send a snowboard from Colorado to New Zealand. For that much money I like to imagine my snowboard with its own seat on an airplane getting drunk and eating airplane food.

However I do have some amazing skis that I bought at the Salvation Army for $80 dollars. My roommates keep making jokes about people steeling them though, real clever. Also they implied none of the other lifties would be friends with me because of my skis.

Going to shred some serious gnar with these bad boys.

One a serious note I got a regular gig teaching yoga at one of the gyms in town! I will teach a class every Thursday night from now on. Yippie! A dream of mine to actually get paid to teach yoga just came true :) It's a pretty gymie scene with fluorescent lighting that won't turn off so its not the most relaxing setting but I can only go up from here!

Yippie!! I hope everyone had an amazing Memorial Day Weekend!