Fondue beim Schweizer Klub (fondue with the Swiss Club)

Nicole, Manuel and I had the opportunity last Saturday night to join friends Andrea and Felix for traditional fondue dinner at the Wellington Swiss Club. It was such a great time! Nicole and me in front of the Swiss flag!This is all of us enjoying our yummy food! I should have gotten a picture to show you how many people were actually there because there were sooo many. It's all different ages too, elderly to infants. We noticed that some people had their entire families there. They have a house that they have these meetings and dinners in regularly.
This is me with Felix(left) and Manuel(right). We questioned Felix and Andrea about everything that we know of that's Swiss...we only came up with two things, the cheese and the army knives. Neither of which actually have the 'Swiss' in their title.
Andrea and Nicole waiting for dessert I think. The food was just so good!
Edward even showed up! We tried giving him this little piece of bread...But it was just go good that I guess he felt like he needed more. I'm not sure exactly why my face looks so weird but I think it's because I'm saying something like 'nicole, make sure I'm not in this...' Clearly she's a great listener.

We even got to meet with the President of the Swiss Club...not just Wellington's branch but all of New Zealand! He was even excited to meet Edward and asked if 'he was going to show up on the YouTube?'
Somehow we ended up singing Christmas songs, signed up to join the Swiss carol choir, ended the night by washing all the dishes and were the last to leave. So basically they love American girls now! We're now looking into joining more clubs for the food...and social activity. But really for the food.

I got a job!

So one of the reasons that I decided to come to New Zealand was to hopefully get a job working in the film industry. Specifically on The Hobbit which is the next big thing happening here. However, this film has been pushed back until after Christmas maybe even until February. So I needed something to keep me busy and pay the bills, I was blessed enough to get a job at the first...and only place that I applied! I will be starting at Farmer's, New Zealand's number one department store that is just celebrating their 100th anniversary, on Wednesday in the Fine Fragrances department. It only took about 3 interviews, multiple phone calls and 2 paperwork stop-ins but I have a job and that's all that matters. I've had the chance to meet a few of the people and everyone seems very nice. Pictures to come soon!!!

The Kiwi Adventures of Edward Cullen

This is Edward Cullen. He is an action figure from the Twilight series which mean that I am a huge dork.
Kinda like that Travelosity gnome that shows up in all those random places, he is in New Zealand with me and he goes everywhere. This is Edward and FERNando. I'm not quite sure if this plant will make it much longer. Nicole's previous flatmate, Pip, left it in our care and it's slowly dying. We've tried watering it, giving it more sunlight, less sunlight, naming it...and nothing is working.
Nicole and I were cooking dinner one night for friends Wendy and Steven and we caught Edward trying to help. Be on the lookout for all of his exciting adventures!!

I have pictures!

Hello followers! I'm sorry for the delay in the posting, I'm sure some of you probably thought that I might have died on 'the Hill' but not yet. I was waiting to put something very interesting on here but then I just kept getting behind so this might be a big one...with pictures!!


This is a picture taken from our deck that overlooks Island Bay and look, we can see the ocean! In fact on a clear day, you can even see the South Island and the mountains. I zoomed in on these so you could see them. Pretty cool huh?


I have tried to get pictures of 'the Hill' but every time I try, it's either rainy or dark or I simply forget because I'm too busy trying to breathe. However, I did take pictures from the house so that you can get a general idea of this craziness. This picture is taken from the deck. There are stairs/ramp stairs from the house to get to the road which is Hudson Street (where we live). Then about an inch and a half from the top of the picture and an inch from the telephone pole, is the New World grocery store.
I zoomed in on New World so that you can maybe find it easier. It's the building at the very top. Now find the buildings right in front New World, that's where the bus stop is. I walk this 'hill' whenever I go somewhere. Y'all thought I was being a bit dramatic about this hill, didn't you? There are multiple paths and stairs that we take to get from house to bus, and I will bring you pictures of these later.
I was going to make this huge post about everything that I've done but I think I'll stop here and separate them a bit. :)

The Adventure Begins (que climactic music)

I've decided to start this blog so that I could keep all of my loyal fans, subjects and family tuned into what it is I do. Especially now that I've actually done something interesting...that would be moving to the other side of the world. In case you missed it, I packed all of my belongings (those that would fit in 2 bags weighing 50lbs) on October 3rd and moved to Wellington, New Zealand. I think I drove my mom crazy packing, unpacking and repacking but I made it work all in one day...and I have a good amount of my makeup that weighed about 20lbs on it's own. I could probably use some more clothes but I have priorities people.

My trip was fairly uneventful and I'm ok with that. I made all of my planes, I got a little nervous on the Auckland to Wellington flight due to late departure out of L.A. (where I was bummed about not seeing anyone famous. no one.) then the line at customs was a bit long and I still had to take a nice walk to the domestic terminal in the drizzling rain. Basically when I arrived at the ticket counter, the very nice girl told me exactly where to go and to do it quickly as the plane would be boarding shortly. Then she told me that my carry-on baggage was too big and I no longer liked her. (it's just a joke, I know that she was just doing her job. but really...it would have fit)

I arrived in Wellington on Monday, October 5th. I lost an entire Sunday of my life...just skipped right over it, but it's ok because I'm in the future. Nicole was there to greet me where we squealed for a bit and caused a scene, it only could have been better if Tara and her infectious laugh were there as well...talk about a head turner. (love you) We made our way to the one and only baggage carousel which was now littered with the contents of my suitcase spilled about...no, no that did not happen. I have wonderful Travelpro Luggage that can withstand the likes of American Airlines, Qantas and Air New Zealand, all of my belongings were perfectly in-tact. Including my makeup, yes, I checked. We were doing awesome until Nicole mentioned something about a 'cold snap'....

A 'cold snap' is the term that these here Kiwis like to use to explain unseasonable weather. We're supposed to be going into Spring here and yet we're having Southerly winds. Now, I'm sure it's been a while since you've checked a globe but do you know what's Southern of New Zealand? Antarctica. ANTARCTICA! The first few days here were interesting with the winds and the rain, but it's gotten better and yesterday was really lovely.

Since I've been here:
I have eaten different foods
ridden a bus that was not operated by Walt Disney World
just about froze
had a job interview (updates later)
made some friends
felt an earthquake (4.8)
had my accent made fun of
fell in love with the electric blanket
cooked (I know!!)
learned to count money all over again
and have almost died several times on '*the hill'.

Hopefully my blog will bring you joy and deepened enlightenment...or just a good laugh. I will try my best to update on the happenings in my life here and also maybe have a few regular segments like "Has Michelle died on 'the Hill'?" and 'The Kiwi adventures of Edward Cullen'. Stay Tuned!!

* 'the hill' requires it's very own posting along with pictures.

Good News! I've made it to Wellington, New Zealand!!!