Rugby World Cup!

This weekend was great. I went down to New Plymouth with Kim for the rugby world cup game USA vs. Ireland. We knew USA was going to lose, but we had an amazing time anyway! Kim doesn't drive so I got to, which I kind of like here.
The drive down there was nice, we stopped in Raglan and hit up the beach and got some lunch. We picked up a hitch hiker who needed to get to the beach in Raglan. I have never done that before. Some German dude. It felt cool picking up a hitch hiker haha.
Then we had a bit of a sing along with Queen and Disney songs, since we didn't get any radio stations at one point. We finally got to New Plymouth and I was faced with my first couch surfing experience. HOLY SHIT-there was no couch..we got this gorgeous guest bedroom in this beautiful house on the water. The guy we stayed with supplied us with food and towels and he had a sauna and a hot tub. I was so spoiled...any couch surfing experience I have in the future cannot compare to this!
On Sunday morning, Kim and I went to a 911 church service with the USA rugby team. It was so cool to see those hotties up close. Later on we went to the game, face painted and all. I shouted and drank my ass off. USA lost, but we had an awesome time. The atmosphere was fantastic.
We met a group of guys from Galway, and a couple of guys from NZ and partied with them. It was a great dat/night. We headed home yesterday, giving Kim's Irish flatties a ride back to Auckland, stopping at an organic brewery on the way. All in all a great weekend. It was so nice to get out of Auckland for a bit.
This week or next will probably be my last week of work. I am excited because that means I will be traveling a bit soon!
October 14 I am headed to the south island for a Stray tour then I come back up to Auckland on the 25th (or something) for about a week and then I head to Melbourne Nov 2nd - 8th, and then on the 10th I go to Vancouver until the 14th! Then home! I am so very lucky my life is so eventful. However, for the next month I will be hanging out here...tying up loose ends and hanging out with some of the amazing people I met here. My time in Auckland is almost up. Its been a good run, but I am ready to get the hell out of here!

Cheers mateys!

A Lot Can Happen in Two Months.

Okay, so I realized sometimes its good to get things out on here. I just don't want to feel obligated to do it.

So, I have a girlfriend. All my close friends keep telling me I am jumping into a relationship too fast. I agree. I have only known her a month and a half. I feel like there is so much more I want to know about her before I am committed. Especially since the summer is coming and I am going to Europe for a month. Ugh. What am I doing? I really really like her. But part of me is a little unsettled.

I got a new car. I love it. But I shouldn't have put so much money down. I keep trying to get a second part time job, but its so hard right now. No one is hiring. I apply for jobs every day and still no one will hire me. I am worried that I will be in Europe and run out of cash.

I have an interview to be a tutor on Wednesday in the city. I hope it goes well.I haven't been to the city in a while. Maybe that's been dampening my mood too.

I think I need to go back on antidepressants. I feel that I am constantly worrying about things that are somewhat out of my control. I should be enjoying my freedom, not condemning it.

I didn't get into any doctoral programs. I feel that I had this path laid out, and now I am lost without a yellow brick road. I don't know what I am doing and its time for me to be an adult.

I think I am going to go live and work in New Zealand for a semester next year. The more traveling I do, the more valuable I am as a sociologist because I will have racked up more information about different cultures.

Anyway, I know this post was directionless. I just didn't know how to begin.

Nico Anders Lives for the Summer

I think if you have a positive outlook in life, everything seems to happen for a reason. I met two wonderful people today when I missed my train. Its strange how similar people seem to connect when in the same mindset. I feel like the world network really is strong and if you seem to believe the world makes sense, it makes sense.

On my train ride home tonight, I started watching videos from Taiwan. I realize that I live for the summer. Don't get me wrong, I love the profession that I have chosen, but what I love more is the opportunity it gives me to travel and make sense of travel. I love to be able o assign deeper meaning to the things I enjoy most. One of the most gratifying things to me is going somewhere that was once foreign and trying to understand the construction of social norms. I know, I am a total dork. Anyway, from viewing and reviewing my videos from Taiwan, I realized something. That time and place was great, amazing, incredible...however, it was only temporary and was only supposed to last for that long. If I went back there today, it would not feel the same, but would almost feel like a corpse of what once was. I would have too high expectations and would undoubtedly be disappointed. If you travel to distant lands, you never know what to expect, therefore you cannot be disappointed, because there is a void in your foresight. This is why travel is so great. This is why I live for the summer.

Living the Life of a Perpetual Wanderer?

Sometimes I question if my urge to travel so much is rooted in a disdain for reality. True, I have been trying to put off real responsibilities for as long as I have been alive. Going to school for as long as possible, not contributing anything real to society except on the micro aspect of the nuclear family. I am beginning to ask myself, if I do choose to travel for a year, what would be gained from it in the end? Of course, I would have a good time and see things I have never seen before, which is necessary to sustain a positive psychological balance.

"This restlessness and thirst for adventure is, for the most part, barren and illusory, because it is uncreative. We are seeking to escape from a dull world instead of turning back upon it to transform it." (Park et al., The City, 1984)

What about if I make my travels creative? What if I promise myself to read the lengthy book list in my mind, and write a short story or a novel during my travels? I have a suspicion that I cannot keep that promise to myself. I do the best when I am pushed. This is why I have not been able to hold down a job for a considerable period of time. Teachers push me. If I am not pushed, I get caught up in leisure. There are just so many distractions.

If I go abroad, will I be soul seeking or reality escaping? Maybe a bit of both. But I think I still must go to find out.

Housing Swap.

I am thinking of donating some eggs for $8,000 and doing a housing swap for the month of July in some country in Europe. Potential places are Barcelona, Paris, Somewhere in southern France, London, Belgium, Norway, Berlin, Scotland or Greece.