My brother, being the self-proclaimed bearer of all things funny, is claiming holds on craptacular and demanding recognition. I'll concede, as long as you recognize Craptivities as original to me.

And this is the mother's day present we offer together - the realization that no matter how old we get nor how far apart we live, sibling rivalry will always be strong amongst Rogers. And I will always be the favourite. Kisses Mumsy.

I've just been informed (sounds like I'm the state press secretary doesn't it?) that it's a year ago since graduating university. (A mother's day gift neither of you will ever top.) Seems like forever ago. Scary thing is looking at everyone else 'growing up' while I struggle to just become self-sufficient enough to continue life in never-never land. Sorry guys, but I wouldn't trade lives for anything right now! Salaries, yes. Lives, no.

Caught up with the Auckland gang - Scott, Pam & Beck - last night as they cruised through Chch on the beginning of their 3 week trek. Good to see them and get the goss (Kiwi for gossip, I have started using it at obnoxiously high rates). Rob comes through this weekend too on the end of his journey as well as another friend. I'm so popular. It's hard to be me.

Another tough day ahead. It's days like these when having a strong work ethic becomes a major pain in the ass.

Just got asked what part of England I'm from. That's a new one.

Really not sure what I've said about Chch yet. The population is about 350,000, making this the 3rd largest city in Nz (Auckland has about 1.3m, Wellington has around 400,000) and the biggest on the south island. Nelson's the next size wise on the south island and it has a population of 50,000. Christchurch has a lot of feeder services, making it diverse enough to have the services and quirks of a metropolitan without the real problems. So, like the 3 little bears, Chch is not too big, not too small, it's juuuust right.

Had an early morning wake up call this morning. The fire alarm was going off at 2:30 am. We were all gathered outside trying to figure why it was going off when finally one girl started apologizing - she had decided to "fiddle" with the smoke detector and set off the whole alarm. WHY??? Why at 2:30AM??? The hostel soon became hostile.

At least the fire station (fire brigade) is just next door. Usually in the evenings when I walk by the firemen are sitting in the trucks, hanging out. Being prepared, except they don't look like they're wearing their gear. Maybe they just don't have a lounge or a pole to slide down. Anyway, going by the fire station brings back memories of ole San Juan...

I'm having a difficult time grasping what month it is. In my head it's still dead winter at home (why would time move forward without me?) and now, because it's the start of winter here, I think it's like November. But now I know that it really is May... Mom and her peeps are heading on their annual Martha Pilgrammage, a journey to the homeland, a quest for all things craptacular. Let the Craptivities begin!

Back at the highly stimulating reception job again. I did such a good job of wasting time yesterday that I'm here for at least another 2 days.

Things I have forgotten to tell you...

Last Sunday (April 25) was ANZAC Day - Australia New Zealand Armed Corps- which is the equivalent of our Remembrance Day. Poppies only started being worn on "Poppy Day" the Friday before (2 days before). Veterans and good samaritans swarmed the streets canvassing for everyone to get a poppy. On the Sunday memorial services were held (I guess, that was the day we went to Akaroa). It is not a public holiday here though but I believe it is in some Australian provinces. Why in April? It's celebrating a battle that the ANZAC forces played an important role in. From what I've learned, ANZAC troops fought mainly in Africa and the middle east.

There is a new kind of kiwi fruit! Golden kiwis are relatively new to the market, being developed in the last 5 years or so in NZ. I'm told they are sweeter and a gold colour inside. The outside is much smoother than a regular kiwi. They're fairly expensive though because they've become hugely popular in Asia so few are left in the local market.

Everyone thinks I'm Irish! All the kiwis, their first guess at my accent is Irish and they normally don't believe I'm Canadian. I figure that's because almost all Canadians here are from the west coast, a few from Ontario but not many. Other than the crew I lived with, I have only met one of east coaster (from Cape Breton but had Summerside roommates in university). She had gotten the Irish bit too through her travels. Beats being called an American!

Question: how many remember being taught that Australia was special because not only was it a country, but it was a continent too? I honestly don't ever remember hearing of New Zealand before 3 or 4 years ago. I believe the continent is Australasia now (but I could, embarrassingly enough, be wrong).

Have I talked about "the wizard"? He's an older man who dresses up in a wizard suit and every afternoon in the square he gives a lecture about why is north up & south down to anyone who cares to listen. He has quite an interesting take on it all and claims that if the entire world voted on this one issue, south would be up and north down as the countries with the greatest populations would want to be physically above their opponents. Something to think about. I enjoy catching a bit of his ramble now and then. Speaking of ramble...

I'm performing an illiegal activity right now - writing this while at work. I had yesterday off but got a call this morning to fill in at the reception desk of a software company. It's all very posh with a huge reception area. However, in the 1.5 hours I've been here the phone has rang twice and there has been one delivery man. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

So I decided to catch up on some communication. The last 2 days have been absolutely beautiful - 21 degrees! It went from rainy and ccccold last week to being summer again. Strange. I'm told that Antarctica is to blame. There is nothing between there and NZ, particularly the Banks Penninsula (on which Chch sits) so the cold air comes from there. So warm days mean a change of wind and it comes from the equator? I don't know. I haven't had to temp as a meteorologist yet.

I did a walking tour of the city yesterday (finally) which was cool. I really needed a break from tourist activities for a little bit to be able to absorb what I had seen before taking more in and being able to really enjoy it. Plus last week I came down with a nasty cold that sidelined me for a few days! Back to the point, history of Chch. It was a planned English settlement in 1850. Unlike Australia that was settled by English convicts, the Brits brought a representative cross section to Chch. The entire city was planned before any oof them left the homeland, right down to the blueprints of the cathedral that would be the centre of the city. Even the rivers are lined with chestnut & willow & oak trees, not native to the country and not often seen.

There's a boys private school that is still very much in use today which was part of the original plans of the city. It only costs about NZ$17,000 per year, plus another $10,000 for international students. (Janet, were you thinking of sending the boys?) The museum (also from the original plans) was purposely built directly down from the cathedral with nothing obstructing the view of either. This is to represent the balance of mind and spirit. The art gallery and art centre are now between the two, some say to represent soul.

What else did I learn...? NZ was the first country to give women the vote, happening in 1897. What was Canada - 1921? The major reason it happened so early here was because the settlers, still remembering the priviledged life they had in Britain in comparison to how they had to all work to build this new community, realized that everyone was working equally and deserved to be treated as such. Completely unexpected , the bill went through on its first reading.

Other than that I have finally met the other long termers at the hostel and it's a really cool group so far. They put a tv in one of the loungers specifically for us to be able to flake out after work, etc, but we all met when convening in the quiet lounge and avoiding the tv. Humourous.

So in the last 40 min that I've been writing (I did go tidy the kitchen) there has no tbeen one phonecall or person. The stress of it all.