Back in San Francisco

Hi All,
Last post was from New Zealand on our last day. Since we left there's been tears, hugs, parents, siblings, old friends, burritos, job interviews and apartment viewings.

I spent a week visiting my family in AZ. That was a great time to catch up and settle down to some hard core resume updating and job hunting. Also did some star gazing, geocaching, hot tubing and guitar heroing.

Re-integration
So Gay and I are back in SF trying to make our way. For the most part we're getting on well, but once in awhile we ask ourselves "why again did we come back?" We've gone through some cultre shock (nothing akin to China) and we somehow can't escape the cold. Also the fact that we still haven't found an apartment compunds the frustration even more. So anyway I've been interviewing quite a bit. A lot of phone interviews and yesterday I went down to Mountain View for a 5 hour interview which was a marathon for me. But I got a free lunch and latte out of it so even if I don't get the job at least I ate well. Luckily for me there are a lot of jobs in the area and I think it's just going to take some time for me to find the right one.

I'll keep you updated with how evertyhing is going but for right now we spend our days either looking for an apartment on craigslist or going to view apartments. I'm usually on the phone with potential employers or recruiters or going to interviews.
As for Gay she's been accepted to Bauman college's Nutritional Educators program and she's excited to get that process going.

More to come and wish us luck...
Jon

Our last day in NZ

Hi All,

So, today is our last day in New Zealand.
It seems like not too long ago that Gay and I were talking on the phone in San Francisco and she, frustrated with her job, jokingly said to me "You know, we should just pack everything up and move to like New Zealand or something." Something about her suggestion resonated with me and of course, as we all know, the rest is history.
So would I do it all again? Of course, in heartbeat, and one day we just may (Japan is top of my list). But for right now the best thing for me is to get back to where home is, get reacquainted with family and friends and get back in touch with what it's like to be an American citizen.

The process of beginning new
One of the things I'm looking forward to is taking the steps of forming a life for myself in a new place. Simple stuff like where I'm going to live, what kind of job to get and all the new friendships and situations that result of large scale changes.
It'll be the fourth time for me doing such a thing, the most exciting, of course, was doing it here in Nelson where everything was new. But this time around, in San Francisco with the idea of Gay and I being husband and wife, will make it all the more special.
So we're starting the process by scanning craigslist for apartments, both cringing at the cost and giddy at the thought of sharing our own place together.

The blog
I think I'm just going to keep this blog going to document the next bits in our lives even though the first part of the URL, "nzmove", isn't semantically relevant. So keep checking back once in awhile and see how we're getting on.

Bye New Zealand

Tahitti, and On Leaving (again)

Hi All,

First off, I got an email from my friend Dave who said that not only did him and his wife enjoy our travel blog but also his family including his grandfather who, in WWII, was stationed in some areas we visited. I thought that was awesome. Mostly I think no one is really reading this thing except for our moms, which is great don't get me wrong. So I'm pleasantly shocked when I hear people are keeping up with us. So I just want to say thank you to everyone who's been regular readers. It means a lot to us.

Tahiti, again
So how many people can say they've been to Tahiti twice in one year? Probably not many people so I realize just how lucky I am. This trip failed to disappoint as Gay and I spent quality time with Gay's parents and her sister, Yve, and her brother in-law, Adam. We had a fantastic time despite some rainy days, but even those we made the best of. We did some cool activities like boat rides and snorkeling, sting ray feeding, and dolphin watching. I got in 3 dives and I was lucky enough to swim along with a sea turtle that was hanging out with our group for almost the whole dive. I wish I had some pictures on just how close this guy was coming up to me. He was very curious about us and at one point we were looking each other straight in the face. Other than that I loved all the "colorful" conversations we would have during meal times. Some of my favorite topics included:
-Pros and Cons of Starbucks and other Globalization Efforts.
-Current state of Politics in Tibet and China.
-Current state of my receding hairline.
-Where is the best pizza and why.
and my absolute favorite...
-Our wedding plans


New Years and Nelson
We spent a nice New Years in Nelson just hanging out with some friends. We're currently staying at my friend Tom and Julia's who have been taking great care of us. We went camping a couple days ago and spent some quality time hanging out on the beautiful beaches in Kaiterteri. Summer is a great time to be in Nelson and it makes question our decision to leave. Also were coming to realize that it's not the best time to be renting in San Francisco and buying something is so utterly out of the question it's not funny.
In the end I know leaving is the right thing to do but it's causing some tension between Gay and I. Gay actually got a work visa the last time we entered the country so she is thinking about staying here, enjoying a Nelson summer and working for a couple months while I go back and get things sorted. Whatever happens I'm sure it will all work out.

Some pictures
Tahiti
Here are some Tahiti pics. Gay's sister is a very talented photographess and this is random set from her Snapfish collection. Yve, I hope you don't mind me stealing a couple of these.

Camping in Kaiterteri
This is video is from camping with our German friends Thomas and Julia. Thomas got this special sugary syrup topping called Goldsaft for Christmas and we loved it and put it on everything. Here is a video of Gay getting her daily fix of Goldsaft.

Finally uploaded some videos

Hi All,
We're still here in good old Nelson unpacking our stuff and packing it back up again trying to get ourselves situated for an easy flight home. But really we're just trying to keep ourselves as busy as possible.

Right, so I got around to uploading some more short videos from various places. So please enjoy this lot.


These first 2 are from Vietnam, specifically from Ho Chi Minh City. I really liked HCMC but one thing that was particularly cool was that every time you crossed the street you risking your life. There are very few traffic lights or anything else to govern car vs. pedestrian flow so you basically remove all fear and just start walking. This clip is of me simply walking across the street. Notice the Vietnamese woman coming the opposite way toward the end of the clip.


This next clip is of me coming back across the street towards the camera. Unfortunately the traffic had died down a bit so not as dramatic.
Note: No one was harmed during the filming of these clips (so mothers or potential mothers-in-law needn't worry).



Ok next up is short clip from Japan. One of the things I wanted to do while in Japan was ride on the Shinkanzen which are the superfast or bullet trains. Luckily it just so happened that one of the first things we did after getting of the plane in Tokyo was take a Shinkanzen to Kyoto. I think we took about 5 bullet train rides during our stint in Japan. So this clip is of a sleek Shinkanzen train coming into the station. Sorry, video a bit shaky throughout.


Ok next 2 clips are from China so of course a little strange. Anyway we had spent a day touring the Summer Palace in Beijing during our first week in China. It's basically a super posh summer resort that royalty used to use back in the day. Anyway this guy sets up and starts playing some music with his buddies. I thought the singing was just awful and I couldn't tell if he being serious or not so I took a shot of him. Note: you really need audio for this one.


After spending more time in China I realized that he actually wasn't joking and that style of singing is a legitimate Chinese folk style. My fears were reaffirmed after we saw this outdoor talent show in Xi'an where this man began to do his thing. Sorry a bit dark but it's really the sublime yelling, i mean singing, you're meant to look out for.


Last clip for now, this one is a drum performance given at the massive drum tower in front of the Forbidden City in Beijing.


Enjoy...Jon

Back in New Zealand + Lots o' Pictures

Hi All,

We've made it back to New Zealand safe and sound. I didn't want to mention it too early in case we got jinxed but, now that the trip is over I can safely say that; miraculously the only thing we managed to lose, or get stolen from us, was 1 pair of sunglasses. Unbelievable really, considering we had to basically pack and unpack our bags every time we were in a new hotel.

It feels like we've been gone for years but we're quickly settling into our old routines; Gay's already back to researching wedding dresses and I'm back spending way too much time in front of a computer.
All the little things give us thrills now, for instance; we were walking around downtown Nelson and we couldn't figure out why it seems so dead and empty like a ghost town. Then when we were meeting up with our travel agent and we asked her about it and she's like "Hello! you just came back from Hanoi where the population is 3.1 million and little old Nelson is 41,000. That's going to be noticeable." So maybe she's right.
Also, when we got into Auckland airport we had to walk about 10 minutes to get to the domestic terminal to catch our flight to Nelson. As I was crossing the street I noticed a lack of a million motor-scooters but I did see 1 car coming so I stopped and waited for it to pass. To my amazement the car actually stopped for me! I don't think that happened once in all 7 months of traveling around Asia. You're usually spending time dodging cars.

So enjoy some pictures from Cambodia and Vietnam below. I still have some good videos to compress and upload plus more stories to tell, so stay tuned for that.

What's Next...
Tahiti in about 10 days, then back to America on Jan 11th! I spend about a week with my family in Arizona, I have no idea what Gay is planning. After that it's back to where it all began, in SF; where the rental market is apparently a nightmare, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Pictures...
Cambodia
Angkor Wat
Ok this first lot is all from the Angkor Wat complex which is where we took most of our pictures in Cambodia. The charm of some of the temples is seeing the overgrowth of these massive trees over the temple structure. If you've ever seen Tomb Raider the movie you may recognize one of the shots.

Other
These pics are still from Cambodia but basically everything but Angkor Wat. Toward the end is a cool floating village plus a trek to see some war-torn buildings. And, surprise, another shot of Gay eating.

Vietnam
Mekong Delta
Boat trip down the Mekong and we visited some local artisans and stayed in a nice little guest house. There's a shot of me drinking some snake wine, which is alcohol fermented with a big dead king cobra in the jar. Also I later realized there was a dead crow in the jar as well. It tasted a bit like tequilla, but I could have done without the dead bird. Not my proudest moment anyway.

Ho Chi Minh City and Na Trang

Cu Chi Tunnels, Dalat
The Cu Chi Tunnels was this bewildering tunnel complex that the VC would use when fighting the non-VC forces (ie American, Autralian, South Vietnamese). The tunnels were tiny and people would live down there for months, even have babies in the tunnels in their little tunnel hospitals. I tried to walk through a portion and I got too claustrophobic and had to turn back. Later, our guide told us that the portion they let people walk through was made larger to accommodate Westerners with "big happy buddah bellies." Dalat was a nice and chilly resort town.

Hue and National Park
Look out for the shots of the monkeys in the national park. Unfortunately in cages (they were rescued from people wanting to eat them), but these were the most beautiful monkeys I had ever seen.Like something out of a Spielburg movie.

Ha Long Bay
Pictures don't do this place justice. Amazing rock formations coming right out of the water. Best part of the trip, we even slept over in a house boat. Look out for the shot of a person selling crap from her boat. Even in the middle of the water you can't get away from them. I can even hear here now..."Hello! Sir! Come look my shop!"

Hanoi
And our last stop. First shot is the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum where we got to see the old general himself. Only more pickled then he used to be. However, he was just back from Russia where the experts in preserving old Communist leaders had just given him his annual check up and given him a fresh dose of creepy; or whatever it is they do. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside the mausoleum.

And here is a shot of us on the plane back to Auckland.

Hanoi, our last stop!

Hi all,
Well we've arrived in Hanoi and our tour of Vietnam has officially ended. Not only that, this is the last stop on this grand adventure before we go back to the NZ!! But the blogging won't stop here!! please keep up with us as there are tons more pictures and vids to put up plus more travel stories to tell.

Some quick thoughts on The Trip...
While on a snorkelling excursion in Cambodia I was talking about our grand adventure to a Dutch girl and she asked "Voot you ever do dish again?" Although I've never asked myself that question, without hesitation I answered "No". While 7 months travelling has left me with experiences I will never forget, has taught me things about myself, has brought me closer to Gay in ways that only stressful travelling can, had hands on learning experiences with exotic cultures and religions, got fat on great food, got great pictures and stories and bought some cool silk wall hangings and a tailor made jacket....I will never do it again. Truly a once in a lifetime experience for me. Exhausting to say the least and I'll be glad to be back not only on familiar soils but also amongst familiar people. The next time we travel it will be for a shorter duration, maybe only 5 months ;-)

Thoughts on our Vietnam organized tour...
Our Intrepid tour was great in the sense that it was exactly what Gay and I needed which was to have all the difficult parts of traveling handled for us. Of course it wasn't all stressless; there are minor things that pop up (mostly regarding money and tipping) and also you're not sheilded in any sense from the ever present people in your face selling you crap and trying to rip you off. Now that we're at the end of the tour I get the feeling that we didn't experience the country in the down and dirty way that we would have if we were to have planned it ourselves. I think it's because we weren't travelling the way a local would travel, we didn't have a lot of time to explore areas, plus we were definitly on a well traversed tourist trail. Would I do an organized tour again? Yeah, I probably will eventually because it does have major benefits, first and foremost is that you get a guide which can answer any question at any point of the trip. But you trade that for not being able to experience a place by finding your own way through.

Whats Next...
A flight to NZ on Dec 3rd, so a couple more days here to hang around and do some last minute shopping..anyone need some cheap silk, some fine bamboo products or some dog meat? We'll spend a couple weeks in NZ and then meet up with Gay's family for 5 days in Tahati!! We've been talking and thinking about Tahiti for longer than we care to admit. In fact, at one point in India, we made a pledge to ourselves not to talk about Tahiti until we were back in NZ. After that we still talked about it but just referred to it as "that which should not be mentioned". After Tahiti it's back to US, not sure when though.

Communism in Vietnam

Hi All,
We're well on our way in Vietnam and the tour has been going very well despite some rain. This is definitly travelling in style as far as Gay and I are concerned. Private air-con bus, fancy hotels with welcome drinks and the farthest we carry our backpacks is from our room to the bus. It's been raining a lot here and there are rumours that our next destination, Hoi An, is truly underwater. We talked to a couple of tourists who had just come from the city and they said they had to get a boat to take them out of thier hotel. Needless to say our tour guide is scrambling but he doesn't seem too concerned.

Communism?
Over here they call the Vietnam War the American War even though the Americans were fighting not only with the South Vietnamese but also Australians, New Zealanders and soldiers from a lot of other near by countries. In the beginning of the tour we saw 2 sights that concentrated on the Vietnam war; the War Remanents Museum and the Cu Chi Tunnels. Both of these I felt were decidedly anit-American. The Remanants museum becuase it had a lot of gruesome pictures with captions like "Americans brutily tortured the Vietnamese" or "Americans killed innocent civilians". At the Cu Chi Tunnels we watched a video that was obviously made recently but looked as if it was actual war footage. The voice said things like "..here is Kim, she bravely fought the Americans and won an award for the most Americans killed in a single battle." Kim is shown waving with her gun with fake machine gun fire effects in the background. I felt pretty offended at these things, and when our tour guide started using the same rhetoric I talked with him. He's a young guy, only 2 years younger than myself and he has as much first hand war experience as me; none.

After that, I read some more about the history of the Vietnam War and I realized that it actually was the Americans doing most of the killing and planning and I also got a good explaination of why we went to Vietnam in the first place; and that was Communism, or really, the fear of it. Yes, the Communist North Vietnamese beat us and as a result the government turned Communist and has been ever since, even today. I'm glad I've gotten a chance to see, first hand, Vietnam and China, probably the 2 big Communist governments today. The truth is that modern Communism is nothing more than capitalism with the government having a tighter control of the people. The markets are wide open and people can go out and buy fancy clothes and bling-bling motorbikes and our tour guide said you can even buy a Rolls Royce for 1.5 million USD. The difference between us and them is that we can say publicly that our government sucks, they can't. Now the anti-American talk doesn't bother me, but what's more frustrating is thinking about what all the fighting and killing and Napalm use was for. We killed to erradicate communism but now it's not too different from how we live. If we would have know what modern Communism would look like I think we would have just said "yeah fine go for it".