It's been 3 days now since i've had access to the Internet..
Today, K and I went to the library again.. but only for an hour before the library closed at 530pm. And the way they "close" the library is to ring the bell and switch off the lights without warning.. I surprised cause usually in OUR libraries or any public place like shopping malls or museums, people usually give some kinda announcement over the PA system.. haha.. Here they just switch off the lights without warning.. = )
This morning, K went upstairs to do an interview / presentation with Stephen for this life coaching course that Stephen was doing. So i went out for a jog around the neighborhood. Feeling so fat and unhealthy since i came here! It was a nice jog, except that i got caught in the rain (as usual the rain just comes and goes without warning)..
We had lunch with Christine and Stephen (our current host family) today at a Thai restaurant called "Khun Pun". I told Christine that the owner's name is probably "Pun", cause Khun was a kinda salutation in Thai. = ) Lunch was not too bad. We had Pineapple fried rice, Phad thai, green curry, stir fry vegetables with peanut sauce and fried beef with rice. Topped it all off with hot chocolate and tea. This restaurant was cheaper than the one we had on Martha's birthday, but of course, it wasn't as nice.
We had a long chat over lunch, talking about the economy, politics, culture etc. We learnt so much from them, about how the influx of immigrants / foreigners is destroying their local culture and making the locals here frustrated. There are just too many Asian people here, and most of these Asian people come here and instead of assimiliating into the local culture, they set up their own little "China Town", refusing to learn how to speak proper English, and taking advantage of the free healthcare here. Christine's in healthcare, and she says there are so many elderly people from China who have never had proper health care in their lives, then they come here and maximize the free healthcare here. So much so that there are not enough resources for the locals to get proper medical care. Then there is the problem of increased crime due to the Asian gangs and triads that were never here before.
Because of all these "Asian Invasion", the bulk of the wealthy New Zealanders are all moving out of their own country, leaving only the middle to low income earners to pay for all the taxes that are providing for the free healthcare etc here. And the government is not doing much about it cause they want to remain popular and stay in office for the next 3 years. Quite a pessimistic situation huh??
ANYWAY.. they did admit that they might be biased so we should talk to more people before we form our own opinions..
After lunch, K and I came home to pick up our LPG cylinder and headed to the petrol station to top it up. Apparently, it was still 3/4 full but for some reason, our heater did not work with it. So we top it up full instead. When we arrived home to drop off the full cylinder, we saw this little creature by the driveway where we parked.. It looked so clumsy when it strutted its way across the grass! Think it's a hedgehog or something.. couldn't confirm..
After the library, K and I came home and cook instant noodles for dinner.. We managed to tap into somebody's wireless internet so here I am , blogging.. while K is watching "24" on TV.. = )
Today, K and I went to the library again.. but only for an hour before the library closed at 530pm. And the way they "close" the library is to ring the bell and switch off the lights without warning.. I surprised cause usually in OUR libraries or any public place like shopping malls or museums, people usually give some kinda announcement over the PA system.. haha.. Here they just switch off the lights without warning.. = )
This morning, K went upstairs to do an interview / presentation with Stephen for this life coaching course that Stephen was doing. So i went out for a jog around the neighborhood. Feeling so fat and unhealthy since i came here! It was a nice jog, except that i got caught in the rain (as usual the rain just comes and goes without warning)..
We had lunch with Christine and Stephen (our current host family) today at a Thai restaurant called "Khun Pun". I told Christine that the owner's name is probably "Pun", cause Khun was a kinda salutation in Thai. = ) Lunch was not too bad. We had Pineapple fried rice, Phad thai, green curry, stir fry vegetables with peanut sauce and fried beef with rice. Topped it all off with hot chocolate and tea. This restaurant was cheaper than the one we had on Martha's birthday, but of course, it wasn't as nice.
We had a long chat over lunch, talking about the economy, politics, culture etc. We learnt so much from them, about how the influx of immigrants / foreigners is destroying their local culture and making the locals here frustrated. There are just too many Asian people here, and most of these Asian people come here and instead of assimiliating into the local culture, they set up their own little "China Town", refusing to learn how to speak proper English, and taking advantage of the free healthcare here. Christine's in healthcare, and she says there are so many elderly people from China who have never had proper health care in their lives, then they come here and maximize the free healthcare here. So much so that there are not enough resources for the locals to get proper medical care. Then there is the problem of increased crime due to the Asian gangs and triads that were never here before.
Because of all these "Asian Invasion", the bulk of the wealthy New Zealanders are all moving out of their own country, leaving only the middle to low income earners to pay for all the taxes that are providing for the free healthcare etc here. And the government is not doing much about it cause they want to remain popular and stay in office for the next 3 years. Quite a pessimistic situation huh??
ANYWAY.. they did admit that they might be biased so we should talk to more people before we form our own opinions..
After lunch, K and I came home to pick up our LPG cylinder and headed to the petrol station to top it up. Apparently, it was still 3/4 full but for some reason, our heater did not work with it. So we top it up full instead. When we arrived home to drop off the full cylinder, we saw this little creature by the driveway where we parked.. It looked so clumsy when it strutted its way across the grass! Think it's a hedgehog or something.. couldn't confirm..
After the library, K and I came home and cook instant noodles for dinner.. We managed to tap into somebody's wireless internet so here I am , blogging.. while K is watching "24" on TV.. = )
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