SHAM

This weekend was a weekend of reading. I was working at the backpackers where I clean all morning and then basically sit around so its a great opportunity to read! I basically read 6 hours straight from 12-6 in the afternoons! with occasioanl disruptions of checking people in and doing their trvael itineries..
I finished the book I've been reading for a couple of weeks "Four Fires" by Bryce Courtney. He's a really popular author in NZ and his books are mainly set in Australia, anyway it was a great book and I learnt alot about irish settlers in Australia, concentration camps in borneo and japan during the war and australian soldiers experiences in them, and forest fires in oz..and its amusing how the sentence "bloody poms" turns up every few pages or so..!
Then I read "SHAM" by Steve Salerno which was really good, its basically about how the self help movement makes us helpless and how these gurus victimize us to keep us needy and to keep us buying their books.. it was scary..! I will honestly never read a self help book in the same light again and as for Oprah or Dr Phil.. I dont think I can ever watch them again! Steve Salerno names all these self help gurus and rips them apart.. its very interesting!
Then John whose been staying a few days in the backpackers bought the Sunday papers so that was me sorted.. could find out whats going on in NZ and the world in general. The front page of all the papers here is yet another child abuse case.. did you know more maori children die each year than any other ethnicity (by a factor of 5) at the hands of their family?
I have the day off work today and have no work booked this week.. so I'm hoping they call soon! but I have just printed off my CV and plan to take it round the rest of the nurseries and am applying for a job at Kathmandu.
I was going to try and use my beauty voucher today but madisons was closed! (Hmff) but will use it at some point this week. Am planning on a leg wax or hair cut or both..am feeling a bit dowdy lately.. probably just that winter feeling.. and of course it doesnt help that while travelling you cant have lots of stuff so I just have 2 pairs of trousers and 2 fleeces.. I also plan to start some exercise such as swimming.. ( lol.. if you read this blog from start to finish I probably say that every 2 months or so!)
I have been thinking more about plans (even though I'm alwys saying theres no point since I never stick to them..but here it is:
work hard here and save up
go to Oz in december
travel round Oz for a year and work hard and save up
spend 2-3 months round the pacific islands such as samoa, fiji and tonga
and then depending on how I feel and money etc I will either do a bit more travelling or come home to the UK. Going back to the UK both excites and terrifies me. I am terrified of things going back to teh way they were.. of feeling stressed and unhappy and of making work into this big stressful thing.. I was telling my sisiter how i'm going to have to change jobs every 6 months or so like I do out here then it feels temporary and less stressful! I used to get stressed thinking this was my career and I had to succeed..
I have a kind of plan for the UK (Feel free to laugh out loud and remind me off this plan when I do nothing of the sort on returning to the UK)which is to get any jobs I enjoy and I would like to try the travel industry and then when I have a house and partner and kids are an option I might want to be a childminder or mini nursery but obviously that isnt an option till I have a house. I also despite reading "sham" would like to train in psychology and or psychotherapy not necessarily as a job more as an interest.. but since this would be extortionatly expensive it will have to be one day/evening a week when I am settled and have money.. its a shame though as when your settled your generally busier with life and in actual fact now would be the ideal time for me to do open university or something as I have more time.. but I guess you cant do everything!! one thing at a time!!
I caught up on the phone with people this weekend which was nice as I had access to the phone being on reception.. Its so nice to hear peoples voices again!
I phoned my sister Amanda and her husband Jim and got to speak to Elizabeth which was very cute!! it was nice to catch up with Amanda too and find out whats going on in her life..
and I phoned mum and dad, its mums summer holidays so they are both at home and staying in the UK because they didnt want to miss the British summer since last summer was so great.. Hope it gets nicer for you all soon.. Amanda and Jim are going to stay with them for a week soon as well so it will all be busy there soon! I wish I could be there seeing all the family..
and I also phoned Louise who is back from her holiday in france and was meant to be off starting her travel plans but things have changed and am not sure what shes doing now..! I realised how much I wanted her to travel because then someone would understand what it was like for me and we would be in the same situation.. but I guess you cant force your friends to go travelling! and I understand how other peoples travelling is different from mine, she wants a job to go to rather than just arrive in a country. which I can understand, I was way to scared to come to NZ without having arranged the job at the refuge first.. (even if I did leave after a couple of weeks!!).