Rumor Mill

For those of you who check my blog on a regular (or not so regular) basis, you might have wondered what's happened to me over the last few weeks. I apologize greatly to my faithful fan base, and will admit that my time of late has been occupied by some social excursions which did not seem worthy of transmitting to the public masses. I've also been traveling for a fair number of days over the last week and a half (once four hours north to Hamilton*, once four hours south to Wellington), denying me of consistent internet access. However, if you really want to know what's going on in my life, all you need to do is plug into the local hospital grapevine. Apparently the gossip running through the halls says that I'm staying another year in New Zealand, have signed a contract to work in the Emergency Department, and am getting married. Granted, there is some very loose basis of truth to these rumors in that I have looked into extending my work visa and have gone on a few dates with one particular New Zealand male. However, I would only stay for an additional six months, certainly would not switch from working at my current clinic to the hospital, and last I checked, there was no circular object surrounding my left ring finger (nor will there be any in the foreseeable future). It's a wonder that they haven't made me pregnant...with twins! You have to love small town gossip.


*Life lessons I learned on my trip to Hamilton:
1. Being an American does not get you out of a speeding ticket. Yes, that's right, after 15 years of driving, I finally got my first speeding ticket. Or, more appropriately, I finally got caught speeding. Woops. The one upside is that any demerit points won't go on my American license. Just in case, perhaps I'll slow down for now.

2. Panadol cures all. For those unfamiliar with New Zealand drug names (which undoubtedly most of you are), Panadol is the same as Tylenol. However, through a phenomenal pharmaceutical marketing campaign, you'd think Panadol was God's gift to medicine. It's used for everything from high fevers to post-operative pain management. During this particular trip to Hamilton, I was sitting around with a few friends and one remarked, "I had a good feed and a panadol and I'm ready to go!" If it weren't illegal, I'd ship a whole case of it back with me to the states.

3. If you're ever in a tracker accident, don't jump off the tracker. Okay, this may not seem that relevant, but I heard several stories during this same night of talking with friends of people who had been in tracker accidents and decided to jump off, only to have the tracker run over them. I just thought I'd pass on the information in case any of you decided to go into agriculture business.

4. New Zealand is an inherently random place. I can't tell you how many times I've been driving through the country only to find some historical or other point of interest in the middle of nowhere. Previously I've mentioned several random cafes and shops with thriving businesses that will have no surrounding civilization for miles. In this particular instance, the point of interest was a public bathroom designed by Austrian-born artist and ecoarchitect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser. Admittedly, it is a rather impressive structure decorated with ceramic mosaics and brightly colored bottles with grass and plants on the roof. However, it's located in a wee Kiwi outback town (close to where Hundertwasser lived) with a population that probably doesn't exceed 300, and who's entire economic subsistence relies on the tourism derived from this loo being the most photographed toilet in New Zealand.