The job search has been an interesting prospect. I have learned that given this world economy architecture jobs are not as easy to come by.
I spent the first two weeks in Wellington, post flatmate search, working on my resume. Of course being Kristen M. Neri I could not just let my resume be a black and white list of achievements and experiences but had to make it something truly Kristen. It is a colorful well designed piece of art that I sent out to every firm in wellington. Only receiving back replies of currently not adding to their work staff and invitations to happy hour and for tea, with one invitation to a office putting competition, what I have learned is that a large firm in wellington is about 10 people, and a medium is 4-6. Also it seems that NZ firms are not laying people off, and have not seen their project load diminish that much, they are just sitting back and waiting to see where this world economic downturn leads the projects in New Zealand.
I decided to not let this get me down and use this as an opportunity to explore other interests in the world of design. So I adjusted my resume and sent it out to a series of different exhibition design companies, only 5 really in wellington. I received a response from Izzat Design, a company that does both exhibition design as well as everything under the sun including props and sets for movies. Their response was “we really want to meet you and we can schedule a time for you to come in to visit”. Now being how casual things are here I wasn’t sure if this was just another meet and greet or an interview so I prepared for both. I arrived at what was a large warehouse in the Miramar section of wellington better known for the studios that Peter Jackson owns and the Weta workshop/digital where a load of Lord of the Rings was produced, never mind several other projects. In this extremely large warehouse was 4 really cool guys who seem to just play around designing and producing stuff all day, my kind of environment. It ended up being an informal interview with them looking for someone with computer drafting experience given they are more hands on designers and just create, but they would need someone to take their ideas and produce them into drawings. I received a tour of their studio/warehouse which was amazing. They do everything, including having several dozen roman helmets that they cast for an upcoming Jesus epic that was/is to be filmed in NZ called “Kingdom come” but has been put on hold after the US filmmakers already spent upwards of $80 million on preproduction and sets are set up all over NZ. So it seems this was a very productive visit and hopefully something will materialize.
However with funds starting to run short I need to start looking into other prospects. Currently looking at retail and bar work but think that maybe this is the time to start focusing on my own art and my design company KMNdesign, http://www.kmndesign.com/. Again maybe this is fates way of getting my creative juices flowing and really doing the thing I have always wanted to do in making KMNdesign a fully functioning entity. All I know is I will do what I do best and DESIGN!!!!
Friday, March 20, 2009
The Good, The Bad and the New Roommate
The roommate search began, and I was determined as ever to find a cool new flatmate. Figuring that maybe this was fates way of sending me a cooler, better roommate I was going to make the best of the situation. I posted an add in Trade Me as it seems to be THE way to find anything and everything in New Zealand. Next thing I knew I was receiving texts and emails left and right, so I set up a schedule for Saturday to show the flat hoping that by Sunday I would have a new flatmate. The landlord was only making me pay my half the rent until Feb 14th but I was hoping to find someone to move in sooner as I wanted to meet new people and create a new wellington circle of friends.
Thursday and Friday I spent going through the things the people prior left. There was food in the fridge, including pumpkin pie, milk, and several other gross things I needed to throw out. Dirty laundry still in two laundry baskets, toiletries, bags of clothes, furniture, a nice bottle of 2002 wine unopened, vacuum cleaners, art on the walls, it seemed as Petal must have left in a hurry. Either way I seem to have lucked out given the amount of stuff left behind.
Showing the flat was fun, one girl was a playwright and director, another guy was a musician going to get his masters, a journalist for Sky News who came with a "42 inch TV and free Sky (cable)". One stood out though, this guy Tim. I wasn’t sure how I felt about a male flat mate but given I tend to get along with guys better than girls, with the exception of girls who also get along better with guys, I figured given the right person it would be ok. Tim seemed cool, well traveled as he had lived in Japan before and just got back from a trip to Singapore with his girlfriend, and he asked if I liked to go camping and the outdoors. I figured he would be the best as he seemed the most outgoing. So I offered him the spot and he moved in the following week.
Little did I know just what was about to transpire. The first thing he did when he moved in was go through the cupboards that I already went through, and the fridge, that I already went through, and created designated shelves. Ok...I can live with that I thought. Next he cleaned down EVERY spot of the flat, including getting a germ killing spray and spraying down EVERYTHING. "You never know who has done what on these floors" He said. The one thing he did that killed me was shut all of the curtains in the living room. We have a great view of the city and you can see the harbor from our living room. But he shut the curtains and every day since he closes them when he sits in the living room, he does open them a slight bit in the morning though to let my plants get a little bit of light. Being very passive aggressive he constantly asks me things indirectly, like "so are the plants inside because its too cold or too hot out?" He never goes out and seems to only hang out with his girlfriend on the weekends, and one other Japanese friend. Once we finally got internet in the flat all he does is sit in the living room and play with his laptop, even when I try and converse he just sits there with a blank stare at his computer. And I cannot even joke with him as he takes everything as a personal attack. There are many other stories...and my friends have started calling him "Tim, nice but dim".
So one night he asks me if there is "anyone special" back in DC. I respond with my usual... "I’m not really a relationship person, I don’t need to be in one and if one comes around well great but its not something I’m searching for and I would rather be in no relationship than be in one just for the sake of being in a relationship", blah blah blah. Well we go out to dinner one night with his girlfriend and his Japanese friend. While at dinner he takes the beer/wine list and gives it to me condescendingly saying "you will be needing this" as if I am some sort of alcoholic because I enjoy a beer or wine with dinner every so often. Then he asks "so where do you go next, where do you settle". HERE WE GO! "I don’t ever plan on settling, I love travel and have lived a great life so I have no idea where I might end up. Maybe London, maybe back in DC, I have loved all of those places but who knows where life might take me. I’m on the Kristen train and its full steam ahead!" His girlfriend says "Well maybe she will meet a nice kiwi boy and settle here!" To which Tim replies "that’s not her priority" as if he knows everything about me from one discussion. We then go for coffee which brings a glass of wine and more condescending looks.
Well being a very vibrant person and finding that Tim seems to suck the life out of me and everything around him, things came to a head. The first was I came home from the bars one night after going out with Neil for a few beers. We, as we do, had some crazy/amazing discussions trying to cure the world of all its ills and he was going to pass out at my place. We of course continue discussing the worlds problems, the arts, etc. and Tim send a crazy text saying he can hear us talking two rooms away in the lounge and cant sleep because of it. Then a few weeks later I am hanging out with the girl who lives upstairs, abby, and chatting in the lounge again trying to be as quiet as possible given the first text. Another passive aggressive text later I have had it. Monday comes around and when I get home he quickly retreats into his room for an hour then leaves. “He just emailed me instead of talking to me…I know it” I thought to myself. I was dead on. His email included a very long demanding list of how to live in the flat, including “turn all appliances/TV off at the outlet, here there are switches at the outlets, make sure hands are clean before touching the remotes, clean down the microwave after every use, and finally at the end the reason for the whole email “be quiet as he is a VERY light sleeper”. The oddest part was at the end when he said “I just want to take care of myself, and take care of you”. Which being the overly independent person I am really freaked me out. So I replied with saying “I don’t respond well to list, I tend to rebel from them actually. Every flat I have lived in we have had a just be tidy understanding and if anyone wants any extra cleaning they do it themselves. And im sorry you have trouble sleeping but I have not been disrespectful at all and being me I cant be in a situation where having people over on the weekends and a bit of chatting 2 rooms away is a problem, I understand if because of your sleeping problems you need to find a new place”.
So when he comes home from work that day I ask to discuss his very odd email. He basically became a mumbling idiot not able to at all have this conversation. His email was a way of taking control of the flat, of having me be submissive and listen to him, which I can tell you is exactly how he treats his girlfriend and his friends. For anyone who has ever met me…this is not going to fly! There was no, please, or thank you, or a suggestion that this was a conversation to come up with a set of flat rules…it was a pure list of demands. But in his mumbling he said that I was not “being disrespectful” and everything in my email can be our standard”.
End of day I have no idea how I got myself into this situation and my cool flatmate radar went out the window, nor how to fully resolve my somewhat crazy roommate situation..but I do know it makes for one interesting story.
Thursday and Friday I spent going through the things the people prior left. There was food in the fridge, including pumpkin pie, milk, and several other gross things I needed to throw out. Dirty laundry still in two laundry baskets, toiletries, bags of clothes, furniture, a nice bottle of 2002 wine unopened, vacuum cleaners, art on the walls, it seemed as Petal must have left in a hurry. Either way I seem to have lucked out given the amount of stuff left behind.
Showing the flat was fun, one girl was a playwright and director, another guy was a musician going to get his masters, a journalist for Sky News who came with a "42 inch TV and free Sky (cable)". One stood out though, this guy Tim. I wasn’t sure how I felt about a male flat mate but given I tend to get along with guys better than girls, with the exception of girls who also get along better with guys, I figured given the right person it would be ok. Tim seemed cool, well traveled as he had lived in Japan before and just got back from a trip to Singapore with his girlfriend, and he asked if I liked to go camping and the outdoors. I figured he would be the best as he seemed the most outgoing. So I offered him the spot and he moved in the following week.
Little did I know just what was about to transpire. The first thing he did when he moved in was go through the cupboards that I already went through, and the fridge, that I already went through, and created designated shelves. Ok...I can live with that I thought. Next he cleaned down EVERY spot of the flat, including getting a germ killing spray and spraying down EVERYTHING. "You never know who has done what on these floors" He said. The one thing he did that killed me was shut all of the curtains in the living room. We have a great view of the city and you can see the harbor from our living room. But he shut the curtains and every day since he closes them when he sits in the living room, he does open them a slight bit in the morning though to let my plants get a little bit of light. Being very passive aggressive he constantly asks me things indirectly, like "so are the plants inside because its too cold or too hot out?" He never goes out and seems to only hang out with his girlfriend on the weekends, and one other Japanese friend. Once we finally got internet in the flat all he does is sit in the living room and play with his laptop, even when I try and converse he just sits there with a blank stare at his computer. And I cannot even joke with him as he takes everything as a personal attack. There are many other stories...and my friends have started calling him "Tim, nice but dim".
So one night he asks me if there is "anyone special" back in DC. I respond with my usual... "I’m not really a relationship person, I don’t need to be in one and if one comes around well great but its not something I’m searching for and I would rather be in no relationship than be in one just for the sake of being in a relationship", blah blah blah. Well we go out to dinner one night with his girlfriend and his Japanese friend. While at dinner he takes the beer/wine list and gives it to me condescendingly saying "you will be needing this" as if I am some sort of alcoholic because I enjoy a beer or wine with dinner every so often. Then he asks "so where do you go next, where do you settle". HERE WE GO! "I don’t ever plan on settling, I love travel and have lived a great life so I have no idea where I might end up. Maybe London, maybe back in DC, I have loved all of those places but who knows where life might take me. I’m on the Kristen train and its full steam ahead!" His girlfriend says "Well maybe she will meet a nice kiwi boy and settle here!" To which Tim replies "that’s not her priority" as if he knows everything about me from one discussion. We then go for coffee which brings a glass of wine and more condescending looks.
Well being a very vibrant person and finding that Tim seems to suck the life out of me and everything around him, things came to a head. The first was I came home from the bars one night after going out with Neil for a few beers. We, as we do, had some crazy/amazing discussions trying to cure the world of all its ills and he was going to pass out at my place. We of course continue discussing the worlds problems, the arts, etc. and Tim send a crazy text saying he can hear us talking two rooms away in the lounge and cant sleep because of it. Then a few weeks later I am hanging out with the girl who lives upstairs, abby, and chatting in the lounge again trying to be as quiet as possible given the first text. Another passive aggressive text later I have had it. Monday comes around and when I get home he quickly retreats into his room for an hour then leaves. “He just emailed me instead of talking to me…I know it” I thought to myself. I was dead on. His email included a very long demanding list of how to live in the flat, including “turn all appliances/TV off at the outlet, here there are switches at the outlets, make sure hands are clean before touching the remotes, clean down the microwave after every use, and finally at the end the reason for the whole email “be quiet as he is a VERY light sleeper”. The oddest part was at the end when he said “I just want to take care of myself, and take care of you”. Which being the overly independent person I am really freaked me out. So I replied with saying “I don’t respond well to list, I tend to rebel from them actually. Every flat I have lived in we have had a just be tidy understanding and if anyone wants any extra cleaning they do it themselves. And im sorry you have trouble sleeping but I have not been disrespectful at all and being me I cant be in a situation where having people over on the weekends and a bit of chatting 2 rooms away is a problem, I understand if because of your sleeping problems you need to find a new place”.
So when he comes home from work that day I ask to discuss his very odd email. He basically became a mumbling idiot not able to at all have this conversation. His email was a way of taking control of the flat, of having me be submissive and listen to him, which I can tell you is exactly how he treats his girlfriend and his friends. For anyone who has ever met me…this is not going to fly! There was no, please, or thank you, or a suggestion that this was a conversation to come up with a set of flat rules…it was a pure list of demands. But in his mumbling he said that I was not “being disrespectful” and everything in my email can be our standard”.
End of day I have no idea how I got myself into this situation and my cool flatmate radar went out the window, nor how to fully resolve my somewhat crazy roommate situation..but I do know it makes for one interesting story.
21 January 2009: A 5 Piece Bedroom Set
I woke up Tuesday with 2 things on my mind. First I REALLY need to start this roommate search, and second I REALLY need to pick up my 5 piece bedroom set. I guess with petal moving out I now knew the larger room was mine! However I would now need to move the bed currently in the room and my 5 piece bedroom set without the help of Petal. I also had scheduled to pick up the bedroom set from the woman selling it on Thursday and had booked a van for my mission. During my panic the night before after learning of my flatmate performing a "runner" as they say here, I did something I said I wouldn’t, at least not for a month, I texted Neil. Now without going into too much detail as this could be the subject of a full novel, I met Neil last year in Mahia, the location of my friend Faye and Niall's wedding, while traveling around New Zealand for 3 Weeks. What happened was a New Zealand Summer vacation romance, the kind of which you only see in movies or read about in books. Certainly not something that happens to me...but it did. Being too good to be true and with typical Kristen Neri relationship luck he later divulged that he had a long term girlfriend with whom he wanted to work things out with. After receiving 3 songs, 2 poems, and countless emails, I spent the spring and summer in a emotional rollercoaster while trying to transform all of those feelings into a friendship. The decision came in August or September that we should end our emailing and texting and that once I moved to Wellington I wanted to give myself a month to set my new life up, make my own friends. Then we could get together for a beer and see if this friendship would really work.
The only other person I knew in Wellington other than Petal was Neil and so he was the obvious choice to ask to help me move my furniture. He agreed. The last time I had seen him it was an extremely emotional Wellington goodbye, but weirdly enough when the time came I wasn’t nervous to see him again but extremely excited to catch up with a good friend. Seeing Neil again was like a breath of fresh air…all of my concerns went out the window and I actually had fun moving furniture, chatting, and laughing. After getting the bed, 2 dressers, and two side tables inside the flat and set up, we returned the rental van. I accidently left my CD in the van and the radio at FULL volume, realizing it only when I was about to leave and the rental car guy turned on the car to check the mileage, or I guess here kilometerage???, and out came blasting a song from my CD. I quickly turned around and screamed “OH MY CD” in typical Neri fashion, ran and got my CD back… Phew. We then went to get a beer by the harbor, chatted about everything and anything, and discussed how awesome it was to have this, to be able to get back to a friendship after all. Next step would be to meet the girlfriend, something I was now able and ready to do.
The only other person I knew in Wellington other than Petal was Neil and so he was the obvious choice to ask to help me move my furniture. He agreed. The last time I had seen him it was an extremely emotional Wellington goodbye, but weirdly enough when the time came I wasn’t nervous to see him again but extremely excited to catch up with a good friend. Seeing Neil again was like a breath of fresh air…all of my concerns went out the window and I actually had fun moving furniture, chatting, and laughing. After getting the bed, 2 dressers, and two side tables inside the flat and set up, we returned the rental van. I accidently left my CD in the van and the radio at FULL volume, realizing it only when I was about to leave and the rental car guy turned on the car to check the mileage, or I guess here kilometerage???, and out came blasting a song from my CD. I quickly turned around and screamed “OH MY CD” in typical Neri fashion, ran and got my CD back… Phew. We then went to get a beer by the harbor, chatted about everything and anything, and discussed how awesome it was to have this, to be able to get back to a friendship after all. Next step would be to meet the girlfriend, something I was now able and ready to do.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
19 January 2009: Wellington Arrival
Despite ALL of the advice from kiwi friends who know better, I decided to make the 8 hour drive down to Wellington from Auckland in one big push. I was just too excited to start my new life in my new city after 3+ weeks of traveling to take any excursions. Plus I have the whole next year to explore New Zealand and my former neighbor in DC, Obama, was being inagurated the next day and wanted to be able to watch it. So I drove, with only one stop in hamilton to head to their version of walmart, the wharehouse, to purchase bed linens and pillows for the air mattress my roommate had promised would be waiting in my new room.
Upon arriving in wellington around 7 pm I looked in the mailbox for the key that my roommate had emailed to say she left me incase she wasnt around. I met my roommate Petal at the New Zealand embassy in DC back in June of 2008 where we had both gone for an informational session on Visas and work permits. She had traveled up from NYC for the session and I had hobbled in with the help of my sister, crutches, and boot post freak skateboarding accident May 25th in Park Slope Brooklyn. After the session we exchanged email addressses and kept intouch durring the summer and fall. She had moved to NZ in August and was a wealth of knowledge about what to bring with and what to sell in the states. A month prior leaving for NZ she emailed and said that her roommate was moving back to Germany and she was looking for someone to take her roommates place. If I was interested I could sublet from Mid January to Mid February then sign a year lease If I liked the place. She emailed photos and I looked it up on Google Earth. Being too good of an opportunity to pass up I told her a resounding YES. So here I was, I used the key, entered the apartment, which was exactly as pictured, and was a bit confused as to which room was mine. I had asked for the larger bedroom with bay windows however there was still furniture in that room and the blow up mattress i was told I could use was in the smaller room. So I brought all my items in and temporarily set myself up in the smaller room. There were no clothes in either wardrobe so I figured I could talk to Petal when she returned from whatever trip she might be on and see what room was to be mine. I was aiming for the larger one since the week before I had purchased a 5 piece bedroom set off the always useful Trade-me and was to pick it up this week, hopefully with the help of Petal. I took a quick look in the fridge and cupbords before heading to the grocery store. After an hour of getting lost on windy hilly roads I finally found a store, picked up the basics and headed back to the flat. I cooked dinner, set up the air mattress with my brand new sheets, duvet, and pillows, watched a dvd on my computer and then went to sleep.
The next day I immediately headed to a cafe to email Petal letting her know I had arrived in the flat so I wouldnt surprise her upon her arrival back, as well as start the daunting task of setting up my resume so I could commence the job search. I spent the rest of the day walking around wellington, then driving to the beach, and then back to the house for dinner. I actually ended up avoiding watching the innaguration as it would have made me a bit homesick for DC and I wanted to fully enjoy setting myself up in Wellington. The evening brought a new surprise! While cooking dinner I noticed someone walk by the bay windows, then there was a knock at the door. It was the landlord, who somewhat looked at me dumbfoundedly. "I just recieved an email from Petal about an hour ago saying that she has vacated the flat, has moved back to the states, and that you are here living in the flat and expecting to take over her part of the lease until February 14th. I came over as soon as I recieved this to see what was going on." Now I was dumbfounded! I had not signed a lease, paid a bond, or anything. Petal had said we could take care of the techincalities with the landlord as soon as I arrived. Now here I am nothing tying me to this flat that in reality Im not suposed to be living in. Luckly she had talked to the landlord, Chris, prior and told him about our previous plans and he knew who I was and that I was an architect moving here from the states. However nothing can describe the ackward incident between me and the landlord at the door of the flat as we had both been blindsided by the whole situation.
Luckly he was nice about it all, allowed me to stay in the flat, sign a sublet until Feb 14th and only pay my half of the rent. The aggreement was also that if I was interested in keeping the flat I needed to sign a new year lease, that would start on Feb 14th, the next week, meaning I needed to find a new flatmate by then. After he left I had a slight bit of a freek out contacting everyone I knew in NZ to see what to do. Then in typical Neri fashion I became determined to find a flatmate and make this just another one of those situations that only seem to happen to me but end up turning into something for the better.
Upon arriving in wellington around 7 pm I looked in the mailbox for the key that my roommate had emailed to say she left me incase she wasnt around. I met my roommate Petal at the New Zealand embassy in DC back in June of 2008 where we had both gone for an informational session on Visas and work permits. She had traveled up from NYC for the session and I had hobbled in with the help of my sister, crutches, and boot post freak skateboarding accident May 25th in Park Slope Brooklyn. After the session we exchanged email addressses and kept intouch durring the summer and fall. She had moved to NZ in August and was a wealth of knowledge about what to bring with and what to sell in the states. A month prior leaving for NZ she emailed and said that her roommate was moving back to Germany and she was looking for someone to take her roommates place. If I was interested I could sublet from Mid January to Mid February then sign a year lease If I liked the place. She emailed photos and I looked it up on Google Earth. Being too good of an opportunity to pass up I told her a resounding YES. So here I was, I used the key, entered the apartment, which was exactly as pictured, and was a bit confused as to which room was mine. I had asked for the larger bedroom with bay windows however there was still furniture in that room and the blow up mattress i was told I could use was in the smaller room. So I brought all my items in and temporarily set myself up in the smaller room. There were no clothes in either wardrobe so I figured I could talk to Petal when she returned from whatever trip she might be on and see what room was to be mine. I was aiming for the larger one since the week before I had purchased a 5 piece bedroom set off the always useful Trade-me and was to pick it up this week, hopefully with the help of Petal. I took a quick look in the fridge and cupbords before heading to the grocery store. After an hour of getting lost on windy hilly roads I finally found a store, picked up the basics and headed back to the flat. I cooked dinner, set up the air mattress with my brand new sheets, duvet, and pillows, watched a dvd on my computer and then went to sleep.
The next day I immediately headed to a cafe to email Petal letting her know I had arrived in the flat so I wouldnt surprise her upon her arrival back, as well as start the daunting task of setting up my resume so I could commence the job search. I spent the rest of the day walking around wellington, then driving to the beach, and then back to the house for dinner. I actually ended up avoiding watching the innaguration as it would have made me a bit homesick for DC and I wanted to fully enjoy setting myself up in Wellington. The evening brought a new surprise! While cooking dinner I noticed someone walk by the bay windows, then there was a knock at the door. It was the landlord, who somewhat looked at me dumbfoundedly. "I just recieved an email from Petal about an hour ago saying that she has vacated the flat, has moved back to the states, and that you are here living in the flat and expecting to take over her part of the lease until February 14th. I came over as soon as I recieved this to see what was going on." Now I was dumbfounded! I had not signed a lease, paid a bond, or anything. Petal had said we could take care of the techincalities with the landlord as soon as I arrived. Now here I am nothing tying me to this flat that in reality Im not suposed to be living in. Luckly she had talked to the landlord, Chris, prior and told him about our previous plans and he knew who I was and that I was an architect moving here from the states. However nothing can describe the ackward incident between me and the landlord at the door of the flat as we had both been blindsided by the whole situation.
Luckly he was nice about it all, allowed me to stay in the flat, sign a sublet until Feb 14th and only pay my half of the rent. The aggreement was also that if I was interested in keeping the flat I needed to sign a new year lease, that would start on Feb 14th, the next week, meaning I needed to find a new flatmate by then. After he left I had a slight bit of a freek out contacting everyone I knew in NZ to see what to do. Then in typical Neri fashion I became determined to find a flatmate and make this just another one of those situations that only seem to happen to me but end up turning into something for the better.
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