All I Want for Christmas is a Job!

Well, the long-awaited New Zealand job hunt has begun. True to form, we chose our spot on a whim — Wanaka (WAH-nuh-ka) is a resort-like small town (a few thousand) surrounded by Mt. Aspiring National Park. It fit our requirement of being located near the South Island’s outdoor playgrounds and was recommended by like-minded individuals.

We looked for a wwoofing spot there, but instead landed an hour up-lake at a farm in Makarora. We spent two weeks with an amazing family — Emily the incredible super-mom-farmer, Chris the accent-laden-park-ranger-handyman, Hunter the six-year-old bundle of imagination and energy, and Evie the four-year-old Shirley Temple impersonator complete with red ringlets and an adorable accent. The whole family says “wee” instead of “little,” “as well” instead of “too,” and “tea” instead of “dinner.” Just imagine a little Miss Shirley Temple saying, “I’m going to have a wee bit of soup for tea as well.” It happens!

Our job-finding efforts so far consist of ideas and contacts of Emily’s, two New Zealand job websites, registering with the local job agency, and cold-calling businesses we think would be interesting to work for. The caveat is that in 15 days, we’ve only been to Wanaka on job-hunting business three times. I did have one lead at a cafe that gave me a one-day trial. I had a blast assisting the chef and got invited back for a second go. Before the second-interview day arrived, a former employee walked in looking to fill the spot, so I got bumped. Bummer!

Now the weekend is here and we’re going to play and forget about job hunting for two days. On Monday we head to another woofing spot in a location that will allow us to get serious about getting a job. That’s all I want for Christmas!