Paradiso

I came to Nelson with the exciting prospect of two job possibilities.  The first was working in the farming industry as a fruit maturity tester.  I don't really know what that means either.  When I got to Nelson, I found out I'd need to buy a car (a fact that wasn't advertised on the job description) and they were thinking about giving me a different job within the company.  I wasn't feeling good about going through with the job, so I turned it down.  The other job possibility was as an intern at a publishing company.  I applied for fun in early January, never expecting that I could get the job.  In the beginning of February, I got a call back.  I went for an interview, but didn't end up getting the job. My 'working holiday visa' stamps me with an unfortunate transient status that may have worked negatively in my favour, so I've decided to take it as a compliment to my resume that I was interviewed at all in the first place.

So what have I been doing?  Well, living in paradise.  Nelson is home to Paradiso Backpackers, an above average hostel that offers a fairly cheap bed, free breakfast, and free soup at 6PM every night.  It also features a beautiful big blue pool that is perfect for Nelson, which is the sunshine capital of the country.  In these last days of summer, it is still very warm.

After 3 months of being unemployed in New Zealand, I really do need to start getting the 'working' part of my working holiday visa under order.  It's a bit rough, but in the mean time, I have spent my days in Nelson travelling through the adventures found in novels, sun tanning, and basically taking a vacation from my vacation.  At night there are always travellers gathered in the common area ready to meet new people and have a few drinks which is nice.  Even better, my room is far enough away from the common room that I generally have a good nights sleep.

I have to say, life in Paradise isn't too shabby.