Film & Literature

How do I occupy my time outside of my "busy" schedule. I see films and read books. I thought I would fill you in on where my eyes have been.

In this order I've seen:

-Priceless (French)
-Conversations with my Gardener (French)
-Gloomy Sunday (Hungarian) - longest running film in the world - this theater here has been playing it in a 8 seater theater for the last 13 years
-Goodbye Bafana (Belgium film about Mandela in South Africa - filmed in Cape Town)
-Vantage Point (had potential, but in the end I thought it was terrible)
-Step Up 2: The Streets (Laura is a dancer, it's a dancing movie)
-Definitely, Maybe
-Love in the Time of Cholera
-Lars & the Real Girl
-Hunters & Gatherers (French)
-Made of Honour
-How About You (Irish)
-Across the Universe

And it seems, although not intended, that all the books I've read have been about traveling. I do like autobiographies so that has something to do with it.

In this order I've read:

My Life in France - Julia Child
Eat, Pray, Love- Elizabeth Gilbert
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell - Tucker Max (not recommended for adults over 30)
Mountains Beyond Mountains - biography of Dr. Paul Farmer
The End of the Alphabet - C S Richardson

So I guess I've been doing what I love over here. I love going to the theater to see movies. And I have been growing to the idea of curling up with a book.

German Invasion

It can’t be explained by me or the many Germans I have come across, but they are truly invading New Zealand. A few probable suggestions have been made, but they don’t really explain the influx of young German travelers. What I want to know is how and why there are so many more Germans, than any other European country. Europeans are here traveling, I’ve met people from Switzerland, England, Ireland, Romania, and Denmark; and I’m sure the rest of Europe is traveling somewhere on these small islands. But where ever I go I will meet Germans. It’s a joke now at Chester St Backpackers, where I’m living at the moment, between Paul (the Irish Guy) and Addie (the Floridian), we’ve been living in German St. Backpackers all along. There are only 17 beds in this quaint hostel, and on any given night nearly half of the house is occupied by Germans. I experienced the same while I was on the North Island in Wellington and Napier. So I’ve been questioning these traveling Germans. “What’s the word in Germany about New Zealand? Are there cultural similarities, underground or mainstream, that draw so many of you here?” The thing is that EVERY young German travels. Apparently if you haven't traveled the world for more than 6 months by the time your 25 something wrong happened. And at the moment New Zealand is a trendy spot to be. Doris and Steff are our in house Germans, they both work at Chester Street. And then I meet a new German every night. So by now I've received a couple of invitation to visit Germany, and of course learned a little bit more about German geography. And it is still true, west Germans hate east Germans and vice versa.