Meatballs

One thing that we haven't found very many of over here is sub/pizza shops. As many of you know I love subs and that was easily my favorite meal my first couple years after college when I spent a lot of time at Little Pizza King in Brighton. Now that we have been here for about 3 months we are really starting to notice that there is a lack of sub shops. In fact I miss them very much.

I love all types of subs and have many favorites from Italian, to Steak/Cheese, to Turkey. One of my favorites is Meatball. The Meatball is a great piece of food, and when you put it in a nice sub roll with cheese, it's unreal. So the other day Erin and I bought some meet, spices, cheese, eggs, bread crumbs, etc. and baked some unreal meatballs. We put them in the sub rolls and we had a great meal.

I'm sure that one of the stops we will make during our first visit back to the US will be to get some yummy subs.

Can you be wearing any more clothes??

Today we celebrated Jeremy's birthday. He was so excited about all of his gifts (gummy lobstahs, a new tie, an All Blacks polo shirt, a new work shirt, a new fleece, a NZ map, an iTunes gift card, and two CDs*) that he couldn't decide what to use first. After the gift opening, we enjoyed a spicy Thai dinner and a delicious molten chocolate cake (with candle of course!) HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMY!!!

*If you don't see your gift in the picture...the mail is slow here, so I'm sure it's on it's way :)

Rotorua

I've been traveling the past couple days down in Rotorua. If you are a frequent blog reader, then you will remember that this is where Erin and I stopped on our way back from Taupo and did the zorb and swoop. Unfortunately I have not had any time to do those this trip, but tonight I did go to a rugby game tonight. It was the Under 21 All Blacks vs. the Canada B team. Although it was rainy and cold, it was a good time, but the Under 21 All Blacks lost.

I'm down here working on a forest company and they manage a forest (Kaingaroa) that is actually primarily owned by Harvard University. So it's pretty neat to have a client that is related to Boston down here. I've learned quite a bit about the forestry business over the past few days that's for sure.

On a side note, for those of you who attended our wedding you will probably remember our photography Scott Metzger. He was great and recently won a spot on the WBZ Alist 2007. Check out the link and you'll see a picture of the girls laughing on the trolley.

Accents

Based on the special post from Jim we have done some investigating regarding what people think when they hear our "special" American accents. Do they think that we are fun people? Do they think that we are smart people? Do they think that we are famous people?

We wanted to get a post quickly regarding this so we haven't been able to get a diverse enough poll, but we will continue to investigate and will let you know what else we fine. Here's what we have heard to date:

-"Sound very glamorous" - NZ Native
-"California people sound ditsy" - South African Native
-"Better be prepared to listen because they're going to talk" - NZ Native
-"Talk very slow" - NZ Native
-"Sound like everyone else on TV, movies, etc." - Australian Native
-"Red necks talk funny" - Ireland Native
-"Very demanding and expect everything fast and their way" - UK Native
-"Noting special as everyone has accents" - Ireland Native

The Office

My office likes to celebrate in many ways. From cheering for a candidate placement to regular office events, they always have something going on! In addition to this, they also like to take lots of pictures. Here is our most recent team photo. The team is quickly changing though. I've been there just 8 weeks and 3 people are newer than I am! As you can see, we are quite a diverse group...but we sure are fun :)

Results

Based on the poll results, it sounds like nobody wants to hear about the Politics over here in NZ. Let me tell you, I'm very happy that there were no votes for that because I just don't think that the posts would be that interesting.

We will be concentrating on making our readers happy and creating more posts regarding:
-Pictures, Activities, Foods, Sports, Differences, and News.

This weekend we went to the Aquarium here in Auckland called Kelly Tarltons. It was great and we saw penguins, stingrays, sharks, turtles, and various types of fish. We also saw the feeding of the Stingrays and learned some very interesting information regarding them and that they are peaceful fish and only hurt when they feel threatened or get stepped on. I'm sure many people remember that Steve Irwin (The Croc Hunter) was killed by a Stingray about 10 months ago.

Check out some of the pictures from the aquarium here.

Free Willy

At work yesterday I noticed everyone crowded by my window at work. I quickly asked "What's going on?" Turns out there was an Orca and her baby who had entered the harbour by accident. A tugboat was trying to push them out to sea! It was amazing to see them diving in and out of the water...definitely not what I expected to see out the office window!

Survey

What would you like us to blog about?
	Differences between US and NZ
	Our daily activities in NZ
	Posting more pictures
	Foods of NZ
	Sports of NZ
	Politics of NZ
	News of NZ
Free polls from Pollhost.com

All Blacks

Last night was the 2nd match of the All Blacks season as they played their 2nd test match against the French. The All Blacks scored a record high and won 61-10. We went over Brian and Diane's house (Jeremy works with Brian) and watched the game over there with a few other people as well. Prior to that we enjoyed some curry chicken and curry steak (very tasty).

One of the really good players left the game with what they are saying is a broken jaw, which isn't good, but we hear that he will be back in time for the Rugby World Cup which starts in just 90 days.

Before the game starts they do what is called the Haka .The Haka is a traditional dance form of the Mauri and is generally done prior to going to war.

Overall it was a good game and we are looking forward to the World Cup. The All Blacks play Canada next weekend down on the South Island and we will most likely be watching it on TV up here in Auckland.

McDonalds

Many of you know how big of a fan I am of McDonalds. I love the Dollar Menu and the Double Cheeseburgers especially. I have had many different meals at McDonalds over the years. Since I arrived here in NZ, I have noted some VIP Drive-Thru Stickers on various cars. I have been very interested in this sticker and how I can get one. Now that we have a car, I have made some inquiries and that's right I'M A VIP now.

The sticker means that each month there are various offers (i.e. free cheeseburger with the purchase of a value meal, etc.). I will be traveling the next few days and hopefully make a stop and put the VIP sticker into work.


Also while in Taupo we found one of the coolest McDonalds we've ever seen. Many times they have playgrounds, etc. This one had a McDonalds PLANE, it was awesome.

Kite-Kite Falls

Queen's Birthday

After a long and busy week last week with work, go-karting, and boat cruises, it was nice to have a long weekend this weekend thanks to the wonderful Queen.

We ended up in the Waitakere Rain Forrest which is only about 30 minutes from downtown Auckland so it's a pretty easy drive. We stopped at the visitor center to find a nice little hike for ourselves. We ended up hiking to Kite-Kite falls (pronounced Kitty-Kitty). It was a nice hike with a beautiful waterfall half way through where we stopped and ate some sandwiches. There was one problem near the conclusion of our walk as Erin slipped off a rock and stepped in the river with her sneakers and socks on.

Sunday night we went over Jacqui (works with Erin) and Jerry's place for a roast and ate a bunch of good food. One of the more interesting things that we have learned over here is the Pumpkin is a vegetable that people cook up and eat and it's not only used at Halloween for Jack-o-Lanterns. It was pretty good.

Big news was that Red Sox game was on TV over here on Saturday and today as well.

Kiwiana

Today we were given a Kiwiana basket from our friends Jacqui and Jerry. It's full of fun New Zealand things that we aren't used to! We are excited to enjoy all of the treats. Some of the things in the basket are: Pinapple lumps (pinapple covered in chocolate), Jaffas (chocolate covered in an orange flavored shell), a Perkynana (banana chew bar covered in chocolate), Shrewsbury biscuits (shortbread cookies filled with strawberry jam), and NZ Women's Weekly...similar to People...my favorite!