Incoherent recollection of my visit in Auckland

Auckland was so familiar. More familiar than I thought it would be. There were times when I got up, I had the thought that I could pretend it was the same date in June, but in 2005, and just live on like that because I left Auckland around the same date last year.

It was nice meeting my friends in NZ. Although some of the friends don't want to talk about what they are doing. It seems like my friends in NZ think there's nothing much happening and are bored and depressed. Whereas friends in Asia are irritated and angry. OK, I'm being cynical. People are not so miserable in general... I think....

Also it's great to be with my family. Well, it's a family thing, so I don't go on to say much here.

It's a pity the weather was cold and it rainy. I couldn't really go out much to see the meadows and beaches. Except it was sunny last Saturday and I had a short view from Takapuna beach.

Too bad I was staying for such a short time that I didn't manage to meet everybody. There were still some people I'd like to meet. People I met at various stages... CompSci, Engineering, high school...

Myself is partially responsible for the short length of the stay. I might be able to get a few extra days when I applied my leave with my boss if I was firmer on my ground. However, even if I did. That would still be 3 or 4 days only. Our annual leaves are simply short here...

Before I flew to NZ, my NZ friends asked me what I was going to do. I was too busy deal with my work and life in Taiwan and didn't have much time to think about that. In the end, I came up with this list:
Eat, Chat, Hug.

Eat... I ate Korean, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Turkish(kebab). I missed Malaysian and Indian. Ate mum's food and dessert. I drank L&P on the last night. Some western food and roast meat would be nice.

Chat... with many friends. Got to hear the interesting things they do.
My software master is working at a company that does “auto-sorting”, which is funny because my company's work of “searching” is occasionally related to auto-sorting. However, his company doesn't sort data. It sorts fruits! :P
My master also gave a lot of intriguing thoughts on software development and career development. I bow to you, master.

The gathering with 2 CompSci classmates was just like the gathering we had 1 year ago before I left. They suspected that I've never left NZ because I wore the same clothes and had the same hairstyle like what I did in NZ. Hehehe. Well, they looked the same too.
As for their studies... one keeps busy studying European languages for her new degree. The other keeps playing computer games as usual. :P Oh, congratulations for becoming a PR :)

A friend has started taking computer network courses that interest him. Hm, an interesting and original choice. Wish you the best. Just don't come to Taipei and become a software engineer. As I said, that's unoriginal :P

Another former classmate just quit his job as a system engineer just before I met him. He's likely to do a software development work next. Because it's similar to my situation, it will be interesting for me to see his next career move. Congratulations for quitting!

Yes, I congratulate people for both starting and ending something. Well, most of the time.
Also, people who keep doing what they want to do, should be congratulated too.

Like Tessie. Keep doing what you do. Congratulations for having done what you've done.

Those who are “doing nothing”... Those who are just starting. Take a some time to think about what to do next. Don't rush and jump into whatever the first thing comes to your face. And take some time to do things you've put off when you were too busy working or studying... ... ... No, I don't mean playing PSP non-stop !
Those who have “done nothing” for quite a while... You've had plenty of time to think through things. Still no clear answer, huh? Maybe it's time to try out things and see how you feel about them. Maybe they would inspire some new thoughts.
I feel like putting this quote here: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

(insider jokes follow...)
A friend who got into his master programme on a “first come first serve” basis is expected to be “first in first out”. Congratulations.

A friend who didn't come to meet me... was possibly “waiting for the rainy season to come”, and was unaware that it had been raining a lot in Auckland already.

Hugs... Well, this part, I didn't do well. I wasn't proactive enough to ask everybody to hug. I guess I was still shy and forgetful at times. I forgot to bring my camera on many occasions too.
A highlight though, was that I got a hug from a cute girl. That made my day. ^^
By the way, I didn't hug Hari in Auckland. I missed it again when he's in Taipei... doh~

I didn't play any board game with friends this time. Which I thought I would. Oh well, people were working or studying. It was the exam period.
I just remember another thing I forgot to do while I was in NZ. I didn't watch SpongeBob!

OK, end of writing now... because it has already taken me too long to write. I still have a lot of feelings about this visit, but I'll let them float on my mind for now instead of putting down even more words.