I'm in New Zealand, for work, for 11 days. Today we arrived in Christchurch, which is very, very cold. Today was the Queen's Birthday holiday (for some reason they have it a week earlier than we do and neither date is actually her Birthday)and the streets were deserted (except for us and the Japanese tourists, rugged up in hand-knitted cable-knits and ug-boots), the shops closed. T and I went for a brisk (very brisk) walk around the park and then ate dinner at the only place open. I looked longingly in the shop windows at the jumpers and ug-boots. Even a scarf made from what appeared to be a possum tail (do they have possums in NZ?) looked snug.
Tomorrow is a big training day and I have a bit of pre-training jitters, even though I've done it lots of times now. It's mostly the fear of technology letting me down, I think, as it has a tendency to do. I've got to try to do some writing while I'm here - I'm feeling the pressure of the October 22 birthdate and keep reviewing the mounting list of things I need to get through before then. No more junk tv - Thieu and I made this vow last week - but like all bad habits, it's a hard one to break.
