Johnsonville
Since Monday, I am woofing in Johnsonville, in the house of a retired couple, who are still hyper-actives.
As they say, they host woofers because they want to help people as they could have been helped. They are extremely generous and friendly, we share a lot of experiences and have some interesting discussions about various topics such as sport, woofing and even politic : one of them worked for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in New Zealand.
They also share a lot of usefull tips : like places to visit, walks to do, or cheap stores (for a camera and bedding).
Photos !
I finally bought a camera. I wish I could have taken some amazing photos from the place I am, but a persistent mist covers the valley since two days now. Same goes for the « amazing panorama » from mount Kaukau which may look like that today :
Definitely not so cool.
I found a flat !
This section really deserves its exclamation mark because a huge change is going to happen. As I said numerous times during the previous posts, I did not wanted to come back to work at the hostel, but I booked from the 23rd of December to have a backup plan.
Johnsonville is really closer to Wellington than Petone, so I had been able to go Wednesday into the city (thanks to my host for bringing me down there). I bought a camera and visited two flats. One of them suits my needs : it is well placed in the city, is tidy and clean (worth notice for a flat-share), free from Monday and fits in my budget. Furthermore, the lease end up in early February, so it will not be a problem if I do not find a job.
Plan
So that's it : I move Monday to my new room in town, and I will have one month and one week to find a job unless I go back woofing to wait a better period.
Because it is soon the summer holidays here, plus Christmas, a lot of companies are idling and does not recruits actively.
So why pay for a flat, while the chance to find a job are really low ?
It would be really complicated to find another woofing host on this period, and I saved money for this king of situation : I am able to buy myself free time. And I do not take a huge risk.
« I have an income to be able to work and not I work to have an income. »
My goal is clear : I want to find a job. To achieve it on time, I will need a good battle plan. I use to manage my progress by defining goals, tasks and building habits. For now, it looks like that :
Register in several recruitment agencies : the New Zealand labour market needs developers, and they are entities connecting the supply and the demand .
Look for companies which employs developers . Information is key : it is important to know which companies exists here and what do they do.
Socializing and networking to continue practicing my English, but as well to meet people with similar tastes and values as mine.
Do sports to stay in a good shape and it helps on being more confident.
Continue to work on projects. I am just graduated and relatively inexperienced, continue to work may at least conserve my skills, at best improve them.
Learn new stuff. I have plenty of subjects and abilities I would like to master. I am especially interested by haskell at the moment. If by any chances you are interested by it as well and / or have some projects with it, contact me !
Improve my toolbox to facilitate my life, my work and my hobbies. Focus on what brings value, the rest should be delegated.
Continue meditation, for all the good reasons, and to continue having good experiences (pleasant or not) with it.
Change food habits because it is healthier, environment friendly and can be cheaper to be more vegetarian.
Empty my lists « to read » and « to watch ». I keep a lot of good resources and useful content, but with my journey and the lack of investment I put in it the few months before my departure, they grew too much.
Finally, most of my time will not be used to directly search for a job, but hey : job is just one third of our time !