Something you can learn in developing countries is that no matter how many western woes you have, you’re still far better of than most people on earth. All pictures taken near Luang Prabang, Laos. The country has a GDP per capita of USD 1,204 (Germany: 44,558), making it number 144 on the current IMF list (Germany: 19).

The company that brought me in for interviews last week would be one of the last places I would want to work at. Just an unprofessional bunch of hackers. Kinda reminded me of my last employer in Germany, the one that made me hate my profession. Sure enough they came back to me this week, asking me to come in for a third interview with the management. That usually means they are willing to hire me.

Recently I got an email after being invited for an interview with an agency. It read Please bring passport Room and forms please Wondering why the recruiter would ask me for a room and forms, I checked the recipient list of the mail and saw that their front desk received a copy of that mail. How lazy can you be? Is it unprofessional? I’d have written two mails. The lady doesn’t seem to be too concerned about the impression her mails leave, as the next one started like this

On Wednesday I had an interview with a third recruitment agency. I wasn’t too keen on going as my experiences with the agencies are not the best so far. It was worth it for the view alone though, saw Auckland from their office on the 38th floor in the CBD. Nice. The interview was outstanding in that the guy was unusually open about my situation, shedding some light on the pros and cons of my resume.

Yesterday some friends and couchsurfers came over for Thai food. I was a bit overwhelmed by the response to my invitation and in the end it was eleven of us who needed to be fed from two hot plates. Good thing that Thai food can be cooked quickly, once all the preparations are done. As I don’t have a massive dinner table, we had the food Thai-style: on the floor.

So what if I don’t get a proper job in NZ? In that case I’ll be in a remote corner of the world with my funds on an uncomfortable all-time low. I would then have a couple of options. 1. Try to get some casual work to keep myself afloat. That could give me some more time to find an IT job, but I think if I haven’t gotten one by the end of the month, I’d need a lot of luck to get one any time soon.

I’m starting to feel home at my new place and what remains needed now, to truly feel comfortable, is a regular income. The job market is doing it’s annual phoenix from the ashes impression and there is a couple of interesting positions available. So far seven applications have been filed with three more in the making. One got rejected, one got me an invitation for an interview on Thursday. Not too excited though as I’ve been at that point before.

Roughly 20 months after moving out of my flat in Karlsruhe, I now have a place on my own for the first time since. It is a 1 bedroom/studio apartment on the edge of the CBD. It’s close to all the amenities and comes with a balcony and a view over West Auckland, the bay and the harbour bridge. I’ll post some pictures of the interior once it looks presentable. With everything else being settled, I’m back to the job hunt now.

A christmas eve excursion to the north shore with Richard. Mulled wine and turkey dinner at James and Queenie’s. Right now I’m ‘working’ as a house sitter a little outside of Auckland city, taking care of two cats and some maintenance work. I’ll have the place for myself till early next year and hopefully have found something on my own by then.

Three weeks after moving into the flatshare I decided to get out there yesterday. The guy I shared the place with seemed like an interesting guy at first, somebody who knows a lot of people and has a lot of stories to tell. As it turned out, most of his stories where made up and nobody came around the place except the people I was meeting. He was what people call a low life.