New Zealand

I finally did it! I finally had the most awkward elevator conversation ever! One other person got into the elevator with me on the ground floor, and just before she got off, I intentionally made painful small talk. About 5 seconds before she leaves the elevator I ask "The weather is really good today, isn't it?". I'll never forget the confused and bewildered expression on her face as she awkwardly staggered out of the elevator saying "yeah... it is".

Oh yeah, I'm in New Zealand too. My flight arrived early on the 13th Dec and the two other interns and I were dragged into the office in our completely sleep deprived states. The people working here are really friendly and surprisingly laid back. I came to the office expecting to be drowned in work, but there seems to be no work available to us. My manager, Charlie, told me that there is pretty much nothing to do until January at the earliest. So he told me to just walk around the site and learn how Drilling and Maintenance works. It's pretty exiting learning more about the petroleum industry, but I can't help feeling like a complete liability for the company. They are investing a lot into every intern and it seems like I'm unable to return the favor. Regardless, I'm doing as much as I can to use my free time to learn more about the industry. This will keep me occupied and also prepare me in case we get a new Client and business starts picking up again.

Other than that I really can't mention any more about Schlumberger. I signed a confidentiality agreement which prohibits me from talking about anything that might be of some use to a competitor. It's kind of frustrating because they still expect me to write a journal outlining my experiences over the next 11 weeks. First world problems, eh?

Schlumbergers hold on the internet is affecting me in other ways too. They've blocked facebook and won't allow me to download any programs (including Skype). So I won't be able to easily communicate with a lot of people while I'm down here.

Other than that, everything is hunky dory. The weather is beautiful and New Plymouth is a lot livelier than I was expecting. My cozy (tiny) house is located right in the heart of the small city so it’s easy to access bars, shopping malls etc. Not only that, but there is a beach about 15 minutes away. Unfortunately, New Zealand beaches are awful – they’re full of rocks and the sand is black. But the beach walk is still really pretty and rewarding.
I must have ordered Fush n’ Chups at least 10 times by now, but sadly no New Zealander lives up to that stereotype :(.
I’ve also started to notice massive parallels between New Plymouth and Lord of the Rings in anticipation of the release of the Hobbit. Mt Egmont = Mordor, Schlumberger = The big eye, Azlan (other intern) = Frodo, New Zealand woman = goblins.