as the kiwis do.

Time has slipped away from me. I am in Blenheim and it's hard to distinguish between Monday, Tuesday, and all those other days of the week.

In Auckland, Marie and I would go out until 4 am. We had BBQs with Kiwis, ate hokey pokey by the beach, played mini golf with two Kiwis and a German, and I personally spent a lot of time hungover. To be constructive, we also hiked a volcano and went to some beautiful North Island beaches. We slept in an attic one night and I felt homesick sometimes, but it was all right.

In Christchurch, we walked around and shopped at handmade craft stores. We went out for Halloween with a Swedish guy and an Australian. We took tequila shots and sang karaoke at an underground bar filled with New Zealand-transplanted Asians. We danced on stage at a nightclub and laughed before taking jager bombs. We walked home in the chilled air and we ate KFC at 3 am. We made the best and smelled flowers and all that shit.

The train to Picton was breathtaking. The morning clouds cleared away, revealing groups of sheep and cows huddling and grazing together. The ocean came out of nowhere.

We hitch hiked to a small home in Rai Valley, where we spent 2 days walking country roads, talking all night over tea, eating homecooked meatballs and potatoes and eggs and ham, and playing badminton with a bunch of locals.

Now we are working on vineyards in Blenheim. The fog clears in the morning across endless rows of grapes. We live in a hostel with a bunch of Germans and a few other Europeans. I do not judge the passing of time. I think about love and how blurry its definition can become and how clear it can seem at times. I think of a dark bedroom in Culver City that feels like it never existed. I smile when I think of breakfast burritos and the beach and falling asleep in Agoura Hills. I usually imagine this as I fall asleep at night and I wake up feeling strangely at home, but strangely dislocated. I feel excited for the past and for the future, but I live in the present. This is because I have a hard time connecting my past to my days here and I have a hard time envisioning where the future will take me.

As the days fall away, I realize I am happiest with a cup of tea and a piece of toast, swapping stories and slang from countries far away.