I have just a few more things to add since my last post about my recent employment in the wine bottling factory in Blenheim.  First of all, if I haven’t emphasized this enough in the last entry…it sucks.  The reason this sucks is multifold:

1) Not working is much better than working. 

This one is self-explanatory.  I’ve spent the past two and half months traveling care-free without a job.  When the reality hits that I need money, it isn’t easy to get back into the real world.

2) MIgrant workers have no clout. 

I am completely at the mercy of my contractor, and when he doesn’t have work for me, I don’t have a job.  Things started out well, and I worked 12 hour shifts for the first three days of last week, but then I was no longer needed in the factory.  Since then, I’ve been working odd jobs for much shorter hours (5-8 a day).

Most of this non-factory time has been spent filling room-sized metal shipping containers floor to ceiling with cartons of wine.  Now this, I assure you, really sucks.  These cartons usually contain twelve bottles and weigh close to 40lbs.  Not extremely heavy, but as with throwing lambs over fences, do it long enough and your arms stop working.  And with a container of this size, it takes me hours of constant lifting to fill it.  Plus, my only company while I’ve been laboring has been John, the contractor who employs me, a decent Kiwi bloke, but we have very little in common and his vocabulary consists almost completely of short, harsh curse words muttered under his breath as he packs cartons of wine into the container.  It gets old after a few hours.

It has been exhausting work…and completely inconsistent.  So I never know if I have a job for the day until the night before. 

However, there are some benefits.  Working this job has meant that I’ve had to “settle down” in Blenheim, and I’ve found a hostel that offers accommodation for $125/week.  This has had multiple benefits.  After traveling for a few months, it is nice to have somewhat of a home.  Also, there are plenty of other people here in the same situation.  The majority of the guests are long term, seasonal employees who work in the vineyards or factories, and the place has an interesting feel that is one part International Dorm at a college campus and one part Steinbeckian Hooverville.  People contribute cost-cutting tips and the misery of the day’s work is shared by all around the TV.  But it is nice to actually be somewhere long enough to get to know people.

I’ve made friends with a number of Germans, a few French Canadians, a guy from Vermont, and a few Brazilians.  Also, I’ve found that the best way to learning to count in a new language is by playing ping pong and keeping track of the score in the native tongue of your opponent.  I’ve brushed up on my German and French, and learned how to count to 21 in Portuguese as well.  And I’ve rediscovered how much fun ping pong is…especially doubles.

Oh, and one more piece of good news. Pam, the fire-breathing floor manager at the factory is on holiday for the next week…so at least I have that going for me…