Finally

My luggage finally showed up; a massive relief.  I couldn't get through to Chch airport all morning, so I went out there this afternoon and alas, there was my luggage.  The trip back in town sucked (carrying 100lbs of luggage on the bus is not a lot of fun).  Getting a hold of the airport was a bitch, and they couldn't get a hold of me (so they claim) as I don't have a phone, so this afternoon I went out and got a cellphone; I hate myself.  I tried to activate a cell phone given to me by a relative (thanks Melanie), but apparently you can't use Australian cell phones in NZ; how stupid.  I'm back at my apartment now unpacking and whatnot.  I think I'm going to bring my laptop downtown with me later on to see if the internet sucks everywhere in this country, or if I just have incredibly bad luck with it.

I haven't built my bike up yet (that's my next priority, though), but it seems to me that there is virtually no bmx scene here.  None of the bike shops I've gone to (quite a few) have anything to do with bmx, and I've yet to see anyone riding bmx besides a few random people on low end completes.  I'll make my way to the skate park in the next day or two and hopefully meet some compadres there.

I'm not going to lie, it's very lonely here.  I don't interact with people as I don't know anyone, or do anything that requires interaction (school, work).  I'm hoping that as time passes I'll meet some friends, but until then life is certainly very solitary for me.  I'm not saying that I never speak to anyone, I talk to people when I get the chance (bus drivers are great around here), but making small talk is far different from making a good friend, or meeting a girl for that matter.  I sort of  befriended an English couple on the bus back from the airport today, but once again, it was more of a giving directions/where are you from/where are you staying sort of conversation not resulting in anything significant.  I have no idea how people go months on end traveling on their own (e.g. Ryan); it's nice to try new things, but I wouldn't want to do this to an extended degree.  I suppose most people are traveling with some sort of purpose, which leads them to meet people and get to know people in a hurry, whereas I'm more or less here for no reason, which puts me in an odd position.  All that being said, people should download Skype  (http://www.skype.com/intl/en/welcomeback/) as it's an fantastic way to communicate over long distances.  It allows you to chat realtime with people, while simultaneously using a webcam and it's all free!  I'm off now; ciao.