I thought if any of you consider going abroad, you may want to know the simple and easy steps necessary to vote absentee, so I thought I would share my lovely experience:

How to Vote Absentee

1. If you are relocating your voter registration, you must register to vote before you depart abroad in person. Please look up the address and go the location.

2. The location will be quite hidden in the downtown area so you will be lost for about 30 minutes wandering around until you finally locate the correct address and then you will be sent to various offices before you arrive to the correct one. Talk to the most skillfully incompetent employees as they fumble for your papers and treat you as a nuisance.

3. Call 2 months before election to confirm your registration and abroad address. Wait to be transfered 4-5 times before they can locate the most incompetent and illiterate person possible to speak to, so you spend 10 minutes teaching them the alphabet and then give them the address.

4. Wait for absentee ballot.

5. Wait more for absentee ballot.

6. Speak with others who share their joyful experiences and ask how your voting went.

7. Wait for absentee ballot.

8. Write to Commission for Voting and explain situation and ask where your ballot is.

9. Receive response that unfortunately, it is too late to vote and they suggest that you register for an absentee ballot ahead of time in the future.

10. Use your skills gained from "Conflict and Resolution Class" in college to write tactful email (aka, keep making sure you delete all the expletives before you send the email) to state that, yes, you registered and followed all necessary steps and want to know how you can be sure that this absentee ballot thing will work in the future.

11. Receive notice that since your absentee ballot was not actually processed despite all your efforts, you receive an email ballot that must be sent in. You have to send the papers in three envelopes inside of envelopes so that the Official can pass it off as before the official deadline (worriesome ethics on his part, but good for you to vote).

12. Fill out papers, find all necessary identification numbers back at hostel, and have the internet cafe employee sign as your witness. You will now share a special bond with him as he will always stare at you strangely from now on.

13. Purchase envelopes and go to post office. Hurray it's Waintangei Day! The Post Office is closed! Rejoice the holiday by muttering expletives as you search for postage in other stores.

14. Since you have so many envelopes inside of envelopes, you are uncertain of postage amount (and no way in hell you are going to have this ballot sit around for another day after a 3 hour voyage), so you buy enough postage to send a cow to the US.

15. Walk back to post office and insert envelopes in mailbox. Look forward to November voting!


It's that easy!! So, I basically went on the internet and planned to take a hike around 1pm, and now it's 4:30pm and I've walked around town so much that I'm exhausted. Welp, I'm glad that's over at least.

In other news, I might have mentioned that my manager Saroj is leaving Tandoori Palace and he bought the rival indian restaurant, Bombay Palace, that is two stores down the street. He's the best manager I've had so I was sad to see him go, especially since the new one isn't so great, so when he offered me and the other waitresses more hours and more money at his place, we happily accepted. So even though I'll only be around for 2 weeks at that point, I'm starting work at Bombay Palace on Feb 15th. The new manager probably won't be happy to find out today that all 4 waitresses are leaving him, but I guess it will make him think twice about his managing style. It's pretty amusing the idea of these two warring indian restaurants that are two stores apart and now the waitresses are choosing sides. Also, if we have poor business for a few days, Saroj isn't bothered especially when he pops by to see how many people are at Bombay's and they have more people.

That's about all that has been going on, I've been spending my free time with hiking, trying to freakin vote, and reading. I hiked Ben Lomond with a couple of people the other day which was pretty tiring.