The next step in my work holiday journey was to find a job. This was one of the things that worried me the most before coming to NZ because of the uncertainty (well, I suppose the entire act of moving halfway across the world without a clear plan is a series of massive uncertainties to begin with). Some people I’ve since spoken to decided to travel for a few months during their work holiday and then find work, but I wasn’t keen on burning through my savings straightaway. The Singaporean sensibilities in me felt that it was safer to work hard to save up some money first, and then do the fun travel stuff after. A form of delayed gratification if you will.
For the first time in my life though, looking for a job was a thrilling activity. Unburdened by the need to find a high-paying job and one that aligns with my career goals, I had a terrifyingly large amount of freedom to pretty much try anything. It’s not everyday that you get to act out the hypothetical of “if you could do any job assuming pay doesn’t matter, what would you do?“. My first thoughts were to apply for roles that fell within the following parameters; jobs that I couldn’t do in Singapore, jobs that sound cool, and jobs where I’m outdoors.
Before leaving for NZ, I came into contact with another traveller about working as a beekeeper, but the bee farm was full so it didn’t pan out. I then started applying for work at ski resorts. I later found out that this was a highly competitive job among the work holiday crowd, especially Singaporeans. It is no secret that we would love to trade our usual heat for some snow, plus you get to be on the slopes all day. What’s not to love? Sadly, I didn’t quite manage to make the cut for the ski jobs, and my search continued.
Working at Hobbiton wasn’t really on my radar initally. The Lord of the Rings was a big part of my childhood. I saw the Fellowship of the Ring in theatres as a seven year old and was absolutely entranced. I still remember the feeling of going to bed that night wondering how the rest of the story would end, and watched the rest of the trilogy with family members on DVD in the early 2000s. But I hadn’t really revisited it since, I just got older and those experiences were deeply embedded in the ‘forgotten core memory’ part of my mind library. Little did I know that I was going to revisit this forgotten cache of my childhood soon enough.
It was sometime in my second week of NZ that I saw a post on one of my work holiday groups saying that Hobbiton was hiring. To be honest, I didn’t know they would take in working holiday staff, and I also thought I would be going there as a visitor at some point anyway. But this was enough to pique my interest. Imagine working here, I thought to myself. I swiftly sent them my resume and cover letter, not thinking much of it. Imagine my surprise when they got back to me within a couple of days.
My first thoughts were excitement, but this quickly transitioned into worry. I had no prior experience in being a tour guide, and the prospect of entertaining complete strangers seemed to be out of my wheelhouse. Plus, I hadn’t watched the movies/read the books in a long time. Still, I knew I had a good chance of getting the job. I drove about 90 minutes to Hobbiton for the interview, and it went pretty well. I had a good feeling about my chances, and within a few hours I was offered the position of a Tour Guide.
I have been working at Hobbiton for a couple of months now, and it has been a dream job. The set itself is beautiful, and getting paid to talk to visitors about Lord of the Rings is the icing on top. I have met many interesting people on tours, and made lots of friends in my time here. As I think back to my initial interview, its amusing how anxious I was, when I had no reason to be. I suppose the lesson here is to not doubt myself and know that I am actually fairly capable. If I was going to let fear dictate my decisions, I would never challenge myself. Getting out of my comfort zone is a soft goal that I set for myself as I started my working holiday, and it has only been reaping rewards for me so far.
In thinking about work as a concept, I generally find it to be a means to an end, where I work hard so that I have money to do the things I want to do. I don’t have to love my job, I just need to be able to tolerate the difficult parts and find occasional pockets of joy. This job has thankfully been a strong exception to the rule. I genuinely love what I do and coming to work everyday is not a hardship in the least. It may well be rose-tinted glasses and the ephemeral nature of the job that allows me to feel this way, but I hope I can find some semblance of this joy in other jobs when I am back in Singapore. Even if I don’t, at least I know that I tried and got to do something that my child self would have definitely considered to be a dream job. And for that I am grateful.
PS: What I’ve been watching/reading/listening to
Since I got to NZ, I have been spending a fair amount of my non-work hours watching, reading and listening to things. I hadn’t been doing a lot of that over the past few years while I was in Singapore. My commute to and from work used to take me 3 hours in total (funnily enough it takes me 15 minutes to get home from work in NZ now), and by the time I got home I was too mentally exhausted to do anything else. On days when I worked from home, I would probably end up running or climbing instead.
Even if I wanted to watch something, I only had enough time to watch a single show or movie before it was bedtime. This often created a sort of media paralysis where I would scroll through the catalogue of movies and shows on streaming sites for an hour before landing back in the land of odd YouTube videos. Somehow I had greater mental capacity to watch Hamilton Morris consume hallucinogenic frogs in the Amazon or outdoor exploration videos than sit through a few episodes of TV series and movies that were on my bucket list.
Separately, I would often be engulfed with the feeling that I ought to spend my time more productively than watching media since I’m a working adult now. So it has been really nice to finally watch some of these shows that I had been putting off for a while. In a way, it has been mentally freeing to not feel guilty for using my time to watch media, and I’m glad I am able to catch up on some of these shows. As a way to bookend my posts and for my own reference, I will probably periodically include shows/movies/music that I found interesting, so feel free to take my recommendations if you’re interested:
1. 3 Body Problem. I had heard about the book a few years ago and remember reading about a TV adaptation. This was a pretty enjoyable watch, although the second half of the season was fairly melodramatic and less interesting once the main plotline for the season was revealed. Benedict Wong and Liam Cunningham (aka Davos Seaworth from GOT) were the best parts of the show. About a 7/10 in my book, but I am looking forward to the next season.
2. Mr and Mrs Smith. I am a massive Donald Glover fan and Atlanta is one of my favourite shows of all time, so I had to check this out. This was excellent from start the finish, and it was a smart decision to anchor the show around the relationship drama of the two leads rather than the action and bluster that the film version is known for. Really hoping there is a season 2 with both actors returning.
3. Shogun. Another excellent show that I enjoyed thoroughly, probably one of the best new shows of the year. The acting is incredible across the board, and the attention to detail in recreating Japan’s Edo period is stunning.