Today, I started to pack some little things and check some more things off my "things to do before NZ" checklist. I only have a few things left on that checklist, but I can't do many of them until much closer to when I leave. Today, I have 54 more days until I leave. Yes, that seems like a pretty long time left, but when I think about it, I work the rest of this week and the next and then the first week of June my family will be in Vegas for vacation. Once I get back from that trip, I have about a week left of work, a week of VBS (on the skit team again, woohoo!), and then it'll be July. Then I have about two weeks until I have to say goodbye to people...oy...and finish up the packing process and then July 16th, I'll be flying out to New Zealand for the next year!
So, let me back up and give a bit of background information as to how and why I'm doing this and such.
When I came back from school in October of this past year, I got pretty much the same questions from every person I talked to, "So how long are you home for? Have you graduated? What are your plans for school?" And when I mentioned that I dropped out of college I got a lot of the same responses,
"Oh..are you sure that was a good idea? Did something happen? But why, you've got so much ahead of you?" And on and on the responses went. I wanted to tell all of them, and I did for the most part, that "Yes, it was the best idea for me to drop out of school. No nothing happened. And school just isn't right for me, at least not right now." After I got over the fact of all the seemingly condescending tones of me dropping out, I focused on what I wanted to do now that school wasn't a factor.
I reapplied to Caribou Coffee, and old workplace, and thankfully got my old job back. (So I've been working since November). Then I started to think about what I wanted to do with my semester off. I told my parents that I wanted to work the semester and earn some money so I could go abroad in the summer, hopefully Ireland or England. And then I talked to a couple of my friends about their travels and they said they had "au-paired" (or nannied) for a family, one in Italy and one in Germany. Now, neither of them had really had great experiences, but I went on the website that they had used to check it out. ( http://www.aupair-world.net/my_aupair_world ) So I made a profile, specified that I wanted to be in Ireland or England or maybe Scotland and my preferences for the family. I got a few responses back from a couple different families, but none of them really sounded to my liking, that is, none of them had specified that they were Christians (which is a huge deal to me--not about to live with a family I don't know for a long time and they not be Christians). So I kept checking back with a couple families, and some of them were not at all what I was looking for or just didn't seem to fit. At the end of December, I got an offer from a family in Scotland to start the first week of January. Now, this was my first actual offer from anybody and I was ecstatic. But I was reminded by a couple people that (a) it was way too soon and I wouldn't have enough time to get anything ready, (b) it wasn't the ideal situation I was looking for, and (c) my niece was to be born at the end of January and I wouldn't be there for her. I quickly decided that more offers would come along if God wanted them to, and so I politely declined and wished the family best of luck for finding someone right for them. (<--not as easy as it sounds).
So I kept on waiting. I got a few "Hey, we'd love to get to know you a bit more, let's chat", but none of them when further than that, and the families weren't really what I was looking for either. Clearly, God did not want me in Ireland or England because nothing was working. So, call it my love of The Lord of the Rings, but I broadened my preferences to include New Zealand. And to my surprise, I got two responses from within the first two days of changing it. One family seemed fun, but were still missing the most important element: being a Christian; but I kept talking to them to get to know them a bit more. The other family's first email to me was about how interested they were in me because my profile specified that I was a Christian. Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! Our first email chat was on December 15th of this past year. Enter Allysia Kraakman, my soon to be host mom. We started talking and I instantly became so excited to learn more about her and husband, Aaron, and their three kids, Stirling, Layla and Jorja (how cute, right?). Lish (as she told me she'd like to be called) and I skyped a few times, once by myself and once with my mom. When my mom and her skyped to get a feel of what I would be doing and such, I asked her where I would be staying--if I had my own room or whatnot. She then answered "no, you'll share a room with the three kids and have to always be with them". It was then I realized we'd get along famously due to both of our use of sarcasm and humor. Then I met Layla and Jorja, and man, did I almost die of cuteness. Do yourself a favor and just picture a little 2 and 4 year old with a NZ accent. Now try and not smile. Next I met Stirling, the cutest little boy maybe ever. Lastly my mom, dad and I met Aaron, Lish's husband, and he was quite a hoot. He kept making fun of my southern accent and when I said "y'all", he asked if I had actually said that...'fraid so.
Meeting the whole family was a blast, and I can't wait to meet them in person!! My plane ticket was bought near the end of February, and I've been waiting ever since!! I have my passport, my visa, and my plane ticket and am ready to go!!
Til' next time! (Probably the day that I leave I'll write a quick little update)
Countdown Timer!
