Oh, the places you'll go! (brace yourself, it's a long one)

"You have your brains in your head

You have your feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

You're on your own. And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go."

This week's blog post is brought to you by Dr. Seuss' book "Oh, The Places You'll Go!"--since I was reading heaps of books to the little one, and it happened to be in the pile of books.
Not that it has to do a lot with traveling, but there are some really good tips in it! (I'll probably just interject some quotes from the book, just for funsies).


So, I last left you with me adjusting to the new things here--I'm here to say that I think I've gotten used to most things...I think. Except for maybe driving. I've driven twice, and it's safe to say, I'm still not used to it. But hey, my knuckles weren't white then entire time the second time!--improvement I'd say.

"Out there things can happen

and frequently do

to people as brainy

and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,

don't worry, don't stew. 

Just go right along.

You'll start happening too."

So, last week, I worked Monday-Wednesday--which was great :) got to hang with the kids and see what they like to do (craft/colour, play outside, read books, etc.) and then Thursday and Friday I was in Auckland for an au pair seminar, which was pretty cool. We learned "theoretical driving"--basically just road rules--as it was the opposite side for everyone except for one girl who was from the UK. We also got first aid certified, so if anyone starts to die in my presence, I can save them. Woot! The rest of the weekend was pretty phenomenal! Saturday morning I went shopping for the first time here, which was basically like shopping back home haha--but much, much pricier. And later that day we went to Disney on ice!!! EEP! It was so exciting! Later Saturday night, I watched my first rugby game on the tv--Sharks (South Africa

) vs. Crusaders (NZ), and because they're awesome, the Crusaders won! It was pretty exciting. Can't wait to watch a live one!

"You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.

You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.

Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't.

Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so

but, sadly, it's true

that Bang-ups 

and Hang-ups

can happen to you.

You can get all hung up

in a prickle-ly perch.

And your gang will fly on.

You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch

with an unpleasant bump.

And the chances are, then,

that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump, 

you're not in for much fun.

Unslumping yourself

is not easily done."

This kind of hits home a bit, not necessarily right now, but I know it will in either a few weeks or months. I feel like everyone has the notion that when you're overseas for a year, everything will be peachy keen and exciting the entire time. But, that isn't really the case. Yeah it's a new country, so pretty much everything will be exciting at first, but then you realize, going for a run still sucks--it may be a prettier view, but it still feels like death. Going shopping is just like back home, except more expensive. So, I'm here to dash that notion--most things are the same, you're just not back home. (Except that the view here is about 1000000 times better than in Cary). 

"...Everyone is just waiting. 

NO!

That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape

all that waiting and staying.

You'll find the bright places

where Boom Bands are playing..."

"Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!

"I'm afraid that some times

you'll play lonely games too.

Games you can't win

'cause you'll play against you.

All alone! 

Whether you like it or not,

Alone will be something

you'll be quite a lot. 

This section also kind of hits home--I am a smidge lonely. I've met some pretty great people and I know they're keen to hangout, but it's been like 5..maybe 10. And granted, I haven't really been able to drive anywhere to meet them...I still feel kind of alone sometimes. I can't just call up my friends and be like "hey, lets go to the lake!" because a) they're not here b) it's winter..

--so that's taking some getting used to. I'm sure I'll meet some people soon, once I get more comfortable driving and can take myself places (I don't like being dependent on people taking me places).

"..on and on you will hike.

And I know you'll hike far

and face up to your problems

whatever they are...

..And will you succeed?

Yes! You will, indeed!

(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...

Be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray

or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,

"

Some of those friends (you know who you are!) have told me they want to go adventuring with me, so that's pretty great! Can't wait to go to Hobbiton and the South Island, and other places here in the North Island.

Sorry, that was long and kind of boring--BUT these are my thoughts, as previously stated, and if you don't like it, then leave. :) 

Also, photos :) Because my girls are adorable. 

Fun with baking! Made some ANZAC biscuits and other ones too--yo-somethings...

 Jorja likes to play doctor--I was pronounced not dead. Phew!

Also, tea. Because it is the greatest thing ever. 

(what is says:

WHY TEA IS SO VERY MAGICAL:

-you can put milk in it

-you can put sugar in it

-you can change it

-you can mix it with lemonade

-it is like a liquid hug

-it can be refreshing

-can be warm

-can be strong

-can be sweet

-it is what you need on a cold rainy day when you are sitting on your sofa with a book

-it fills your stomach when you're so sad that you can't consume anything else

-it makes you happy when you're already overflowing with happiness (multiplying your happiness)

-kindness + joy

-love

-some people read-->your fortunes! tea leaves

-most cultures have some form of tea

-some give you hallucinations

-with some you eat crumpets and wear pretty hats

-there are teas that put you to sleep

-there are teas that wake you up

-all it really is, is herbs and water

Adjusting to life as a Kiwi

So, I'm probably not going to be writing something everyday once I start working, unless I feel like something uber exciting happens, but for now, here's how life so far is going:

Adjusting has been a little interesting:

First: the cold. I do love the cold, but coming from a summer of 90 degrees, to a winter of mid 40s was a bit rough. But I do love it, it makes me love of drinking tea excellent. (I came to the right country for drinking tea--they drink it all the time--they have designated "tea times", which is phenomenal).

Second: the accent/words. I usually pride myself on understanding accents and such, and where as I can understand most of the words here, they speak very quickly, and so I feel like I'm constantly asking them to repeat what they said..(sorry family!). Since this is only my third day here, I'm not too worried about it, with time, it'll be easier! When I told people I was going to New Zealand, everyone said "oh good, you chose an English speaking country". Well, yes and no. They are English words, but a completely different vocabulary. They have different words for mostly everything (i.e. sandals=jandals, swimsuit=togs...) Bizarro. Also, one thing I have come to realize, Kiwis (A New Zealander), love saving time when they speak, so they shorten lots of things (also instead of saying lots, they say "heaps"). First off, New Zealand is called En Zed, breakfast becomes brekkie, and so on. Also, in saving time, when describing something as very cool, they say "cool as". It ends there: cool as. Not cool as whatever is cool. So that's weird as. Also, Maori (said kind of like "moldy"). Sort of the native language, not many people speak it, I don't think--if they do, it's not like an everyday sort of thing. A lot of road signs and things are in Maori though, so hmm. Allysia did give me a book on "instant Maori" so who knows, maybe I'll become fluent.

It's actually kind of sarcastic and hilarious.

Third: the roads. Yes, they drive on the wrong side of the road. Well, the left side of the road, and the right side of the car. Let me tell you, roundabouts are scary as. I hope I get the hang of it...Also, the pedestrian walks actually mean something here--cars actually slow down/stop and let you walk, you don't have to rush to the other side which is a new feeling.

So today I went for a walk to go explore downtown a bit (I get a car next week, I think). I started out going the right way, and then used my GPS and thought it told me to go the opposite way, so I walked that way for about 10-15 minutes and then realized that I was going the wrong way. Super. So then I turned back around, and passed the same people who saw me turn around the other times...just a stupid American, no worries. But I did pass some cool scenes on the way once I was headed in the right direction.

On the way, I stopped and snapped a few scenic pics:

Stopped at a little cafe called Rouge and enjoyed some Moroccan Mint tea (that's my cool NZ money on the left). They give you a tea cup and then your own little tea pot--I got about 3.5 cups out of it. It was delicious. 

 This is basically Wally World. So that's cool.

On the way back, which was a lot quicker since I didn't get lost, I snapped some more pics:

See you soon! "Ka kite a tona wa!"

So far, so good!

Well, I left for RDU on Wednesday around 3pm, to get to my 5pm flight. First I had a little trouble with my suitcases, but eventually it got sorted and actually ended up working a little better than I had hoped! Hopped on my flight at 5 and we took off shortly after--four hours and fifty five minutes later, we landed in LAX, at 7:20pm. Let me just tell you. This airport, is ginormous. It has basically an entire other section for international flights, which is about a 5-10 minute walk. Ate some delicious pizza with my new friend, Ally, and then went on our way to the gate to Sydney. Our lovely flight, of 14 hours and 55 minutes, left at about 10:05. Yuck. Not a fun flight. Though the seats were a bit bigger than the seats from RDU to LAX, they still weren't super comfortable. But the flight attendants on the plane were much nicer--as they weren't American (lol). They served us a couple meals and some snacks, and there were TV screens on the back of the seat in front of us--pretty sure I watched about 5 or 6 movies and slept for a few hours. All in all, not a terrible flight, but still pretty long and boring. We arrived in Sydney at 6:15 Friday morning. (Pretty sure I didn't have a Thursday, but don't ask me, it makes my brain hurt). And then I had to book it to the other end of the airport because my flight for NZ left at 7:10, and the boarding started at 6:25. Lovely. So, running to the other side of airports--not my favorite thing. Made it with heaps of time to spare before we actually took off, sweaty for nothing. Woot. We touched down around 12:10pm and made it through customs without a problem (although a couple of the people working it were laughing at me for not knowing what to do--stupid American. But without too much hassle, I made it to the baggage claim, got my two bags (Thank you, Lord that they were there!) and met Allysia at arrivals! We drove back to Cambridge which took a little over an hour--and I tried to adjust to riding on the left side of the road. Weird. Allysia told me she'd take me out whenever she drove so I could get used to it, and said Aaron (her husband) would take me out to learn how to drive properly--that'll be interesting. Didn't see very many sheep--which was a smidge disappointing as I was told sheep outnumber people here. We'll see. We passed a few things that I'm excited to do--like going cave exploring! We made our way to Cambridge and arrived home. I unpacked, showered and felt a bit more refreshed to meet the rest of the family. The kids came home with their dad and came into my room to greet me :) They are adorable. We ate some dinner, read a book, and then pretty much all went to bed--at about 7:15. We'll see what the rest of the week holds!

My sweet little kids: Jorja, Layla, Stirling, and me (left to right)

Whoops, I leave the country tomorrow!

This is just going to be a little blurb to give an update:

Well, these last few weeks in the US have been pretty awesome. Time has gone by fairly slowly though, as I've been ready to leave for months! But the time here has been good. I've gotten to say many fair-wells, and "see you laters" for those who don't want to say goodbye--goodbyes have never been my favorite thing as I'm always super emotional, so bear with me! I've had enough "goodbye parties" to last me a life time! (And I've still got one more!) But they've all been fantastic, I've got some pretty amazing friends and family.

Things don't really hit me when they happen, or are about to happen, they hit me when it's already happened and I can't do anything about it. I'm also not one to start crying from missing someone--that is, unless they start it--then I'm a complete basket case.

Tomorrow starts a new chapter in my life, and I can hardly wait to start it! And for those of you who are reading this: I appreciate your prayers and thoughts! And I hope you enjoy what you're going to read in these posts over the next year!

Can't believe I'm going to be living in one of the most beautiful parts of the world!

I leave Wednesday at 5pm, and fly to LAX, to Australia, and finally land in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday around noon (NZ time).