Moving to NZ was miserable this time around. I didn't start packing until the morning I left. I couldn't fit a lot of things in my suitcase, such as my nice lotion, neti pot, teva sandals, my only pair of heels, my face soap, etc. I had about 14 emotional breakdowns during the packing process, and left 2 hours later than planned for the airport. I made it to Auckland in one piece, but my bike didn't. I reported it, cried hysterically (no reasonable insurance company will cover bikes for air travel. I know. I tried.) then flew on to Wellington. My bike was lost in SF for a good 24 hours. Then it took a few more days for it to make the trip down to Colin's house. In the mean time, I madly searched for face soap and lotion, with no success for a week. I was an emotional nightmare with a breakout and cracked hands.
Eventually my bike showed up, the breakouts cleared, and the cracked skin healed. I bought a bunch of plastic furniture and settled into the antiques room at Colin's parents house. This room lacks curtains, so Colin and I made some out of old sheets, and old pair of shorts, lots of thread, and some 3M hooks. 3M is starting to make an appearance in NZ, thank GOD. I tried to bring some scotch tape in my suitcase, but it wouldn't fit. I actually found cheap color coordinated sets of scotch tape dispensers and sticky notes at the Pack N Save in Lower Hutt! At home I had an orange tape dispenser. Now I have an army with pink, purple, and old school orange with sticky notes to boot! Photos are forthcoming.
I found a random organic food shop near the mall. I also found the only other UC Davis Alum in NZ inside. Colin had his UCD sweatshirt on and she was shocked to see one on the other side of the planet. I was entertained that I found a UCD alum in the only organic food store I have ever seen in NZ. It's the Davis curse -- organic food snobbery. I bought 2 squash and a bag of quinoa.
I've been occupying my time with Bill Bryson's book on Australia and Star Trek Voyager season 6. I was in the middle of season 5 when I left Bekah's house (my housesitting gig for the summer) to get ready to move here. The video store has seasons 1-4 and 6-7, but not season 5. Someone please tell me what happens in the second half of season 5!!! In the last couple of days I've started working on grad school apps and other assorted things. I registered for the GRE, which I will be taking on paper, not a computer. This is considered barbaric by most standards. In the US you can take the GRE any day but Monday and take it up to once a month. Here you get 2 chances a year and have to wait 6 times as long for your score report. Brendan Burns, a prospective advisor at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, emailed me last week because he just realized all my scholarship and university applications are due on Aug 29th, which is months earlier than we expected, so I've been staying up late working on my applications and such.
I've been couped up in the house for almost a week straight, except for lunch on friday with Shiel's Friday Lunch Group, which has been meeting weekly for 18 years or something and is a bit of a local legend. Colin and his parents live on top of a hill just outside of a suburb. It takes about 5-10 minutes to get up or down the hill, and there isn't anything on the hill but ferns and chickens and dense forest with houses dotted around, so I've been truly STUCK up here for a while. I would drive down, but I don't know how to drive manual cars yet. I need a lesson or an automatic. Desperately. But Colin took a break from studying and drove me down into Lower Hutt to investigate bank accounts and pass out resumes. I met a fellow Californian at MacPac (outdoors store) who just moved here from Redlands to study and live permanently. I'm hoping the store gives me a call back.
Time to return to my UNSW applications.
Yuck.
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