Pictures from 29-30 October

Cloudy on Saturday morning. It started raining soon after this picture was taken.

This beauty behind me is normal for the area. I asked Katherine and Danny if they get used to it, and they said yes, though it's hard to think of a place they'd like to go to on holiday.

Waiting for some delicious takeaway for dinner.

I love that we're all silly.

Part of the view from the top story deck at Peter and Arna's.

Part of the view, with me in it. :)

Another part of the view from the top story deck.

Across the bay.

How crazy is it that people LIVE here?!

The first few days

During the first couple of days, I was very tired and could only manage to keep my head above water and not freak out. Don't get me wrong--I've enjoyed myself immensely; but yesterday (Saturday) became a bit much.

Katherine, Danny, Peter, and I went into town to run errands. As we were driving, I said, "We're going north, right?" To my surprise, they said, "No, we're actually going south!" Whether you believe it or not, the angle of the sun was so different from California that I really thought we were going the opposite way to what we were really going! That messed me up, quite frankly. I've always wanted to know where north was because then I know my surroundings. So to know that I was completely turned around (and not feel like it) was very disconcerting, to say the least.

The men dropped us women off at the shops and then went on with their business. Katherine and I signed me up for a bank account and put some money in first, then did our shopping. The whole time we were walking from shop to shop, I kept trying to get it into my head that north was south, east was west, etc. etc. Then other things started to get to me. The NZ dollar is different than the US dollar. The culture is slightly different, too, but in such a sneaky way that I became extremely self conscious to not do anything socially considered faux pas. Then the fact that I am the one with accent and everyone else speaks normally was icing on the cake. My poor brain became so muddled and confused that my decision-making paradigm fell apart. I was indecisive, hesitant, and not much of a person I enjoy being around. (Having to remember to say "I'm sorry?" instead of "What?" when I couldn't hear what someone said was SO exasperating, as well.)

We were done shopping in the early afternoon. To my wonder (and dismay), my interpretation of the angle of the sun said that it was late morning. The sun was in the east, I could have sworn it! But I knew (with my intellect, and nothing else) that the sun was in the west, and that north was south. So, so strange.

Later, Danny, Katherine, and I went to look at a car that I might possibly buy. Nothing super exciting, though it's manual and not automatic. I don't know how to drive manual. And the stick is on the left, not the right. Hah! At least the clutch, gas, and break are all in the same order as in the States! I'm willing to learn how to drive it, though. We'll take it into the shop tomorrow and see if everything is on the up-and-up.

The rest of the day wound down nicely. Katherine, Danny, and I had some dinner, then they brought me home. I had a quiet evening in my room for a while, then Peter, Arna, and I had some ice cream and fruit, and I played them a few songs on my uke. I went to bed around 10, satisfied that at least I had had a long day to peg my exhaustion to!

I woke up an hour earlier than I needed to this morning. I decided to stay in bed so that I could rest up as much as I could (something I neglected to do yesterday). I'd forgotten how nice it is to just lie in bed and doze in and out! After an hour of this, my alarm clock (a new cellphone) went off with this: "It's time to get up. The time is 8:00. It's time to get up. The time is 8:00." It was a harsh (and almost bitter?) voice. Cold and uncaring. I'll make sure to change the alarm to a more pleasant tune next time. Either that, or I'll just name her Judith and have someone to yell at every morning. :)

That's really all I have to say right now. Except that we went to church and had a nice time. I think everyone is coming over this afternoon for tea and muffins, which will be nice. But for now, I'll enjoy sipping my tea next to an open window, and enjoy listening to birds and distant waves. I'll post more pictures.

Thanks for reading! Extra peace for you, wherever you are,

Sarah

P.S. Today is Sunday. For those of you in the States, I am 20 hours ahead. An easy way to figure this out is to take four hours away from your time and add a day. So if it's 8:30pm on Saturday for you, then it's 4:30pm on Sunday for me. See?

P.P.S. I tried vegemite, and I liked it! Peter put a thin (very thin) layer of it between a cracker and cheese, and I enjoyed it. I even had some for breakfast this morning on a crumpet. I'm also starting to enjoy my tea with just milk, no sugar. I'll make a fine Kiwi yet. :)

The trip

At SFO, near the end of the 3 hour layover.

Tuesday morning was very busy. I slimmed down my luggage by a few pounds (just to make sure they weren't over 50), took the last couple boxes to storage, and got a new pair of sunglasses. I got plenty of texts and calls of people saying goodbye (including one who said, "You're leaving next week, right?"), and I turned in the keys to my apartment. It was a beautiful and windy day, and I felt loved with all the goodbye messages and sad about not living in the apartment anymore--and I thought, "Wait... why am I leaving this place?"

I sank into the hammock on the balcony for the last time and thought for a bit. Why was I leaving? There wasn't any way to get out of it, but I needed to know the answer. And here it is: It's not that I was leaving, it's that I was going. The important point was that I was going to New Zealand, and a necessary thing for that to happen was that I'd have to leave California.

Finally figuring that out, I went on with my day.

Mary and Dad picked me up and took me to the airport. They helped me with my luggage and walked me to security. There Bree met us, and Dad and Mary said goodbye and left. Bree and I sat and had a nice chat, and said goodbye. As she left, I went through security. And what do you know, one of my college professors was right behind me! We discovered we were on the same flight to SFO, so we waited together and had a nice chat.

The flight was 1.5 hours late. No matter, I had a 3 hour layover in SFO. It was entertaining (is that wrong?) to hear others freak out over their phones: "Is there ANY other flight that I can take later once I get to SFO?!" We later found out that the flight was late because the President was in SFO, and the whole airport was shut down for security. And it was funny to hear all the Republicans (most of the people around me--it is Fresno) grumble and talk about what a "great" president he is, making them too late to catch their next flight, yada yada. I wasn't concerned. "God," I prayed, "just get me there by 7. That's all I ask."

He did! We got in to SFO around 5. During the flight, I sat next to a nice old man who complained about how young people do things nowadays and said I was too young to be knitting ("That's something my wife does!"), and generally was pleasantly crotchety. As it turns out, he played with the Chargers football team while they were still from LA and not San Diego! He also said he had sat next to Elizabeth Taylor one time, as close to him as I was sitting! I didn't catch his name, so I can't research him, but that's okay. I enjoyed him while he was next to me. Near landing I started worrying about how I was going to navigate SFO, because the last time I'd been there I was 11 with my whole family, and it had been daunting. But once I was actually there, I realized it was much easier because not only am I now 23, I'm only one person and not a young family of 8.

I was 3 hours early to the next gate and the only one there. It was so nice to simply sit, alone, after two weeks of running around like a crazy person! I watched a movie on my ipod touch (thanks, Josh!), knitted, and sat. Eventually, more and more people came and sat around me, then we boarded and took off.

I got a window! I was in a row of three seats. There was a nice lady (from NZ) on the isle, then the seat between us was empty. We both rejoiced about that, and chatted for a bit. I liked her.

The last LONG flight I'd been on was one from Germany to Salt Lake City (I think?) when I was 11. It had been very long and boring. This flight was about the same length (12 hours), but not nearly so boring. I watched two movies (on my very own screen in the seat in front of me), "X Men: First Class" and "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" (two movies I've been wanting to see), and slept. I may have slept for about 6 hours! Hooray!!

We landed! I again navigated a large airport all by myself (with the help of signs, of course). The only hold up was my visa had the wrong birthdate on it (oops). So I waited for 5-10 minutes until a nice man told me that it's okay for this time, but I'll need to go to Immigration and change it if I want to leave and then come back. Shew! That was scary!

I wasn't sure when the airport was going to end, but I finally walked through a large doorway and found Katherine smiling and waving at me. It was so good to see her face and know that I could hug her! (The only thing skype is missing is a hug application. I don't know how it would work, but there might be something there...) We greeted each other and started the trip to Peter and Arna's house (my host family and Katherine's parents-in-law).

The combination of being tired from a long trip (and two weeks of preparation), being in a new place, realizing I would never experience Wednesday, October 26, 2011 and hearing Katherine talk in a different accent than any I've heard (acquired after almost two years of living here) was almost overwhelming. But I made it through! When we got to my new home, Peter and Arna welcomed me. Arna fed me breakfast, and the rest of the day ensued with unpacking, napping, chatting and taking a walk on the beach with Arna, more unpacking, and chatting with friends on facebook and skype. In the evening we had dinner (Peter, Arna, Katherine, Danny, and me), then everyone but Katherine left and we got to spend some time together. As the evening came to a close, we had a dessert and I decided it was time to hit the sack.

The view from my bedroom.

Though pleasant and peaceful, it was a really long day. But that's just because of my fatigue and the fact that I was in a brand new place, not having any idea of what anything was going to be like. Besides, the first day is always the longest.

Thanks for reading! May you be covered in peace right where you are,

Sarah

Introduction

Dear friends,

Welcome to my new blog! Here I will keep account of the things that happen during my trip in New Zealand. Many of you have asked me to keep you in the loop, and I thought a blog would satisfy that request nicely. I'll post pictures, videos, and give account to random adventures. The more you comment, the more likely I am to keep this up! We'll see how well this works out.

Thanks for reading,

Sarah