Happy (belated) One Month-iversary!

I have officially been in New Zealand for 1 month and 1 week, as of today (Wednesday). I cannot believe how fast time has gone by! Looking back, I have spent much of the time buzzing around, lugging all of my luggage (Note: I only regret that I did not buy huge LL Bean duffels for packing, not the fact that I brought so much), so I can see how I was distracted from the passing of days. When I first arrived, the possibilities just seem to rush past me, like the express line in NYC (this specifically comes to mind) or something. It's amazing that people can continue doing the transient backpacker thing for an entire year.True, I am not living the backpacker lifestyle, but that is not what I set out to do necessarily. Not having a home base was hard enough for only 3 weeks! The purists might say I am simply "living my American life here in NZ," as my friend Jenna was recently accused of doing, but I cannot disagree more. I did take "safer" routes of choosing a country that spoke English, was safe, respected women, etc etc and followed the luck that found me (Glenda, working at RHUBARB, etc), but I am still without my social network that I established over four years at NCSU, my family, my friends from before NCSU, slang that I recognize, a politcal and medical system that I understand like, 25% of the time...the list continues. The only negative about "setting up shop" in one place is that I haven't been able to see any other sights yet! Thank God I have 6 more months.

Below are more pics from my time here, but Internet-willing, I will be making some Fb albums soon. Enjoy & miss y'all!