...and still unpacking. OK, not so much unpacking, and re-organizing. It's been a process of getting to a certain point, hitting a wall, then leaving it for a few weeks. Then another breakthrough, more progress, another wall. This weekend, two big walls have come down. We're still bursting at the seams, but it's definitely less warehouse-like. Having my first overseas visitors arriving on 07 December is very motivating. Lesson #1: PURGE more; bring less.
Last weekend I met my husband in Hawaii for a weekend. Honolulu is 8.5 hours from Auckland and 5.5 hours from Vancouver so it's the closest to halfway, plus it's only a 1 hour (OK 23 hours) time difference for me and 2 for him. It was awesome to reconnect and hang out; the beach wasn't horrible either. We'll see each other in 6 weeks when he comes for Christmas. At this point the separation is a bit harder on him, since I have all sorts of new and interesting things to distract me: he goes to work, comes home, does his extracurricular stuff, goes home. I suspect in hindsight he'd've said "stuff it" to finishing the year and waiting until bonuses are paid out in late February. Which was always my position. :)
I'm finding work life in NZ exactly has it was pre-presented online: people are a bit more rigid about clocking hours than in Canada, but equally keen to turn off the work email and mobiles evenings and weekends. People work to a high standard and seem to expect the same--without being doodieheads about it.
Am sloooowly building a social circle--this is the hardest part about migrating, but I knew that coming in. I'm 48, married, much more of a homebody. I've limited energy to use extracurricular as a medium for meeting people and generally I can't stay awake late enough to use pubs for this purpose. :D It's a work in process, but it's coming along.
In early December I'll have my first NZ adventure with my two mates coming from Canada and the States. We're booked on the Tongariro bushwalk. However it seems that both Tongariro and Ruapehu are rumbling a bit and may erupt at any time. Ideally this will be around 11am on Sunday 07 December--the day after our walk. ;)
It's hard to believe that this process began at the end of January for me, when I applied for my role here at the uni. A couple of months later I had an offer, submitted my EOI, got my ITA and then my visa. As of 15 December my work-related restrictions will come off my visa so theoretically I can take whatever job wherever...although if I leave before 2 years are up I'm on the hook for about $20k in relocation expenses.
