So, Auckland is a pretty cool city after all. I’m starting to find myself liking it more and more as I find new places and people that I like.

Maybe I just need to explore the whole city more?

I’ll be based here for the next few years so I might as well see all the city has to offer!

They make for some interesting photo ops too.

If you end up on the North Island in Auckland you should definitely check out 90 Mile Beach (eh, weird name for a nation in km) and the sand dunes!

And this:

I can’t wait to go back to New Zealand! I can’t wait to get to the beach & ocean! I’m already planning a trip to the South Island in my head.

Even on a bad day, New Zealand is gorgeous. This photo is not edited in any way… it’s just really vibrant here. Brilliant on a perfect sunny summer day. Today was neither but it was still amazing.

I’ve only been in New Zealand for six months. In those six months Christchurch has been hit TWICE by major earthquakes.

My heart aches for the city that has lost almost 100 people and is still searching for the missing. I’m in awe of what the earth can do and the consequences of that. I’m actually a little scared as well, since earthquakes are possible where I live too. I’ve had to turn away from watching and reading the news about the earthquake that is dominating all New Zealand media right now. It’s too much to handle reading the stories of people who were going about their day and suddenly the world collapsed on them.

Since we are in Auckland we can’t do much to help besides pray and donate money. A lot of people have lost their homes and are refugees with nothing right now. That’s a horrible spot to be in and it takes a while to recover from a tragedy where you lose so much. It also takes a lot of help. So I hope the RedCross and other organizations are able to help all of these people.

The New Zealand Red Cross has started accepting donations:

New Zealand Red Cross has launched the “New Zealand Red Cross 2011 Earthquake Appeal” to support those affected by the recent Christchurch earthquake.

All funds will be used towards the New Zealand Red Cross response to the disaster, including transport and provision of goods. As weeks go by, different needs will be identified and Red Cross, there for the long haul with your help, will be meeting them.

If you’d like to help, please go to the Red Cross website to donate.

Yes. I live here. It’s for real. I’m not moving any time soon. It’s finally sunk in that this is my home and that I’m an expat now.

I also realize that I now live near the beach. After living 6+ hours from the nearest beach for so long I consider a less than thirty minute drive “near” the beach. Definitely. Even better is that I live that far away from several beaches.

That means I’ve crossed off two things from my life list. I’ve now lived abroad (though technically I did that in college but it wasn’t the same). I’ve also now lived near the ocean (although I could always get closer!).

Here’s to the upcoming new year and crossing off more amazing things from my life list! :)

It would seem like a country where I speak the same language and have similar cultural values wouldn’t be much of a change. But there is always something different that takes time to adjust to. I’ve found quite a few things here in NZ that had been different.

One thing different is climate.

Since moving to New Zealand I’ve developed allergy problems and have been diagnosed with allergy asthma. (I think.) Up until my move here I never had a problem with allergies. Some family members have always dealt with them but I was lucky to have no problems. Moving to New Zealand changed all that.

There is something here in New Zealand that I’m quite allergic to. I’m not quite sure what it is, and to be honest it might be something specific to the house I’m living in currently. A lot of the housing in New Zealand is older and built horribly. This means houses are damp and often have mold problems. I’ve never lived in a house with mold problems so this has been a huge change and is most likely a main cause of my newly inherited asthma condition.

Some facts about asthma in New Zealand:

• New Zealand has the second highest prevalence of asthma in the world.
• One in six New Zealand adults and one in four of our children experience asthma symptoms. (Adding up to more than 600 000 Kiwis.)
• The prevalence of asthma appears to be similar across New Zealand metropolitan centres.
• Severe asthma is common – up to 8 percent of teenagers report wheeze limiting speech, and 10 percent of adults report waking with breathlessness occurring within the previous 12 months.
• Hospitalisation rates for asthma have more than doubled in the past 30 years.
• Asthma is the highest-ranking specific disease in terms of Years Lost to Disability in males, and third highest for females.

source

Before visiting the doctor I had been jokingly saying, “I’m allergic to New Zealand!” My trip and subsequent diagnosis confirmed that the joking statement was actually true. I’m allergic to New Zealand. Or at the least, I’m allergic to my current life in New Zealand. And possibly the whole country, which seems to have really high rates of asthma.

So I guess I could say I’m not off to a good start with my expat life. Moving abroad so far hasn’t been a dream. Some things are amazing and some things less so. Developing a possibly chronic condition is one of the less exciting things so far. It sucks that it’s not all rainbows and beaches, but I might as well be honest about my whole experience!

I fully intended to blog more about the process of moving abroad with a working holiday visa, but getting engaged and traveling coast to coast left me with little time to actually blog about things. I will try to work my way back and eventually write a blog post about the application process and how it all works, because I found that kind of information useful when I was going through the process. Once I’ve actually made it into New Zealand and get settled in I’ll be able to share more of the adventure in detail.

For starters, my visa allows temporary (up to 3 months) of part time work. If I want to get anything else I have to apply to get a different work permit. That alone leaves me scared that I’ll never find work. Add to that the fact that research online and from friends who lived in New Zealand tells me I’m at a disadvantage because I’m American. Yep, apparently kiwis don’t like to hire Americans. It makes sense in a small country with limited jobs and resources. It makes sense but it scares me. What if I’m always unemployable once I make the move? To be honest the whole process scares me and leaves me feeling almost paralyzed.

Although the move is in August, the chain of events leading up the move is going to start next weekend when I head south to Cali for a week or so. Because of that the move feels a lot closer than it actually is. I’m very excited to move to New Zealand. I’m looking forward to it. But certain things, like the job situation, give me pause and get me worrying. I know worry is pointless, but it’s a hard thing to stop once you’ve started.

So I worry a little bit and write posts about my career crisis and my confusion over the future.  Thank goodness for great comments that remind me that everything will come together. They remind me that I’m lucky enough to have created a somewhat stable online business to help me out even if I don’t have another job. They remind me to snap out of my worrying about careers and realize I’m one of those people who likes to be doing 18 different things at once. One job forever? Ha. I’ve already dipped my toes into a dozen different things and that number will just keep rising. I’ll probably end up have 4 different careers and a zillion different jobs. And that’s okay.

Now that I’ve moved past the mini vocation related crisis, I’m once again super excited about all the things coming up. I just spent a few minutes looking back through my vacation photos from New Zealand and I’m really missing it.  I’m so excited to move there for a year! :)

I wish that this ticket was for this week and I was heading off for a quick visit, but unfortunately it’s not. It is however the plane ticket for my big move to New Zealand. And I bought it on my birthday! It wasn’t planned that way, that just happened to be the day that the particular savings account hit the amount to purchase the ticket. The date was just a cool side benefit. But a plane ticket for a move across the world is a pretty nice gift for yourself I think.

So I’m officially going! Now that I’ve bought the plane ticket it’s a real event that is going to happen in just a few months.

On August 13 I’m moving to New Zealand.

That’s the date that I settled on, which happens to also be Friday the 13th. I found that funny so I went a step further and reserved seats on row 13. You know, just because. I’ve never been the superstitious type and once even used the number 13 for softball. If anything it’s more of a lucky number than an unlucky one. Hopefully my flight/row will be empty. ;)

I could have waited to get the ticket but I like to do things in advance so I know there won’t be any problems later on. I didn’t want to wait and let prices jump or possibly use the money on something else so that I then couldn’t purchase a ticket. No, I like to be prepared way in advance for something like this. Because something like this is pretty huge.

So that’s why this particular plane ticket is THE plane ticket. It’s the one that is taking me to a new country for a year. It’s the one taking me to some new adventures. It’s the one taking me back to my love. It’s a pretty special plane ticket. Plus it’s only one stop this time.  Awesome.