Alone in the house

I have the house to myself for the first time since we got here... Well, not entirely to myself, as Whiskey River keeps reminding me, but no other humans.

This time in New Zealand has been interesting, not at all what I expected or imagined. While it is beautiful and the people are friendly and the great outdoors are great, it's not thrilling and its not home. I feel like I'm torn between wanting to have the seminal, coming of age Overseas Experience in which I live with no worries for a year and the reality of living overseas. I think part of this all is that I'm no longer on my gap year, no longer willing to be totally financially ass-up. I keep finding myself thinking that I'm too old for this shit, and then I'm shocked to hear those words in my own head. Jon thinks that a lot of our frustration is the fact that we have no money, so we're as broke as we were in Fayetteville, but without the people.

And I don't say this to imply that this has been anything but incredible. Given the change, I'd do it all again. It has been fascinating and has allowed me to look at pieces of myself that I didn't realize were there. What more can anyone ask, right?

I've gotten to know some amazing men and women, learned to drive on the left side of the road, lived somewhere it's both legal and encouraged to pull u-turns in the middle of the street, worked in a prison (marginally), lived in a house that grows mold at a spectacular rate, learned what chilblains are (note: climbing shoes + bone deep damp chill * hours = not a good idea). I've gotten (?) to live with my sister and my man simultaneously, gotten to watch them figure each other out (how many people get to do that?!). I've learned what a swede is (rutabaga), what mutton bird Maori-style is (a neck-wrung seagull rubbed down in salt and stuck in a bucket for a year), how to make really good seafood chowder (just wait til we make you some!).

Most importantly, I've realized what it is to be homesick, to miss a place and the people there for more than a brief twinge. I'm excited to move back to the US, excited to struggle in Fayetteville for just long enough to stop struggling as much. I'm excited to become a slum lord (life goal), to hopefully start a climbing wall, to build an incredible house with Daniel's help (and others, but Daniel has already committed).

So life in New Zealand is good. It's cold and damp and full of all the trials and tribulations that accompany life anywhere, but it's an adventure that I am fortunate enough to share with people I love. At the end of the day, really what more can you ask...