A thought smattering

It is high time I post.  So here is a smattering of thoughts I complied for you.

Thought 1:

It still sends my head spinning to remember I am the one with an accent.  Every now and then when Guy and I are at the grocery store shopping I see people looking over their shoulders to me, and I realize I am the foreigner.  I am the thing that doesn’t belong when you play the game “One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other.”  I have talked to Guy so much over the last year I don’t even notice his accent anymore, unless he says some silly phrase that makes no sense to my American mind. Which takes me into my next thought,

Thought 2:

My co-workers, two kiwi and one UK, had never heard of the word “Ta-Ta’s” to describe boobs.   Is it me?  Am I the odd one out?  I have just thought that calling boobs ta-ta’s is a fun childish way of talking about what is on chest of so many of us. 

Thought 3:

There is no ground turkey here.  Well if it is here, I have not found it yet.  The other day I suggested to Guy that we used ground turkey meat in our spaghetti sauce instead of beef mince for a healthier option.  He looked dumbfounded.  So when I went searching for it at the store I came up empty handed.  My theory is that were Americans have a Turkey section in the meat department and New Zealanders have a Lamb section.  Yes, America may have lamb section as well but I can guarantee it is not as big as the one here. 

Thought 4:

Kiwi fruit is great!  I love my gold kiwis.  They are sweeter than the green kiwi everybody knows back in the States.  The outsides of the fruit aren’t weird fuzzy and you can eat the whole thing whole if you like!  The skin doesn’t fuss up my tummy too much.  At the supermarket when you buy pre-packaged boxes of kiwifruit they include a kiwi spoon/knife!  One end is a knife to slice the fruit in half and the other end is a spoon to eat your fruit.  I have never seen anything like it.  The perfect tool for the job.  Especially if that job is to munch on five fruits in a row.  I am not ashamed to say that I have been hoarding the spoon/knifes, I use them to eat my yogurt, and get sad when one breaks in half. 

Thought 5:

Wind.  Everything is about wind when it comes to weather.  Everyone comments about the wind.  Which wind it is and where it is coming from and where it is going.  Some of the weather predictions that crop up on my forecasts:  Northeasterlies, Southeasterly breezes, the Nor'West, ESE high winds, Easterly winds, Rain.  That’s basically everything.  And with each of those various types of wind the common New Zealander know exactly what kind of weather to expect.  But I am not at the point yet!  The weather is wacky.  One day we will have dry warm sun which we hang the wash out to dry, open all the windows looking for a breeze, drink ice water to cool down.  18 hours later I am wiping rain off my glasses as I bike to work in my cute skirt and heels.  Then at the end of the work day the bright blue sky is out and I am needing my reserve scarf and gloves I keep in my bag to warm up my numb fingers.  Ugh.  At least you get to wear that cute raincoat almost all year-round. 

Thought 6:

Roll-on deodorant.  It is basically your only choice here.  There are a few options for stick deodorant but those are the cheap brands with terrible smells.  I finally gave in a bought a roll-on.  With summer approaching it is the best choice for everybody.

Thought 7:

This is unrelated to my move to NZ, but, I just became an Aunt for the first time!  What should Baby Pattison call me?  Aunt Ann?  Auntie Ann?  Auntie Annie? Aunt Annie?  Nothing seems to sound right.  Welcome to the world Alexander Carrig Pattison!

Thought 8:

Guy and I are planning a tour of the South Island for 10 days!  Ness goes into a cattery, which she’ll hate/love, we go into a campervan and have the best time ever.  I cannot wait!  I guess I need to learn to drive on the other side of the road.  I did promise Guy that.  Perhaps I will practice on empty roads somewhere out in the countryside.

Thought 9:

I have met a handful of people who type in the oddest way: they use the caps lock key to make capitol letters.  For example, if they are typing a sentence about how awesome I am, in the middle of their hunt’n’peck typing they click on the caps lock key to capitalize my name, Ann, instead of using the shift button.  Has anyone else seen this?  Is it a learned trait?  Is it a coping mechanism that somebody figured out to make capitals because they thought using two keys at once was hard?  This baffles me. 

Thought 10:

Here you can buy fireworks, four days out of the year from November 2nd to November 5th for Guy Fawkes Day.  We went up the hill to watch the fireworks that the city puts on and were happily entertained by the small bursts of light from all the houses below across the city.  I am just amazed that no large fires happened.  The downside is that people buy fireworks during that time but then keep them around for longer so you randomly hear fireworks during the November and Decembers months.  

Thought 11:

I love my boyfriend.  I love my cat.  I miss my family.  I miss my friends.  I miss my work friends.  I feel like I am in an isolated bubble with the knowledge that there is a bubble very far away whose life is going on without my bubble.  Once it was such a large bubble.  I thought it would be easy to keep in touch.  Write emails all the time.  Skype.  Send photos.  I vaguely know what is going on back in the States but my life seems to be moving so quickly here that I don’t have much time to reflect which is why this blog post has taken so long to write.  It is hard to express the feelings I have for everybody back home because if I think about them too much my heart grows sad and I feel lost.  It has been easier to keep everybody at a distance.  The time/day difference helps too.  Thankfully Guy is a great rock to my wandering sad heart, reminding me of my adventure and how brave I am to try something completely new.  My life here is blessed but even when hard times approach and pass you are once again reminded how wonderful so much of your life is. 

Thought 12:

I cut my hair off.  It feels AMAZING.

My article on Stuff.co.nz

The other day my work email was down so I spend quite a bit of time on the Stuff, which is New Zealand's biggest news wesbite.

I found a prompt entitled "The day that changed my life" so I felt compelled to submit an entry since my life had recently been changed.  Little did I know that it would be published an hour later and remain on the front page for a full 24 hours.  Here is the link to the article.  Enjoy.

The Day That Changed My Life

by Ann Pattison

The Last Installment of the Epic Story “The Cat Who Cost Too Much”

The final cat blog, I promise (maybe)

Well it has all finally happened.  Ness is here in New Zealand with me.  After spending three months at “sleep away summer camp” with a few good Tia’s.  After several vet visits and with a tearful eye, she was left with the pet transporter in her carrier ready for the biggest adventure of her life.  And the most expensive adventure too. 

Looking out the bedroom window to all her bird friends

Her flight left late on Monday and arrived in Auckland early Wednesday.  Then another flight from Auckland to Christchurch.  The same route I took three months earlier.  The night Ness was to fly into Auckland the Canterbury plains experienced some of the craziest weather ever.  It was warm outside.  Perfectly warm.  But the wind.  So much wind!  Bins (aka trashcans) were flying down the street.  I saw bikers struggle to bike against the wind.  I swear I saw the telephone pole outside our room sway in the breeze.  Needless to say I got nervous.  I didn’t know which flights Ness was on so I couldn’t track anything and I wouldn’t be picking her up from the airport since Quarantine would be whisking her directly to her cell for 10 days.

On Wednesday mid-morning I finally got the call on a fussy cell connection saying that Ness was safely in Quarantine with no delayed flights.  Somehow she managed to miss all that crazy wind by a couple of hours!  Ah the relief.  Ah the excitement of buying a lot of kitty stuff in a market I know nothing about.  It is hard to buy stuff when you have no concept of brands.  It leads to me just staring at shelves of products reading descriptions over and over.  Thankfully there is a pet store close to where I work and they got to know me pretty well.  A nice worker practically held my hand and showed me various kinds of cat food, litter boxes, litter, toys, treats, everything.  He even indulged me with letting me play with a pup labradoodle named Charlie.

Guy and I knew that we wanted to visit Ness at least once while she was in Quarantine.  I called and I called and I called trying to set up a time to come see Ness.  No answer.  No one was picking up.  Guy tried to call to set up a time.  No answer.  Oddly enough Guy was more panicked than I was.  Thankfully he and his colleagues put two and two together and realized Quarantine did not have power because of the storm.  The wind had downed a lot of trees cutting off power to many people in the countryside.  I called the cell phone number that called me when Ness arrived and lo and behold they still didn’t have power three days later but they had a generator to keep all the animals warm.  Sweet relief!

We visited Quarantine on Saturday.  Armed with a small bag of treats, a favorite toy, and a t-shirt that smelled like Guy and I, we found our kitty tucked up on a shelf in a small room that overlooked a beautiful garden area.  Ness was able to sit in sunshine (if the sun bothered to come out at all), listen to strange birds chirp, smell strange trees, and make best friends with sheep who were a stones throw away from her room.  But she chose sleep on a shelf, hidden behind a towel which was sheltering her from the scary new world around her.  She looked bedraggled and in need of a good cuddle and a good sleep.  I said hello to her and put my hand up for her to smell me.  Almost instantly she was nuzzling my hand trying to get pet all over while I was trying to hide the flood of tears welling up behind my eyes.  Guy and I sat down near her and she jumped down off her shelf to come be with us.  No lap sits but plenty of pets, scratches, and sniffing.  She was in heaven.  Her humans were back.  45 minutes passed in a blink of an eye and we had to leave.  I will never forget the look Ness gave me when we left the room.  I peered through the small window in the door to see the saddest kitty eyes seeming to cry out to me “WHY ARE YOU LEAVING ME AGAIN”??!? 

How can you say "goodbye" to these eyes?

One week later we made the long drive back to bring Ness home.   She was packed up and ready when we got there and Guy drove Ness and I (who were both in the backseat) home.  I can’t lie, it did feel a lot like how bringing home a newborn might feel.  She meowed a LOT.  I quieted her down as much as I could.  She learned how to proper meow from her summer camp cat friend Tovah and was very chatty at the fact she was in her big carrier AGAIN in a moving vehicle.  Guy and I talked about how we were going to deal with a scared cat.  We tried to guess her hiding spots and how we might lure her out of them with promises of treats and lots of petting.  I carried her carrier into the spare bedroom where her litter box, food and water were and opened the door of the carrier.  This was the big moment.  What would she do...... She sniffed things.  A Lot.  Multiple times.  Guy and I watched her walk into every room and sniff every corner while we stayed in the spare bedroom.  After about 20 minutes of sniffing Guy and I decided to give her space and let her explore in her own time so we went for a long walk.  When we came back she was curled up on our bed.  Like nothing had ever happened.  We made dinner and sat to watch the news in the lounge.  She came right on over and sat down on a chair and fell asleep.  No scared cat!  It probably helped everything in the house already smelled of us and she loves us and our smell, but after 45 minutes she was at peace with her new life.  There was a lot of sniffing and sneezing of dust that first week but she settled in just fine.  Better than I ever could have predicted.  It was like the last four to five months never happened! 

New besties

Now we are a happy little family.  Guy loves having Ness about.  Often I find her curled up on his chest in bed getting a lot of pets.  She still seems starved for affection and worries when we both get ready leave the apartment.  She has always had a high amount of concern for me while I shower, so that hasn’t changed, but she can’t wrap her head around me reading in the bathtub.  That is a huge worry for her but she respects my space and sits outside the door as my guard kitty. 

I got her a food dispenser which the cat has to move a lever inside for the food to come out.  She eats one kibble at a time.  Her food/water is in the lounge, her litter box in the spare room, and her sleeping chair is in our room which all means she has to walk a lot.  Her bare belly is losing weight and it makes me feel like a good cat Mom (I try not to think she lost weight because of high amounts of stress).  She is a happy and healthy addition to our NZ home.  I couldn’t be happier with what I have when I go home.  A boyfriend who takes great care of me and a cat who dotes on my every move.  I am one lucky girl.  The only thing we don’t talk about in our apartment is how much this whole move cost.  I could not of had her furry body keeping me company without the love and support of so many people in my life.  Some people have asked me if I knew how much the whole move would have cost to have Ness in NZ, would I still do it?  And my answer is Yes.  Of course.  She means the world to me and her loving comfort is the embodiment of the love I left back in the States.  So when she is sleeping soundly in my I think of all my family and friends who made this dream possible. 

 

Thank you for my cat.  Thank you for helping my cat get to my lap, on the other side of the world.  Guy thanks you too.  So does Ness.  Stay tuned for a family Christmas portrait.

From Guy

Hello Everyone.

This time it is Guy (the Kiwi) posting.

It has been one hell of a ride for one pretty American girl so far. Here last post covered most of what has been going on (ever so briefly) but I get the feeling some of you are expecting more, i don't know . . . . epic-ness, from her travels.

To this end, I threw this together on Thursday night. Keep in mind, this just touches on the really epic stuff!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjKrudACP-Y

Working 9 to 5, well more like 8:45 - 4:45, or more like 8:45 - 16:45

This post has been a long time coming. I would like to give my good friend, Libby, a special shoutout for always having such a sad face on her when there is no new posts. I hope this, in time, will make up for the lack of posts.

Holy crap I got a job!

Backstory:
I spent 3 – 4 weeks enjoying unemployment. I slept in a lot. Found Guy and I an apartment. Settled into the apartment. Got things set up. Cooked. Watched Hulu. Slept in. Biked. Lots of biking. Lots of trips to the local library and to the grocery store where I would stare at the shelves of brands I don’t know. Then the money started to run out. I needed a job. I started to apply to almost everything I could, anything that sounded remotely interesting. But not once did I get any kind of callback for an interview. I was frustrated. Guy could tell so he recommended a couple of recruiting offices he used when he was job hunting awhile back. I signed up with two recruiters. With one I went into their office on a Tuesday. That Wednesday she said I had an interview on Thursday. I went to the interview which lasted MAYBE 12 minutes and I thought I bombed. Three hours later on that same Thursday I was told I was hired and started Monday. Like whoa. Made my head spin.

So where am I? What am I doing? Something completely and utterly different from SFDS. I am working 40hrs/week at an insurance company. My job is to schedule times for building assessments for properties that have been damaged in the Canterbury Earthquakes several years ago. I call people, make a time, put it onto quantity surveyor and loss adjustors calendars. That’s it. It is super easy. The atmosphere is pleasant. Several other temps on my team from all over the world. Flexible hours. I can listen to music on my ipod. It is only a 12 minute bike ride from my flat!

I like being able to have an income source and I am coming up on my first month of having all bills basically paid off. My weekday nights have become very boring but absolutely wonderful. Guy and I will go to the gym when we can, watch episodes of Community or True Blood, make yummy dinners, go to bed before 10pm. It is super wonderful to have someone to do the boring stuff with. And I am getting better (I think) at cooking! I made a curry from scratch the other day. Chicken with mash and peas last night. Cottage pie. Stir fry. Soups. Baked veg, mostly broccoli. Pork fried rice from a leftover pork roast.

I am happy to have more people to talk to in my daily life even if we are not talking about anything too interesting. Several of the girls on my team are in my position of just moving to ChCh (Christchurch) on a visa and are trying to make some monies. Most of the others are Kiwi’s from all over who are helping out with this temporary project of getting the earthquake damaged houses in check. They help me learn lots of new NZ stuff, here are some examples:

-“Quay” is pronounced “KEE” not “K-WAY”
-“Madras” (a street) is “Mad-Rass” not “Ma-Drus”
-“Speights” (a beer) is “Spa-Eights” not “Spa-Ights”
-“Good as gold” is an awesome phrase and can be used in most every situation
-Morning tea happens at 10:30am, be there
-Tuesdays are free-fruit days
-Tea is consumed more than coffee here
-Insurance call centers are noisy but amusing
-------I have learned that if a fridge breaks down the food inside is insured, assuming you have receipts for the food
-------If you have one ring covered you can only use the money to buy one ring, not two
-------Old people put in a lot of claims causing the claims handler to yell, loudly
-My eating cereal in my yogurt is weird but an awesome idea
-Coconut water is a starting trend
-Irish people have a tough time saying the word “thermal”

This job is supposed to end of November (also known as Thanksgiving) or around Christmas (also known as the Winter holiday break). I will be sad to see it go but if they asked I probably would not stay. Insurance is boring.

I miss my old work community. The Day School is all I have ever known as an office environment. I guess you don’t realize how good you have it until you are experiencing something else somewhere else. I often spend time thinking about what the kids are doing, wondering if I will remember any names when I visit, wondering if anybody will remember my name when I visit, and when I will visit. Many Day School people skyped me the other day and it warmed my heart to know how many people still miss me.

I'm still here

Wellington, on the South side of the North Island, got a 6.5 earthquake the other day.  Yikes!  What is up with me living in places that always want to shake down to the ground?!?  Thankfully the quake had no effect on Christchurch in any way and we didn't even feel it.  Wellington is slowly recovering from its minor damages. 

So what have I been doing the past week or so?  So much and nothing at all at the same time.  First off, the important news, is that Guy and I got ourselves an apartment so no longer will we be squatting in Dan's apartment.  I can finally unpack my suitcases.  Here is a picture of our new place.  The building is a cute cottage on the corner which is actually two flats.  We have the flat on the right side in the picture.  That big bay window is our bedroom.  Behind that is the second bedroom for visitors (like you, yes you), a lounge, and a kitchen.  Bathroom is off the hallway.  It is super cute and I have a good gut feeling that it will work out just fine.  We have it until February with the option to renew if all is going well.  

The red door is our front door

I keep applying to jobs. Nothing yet, but I'm still plugging away at it hoping/praying that I'll get a chance on something that I am semi interested in. I've been spending a lot of time at local cafes using free wi-fi to get me out of the house. They have a drink I am digging a lot called the flat white.

A flat white is a coffee beverage developed in Australia and New Zealand in the 1980s. It is prepared by pouring microfoam (steamed milk from the bottom of a pitcher) over a single or double shot of ristretto espresso. It is similar to the latte and the café au lait although smaller in volume, having a higher proportion of coffee to milk, and more velvety in consistency.

Thanks for the definition Wikipedia.  Here is a picture of my recent flat white with a silver fern latte art on the top.  It hits the spots.

I've also have been spending a lot of time mindlessly wandering around Hagley Park.  I wandered into the Pinetum, which is a nice collection of pines and coniferous trees.  The park is so empty during the week it boggles the mind.  A bit more crowded on weekends, but overall it feels like my own special place when I bike alone in the afternoons.  

The other day it was a beautiful day!  It was 16 degrees outside!  Don't know what that means?  I barely do.  It was about 60 degrees fahrenheit which meant that I could be outside, briefly before the sun went down behind the mountains, without a jacket!  After a breakfast of hashbrowns and bacon, and Guy going to the gym while I biked around town, we walked over to the Rapaki Track just on the outside of town.  It seemed like half of the city was there enjoying the sunshine.

The Rapaki Track is there the "A" pin is

The walk was lovely.  A bit strenuous but the burn in my legs just told me that I need to do that more often.  Along the hillside going up Guy and I saw a bunch of sheep!  I'm still not over seeing and talking to the sheep.  I even saw some lambs!  I asked Guy endless questions about sheep, "where do they sleep" "are they scared" "do sheep like to live in herds" "what does their poop look like" "why is that one jumping around like that" "who owns these sheep"?  He could answer... most.  Here are some pictures!

A Mom and her lamb

My first semi close encounter with a lamb

My first semi close encounter with the Rapaki Track

Another semi close encounter with Some Guy

My first weekend

Upon arriving in NZ I stayed with Guy at his parents place while his parents were still in Europe.  His parents' house is on the other side of the hill from Christchurch, about a 25 minute drive out of town.  The drive felt very much like driving up Mt. Tam (a mountain in Marin) with the sharp turns, high overlooks, and beautiful views.  I stayed at the house/farm for several days on my own while Guy was at work.  It was my responsibility to keep the fire going and relax.  Life is hard.  NOT.

I slept in, read, figured out how to watch Hulu not in America, and snacked.  There was constantly a chill in the air, which was worse at night, but sitting by the fire was lovely.  At the warmest parts of the day I ventured outside to explore a bit.  The house is high on a hillside, overlooking Governors Bay, with a small sheep population on the farm (Guy says there are about "30 head" of sheep on the property to keep the grass down).  The view looking out was lovely.  

Looking out from the front door

I talked to the sheep.  They just stared at me.  I promised I wasn't a predator.  They didn't believe me.

  

No houses nearby whatsoever.

A side view of the front yard.  On the left is the front grass area, on the right is the house.

On my second full day at this house with no one to talk to and waiting for Guy to come home, I ventured into "town" to the local pub.  Before I went in I walked down to the jetty at Governors Bay and was pleasantly happy that I did.  Despite the sky spitting and dribbling rain on me in sporadic outbursts I walked along the water as far as I could but had to come to a stop when a "slip" had poured lots of tree, dirt, and debris on the walkway making it impossible to completely walk the path.  The view was lovely.  No one was around.  It was me, the rain, the water lapping onto the rocks, and the very distant sounds of cars.  A new happy place and I cannot wait to see it in the Spring/Summer months.

A kea.  Not my pic.

On my first Sunday Dan drove Guy and I out to Arthurs Pass, a pass that connects Canterbury (where Christchurch is located) with the West coast of the South Island.  We left the Canterbury plains in a cold but sunny morning to drive up through the mountains which got increasingly more cold and rainy.  The views reminded me of the drive into Yosemite but with more rivers everywhere.  We kept driving and when it was time for a potty break there was light hail outside.  At the rest stop I met my new favorite bird, the Kea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kea).  It's a cheeky bird.  Big, we're talking large parrot sized, and smart, like it knows how to charm humans for food.  One kea flew up onto the hood/bonnet of the car and stared Dan our driver right in the face, then hopped over to the side mirror on the passager side looking inside at the two boys.  I was coming back from the restroom and as it sat on the mirror watching me approach it was not scared at all.  I opened the passenger door as it was still perched on the mirror just watching and waiting.  It did not hop off the car till we were almost out of the parking lot/car park.  The kea now has my heart.  Damn cheeky bastard.

We continued to drive into the pass and the weather quickly changed for this California West coast girl. SNOW!  I even got out and hopped in it!  Then quickly hopped back into the car, it was COLD.  As we approached the pass we quickly contemplated having to put on our snow chains, it was that bad.  Soon we just chose to turn back when we saw a small car off the side of the road on its side.  Semi-fresh tracks too.  That made my heart beat fast!  Guy jumped out and went to check to make sure no one was still in the car.  Thank God whoever the car belonged to got out safely.  We turned around and not 5 minutes later the authorities closed the pass.  We headed home.  It was a long day out but a memorable one.  I commend the boys for showing me three weather patterns in one day.  NZ and I are off to a great start.

Miss me yet?

Feel free to email me at annmpattison@gmail.com.  I will try to respond.

Keen on using that Skype account you swore you'd use more? Annmpattison.

Ever notice the FaceTime app on your phone/iPad/computer? I'm there too. Annmpattison@gmail.com.

I miss you all! Here is a picture of my view from the only pub in Governors Bay where I am waiting patiently for Guy to get off work.  We are making spaghetti tonight!

My independence day to NZ

I'm here! I really am here!

Me and my stuff

I left the evening of July 3rd with my bags packed (suitcase, backpack, bike box, travel backpack, and a small duffle) and I was at the strangest calm I have been at for months. I checked in my luggage and went through security without a hiccup.  I did my last ToDo's, like call my parents, then I paced. Up and down the center of the international terminal till it was my turn to board. My jumble of nerves set itself down in the back row next to my new friend, Wendy.  For the next 12 hours we flew to Auckland together while talking, laughing, and eating the adequate plane food.  By the end of the first leg she gave me her phone number and said she may know someone who has a job for me that would be working in an Irish bar!  Rad!  I will definitely give her a call by the end of the week.

The plane landed in Auckland and I had two hours to get off the plane, through customs, through bio-security with my bags, run over to the domestic terminal, re-check my bags, and go through security again.  I was starting to stress but thankfully I had gotten about 4 hours of sleep on the plane mid-way through my viewing of classic 1980's movie: Wall Street.  I had my many printouts of all of information which was requested I had before I could enter the country with my visa.  The woman at the customs counter did not ask me for any of it.  I asked, "did you want to see any of this?" and she replied with "nah, it all showed up on the computer."  Works for me, so I skipped (no joke) merrily towards baggage pickup.  All three of my pieces of luggage rolled by and it was up to me to get it all on my wee trolley cart.  When the bike box was standing up on the trolley I couldn't see over it.  I had to steer with my face careened around the side of the cart.  Bio-Security was a breeze and nobody seemed to care that I had a jar of peanut butter, a bike, a wooden jewelry box, or anything.

Upon exiting the international terminal I ran my cart directly into a small metal stump causing all of my goods to spill everywhere.  I was quite a sight but every one was kind to help me navigate my trolley up and down curbs.  My my, the people are nice here!  Upon entering the domestic terminal I met up again with my plane friend, Wendy, who showed me the ropes of checking back in.  We had about 45 minutes till our plane took off.  I had worn two jackets and a scarf thinking it would be cold since it was 6am and the middle of winter.  Instead I sweated.  A lot.  When I went through the security line I set off the alarm and had to get my back patted down.  My sweat set off the scanner.  I was mortified.  I made it with 5 minutes to spare but our plane was delayed 15 minutes.  Perfect.  I got a tea and went for a mini-walk.

The second flight was a quick one and before I knew it I was collecting my bags again and calling Guy.  We did all that mushy stuff and I realized I was safely here.  Not as tired as I thought I would be.  More content than I ever thought I could be.  I have arrived and it feels great.  More posts to come about my first week here!  Sorry I missed the Fourth of July but my adventure was my own independence day.  

Goodbye 102 and Ness

Today was a huge day for goodbyes.

My studio bachlorette apartment I have lived in for over five years is now out of my life.  I cleaned the last bits and got rid of various items that refused to leave till last minute.  The keys are sitting on the counter of a kitchen I should have cooked more in.  The curtains are pulled back letting in sunshine onto a living room I hosted a variety of parties in (birthdays, White Castle & Beer, Lost nights, B2B jello shots, murder mystery).  I feel like I have done most of my growing in this space and I will always remember it fondly, despite my mostly-deaf neighbor and the bitchy-slutty girl upstairs.  I left a room that had no windows and moved alone into apartment 102 after I got my first fulltime job.  At the time this apartment was well out of my price range but I lied to the agent and said my parents gave me $1000 a month for rent atop my current income.  I also became a mother to an (illegal, no pet-deposit) furball after constantly saying that I would never own a cat.  It was my scared space and I loved it.  It is also time to move on.  

Main space

Kitchen

And now there is the story of my cat.  Ness moved out last week before I did most of the cleaning of the apartment to minimize her stress.  Her ride over to her new home was traumatizing for the both of us to the point that she peed in her carrier and upon arrival she walked around her new home with pee-pee paws.  She is living with three good friends (ex-work friends) and another cat.  I'll call them D/M/S since I don't know how much they want me giving away about their home life.  Some people just like to be private.  Anyways.   I figured Ness would hide under M's bed for several weeks and slowly come out of her shell.  Apparently she hid under the bed for one night then was walking about the apartment.  She has completely made herself at home just after a week.  The difficulty comes in when speaking about her relationship with the other cat in the house.  The other cat, who has lived in this apartment for almost a decade I believe, isn't too happy about this temporary living situation.  She will yell/yowl at Ness when Ness does something she does not approve of such as:  speaking, getting to close to her couch, or drinking out of her water dish.  I can't blame her.  Ness continues to test boundaries and keep a safe distance.  I am so proud of her.  This gives me such hope for our new life in NZ in September.  She is good at coping.  Yes, after a long flight and being handled by humans she does not know will stress her, but after a week of love from Guy and I all will be well.  Her paperwork is 70% in order and I cannot wait to have her back in my care.  The universe knew best that she should travel after me and I respect that since it is working out well for the both of us.

Ness lovin' next to Tia M

Triumphant titer test!

My phone rang and it was the vet.  I got goosebumps and my stomach dropped.  But the news was good, NESS PASSED HER RABIES TITER TEST!  My vet was over the moon being able to give me the good news.

I just finished making my phone calls (Guy, my parents, those currently taking care of Ness, my pet transporter) and now I have some permits to work on.  I am so happy.  There is so much work to get done.

Thank you for all for the well wishes.  It worked!  Now I can get onto more pressing matters.  I move in less than a week.  My bags are mostly packed.  My apartment is becoming more and more barren.  Tomorrow is my last day of work.  I have many more goodbye hugs to savor.

Happy tears

It all started with a proclamation

 

Then I had the best day ever.  What did I experience?  All my favorites:  popcorn, kiwi's, fritos, salami.  I had grade levels sing to me which touched my heart more than I ever thought I could experience.  Second grade moved me to tears and I will never be able to forget it.  Kindergarten sang me their "Ivy Leaf" song which is filled with memories from all the years gone by.  Fifth grade sang a rousing rendition of "Happy Miss Pattison Day" which made me smile from ear to ear.  I was serenaded by a band a of teachers and 7th graders.  I collected handmade cards from numerous kids as well as getting post-it notes back to myself.  I hugged more kids than I ever could have dreamed.  Some children hugged me multiple times.  My desk was covered with flowers of all kinds.  I got chocolate.  So much dark chocolate.  I had the amazing gift of NZ money so I can have a drink in the Auckland airport bar.  And the parents... showed me such gratitude via my Paypal widget I cannot even comprehend the love.  How do I repay a community that loves me so dearly?  So throughly?  So wonderfully?  I cannot.  I am blessed to have these people in my life.  My heart swells to limits I never knew about.  

Needless to say that I cried all day.  They were happy tears.  To feel as loved as I felt today is amazing and indescribable (I want to cry just typing this out).  I love my Day School families.  I love my Day School kids.  If I wasn't so excited about my upcoming NZ experience, I might want to stay.  I know I am young but now I know what it feels like to be apart of the biggest family you could ever dream of.  To know I can always come back and see them makes this "goodbye" that much easier. 

                        

I have so many people to thank for today.  They know who they are.  June 7th, 2013 will forever be one of my better days ever.  I love everyone and everything.  Thank you for today.  Thank you all for everything.  I couldn't have asked for anything more.  I look forward to having a NZ refrigerator filled with child artwork and memories!

Let the goodbyes begin

This morning I said my frist true goodbye.

A friend, who I have known for 13 years, got on a bus and went back to Davis while I stood at the bus stop with tears in my eyes.  We spent a wonderful afternoon chatting, bar hopping, eating too much, then meeting up with his lady and roommate.  Together we drank and laughed and remembered why we are friends.  This is the first of many heartfelt goodbyes.  There are many more on the horizon.

AMP and AMC

I might freeze to death

I just checked the current weather in New Zealand.

I just might die.

It snowed last night.

I have never been good at cold weather.

This is becoming my international pet transportation blog, sorry

Bear with me.  I am eating that dark chocolate with almonds bar I keep in reserve for times of need.  This is one of those times.

I got the phonecall from my vet.  The phonecall that I prayed would be a happy phonecall.  It was not. Ness failed her second titer blood test which means she does not have enough rabies antibodies in her blood to travel internationally to NZ.  I am floored.  After crying a lot at work, calling Guy, calling my parents, and leaving work a bit early... I made A LOT of calls.

I called my pet transporter, who I am SO THANKFUL FOR (James is a calming voice to my hysterical outbursts of sentences).  They said they have never known for an animal to fail their second titer test.  I hate being the case that people are baffled by.  The cause for the second failure could be a litany of things and it is hard to pinpoint what exactly went wrong.  First of all, it can be Ness.  Her kitty physiology may just refuse to produce antibodies.  Maybe it is her saying "F- You Mom, I'm not moving to NZ."  Secondly, it could be the vet.  Perhaps he stored the vaccine wrong, or sent the sample (aka blood) incorrectly, or mishandled something in the process.  Thirdly, it could be the vaccine itself.  Maybe it just doesn't work and the manufacturer screwed up, making a lot of animals out there not actually ready for a rabies attack.

This was my plan of action.  I had a big cuddle sesh with Ness telling her all the excitement that is to await her in NZ (TWO people who love her, lots of birds to listen to outside, tons of sunshine pouring through windows, so many rooms to run around in and explore).  Then I made an appointment with a NEW vet who can administer a different vaccine brand.  Then I called the manufacturer of the first two rabies vaccinations to say "WTF?  What did you do to my cat"??!?

After many many tears, a ton of phone calls, I feel better.  I have an amazing amount of people around me who want to help look after Ness to make sure she makes it safely into my NZ lap.  I love them all very deeply for seeing the sadness in me and wanting to do whatever is in their power to help out.  It is a blessing to know that my parents love me and are a wonderful ear to my woes.  And that I have a supportive boyfriend whose first reaction upon hearing this frustrating news is to curse loudly at work because he knows how crazy-cat-lady I am, even though I try not to be.

Thank you everyone for reading.  Sorry this blog has mostly become a chronicle of moving to another hemisphere with a cat who won't pass her tests.  In NZ related news: they fully support gay marriage, have banned stupid names for kids, and created this comedian who sang an amazing cover of silly song.

I go to Hawaii next week for my cousin's wedding.  I'll post pictures.  I have never been.  I look forward to the mental and physical getaway with the family.

/chocolatebar

Adventures in unknown size expectations

I want to bring my bike to NZ so I have something I can get around on because: 1) Christchurch is crazy super flat, unlike SF and 2) I am putting off learning to drive on the WRONG side of the road for as long as possible (much to Guy's dismay).  So how do I go about getting this done?  Effort.  Lots of effort.

First I had to go to two bike shops, act dumb and pretend I didn't realize I needed an appointment.  I have a friend's car this week so this is the ideal time to get things taken care of.  A guy at the second bike shop took pity on me and said it would be done by Wednesday, but it was finished on Sunday afternoon.  Score!

I head over to pick it up after a long day at the racetrack for a friends birthday, so please imagine a tired, slightly sunburned Ann wearing sunglasses and an overall bedraggled look.  I pay for the bike to be put in a box ($45??!?) and the charming young man pulls out my bike for me.  It is in a HUGE box.  For some reason I imagined it to be roughly the size of a suitcase to be easily transported which, in reflection, makes no sense because of the body of the bike which is one piece.  The bike box, which is almost too big to pick up with my limited arm span, makes it out into the parking lot and into the car.

I then call Air New Zealand to make sure this counts for one of my pieces of luggage and I don't have to pay extra for it being oversized, since it sure looks oversized to me.  I ask the Kiwi on the phone if he would like the dimensions in inches or millimeters.  He says millimeters, but centimeters would be better.  Dumb American-Ann.  Lo and behold, it counts as a piece of luggage.  I will look silly as heck with a huge bike box I cannot lug around easily, a suitcase, a big backpack, and a regular backpack for my carryon.

Ness helped me show off the size of the box

Artless

Today I took another step in getting ready for my move:  I took down all my art.  My walls are now as barren as when I first moved in.  The only joy I have on my walls are some lousy cheap blue target curtains I bought 8 years ago.  I never knew I loved art so much until I had to take it all down.

My closet is even more clean after a major Goodwill donation.  I can see the floor in there!  (Much to Ness' dismay, she has no dirty clothes to lay on)

86 days to go.  Feels like I just moved in.  It's an odd limbo.  All I can do is treasure those small moments I have and keep eating this dark chocolate and almond bar.

Thank goodness I have this lovely piece of art my (work)friend Dasha gave me ;)  It will be the first framed piece of art in my future Kiwi home.

100 days!

100 more days then I'm gone.  Whoa.

ANOTHER bump in the road

So I just got the call from my vet I have anticipating for the past three weeks....... it wasn't what I was hoping for.

I took Ness in to get her titer test done three weeks ago which counts the level of rabies antibodies she has in her bloodstream.  In order to move to a rabies-free country, such as New Zealand, she needs to have a level over 0.5 at least three months before departure.  She barely had a 0.25.  Turns out she probably never had the usual kitten vaccinations which leads me to believe she came from an atypical household the first three years of life before I adopted her from the SF SPCA.  So tomorrow I will bring her in to get a SECOND full rabies vaccination (her second shot of this in two months).  It will most likely be torture for her.  Then we have to wait at least three weeks before her antibodies build up to standard levels.  Then we have to wait to get the results back from Kansas, which usually takes about 3 - 4 weeks.  It is a good thing I like ramen so much.... these tests and vaccinations aren't cheap.

All-in-all, Ness will have to leave after me.  Ness will have to go into the loving hands of someone for a couple of weeks who will take her to the vet once or twice before her departure.  It seems that no matter how hard you try, you can't plan life.  Perhaps this plan is for the better.  I will get to NZ, have some time to be with Guy then set up a happy home for Nessie.  This waiting period is killing me.  I just want to be in the Shire already!  With my furry hobbit in tow!

Why

So why New Zealand?  Why am I moving to another hemisphere?  Why is my cat coming with me?  Why am I putting such crazy amounts of stress on my current life to save money, sell everything, and say goodbye to those I love?  Because this is a time in my life that I can easily do all of this and I could use the challenge.  (Plus this adventure, unlike other opportunities, has its own romantic perks)

The last time I challenged myself to do something like this was when I moved to San Francisco from Encinitas.  I was accepted into SFSU for a major I wasn't sure I could get into (turns out nursing was so impacted I had to do health education instead) and I moved to a city I had only briefly visited on a long road trip prior.  I had no friends in the city.  I had no idea what city life was like.  I had no idea how much I would miss my family and my first boyfriend.  I remember after the long drive in a rental van (where my parents sat in the front seats and I sat in the back of the van on a lazy-boy chair chained backwards to the front seats, facing the back of the van, with no windows, [true story]) we ended up at a HoJo's in South San Francisco.  I would be moving into the dorms the next morning.  This was the site of my first ever panic attack.  My Mom walked around the HoJo's parking lots with me until I got tired.  She listened to my fears and wiped away my tears and did her best to fortify me for my upcoming adventure.  It worked.  I slept like a log and dove into my terrible dorm situation with enthusiasum.

Now I move again to a city I know nothing about.  To a city where I can count those I know on one hand, most of which I have never met in person.  To a situation that is completely new to me.  It may not be another dorm this time but it is a living situation WITH A GUY.  Omg.  I always said that my next apartment would most likely be with my "plus one," I just never had any idea that the apartment would be in a place where there are no Thanksgivings.

I am excited for this challenge but am weary for the panic attack that I am sure is on the horizon.  Where is my Mom and a HoJo's parking lot when you need one?  I take comfort in the thought that my friends are close by, my family can always be reached with a phone call, and Ness will always be at my side (covering everything in fur).  112 days to go...... but until that countdown on my phone app hits zero I will continue to live life according to my 2013 motto: "Save money.  Pack.  Do good".  The outcome will be well worth the wait.