In Which Packing Insanity Ensures

Look, an actual update! Yay!

Hello to everyone, and best wishes with your school year! Please know that while I may not be having to do homework just yet, I'm going stir crazy in the house. I almost envy all of you being in class. Almost. :) My thoughts are with you all.

So packing for New Zealand hasn't been as bad as it could be. I'm allowed two suitcases, one of which will be my travel pack, the other an actual suitcase. The travel pack is packed for the orientation, and the suitcase will be sent on ahead to the university. Hopefully I don't need more underwear than I was able to pack... The suitcase is about 8 pounds shy of the maximum 50 pounds. It doesn't leave me with a ton of extra room, but at least I don't have to bring linens! Yay for programs that provide the bedding. :)

The only thing that's been hideously stressful about packing is dress shoes. I mean, honestly, will I need dress shoes? Most likely not. But it's better to have them, and since I need new ones anyway that aren't heels, I decided to get a pair. For those of you who don't know, I hate shoe shopping when it's necessary. My left foot is slightly bigger than the right one, and it makes finding shoes that fit hard. That, and nothing out there that fits well is cute at the moment. So naturally, I went to a million and a half stores, looking for shoes, and finally found a pair that I'm happy with.

The Target/Wal-Mart emergency trips for packing supplies is currently at 3. Hence, packing could have gone worse. Total trips for supplies, however, is a completely different story! It took a long time to find a travel pack that was affordable, but I finally found one that I liked, and lo and behold, it was a birthday gift this year. It should last awhile, and if not, Eagle Creek will be getting an e-mail about their supposed life-time warranty.

Overall, packing is always insane, but at least it hasn't erupted to screaming and absolute chaos! Count the blessings, right?

As for other things, my passport with my New Zealand visa came back a few weeks ago, so I'm now allowed to officially be in New Zealand until July 30th, 2009. I intend to use most of that time! Also, I got my ISIC in the mail. The picture that was sent in for it was when I had one of the worst haircuts I've ever had (seriously, who gives people a haircut that grows out into a mullet?), so I agonized like any college female would about it for a bit before realizing I could hide it behind my driver's license in my wallet.

I am officially assigned to live in Ilam Apartments at the University of Canterbury! I don't know who I'm living with, however. The Apartments are about a 5 minute walk from the university, and is more independent than a dorm. One downside, at least for me, is that the rooms are singe rooms. Meaning I won't have anyone to talk to late at night. Roommie, I miss you already! Also, I do not have classes. This has me a bit worried, as I'm hoping that I will get into the classes I want to get into. If nothing works out as originally planned, however, I know God will have some reason for it. Besides, 19th Century Drama didn't really seem that exciting compared to some of the other choices.

One unfortunate event is that I just discovered I'm near-sighted, and need to have glasses for up-close reading and far-away vision (apparently you can see street signs a lot futher away than I thought...). Evidently, I have a focusing problem. I can lose the reading glasses in a few months with some simple exercises, but the long-distance vision is due to a stigmatism, which, surprise surprise, runs in the family. My glasses haven't come in, so please pray that they do! Otherwise, I'm wearing contact lenses. And after breaking a blood vessel in my right eye when trying to get my contact out, I'm not looking forward to fumbling through the initial learning phase of contact lenses...

A quick explanation of how this Blogger account works. You can follow the blog if you have a Google account, and you'll be informed when I update! I think PLNU g-mail accounts count as a Google account. However, you can also bookmark this URL and just click back randomly once in awhile. Sorry for the inconvenience! I didn't want a service you necessarily had to sign up for, and one where I could control the privacy settings. Thus, Google Blogger.

Feel free to leave comments! I'll be uploading pictures when I can, and I leave this upcoming Monday for New Zealand! It's exciting, especially as I just got my plane tickets in my e-mail! I'm also a bit nervous by the fact that I'll be leaving the United States, and most everything I'm comfortable with (such as my friends, my house, my food, my own bathroom, etc.). It hasn't quite sunk it, the extremity of space between New Zealand and San Diego/Chandler, but as the day draws closer to when I sit through customs and take that 12 hour flight to Auckland, I'm realizing more and more how much fun and how frightening this experience really is! It's in these times that I know very few things will be constant, but that the things that matter, God, family, and friends, will stay the same, even if I'm far away.


Cheers,
Nicole

Exodus 13:21-22