Life in NZ!

Hello all! I realize that this is very overdue, but I have not been very good about getting on a computer to update you all! Things are going very well over here! I have been enjoying the sunny weather---although this weekend the weather was almost in the 40's (celsius). That is about 100 degrees for us back home! I live in a beautiful area which has lot of sheep and cows---it is quite fun to live in the country! I spent my first week here reconnecting with my friend Gwyn and getting to know her family. They have made me an honorary member of the Laybourn family now. I stayed with them in their sleepout--which was a shed they converted to a room. The kids enjoyed waking me up by singing a song I taught them from my camp days. Not sure why I taught them the song! Last week I moved into my flat in the town of Masterton (about 2o min from my friend). It has 2 bedrooms and is right across from the hospital. I started work last week and so far am enjoying getting back to work after not working for a month. It is a very rural hospital with 3 operating theatres. My co-workers are all quite nice and have been very helpful as I get settled in to my new environment. There are several American doctors so it makes me feel a bit more at home. There is even a doctor from Portland who is an anesthesiologist. Pretty small world!
It is amazing to me how many similarities there are with the equipment back home. It is interesting though at the same time to see the differences that abound. In the States we only have 2 nurses (or one nurse and a tech) who are involved in the surgery. Here in Masterton they have a nurse who assists the anesthesiologist, one who circulates, and one who scrubs with the surgeon. They don't have any surgical techs at the hospital where I work. And here they call surgeons Mr. Smith, instead of Dr. Smith. The anesthesiologist is referred to as Dr. Smith. My co-workers will find it funny that we have Ethicon suture and staplers all the way over here in NZ. Something that the doctors back home miss!
I haven't had much time to do a lot of traveling around the area yet, but am looking forward to getting the chance to do some exploring. Last weekend I joined a competitive race up Mt Holdsworth. One of my co-workers encouraged me to do the 24K (about 17 mile) race straight up this mountain because it was such a nice day. I found out later that this girl has taken other foreigners out "tramping" or hiking and gotten them in a bit over their heads. The local Kiwis are able to complete this race in over 3 hours, but it took us over 6 hours to complete the run/walk/crawl! My friend thought if I did more training I could complete it much quicker. I informed her that this was a one-time event for me! It was very beautiful though. We could see all the way to the South Island and from coast to coast of the North Island.
When I get more time I will try and download some pics of my trip so far. I haven't found any wireless areas yet so I am using the library computer for now and my work computer.
So far I have been feeling right at home, except for the driving! It is hard to remember to keep to the left side of the road!

I've arrived!

Hello!

This is a short message to let you all know that I arrived safely into NZ on Fri afternoon after one of the longest flights of my life! It was brutal, but thankfully I won't have to do that for awhile! It was neat because when I landed in Auckland one of my mom's friends from her childhood in Iowa and her husband met me at the airport to welcome me to NZ. I was pretty wiped out at this point so it was so nice to see a friendly face and have them drive me to the domestic airport. They also took me out to lunch at the airport. Then I boarded my last airplane into Wellington and met my friend along with her 2 daughters. It has been such a blessing reconnecting with my friend and getting to know her husband and children. They are an amazing family and I already feel apart of their family. Tomorrow I head to the Masterton hospital so check out my new surroundings. The landscape is very beautiful by the way. Very green like Oregon and very wet---it has been raining the past several days. Just like an Oregon summer!

Traveling.,...

Well my adventure down under is underway! I have only flown to LA and I am already tired! Probably didn't help that I didn't get enough sleep last night. I'm hoping I am able to sleep on the flight. I'm sure some alcohol will help with that! So far my adventure has been going quite well. I got a standby ticket from my housemate (thank you Tasha!) to fly from Portland to LA. While I was hanging out at the gate in Portland I saw Don Cooney who works at PDX. He and I used to go to Clear Creek Community Church together. It encouraged me to see him and meet his co-worker Anna. On the flight to LA I got to sit next to this lady who is a flight attendant on a Gulfstream jet for clients such as Tiger Woods and other interesting people. It was fun to hear some of her stories and all of the things she has done in her life. That is the fun part of traveling-you meet the most interesting people. I arrived in LA very early---my flight doesn't leave until 10:30pm and I arrived here at 4pm. It's not like me to be early, but I didn't want to chance missing my flight out of LA. Especially since I was flying standby from PDX. Waiting here at the international terminal I already feel like I am in a different country! So many people and so many nationalities.
In Auckland one of my mom's friends from Iowa who now lives in NZ is going to meet me at the airport. It will be nice to see a friendly face even if I don't know her! Well I am going to move around a bit before rigor mortis sets in! I will try and update this when I get to NZ--although it might take me a couple of days to get my bearings and settle in!