It’s 9:20 AM and I’m sitting on my couch sipping a cup of
coffee and watching the Olympics. I’m swapping between snowboarding, hockey,
cross country skiing, and speed skating, all replays from the middle of the
night. As long as I don’t read the news, it’s all still a surprise who wins and
loses. With facebook, this is a losing battle. I’m already aware that an
American wins the snowboarding. But I’m going to watch it anyway with the same
bated breath. I wish that I was above commenting on their athletic wear, but
I’m really not feeling the American snowboarding jackets.
At first I was sad that I was watching the Olympics without
Bob Costas and NBC. But now, I’m finding it really refreshing that I’m seeing
the events straight and simple. I see the athletes competing, there’s no
cutting away to additional coverage or interviews, no studio setting, and
instead of one channel playing the Olympics, I get to watch it on four. Not
only that, but I get to cheer for another country: US, Canada, and New Zealand.
In that order.
I know, I know – I haven’t written in months and the first
thing I talk about is the Olympics. I think that’s a good indication of my life
here – I’ve settled down, enjoying day-to-day adventures with good friends that
I’ve now had for months. I’m living on the same dairy farm on the South Island
that I reared calves. I’ve been here since the end of January, after taking a
month-long holiday traveling with my family. My visa expires in 11 days,
leaving me limited time to make additional money. I’m in the process of
applying for a temporary visitor’s visa that will allow me to stay in the
country as a tourist. In the meantime, I’m enjoying playing touch rugby on
Friday nights, swims in the Rakaia River, roast weekend dinners and summer
barbeques, and working a few hours a day while zipping around on my new
motorbike. 11 days off from a year anniversary, and I might almost qualify as a
Kiwi.
2014 began with a bang when my dad, his wife Julie, and my
brother flew into town on New Year’s Eve. I picked them up on the North Island,
and we spent an amazing three weeks together road tripping across the country.
I got to show them some of my favorite locations on the North Island,
introducing them to my favorite people along the way. They ferried to the South
Island and I picked them up in my car (christened Bubbles during our trip). I
showed them around the farm that I’ve made home for the last six months, and
then we continued south onto places I had never seen before.
It began with beautiful sights in Lake Tekapo, and quickly
advanced to high adrenaline sights in Wanaka, where my brother and I experienced
maximum sibling bonding while jumping out of a plane, sky diving at one of New
Zealand’s best locations. From
Wanaka we continued to Queenstown and then to Te Anau to see the Sounds. While
I took a cruise ship through Doubtful Sound (which is actually a fjord) the
rest of the family took a dive in the cold waters of Milford Sound.
It was great to be re-united with my family after a year
apart. I got to show them everything I had been doing over the past 12 months,
the places I had seen and the people I had made my Kiwi family. On day one they
couldn’t quite understand what I had been doing with my life, but I think by
the time they left, they appreciated my time spent here. More importantly, they
understood why I want to come back.
11 days. A lot has happened in a year. I left the US on
February 18th, 2013 and arrived in Auckland on February 20th,
2014. You’re all invited to the anniversary party: Rakaia Island, Canterbury,
New Zealand. Bring a box.
