One last hurrah

I have returned, back from my very last NZ adventure for now. We went out to Methven, this tiny ski town SW of Christchurch, and did some cool day hikes. The boys got some skiing and snowboarding in too while I took a day in to study for my last exam tomorrow. We stayed at this really fun hostel where everybody hung out together and met some hilariously funny British guys. One night, we went to one of the two pubs in town (the Blue Pub and the Brown Pub) to watch some rugby since we figured we might as well kiwi it up before we left, and had a great time talking with the Brits and learning their favorite slang (instead of saying, "that movie sucks," they would say "that movie was pants," they used the word "snog" instead of "kiss" and they also said "wanker" [pronounced wankah] a lot). It was great fun. Our hikes were pretty wicked too--one hike, we had to snake our way up this stream to get up to the waterfall and we ended up crossing the stream via unstable, slippery rocks thirty-one times. We managed to keep our feet dry until pretty close to the end, but we all ended up slipping in at one point. Dan and I did another one where we got to climb around some more rocks in a stream and took in this magnificent cliff view. It was a great last hurrah in NZ.

Now it's back to business--I took care of a bunch of errands today like trying to figure out how to get rid of our car (once it failed the Warrant of Fitness test, it made it virtually impossible to sell it to any private buyer), and doing some last-minute errands that we needed the car for. It looks like we're taking it to a European Auto Dismantler or something, and they're going to give us $200 for it. We calculated that we must have put over 5,000 miles on it, and that's a conservative estimate. Either way, we certainly got our money's worth out of it. Almost all of the other foreigners that bought cars over here have had something tragic happen to their car that's left them stranded, so we really lucked out. Tomorrow it's really going to sink in that I'm leaving soon--I'll take my last exam, I'll figure out all my finances and somehow I need to close my bank account. The boys will take the car in while I take my exam, so I'll be car-less and bank account-less, making me more of a tourist and less of a permanent resident.

Coming home is such a weird phenomenon--there's so many things to look forward to about home, and so many things to miss about New Zealand. I think every study abroad student goes through stages of being overwhelmingly excited to go home and overwhelmingly sad to close such an important chapter of their life. Even though I would desperately love to come back here, I know it's not going to be the same place as I left it and I certainly will be different when I come back. I think coming to terms with these changes and making them a positive part of your life is one of the hardest things about constantly leaving places and experiences and people you love. As one of my good friends Elizabeth wrote in her blog about leaving Chile after spending three plus months there (E-Cuts, I'm shamelessly stealing your words because you just expressed my feelings so eloquently), "It may seem a little silly but I am realizing that people and pets are not the only things we mourn; on the contrary, experiences and places are very much living, breathing entities to which we have to say good-bye in the same way we would a loved one." Still, saying goodbye to a country and to people I've grown to adore is a small price to pay for getting to spend four+ glorious months here, and isn't college supposed to be about finding new things that you love? It's so hard to express how important and shaping my time here has been and how much it's enriched my college experience and made it so much fuller.

So adding this ridiculous mix of emotions on top of a 19-hour jetlag and a 30+ hour series of flights, I have a feeling I'll be somewhat disoriented upon my arrival. I'll have to pull myself together quickly though, because I have less than 40 hours after I arrive before I have to be ready to get a zillion first and second graders excited to learn. If nothing else, jumping into work will force me to make the transition from NZ to home quickly, if not make it any easier.

To keep this entry from being entirely nostalgic and a free-for-all ramble on my transition, I'll save my lists of Favorite Things About NZ and Things I'm Looking Forward To About Home for an entry tomorrow when I won't be procrastinating on my studies.

Loooooove to everybody at home, and see you soon for those of you in the general NW region!