settling in

Welcome to the new year on "The Misadventures of Canterbury Chris!" I should really change that since I no longer live in Canterbury. But it has such a nice ring to it...

I have made it home, safe and sound, to Taupo. I bought a bed and a bike and a few other things that start with the letter B. My house is great. I should put some pictures up to make everyone jealous - great views, lots of space, and a greenhouse for my pepper plants. Taupo is great - loads of outdoorsy stuff to do. Last week some friends and I went to Spa Thermal Park and lazed around in the natural hot springs. I brought Jess up to Tauranga and got her settled. She just bought a car yesterday - a 1994 Mazda Eunos (not a Eunich.) It is manual and she doesn't know how to drive a manual transmission automobile so I will be running classes all this week. (If anyone else wants to join, please send me your contact and credit card details and I will get back to you.) If she can't get the knack for driving the stick I will inherit the car. Part of me is hoping she hates it because the radio is oh so much nicer than the one in my car and I would really like a manual transmission auto. (It's just so much more fun!)

I still need a work visa. Jess and I went to Hamilton last Monday, with applications and documentation in hand, to attempt to capture the elusive work visa. We waited for 2 hours only to find out that the formidable New Zealand Immigration Service had changed their policy, so that now we must get a full medical (including blood work and chest X-rays) before we can get the work visa. So we turned around, returned to Taupo, and booked a medical with the local medical centre (cursing all the way.) So we have medicals this Wednesday at 8:30am (at a cost of 150$ for the examination and god-only-knows-how-much for the blood work and X-rays) and if the results come in quickly, we will return to Hamilton as early as possible to try and get our work visas (at an additional cost of 280$.) Honestly for a week or so there I was regretting the decision to stay and teach here. Oh well...all will work out.

That is all for now.