Yes, I'm here.

     Well yes, I did arrive here in New Zealand! Sorry for not updating you all for a while. There isn’t very good internet access, and it is super expensive here! Anyway, I flew out on the 29^th to LA. The airport there was so overwhelming, and I had to walk a couple miles just to get to the other terminal, also I packed too much for VAustralia, so I ended up leaving some stuff behind.

     I had an overlay in LA for about 6 hrs, so I just made some phone calls and ate food. I also met a sweet older lady, Margaret. She is a Christian Auzzie, who told me all about her travels in evangelizing! She was so sweet, and talked to me for forever and offered to pray for me. That was really special and definitely a God-send.

     Once I boarded the plane, I sat in the very far back with an Auzzie young man. He was probably 22 or so. We had fun. Man, there accents are so cool! I want one so badly. I’m definitely starting to sound like a Canadian, though. :/ Note: Auzzies are more attractive than Kiwis.

     That plane flight was 14 hrs, but thankfully I slept for about 5 of those or so. And the flight went by so fast, thanks to fun movies and games on the plane.  I arrived in Melbourne, Australia at around 10am on the 31^st. I definitely had no Sunday! It was really weird.

     Then I boarded the plane to Auckland! I talked to a Kiwi lady for the whole 3 hrs, practically. We just talked about Christianity and Catholicism. It was really interesting, and she straight up told me that she doesn’t believe in Hell, but thinks that everyone will go to Heaven no matter what. It was really sad, and I didn’t really know quite what to say. She called herself a Christian, too. She said she wasn’t really worried about where she might go when she dies, but just believed she’d go to Heaven because she’s a “pretty good person”. I said some things that I think really convicted her, so I’m just praying now.

     I was really tired on the plane, so she gave me her neck pillow to keep! That really helped. J I met Jordin, a fellow student, in Auckland, and we took the shuttle bus to school. We arrived around 6pm.

     So far, it has been going really well over here. I have three wonderful roommates, and we all get along really well! At least for now! This last week, and this coming week are just Orientation Weeks. It is taking forever, but I’m glad it’s slow, so we can all get to know each-other well and comprehend everything that will be happening soon.

     It still feels like camp to me, and that I’ll be going home in a week or so. None of us here have really suffered from any homesickness yet, but I’m sure that will be happening soon!

     I’ve been hoping to exercise some, and thankfully my roommate Amanda feels the same! So went on a bike ride, today, to Cambridge. It only took about 30min or so! We found a Farmer’s Market and stopped in there. A Maori man, Ray, was playing his guitar and singing. It was so beautiful! We went up to him and helped him sing some songs, and he got really excited when we said we were from the US! He may come sing here sometime at the school, or we might go sing again with him at the Market. :)

     The weather is very humid here, and rather fickle. The first day I was here I got really burned. And I’m still red from it! But I’m learning slowly…I guess I must need sunscreen. The burn time is 5min here! Crazy. I think we have about 3 weeks of summer left, and then it will go into Autumn. The leaves are already changing colors!

     I’ve been able to help out with worship here, and am going to be helping out in the coffee shop starting next week! Also, I passed my test to be able to drive here in NZ, so I’ll be driving some students to church tomorrow. Its really not that bad, but I’m still kinda scared!

     I will try to write in here more often or at least write and then post it later. I know I have so many other things to say, but I just can’t think of them! :) Love you guys.