11 months down...

Sunday was a scary day. One month from my departure back to the US. I’ve had a lot of difficult decisions to make, but on Friday I finally sorted everything out. To keep you in suspense, I’ll update you on everything else first. 

As I mentioned in my last post, I turned in my last assignment for the year. I got my grade back a few days later. Not only did I pass, but my grade was also high enough to get a $1000 for my last year of school. That will be a nice relief. Sean also finished his semester on Saturday, so it will be nice for both of us to have some free time before I leave.

Other than that it’s been cold and rainy. We have had a few good storms and even some thunder and lightning!

Friday I called Immigration and got the most helpful person ever. She answered all of my questions and I am feeling better about my application, but have also decided to wait until I get back to the US to apply (I don’t want to rush my application and its free if I apply from the US). In the meantime I’m preparing what I can.

So now to the exciting news…. I decided to wait to return to New Zealand until after Christmas. That’s right, those of you in the US will get plenty of quality time with me. My extended family is taking a trip to Jamaica over Thanksgiving and I just didn’t want to miss out on it. My mom then made a fair point that if I was going to stay that long, I might as well stay through until Christmas, so I agreed. Before you ask, I have no idea what I am going to do in terms of a job or where I am going to live, but I’ll hopefully figure that out soon. Right now I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends.

I also decided to leave my job two weeks before I fly home. I have a friend coming to visit the day after I finish, so I plan to travel around with him for a bit and then travel with Sean the rest of the time. Neither of us is looking forward to being apart for 6 months, so I’m trying to spend as much time with him before I leave as possible. He graduates in November so he plans to come visit me in the US then.

And for my family, I think I forgot to mention that he has weekly card night with his friends that I have now become a part of. We play Oh Hell and then whatever else we have time for. He has also taught me 500 and continues to kick my butt, so I’m working on that.

That’s all for now! Can’t wait to see you all!