Changeover Party!!!

Wowza Yowza!!! On Tuesday nite I was invited to the changeover party for the outgoing club president, Brian McMath, and the incoming president, Roger Gower. It was a whirlwind event with lots of good people and lots of good times. It was great to see the club members dressed up in all their finest! Unfortunately, I was a little under dressed because my luggage still has not shown up. Still, as you'll read, I was made to feel very welcome and I feel lucky to have been assigned to such a pro-active club.

That evening Bill and Trish picked me up at my flat and then we went to pick up Nicolas Spillmann, the current district governor. I learned quite a bit on the drive because Nicolas spoke with me about the range and history of district 9920. In case you didn't know, the district encompasses 8 countries and includes: New Zealand, Fiji, Cook Islands, Tonga, American Samoa, Western Samoa, Kiribati, and French Polynesia! During our conversation, I realized just how rusty my French is because much of the conversation was in French, Nicolas's first language. Don't worry though, I've already scheduled some language lessons to help me get my French back up to par.

Anyway, upon arriving to the venue, we checked in and Bill introduced me to what seemed like a hundred people, but was much less I'm sure. Everyone was very pleasant and I enjoyed myself immensely. This club takes service above self very seriously and I was gobsmacked to see and hear about their past endeavors. All of which have been very successful. Hopefully, I'll be able to make a meaningful contribution to their future initiatives. BTW, here is a link to a newsletter that was just sent me that includes some photos of the festivities that night for your viewing pleasure:)

http://www.scribd.com/doc/59029876

Over the course of the night, there were lots of laughs and a good time was had by all, especially me. It seemed like every time I turned around, there was someone else shaking my hand and telling me how excited they were that I was there. It was all very flattering, to say the least. This is a collection of exceptional people and I feel lucky to be part of this group for the next year. So all in all, the evening was a great introduction to the club!

Finally, yes...my luggage is still missing, but I'm optimistic that my bags will show up soon. On a more positive note, I've gotten most of my school stuff sorted and am very happy about it all. I've got a swish new office that I share with the other PhD students in the Management School and I'll try to upload photos soon. Thanks!!

Going down under!

Aloha everyone!

Sorry for not getting this out sooner, but the last week has been a mad rush as I tried to get everything ready for my move to New Zealand. FYI, I left Florida on June 17th and drove up to my sister's place in DC so I could spend time with family before leaving the country. On June 19th, my friends and family threw me a going away party and a good time was had by all:) The next few days were spent sorting and packing.

 In the end, with the help of space bags (which are vacuum bags that compress) I was able to fit everything into my 2 suitcases. Then on June 23rd, I began my journey. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Because of the volcanic ash from Chile, all flights with my airline, Qantas, were cancelled. As such, my layover in LA became much longer than anticipated:( Instead of flying on to Auckland that night, I ended up spending the evening of June 23rd and the day of June 24th in LA.

However, it was actually quite pleasant because they put me up in a nice hotel, I met a Kiwi bloke, Kevin that I hung out with and he gave me lots of good advice about living in NZ. On the 24th I managed to get onto an Air New Zealand flight to Auckland and I felt quite lucky about that because they were the only airline flying to NZ. The flight was good and the airline food wasn't half bad. However, things took a turn for the worse upon my arrival into Auckland.

Now throughout this entire process, I had been updating my Rotary host counsellor, Bill, on my status because he was picking me up from the airport. I felt quite bad because instead of arriving at a decent hour as I was supposed to, I arrived at 6am on Sunday the 26th because of the flight change. So poor Bill got there at 6am to meet me, but I was nowhere to be seen. Sadly, the airline had mislaid my luggage so I had to go fill out a report with lost baggage and that delayed me. In the end, I made it through and there was Bill carrying a sign with my name on it. You have no idea how good it was to see him. On the drive from the airport I got to chat with him a bit and he's great. Of course, with Rotary I would expect no less, but I feel lucky to have been assigned such a great host counselor:) After driving me around and showing me a fair bit of the city, he dropped me off at my flat and I got to my meet my new flatmate Sunil.

Sunil, is a friend of a friend that was looking for a flatmate and it worked out very well for me. He works for one of the phone companies has been very helpful in getting things sorted and in helping me buy essential items. Because you see, since I still don't have my luggage, I don't have any essential items like clothes or toiletries. Luckily, my insurance is covering it, so I went out buying all those essential items I had packed so carefully in my luggage. And I'll tell you a secret about NZ...it is expensive!!!

Afterward, I took a bus to Newmarket to meet up with Casey, a lovely American lass also doing a PhD at the University of Auckland. She  had organized a meetup at one of the local bars that plays live music on Sunday evenings and invited me to attend. I was quite keen to go and meet her because she has already gone through all the things I'm encountering now. It was heaps of fun and very informative, but I pooped out after only a couple of hours and caught the bus home. And all of that was only Sunday!!


The next day, the 27th, I went to the University and met with my main supervisor Darl Kolb to go over a few things and to have lunch. In truth, he's a very busy guy, but he took time out to introduce me to people in the department and then showed me around the campus. He also shared some exciting news with me, which is that he's been awarded a fellowship at Clare Hall, one of the Colleges at the University of Cambridge. So in a few months, he'll be off to those hallowed halls in England and I'll be left to fend for myself for a few months. Luckily, I'm quite good at fending for myself and my other supervisor, Carla, should still be around;)

Today, I've been getting my fees sorted and starting on a bit of research. I also managed to get my courses sorted and will be taking classes in the Development and Business Schools this semester. And tonight, I'll be heading off to my host club, the Rotary Club of Newmarket, for a changeover party for the new president. It sounds like a lot of fun and I'll keep updated you as things progress, so check back often!