Dear family and friends:

I received my visa in the mail last night. I have a visa for a year! I now have my passport returned to me and I feel much more at ease. It has been nearly a two-week process.

Thank you for listening and supporting me on this next adventure. i hope to give more honest and true depictions of what it is really like here: the times here have been both good and bad. Certainly can't expect everything will go smoothly. It is hard discerning the reasons behind the ups and downs. And I try not to analyze too much because it doesn't seem to get me anywhere. I have not been writing much because honestly I have not had much time to write (something I am trying to change because I feel less alone when I have my pen and paper) I am learning. I think this is is positive. I am learning to truly just go with the flow. However, it is good to have a friend or family member just to listen sometimes. I feel I spend so much time in my own head, listening to my own thoughts- some of which are helpful and some not so helpful. I am begining to think that many of our thoughts are not actually true- they are just the beginning of stories. We see the world as we are. Reality is what we experience. Telling these stories are important so I will try to do just that. I want to do each character justice, so getting to know the characters in my life in New Zealand is important first. This is totally new for me- living and trying to work in New Zealand. My mom's partner is my roommate- who would have thought that would've happened?!

i am again typing when it is the end of my day. so i will resign until tomorrow....

a few words before i go. peter has been so hospitable to me, but there is something that is awkward about the situation. i am sure the awkwardness will never completely disappear because he is after all "trying to date" my mom (that is peter's quote). it certainly has been interesting... i will share more after I understand him better. You certainly get to honestly know a person simply by the way they live, and do things around their home. Oh how I love to observe. this has been a great skill I've strengthened while on my travels.

And as for work i haven't talked much about the characters at work. or how it is to adjust to the work schedule: getting up in the morning and not knowing whether i have the day off or whether i will work again that day. yikes, a bit stressful. it is the end of the season and that's just the way it is. although, it has been an odd season because of the big hail storm *(i will go into detail later on this). for me, the work experience has been mainly good- because if i work i have something productive to do for 6-8 hrs and that means i have an income. if i don't work- that's also good but it has been hard to find the motivation to go with the flow (I just try to be grateful for the work and life). It's hard to prepare myself for the day when i don't know what to expect: if it's going to be a day off or not. i have relied on pete for these communications, but now i am able to communicate more with the contractor which is a positive change. i will have to say it is a good lesson of really practicing "living in the moment" and truly "going with the flow."

I am learning. I get to observe myself in difficult situations and see myself as I am. I watch my thoughts, I observe my physical body and where I tense up and when I feel tense . I can tell when the mood changes, and observe how if i am able to control or not control the emotions that rise with the occasion. I observe what i do with the emotions- do i store them in certain places of my body. Often this is the case. I would say 99.9% of my emotions are stored in my body unless I take time to meditate on my breathe or do some form of flow yoga or exercise.

Wow, once I start writing I realize how much I miss it.

I hope you all are still with me...and I haven't lost any of you. I am new to the blog world and I bit hesitant to write. My family tells me my writing style is similar to "stream of consciousness" which made James Joyce an infamous writer - I am not so sure it will do the same for me- but here it goes!

Thanks for reading.

Love & Peace,
Hannah