Graduate Research Highland Fling Gala Ball

The University of Otago dedicated August to postgraduate students.  One event, the Gala Ball, was a great night out: we ate, drank, and danced the night away at Larnach Castle.

The night would not have been complete without a pre-dinner haggis ceremony!

Prior to the Ball, a handful of us took Ceroc dance lessons.  On the night of the Ball we put our new skills to the test.  So many people ended up on the dance floor that those tables in the front of the picture had to get moved to make room!

A good time was had by all!

Beached Whale

It's always fun to meet new people and try to guess where they are from based on their accent.  It's even more fun to mimic accents.  Talk like a Brit? Sure, no problem.  Talk with a Spanish accent? Got it covered.  But, for some reason, I cannot replicate a kiwi accent!  So, I thought I'd give my readers an opportunity to listen to a kiwi accent (through a beached whale in New Zealand) and see if you can give it a shot yourself.

U.S.Heeey! Top 10 Most Wanted Foods

Happy birthday, America!  Yesterday at Abbey College we celebrated by adorning our faces with stars and stripes and watched Team America.  Heck yeah!

For me, it was a day of reflection on that whole life, liberty and pursuit of happiness thing.  What makes someone happy?  Choices!  By that, I mean food-related choices.

It's funny that when I think about my return to the U.S. I instantly conjure up a list of foods that I've been deprived of which I will instantly seek out when my feet hit American soil.  Living in a catered residence hall means that I'm at the mercy of whatever the cook has on the menu.  Don't get me wrong, Nigel (our cook) does serve some deliciousness.  But, every now and then I get a strong hankering for particular things.  Some are available in New Zealand, but most are not (at least not here in Dunedin...the word on the street is that Auckland has some of my favorite American delicacies). *sigh*

So, what are these cravings, you ask? Here they are, in no particular order:

• Heinz ketchup
• Life cereal
• Reese's peanut butter cups
• Jif peanut butter (really, just about any peanut butter brand)
• Morningstar and Boca burgers
• Whole in the Wall pesto
• Ben & Jerry's chubby hubby
• Funfetti cake
• Harpoon beer (raspberry hefeweizen in particular)

You can't really tell that I have a background in nutrition based on my list, can you?!  Nevertheless, Mom, if you're reading, feel free to drop a package of Reese's cups in the next care package.

☺

Chocolate Fish

There's a tradition at the University of Otago: hand in your thesis and you get a chocolate fish.  Today, I went to a workshop on writing my thesis and we all got a fish as a teaser. M'mmmm.  Guess I better get working on that thesis!

Easier said than done.

There's a little quote in The Seven Secrets of Highly Successful Research Students about a thesis being "10% intelligence and 90% persistence."  Unfortunately, lately I've been stuck.  I keep waiting for the magic moment when I feel like I can sit down and write something that will be groundbreaking.  Alas, I think I'm finally coming around.  I'm not trying to cure cancer here (thank you Hugh Kearns & Maria Gardiner, authors of "The Seven Secrets," for helping me see the light).  Therefore, I shouldn't feel bad that I'm actually more effective at writing when I'm plopped down in front of the TV with the Real Housewives of New York City on and Facebook open.  I just don't work well under "ideal" conditions: either in the office in front of a shiny new Mac with zero sound except the humming of the lights (actually, the other day I plugged in my headphones and listened to Guns N' Roses while I edited my manuscript - it was heavenly) or in a coffee shop tapping away on my laptop.

So, that's that.  I should have known that my vision of sitting in a coffee shop as a half-fashionista/half-postgrad student was dashed the day I was still at home packing and couldn't fit nothing but sensible shoes in my suitcase.  From now on, I'll be spending most days sitting in front of trashy TV for hours writing about the importance of researching weight gain prevention interventions.  I can't wait!

Tea Time

Upon waking from a wine-induced slumber I thought to myself... I need a cup of tea.

On the surface, this ain't no big thing.  But, when I thought about it, I came to the realization that I have officially begun assimilating myself into the norm of my surroundings (there is a lot of tea drinking that goes on in New Zealand). That's pretty cool.

This also got me thinking about the differences between studying abroad here and the first time I studied abroad in England nearly 10 years ago.  It seemed like a semester in Oxford was a long time to spend away from home and now, after three months, I couldn't imagine packing up and leaving for New York (yet).  Despite what I now realize was a blip in time, I'm still amazed (and thankful) that I was able to make such great friends back then.  The Oxford Girls, as I affectionately call them, were my posse of party/travel buddies.  To some degree they still are - we've managed to meet up in Vegas, Phoenix, New Orleans, Chicago, and even my little hometown to reminisce about the good old days and celebrate (we've traded in dancing on table tops at bars and clubs for busting a move on the dance floor at weddings).

Last night, some girls from Abbey College and I had a night out on the town.  The five of us got gussied up and headed down George Street to the Octagon for a glass of vino and some dancing.  It was a blast!  Yes, there are stories that we'll be talking about for ages to come, but nothing that was bad enough to land someone in jail.  I think it's the beginning of friendships that will endure time and distance, just like the ones I formed in Oxford.

I'm looking forward to more times out with them, even if the morning after starts off a little rough.

Autumn in Aotearoa

The Mãori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, "the land of the long white cloud.” 

Fiordland trip March 2012

Lately, it seems as though that long cloud has been bringing cold, wind, and rain with it!  But, on a nice day like today, there is plenty of sun and just enough of a breeze to watch leaves softly floating to the ground.

Yesterday, I volunteered at the Lovelock Relay races, an annual event held to honor Jack Lovelock.  Lovelock was from New Zealand and a gold medal winner in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  

My job was helping Helen keep track of teams as they came across the finish line.  Hands down, the under 12 relay was the cutest event.  This little girl was on a team of other kids no older than 4 or 5.  

Last night, I attended a birthday party where everyone had to dress up as a famous person.  I tried dressing up as Lady Gaga, but only managed to pull off the hair. Sort of.

Still, it made for a fun evening!  There was a Katy Perry, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson and even a Paper Bag Princess.  

It hasn't been all play, though.  I'm still working on a manuscript on the response rates to a mailed survey based on the type of incentive the women received.  I turned in a rough copy to my advisor, but I have some major work to do. Here's hoping I turn out something brilliant, or at least publishable, when it's done!

Cooking for Kiwis

No posts until today because I have been licking my wounds.  I tried to impress the Department of Preventive & Social Medicine faculty, staff, and students by making breakfast pizza for morning tea on Monday.  In my previous experience in the workplace, coworkers absolutely adored the person who brought in breakfast pizza to share; I think I've even heard of a few people getting promoted simply because they brought in such a treat.  Yet, instead of accolades, requests for the recipe, and guarantees that the rest of my three years in the Department will be smooth sailing, a few people said it was a "nice" idea.

I actually called out my co-advisor when I noticed he hadn't tried some, but then I had to confess that my flatmate didn't say it was very good either.

I grabbed the overnight pizza dough recipe from Epicurious.com.  Surely, with a 3.9/4 rating, it would be the best pizza crust they have ever tasted.  Topping it with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and diced tomatoes, green peppers and onions could only tantalize their taste buds even more.  To be honest, I was expecting to create something so delicious that it'd overwhelm people to the point of recreating that unforgettable scene Meg Ryan had in "When Harry Met Sally."

I'm pretty sure I wasn't the problem here.  I tested out a very basic peanut butter blossom cookie recipe a few weeks ago and thought it tasted like crap.  Seriously, how does one screw up a recipe with the most delicious ingredients known to man: peanut butter and chocolate?

I blame the ingredients.  The peanut butter isn't the same as it is in the U.S. - there's not enough sugar.  The flour I used was actually wholemeal flour and had a flaky consistency instead of a powdery consistency.  Not good when the texture of your cookies or pizza dough is at stake.

In any event, I'd like to give myself an "A" for effort here based on the before picture:

And the after picture:

I am determined to redeem myself.  How can the girl who once hosted Muffin Mondays at the Office for Aging be known in New Zealand as the one who bombs breakfast pizza?

Please, dear readers, take pity on me and send me your fool proof recipes.  Preferably recipes that don't get warped into something-that-could-have-tasted-good-if-it-weren't-for-the-fact-that-I-have-to-covert-cooking- temperatures-and-measuring units-and-use-non-American-made-food-products.

Cheers!

This is Ladies' Night! Alright! Alright!

It turns out that anyone who becomes a social outcast while working on a PhD has no one to blame but themselves.  I've had so many opportunities to meet new people and this weekend was no exception.

Friday evening, I joined some folks from the Department of Preventive and Social medicine for a drink at Ombrellos.  The topic du jour was conferences - how to choose them and how to get funding to cover expenses.  Definitely valuable information.  I enjoyed presenting posters at conferences as an undergrad and now I'm looking forward to putting a year's worth of Toastmasters skills to the test for an oral presentation at a conference in an exotic location.

Next up for the evening was the "Anything But Clothes" party.  At first, I was mortified, but then I realized it was meant to be an opportunity for people to show off their creativity (or, wear a garbage bag).  Kate and I showed up with sleeping bags in hand and shimmied into them before cracking open our beer.

Last night, a fellow grad student with a little help from Facebook's "events" feature, organized a ladies' night out.  There was talk about pink drinks, dancing, and red high heels on the event wall.  It was sounding pretty much like a bachelorette party without the embarrassing rituals.  I was psyched for it!

We met up at Pequeno, located down a dark alley, at 10pm.  I was one of about 16 gussied up gals who showed up for a good time.  The pink drinks that we were looking forward to cost $16-22 a pop, so I settled down with a nice $8.50 glass of Mud House Merlot and took very sporadic dainty sips.

One by one, I met new people.  One person was studying parasites and another was studying possums (research has yet to uncover why they eat what they eat and she was going to be the one to do that).  You can't make this stuff up!

When the dancing mood struck, we moved on to Pop Bar in the Octagon.  It was a small space with a lot of people.  Shoulders and hips were moving from all directions directly at me; I felt like a pinball!  We stayed for a while, enjoying time away from checking email,  Facebook, and tmz.com (I'm still waiting to find out if Jessica Simpson had her baby!).

Today is all work, no play.

(Thanks, Mom, for the Post-it notes!)

Initially, I welcomed the challenge to teach myself how to use Stata with open arms.  I was bound and determined to become a lean mean analyzing machine.  Then I started reading the 300 page "Stata for Dummies" book.  At some point, I read a sentence about Stata's default date being January 1, 1960.  Every date and time (to the millisecond) is calculated from that point. I think.  The very thought that this program may very well be analyzing data for my journal submissions and my dissertation with a random default date is almost too much to bare.

To put it bluntly: how am I supposed to take this program seriously when it has a random date floating around behind the scenes?

It's like trying to take a powerful person seriously when they have the bottom of their pant leg tucked accidentally into their sock - it doesn't effect the powerful person's decision making, but the silliness of the situation makes you somewhat doubtful about their abilities.

There's nothing wrong with the date per se.  It's just so... weird... to have it in the back of my mind when I'm trying to do something simple, such as calculating women's ages even when January 1, 1960 has nothing to do with their birthdate.

On top of that, this is a program that relies on the user typing in a lot of code.  Remember the days of DOS command line interface?  Yeah, that's a little taste of what I'll be dealing with.

Then again, what's more plausible is that I have blown this Stata thing way out of proportion because I misread something.  Ultimately, I need to embrace it or at the very least allow Stata to be my frenemy.

Whining and Dining and Other Adventures in Postgrad Land

Ahhh, postgrad life.  I'm lovin' it.

On Tuesday, the Otago University Postgraduate Society organized a Quiz Night.  For $3 per person, we got a basket of potato wedges, a basket of French fries, and an assortment of other crunchy, fried yumminess, plus a chance to win some prizes.  Our team name was "No worries. It's Curable!"

By the end of the evening, we came to the conclusion that writing a thesis is far easier than remembering what ship Darwin sailed the high seas on, which elements make up the most mass in the Milky Way, how many keys are on a piano and other random trivia.

On top of answering questions as they were asked, we were given a few sheets of paper with additional puzzles to solve throughout the event.  One in particular really stumped us: "5 letter word from hijklmno."

Give up?

Water.  ("h" 2 "o")

What. The. Truck.(?!)

On Wednesday, the Vice Chancellor held a garden party for new postgrads here at Abbey Common.  Free drinks? I'm there!   The weather cooperated and it was fun to dress up nice and mingle here and there.

On the academic side of things, I went to a seminar and a workshop this week.  I must say, I really do enjoy the freedom to attend things that sound interesting to me.

Yesterday, I heard Dr. Chad Boult, from the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, speak about managing care for older patients with multiple chronic diseases.  Pretty astounding to think about the struggles of the individuals themselves and the strain that people with 4+ chronic diseases put on Medicare and caregivers, eh?  He spoke about randomized controlled trials used in the development of a program called Guided Care.

I was interested in hearing a medical professional speak about how we're all supposed to work together to provide better care.  When I worked at the Office for Aging, it seemed like we informed practitioners about our programs, but they weren't always keen about referring patients to the programs.  The programs were evidence-based and often FREE to the patients!  What's a local organization to do?  It sounded like the answer from our discussion is to get insurance companies to reward doctors for referring patients to such programs.  So, if CDPHP is providing $ for a local organization to carry out a diabetes self-management program, CDPHP should also give doctors $50 for each of their patients that enroll in the program.

It seems odd to have to pay a doctor to spend a few minutes telling Mrs. Jones about a great, free, local program when that $50 could go towards offsetting the program costs for more participants.  No?

Matthew Parsons from the University of Auckland also came to speak.  He had some very interesting things to say about healthcare in New Zealand and the exciting things that are ahead.  Briefly, he spoke about patients using tools at home (to check blood pressure or blood sugar) and having the results delivered electronically to their primary care doctor's office where someone screens the information for alerts when patients report results that are out of the norm (elevated blood pressure, for example).  This could trigger someone at the office to call the patient.  This proactive approach would partially replace the reactive approach many of us are used to.  Cool, huh?

Today, I went to a workshop on using pedometers in interventions.  I wanted to compare their recommendations to what we did for Mission Meltaway.  Guess what folks? We were right on the ball.  Yes, meeting people where they are now and helping them decide their own goals does work!

Sweeeeeet! 

That sums up this week.  This weekend I have a date with some databases and I'm running in the Stadium to Surf 10k - my first New Zealand race.  The weather is looking decent, so we'll see how I do!

Pictionary vs. International Students

Last night, some of us at Abbey College wanted to reward ourselves for enduring a day of non-stop rain.  So, a game of Pictionary was organized.  Drawing is simple enough, right?

We were actually playing a New Zealand version of Pictionary.  This becomes a problem when you have three Americans, one Japanese, and one Scot.  Since some UK words are similar to common NZ words, Kate, from the United Kingdom, became our interpreter for words/phrases we were supposed to draw that the rest of us didn't know.  (Interestingly, our Japanese friend knew that a bonnet was a part of a car, just like Kate knew, but the rest of us were trying to draw something that would sit on top of our head.)

One card in particular had us all stumped...

What does "Dog Sat on the Tucker Box" mean?! And, how do you draw "tucker" so that any person from any nationality would be able to guess it?

Come to find out, it is a "well known" Aussie song.  OooooOOOooh!  That makes perfect sense; of course it is a well known Aussie song!

Needless to say, we got a few good laughs out of this game.  Some of our art skills peaked in 5th grade (but, really, could YOU draw Venus de Milo without it looking pretty darn funny?) and some of our guesses were just so off track because of the language barrier. 

Good times.

Who is SIM and Why Should I Care?

Day two in Dunedin included meeting my co-advisors, Caroline and Andrew, and the rest of our research team (they will be FANTASTIC to work with!; Caroline brought the most delicious chocolate glazed almond tart to share, too), window shopping for a bike ($1200 for a reasonable bike? Eh, I think I'd rather have Jon ship mine to me, thankyouverymuch), and shopping for a new phone (Sprint wants to charge me $2.30 per minute for a phone call and $0.50 per text sent on top of monthly charges).

For me (and other technologically challenged Americans), shopping for electronic devices is about as fun as going on a five hour car ride, hungover, with kids in the back seat saying, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"  I just want to point to something that I want, purchase it, and have it work; no questions asked.  I'm finding it's just not that easy.

In my Welcome Packet from the International Student Office, I received a credit card-sized piece of plastic with two funky rectangle-ish shapes punched into it.  Apparently, I was supposed to act excited and appreciative when I received it, not dumbfounded.

Turns out, each funky rectangle-ish thing is a SIM card.  According to www.wisegeek.com it is a Subscriber Identity Module that functions as a memory chip for cell phones.  You know how you can take your favorite CD of, say, Kenny G's greatest hits (if you're into him, I'm not) and it will play the same songs in any CD player?  Well, take your SIM card and pop it into different cell phones and it works with your saved phone number, saved contact list, etc.  Cool, huh?

So, tonight I'm going to see if the SIM card works in my cell phone that I brought from Sprint in the States to see if it will work (more than likely not - US cell phone companies are mean like that and sell phones that are "locked") then tomorrow I'm going to go back to Vodafone to purchase a phone (they range from $60-600) and pop the SIM card in it.

My roommate says SIM cards at the store cost about an additional $30 and now that I'm starting to understand the whole acquiring-a-cell-phone-and-getting-it-to-work-process, I'm starting to feel like the excited, appreciative person that I should have been when they gave the SIM card to me.

I feel like this is probably a rather boring post to most people.  For those who plan to travel internationally for some time, this will have been helpful information.  For everyone else, I better leave you with something more...interesting.

Here it goes...

Last night, my wonderful (read: doesn't weird me out like some other people I've bumped into around here) roommate, Kate, and I went to check out a nearby grocery store.  This was no ordinary trip.  No, sir.  To get there, we had to walk through a botanic garden with a huge rose garden in bloom - oodles and oodles of yellow, pink, red roses eeeeverywhere.  How. Cool. Is that?!

A-mazing!!!!!

I am officially in Dunedin! (And, still trying to figure out if the proper pronunciation is Dun-EE-din... I referred to it as DUNE-i-din before I left, but that was just plain ol' wrong.)

I was pretty sure I wasn't even going to bother unpacking my bags after I arrived; turning right around to go back to New York seemed perfectly reasonable. That is, until we started to land and I finally caught a glimpse of Dunedin for the first time.

This place is a masterpiece.  I really can't put into words how beautiful the mountains are - tall and soft looking, yet covered with scratchy patches of evergreens, hugged by the ocean on one side.  I've been trying to figure out what this place smells like, too.  The humidity is crazy.  I think I'm just adjusting to so much moisture in the air, but I can't help but wonder... is this what the air smells like when it's... clean?  Is there that much of a lack of smog and other pollutants that is smells differently?

And guess what else?  The people here are as kind and generous as I've heard.  The tales of random acts of kindness committed by kiwis are not just a legend after all. 

You see, I passed by dozens of opportunities to exchange my U.S. Benjamins for some cold hard kiwi cash.  But, each time I passed the foreign currency exchange kiosks I reasoned that I would stop at one later.  In Auckland, I found my departing gate to Dunedin and figured there was enough time to go back to the exchange that I passed before we started boarding.  A 'no re-entry' sign to that part of the airport put the kibosh on my plan, however.  So, when I arrived in Dunedin I asked the older gentleman at the information desk where to change over my money because I needed to pay for the taxi to take me to campus.  He explained that they didn't have any currency exchange kiosks, BUT he was planning on going on "holiday" to the U.S. and would be happy to go to an ATM to take out enough New Zealand dollars to match the exchange rate for the American dollars I would give him. Sweeeeeeeeeet!

Now, I'm settled into my room, I set up a bank account and I started getting the ball rolling on some paperwork I need to get a student ID (read: a means of getting a user name and password so that I can have internet in my room).  After dinner I will be off to La La Land to make up for the serious lack of sleep I've experienced lately.  More to come!

Here are some pictures... don't know what they are, but I'll hope you admire them nonetheless...

Money Can't Buy You Love, Happiness, or Extra Luggage Privileges on a "Weight Critical" Flight

Slept. Like. Crap.  Last night.

After packing and unpacking and repacking half a dozen times, I finally said, "That's it! No more shenanigans, it's time for bed."

Unfortunately, I was so concerned about what I was putting in suitcases I forgot about important stuff.  Like a clean pair of underoos to wear on my trip to get to New Zealand.  So, at 7:54am this morning (note, I had planned on leaving the house at 8am), Jon and I waited for a hand-washed pair to finish drying in the dryer.

Betcha didn't expect to read about underoos today, did you?

After we got to the airport in Binghamton, it was time for the moment of truth.  How much was I going to pay to get all of my luggage to New Zealand?  I had heard that it'd cost about $250 to get my bike over, so I was prepared for the worst since I also had a hunch that both suitcases were over the 50 pound limit.

Jon noticed the "Weight Critical Flight" alert first.  I ignored it, thinking surely I could pay enough money to get all my belongings on the flight.

I was wrong.

The woman at the check out said that no way was I going to be able to bring that bike.  And the suitcases that were each 3-5 pounds overweight?  I'd have to figure out a way to get them under 50 pounds.

So, that's how my trip started out.  There also was a healthy dose of tears (which my mom refers to as "blubbering") and a lot of good, strong hugs.

Now, I'm in San Francisco waiting for my flight to the other hemisphere.  Wow.  There was a time or two when I was flying from Binghamton to Washington D.C. today that I seriously considered taking the next flight home.  This is absurd.  What am I doing?!  It's an awful long time until I see my family again...

I chalked it up to nerves and refocused myself on my stupid new travel pillow.  My friend Beth has flown to Brazil a lot and swears by hers.  Supposedly, wrapping an overstuffed foam horseshoe around my neck is supposed to help me sleep like a baby.  Well, I was sleeping like a baby - just like the wailing, crying, screeching thing that was about five rows behind me.

So, I decided to forget about sleep.  Who needs it anyway?  For your viewing pleasure, I present... a few photos I took just before landing in San Fran.

Last time I'll see snow for a while.

From snowy mountains to flat green land in 5 minutes flat.

Why on earth were there huuuuuge puddles of funny colored water??

That's it for my update!  The next time you hear from me I'll be in New Zealand.

I'd like to give a special shout out to my coworkers at Broome County Office for Aging... you made Friday a wicked awesome day.  I'll miss you sooo much.  To the pharmacy friends, triathlon friends, and high school friends who came to see me on Friday-thank you!  It was great to see so many friends before I left.  I wish I had more one-on-one time to spend with you all that night.  To my family... I know this time will be a rough and tough transition, but I will work my tail off to make you all proud and make this decision sooo worth it.  Last, but not least, Jon... thank you for your support.  Before you know it, I will find you a job in New Zealand and we can be together! Since we'd probably have to leave Halligan at home, I was thinking we could adopt a pink sheep?? =) xoxo

Got baggage?

I'm packed!  Well, about 90% of my packing is done.  What a daunting task!

I started with my shoes... I lined up 15 pairs of shoes and selected eight to begin with.  Crud, they took up 3/4 of my suitcase!  I knew at that moment that I was not going to be that "half fashionista half graduate student sitting in a coffee shop typing out her dissertation" that I thought I was going to be.

Some interesting items to note... I took the black suitcase on the left side on my first trip to Australia and New Zealand over 12 years ago.  The purple backpack is my dad's.  He passed away in 2007 and so it's a nice memento.  I actually brought it with me when I studied abroad in England in 2002 and lived out of it for two weeks on a trip all over Europe.  The bike is my gift from Jon when he finished PA school as a "thank you" for supporting him through the program.  I also rode 112 miles on it during Ironman Lake Placid 2010.

I have some room to spare in the purple backpack (my carry on), so over the next week I'll add things as space allows.  Unfortunately, I thought United allowed passengers to check three pieces of luggage and it turns out they only allow two pieces of checked luggage.  Looks like I'm going to have to ship my bike instead of bring it with me. *dislike!*

Comments... confidence boosting or busting?

Ever since I began spreading the word that I am moving to New Zealand, I noticed there are two kinds of responses.  Both reactions involve the other person clutching their chest, eyes wide open, and mouth agape.  Once the person recovers from shock, they will either say, "But, what is your husband going to do?!" or "Ohmygod, that's awwwwwesome!!"

In my opinion, I would rather hear the positive response.  I know it's unusual for a married woman to pack her bags, quit her job, and tell her husband and furbaby that she'll be back in three years.  But, I've done this before...

After high school, I moved to Salem, Massachusetts for my undergraduate degree.  Salem State College is 5 1/2 hours from my hometown and was about that far away from Jon (who was going to college in New York).  I arrived on campus and I didn't know a soul.  In my sophomore year, I studied abroad at Oxford Brookes University for three months.  Again, I didn't know a soul.  But, everything worked out fine.  And guess what?  I didn't have Facebook or a blog or Skype.  I communicated with my family and friends through weekly emails and a weekly phone call to Mom.  Sounds a little archaic, huh?

Yes, it's a 30-hour commitment to get from point A to point B, but between Facebook, my blog, and Skype, I can reach out and get in touch with anyone I want at a moments notice to share the good, the bad, and the ugly of this adventure! How cool is that?!  

Honestly, I don't disappear once I board my flight and I'm not "stuck" in New Zealand. What's missing is the physical presence of others.  I imagine that, once again, that will be the hardest part about being being so far away from family and friends.  How do I avoid getting consumed by feelings of doom and gloom?  I plan for the BIG things I have in store for anyone who comes and visits me, of course.  

So, I encourage readers to consider a visit!  I booked my flight through www.hotwire.com and it was much less expensive to fly to New Zealand in February-April than it was in November-January.  There is plenty to do on the south island and I'll start posting links to whet your appetite after I arrive.

On the surface, I may appear calm, cool, and collected when I talk about my plans, but I am a worry wart in disguise.  I do worry about how to hold a marriage together, how to pay bills, and how to be a student again.  What keeps me from a full on freak out is the fact that three years is nothing in comparison to the 40+ years I'll have left to work until I retire.  That PhD will open so many doors for me and make those 40+ years better.

How to move around the world...

Some people have asked me if I'm ready to go.  Well, that's a loaded question...

To get to this point, I needed a "team" of professors at the University of Otago who agreed to see me through my dissertation.  We worked together to develop my research proposal.  After the proposal was approved by a committee, I then had to be accepted by the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine and accepted by the University of Otago.

It's all fine and dandy to get accepted into school (this was my first acceptance after 20-something applications, so you'd think I'd be psyched), but I needed $$.  I turned to the U.S. Department of Education, batted my eyelashes, signed on a couple  electronic dotted lines and voila! I had access to student loans.

That's not all that's involved in moving to New Zealand to pursue a PhD. No way, Jose.  Before I could submit my application for a student visa, I had to have a medical exam.  Apparently, they don't care much for folks who bring TB and syphilis into the country.  After having a little bit of blood drawn, nearly fainting twice in the lab hallway, and sipping down two juice boxes, I proved that I am squeaky clean.

It didn't take long for my visa to arrive (maybe 2-3 weeks?) after I "lodged" it and then I found accommodations on campus.  I'll live in the postgraduate dorms for a year and then move off campus  after that.

That's the big stuff.

I'm currently in the process of figuring out what the heck to pack.  My road bike is a must.  I can use it to explore New Zealand on rides and I can race (Hellloooo Ironman New Zealand 2014!).  Besides that, I need to start figuring out what clothes to bring.  It worries me just a smidge that everyone suggests (okay, they strongly suggest) that I bring warm clothes.  Other musts will be the laptop and camera.  Everything else is just nice to have.  I think.  A lot of websites offer advice to study abroad students who will be back home in three months, not three years.

I'm also starting to say my goodbyes.  A few weeks ago, I wrapped up my last shift as a pharmacy technician at Binghamton General Hospital.  This past weekend, I trekked six hours to visit college friends in Massachusetts.  Tonight, I enjoyed a heated game of trivia as my farewell party with my awesome coworkers from the Broome County Office for Aging.  Tomorrow, I will teach my last private swim lesson.  I'm working at my full-time job until the 17th, so my evenings will be busy visiting local family and friends.

I'll continue looking for loose ends that I should tie up, like my cell phone plan, alerting my credit card company that I'm going overseas and anything else that I notice.  In reality, I only need to worry about things that I absolutely cannot get over there before my next trip home.  There are very few things that I can't live without in New Zealand (road bike) which makes packing way easier.

How did this happen?!

I am moving to Dunedin, New Zealand in less than three weeks.  It wasn't on my bucket list.  I didn't have a crazy dream telling me to go to New Zealand. Nothing like that...

In fall 2004, I started applying to PhD programs.  I was a psychology student and saw myself working with people who needed help getting healthier.  My vision of the ideal career was fuzzy, but I thought by becoming a psychologist I could gain useful skills for counseling people to better physical health and well-being.

By early 2010, I had completed a masters degree in nutrition, submitted well over 20 applications to doctoral programs, interviewed at one school, and found myself on the wait list at two schools.  Each year between 2004 and 2010 lead to multiple letters of rejection, but also pushed me to explore new options for next year. 

That summer, I decided to contact a researcher to inquire if she would be accepting a student for the next fall; she developed the intuitive eating questionnaire I used for my master's thesis research and I thought she'd still be researching the topic.  "No," was the response, "but I know someone in New Zealand who is conducting similar research."  Not being a shy gal, I emailed the professor in New Zealand.  My background in psychology and nutrition complemented the work they had begun on middle-aged women's eating behavior and she was willing to discuss the possibility of me coming to New Zealand to study nutrition at the University of Otago.

In 2011, I interviewed at a program in North Carolina for the second time, found myself on the wait list there and at another school and finally received what I came to refer to as the "Thanks, But No Thanks" letters.  Game on.  The next several months were spent putting together a research proposal, applying to the University, securing funding and obtaining a visa.  Once the visa arrived, I booked a flight that afternoon.

And now you have the short version of how this adventure began.