Setting Out

Welcome to the blog for my adventures in New Zealand. Why Kia Ora From Tomorrow do you ask? Well, kia ora is the Maori language greeting, and from what I have been told, commonly used by New Zealand English speakers. "From tomorrow" is because New Zealand is one day ahead of the United States, where most of my friends and family are, and it is actually one of the first places in the world to greet the new day. (The idea came from two friends who do not know each other, so thank you, ladies, I appreciate the help, from opposite sides of the country!)

I leave today at 7:45pm California time. I cannot believe the day has finally arrived. At a conference in New Orleans in May 2009, I told the principal family law judge in New Zealand that one day I would study in his country, and one thing led to another, and by October of that year, I had applied for a Fulbright, and in May 2010, I was accepted, and today I leave. A long journey it has been, but I am excited to begin this path of my life.

What am I doing do you ask? Well, I explained it all here. But for a quick rundown, if you do not want to click through the link, I am studying the New Zealand system for children's representation in courts. I will be mostly based in Dunedin, which is a small town on the south island, but I will also be spending some time in Wellington - probably 2-3 months.

I do not know what my living situation will be, but hopefully I will soon. Almost immediately upon my arrival in Dunedin, I will be taking off to Wellington, then up to Auckland, meeting up with other Fulbright people, and we will be traveling. This blog will be full of photos, adventures, etc. This is a big step for me; I have lived alone for over 5 years, and the last time I traveled with people was in 2005, and I have a feeling I will be sharing a house and traveling with people I do not know a lot over the next year. It will be an adventure.

(Also, you may notice that the profile is still linked to my other blog, from Is Yoga Legal, but this blog is not going to be about the law and yoga and how they relate, unless there are times when I cross-post. This blog is purely for fun and going to be about the interesting things that happen in New Zealand.)

Thanks for reading, and see you from tomorrow!