Kristen's Breaks '09

TERMS

One: Monday 2 February - Thursday 9 April (BREAK: April 10-26)

Two: Monday 27 April - Friday 3 July (BREAK: July 4-19)

Three: Monday 20 July - Friday 25 September(BREAK: September 26 - October 11)

Four: Monday 12 October - Wednesday 16 December(BREAK: December 17- ~February 2)

ADDITIONAL HOLIDAYS

Auckland Anniversary - Monday 26 January (In the holidays)

Waitangi Day - Friday 6 February

Easter - Friday 10 - Monday 13 April (In the holidays)

ANZAC - Saturday 25 April (In the holidays)

Queens Birthday - Monday 1 June

Labour Day - Monday 26 October

We've Re-Booked

So, we weren't expecting to get our Visas until Monday, at the earliest. To our surprise, we found out this morning that they were being delivered today. We made a mad dash back to Edmonton, as the pack was being delivered to the home of our friends, Dale and Kathleen, who weren't home. We were eager to receive the package instead of wait until Monday. Well, we learned from the friendly people at FedEx that the driver had left our package behind the screen door at Dale and Kathleen's, which concerned us as they don't live in the greatest of neighborhoods, and if the wrong person got their hands on it, well, they'd have everything they need to steal our identities. Needless to say, I was freaking out and Brandon kept telling me to relax, to no avail. Thankfully, Mom and Dad Goodkey picked up the package and it was placed safely into our hands this afternoon. Since then, we've re-booked our flights (hence the new countdown), we've reserved a rental car as well as a hotel for our first week. We're really on our way now.
Tonight we said a tearful goodbye to Tiffany, Brandon's sister. It was the first of family goodbyes, and we're in for a tough time, I think.
So, stay tuned... we're off.

We're Booked!!

After a few restless hours of sleep, Brandon and I woke at 4 o'clock this morning to email our Immigration Officer during her work hours in London. We were curious about a comment she'd made in a previous email which suggested that if we had booked flights, we might get our Visas sooner than the two-week maximum.
Until now, we've been wary of making any concrete travel plans, as so far, anything and everything has gone wrong. After all, what if the plane carrying our Visas crashes into the Atlantic on its short voyage from London? What if the FedEx delivery man is hijacked and is forced to hand over all his cargo to some deranged criminal? Stranger things have happened.
But we did it, we visited numerous travel websites before settling on an Air New Zealand flight. The flight we booked doesn't leave until 10 January at 8:00am, but we wanted to give our friends in London ample time to paste our passport photos into our Visas, and type our addresses correctly.
After emailing our itinerary to our I.O., she informed us that the Visas should leave London on Friday, then arrive in Edmonton on Monday, as we paid the premium for next-business-day service. So, what I'm getting at is, there is a possibility for leaving on the 7th after paying a small re-scheduling fee with the airline.
Anyway, after all this early-morning planning, we stumbled back to bed exhausted. And I couldn't sleep. Instead, my mind ran in all sorts of directions despite my attempts at slow breathing, counting backwards, and a little warm milk. Where will be put all my bookshelves if we only rent a one-bedroom? Where will I take my first shower after our long flight? Should we buy an Auckland map at the airport or try to find a cheap one somewhere else? I'll definitely need some large pieces of paper and felt pens for the first day of school. Will the landlord let me plant some herbs in the yard? What should I wear on the first day of school? What will we sleep on until our shipment arrives? Are the sheep really as hostile as Aunt Carolyn says?
The last time I checked the time it was 6:40am, and then I woke up at 10. What a night/morning!

So there we have it!

Dare We Say "Finally" - II

We received an email today from our Immigration Officer stating that our Application for Residency has been approved.
Good news.
She also informed us that our application is in the Visa issuing queue which may take up to two weeks to process.
Bad news.

Consider this a prayer request because...
If the processing takes two weeks, that will bring us to the 13th of January, a mere 16 days away from my job start date. In that time, we will need to: activate a bank account, buy a car, get health coverage, find somewhere to live, process our shipment, live without our shipment, learn to drive on the wrong side of the road, figure out where to buy groceries, not to mention prepare to teach a brad-new curriculum to brand-new students in a country 13,048km from home.
Needless to say, we are stressed out already.

Please pray that the processing time is speedy. Pray also that we can feel peace. Pray for our emotions and the emotions of our family members, as this has been a rollercoaster like none other.

Thanks.