I'm going!!!!

Big news: I got my placement for my internship in New Zealand!! I will be interning at Hutt Valley High School in Lower Hutt (Wellington) from July 16th-November 2nd. I am excited beyond words!!! I checked out the school's website (www.hvhs.school.nz) and it looks fantastic.... courtyards, school musicals, huge grounds, special music area, everything!!!

Shelagh, a friend from here at U of S, got her placement already as well, but she'll be in the Bay of Plenty area (considerably north of Wellington, closer to Auckland). However, Grace is in Tawa by Wellington, so hopefully we'll be able to get together once I get over there. I Google Earthed Lower Hutt and Tawa, and they look like they're really close to each other.

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH this will be such an adventure!!!!!

- Lauren

PS - Just for the record, I'm searching flights right now, and it looks like I can expect to spend roughly $2,300 (plus tax) and 30-36 hours on the flight if I go directly from Saskatoon. If I fly from Saskatoon to LA on AirMiles, I can book a flight for roughly $1,725 from LA to Wellington (yes, I can fly right to Wellington!.. with a stop-over in Auckland), and it will take about 15 hours. From Saskatoon to LA is approximately 6-7 hours. So, a combined total of 22-ish hours from Saskatoon to LA to Wellington seems like a much better deal than the 36 hours it will apparently take to go from Saskatoon to Wellington on one booked flight.

New Zealand travel buddies

The Global Student Teaching website lists the people who I will be traveling with to New Zealand, and also provides their e-mail addresses and basic info (ie. their major, what university they study at, etc.). Because I was procrastinating yesterday, I decided to search these people on facebook. I found a few of them, and have been talking to two of them already. I'm getting really excited! The two girls that I've been talking to so far are Grace Conklin and Jenna Darval. I've messaged Jenna's friend James Carr, who is also traveling with us, but I haven't heard back from him yet. In any case, it's exciting to think that I may meet up with some of these people halfway around the world in just a few short months!

The adventures will be outrageous!

- Lauren :o)