blue skies and rainbows!

Well, we’ve arrived safe and sound in New Zealand! Although when I first woke up on Thursday morning I wasn’t so positive that we would be making our plane. There was a category 3 storm, Typhoon Kompasu raging outside our window in the wee hours of the dawn. From our 12th story window we could hear no end to the howling. Once the storm calmed down a bit we went outside to seen trees snapped, their limbs strewn across the sidewalk and lots of neon signs were fallen from the buildings. I was afraid that the high winds might close down the Incheon Bridge, which we needed to make our way to the airport. Fortunately, the bus was still running and we went across the bridge to the airport with all of our luggage.

The super colorful seats of Malaysian Air!

David saw this Starcraft II plane and couldn't resist taking a picture.

When we reached the end of the bridge, the sky suddenly cleared and, lo and behold, we saw a rainbow!! David and I were agape, since it’s only the second rainbow we’d seen since being in Korea. We were tempted to put some symbology on the occurrence… but we didn’t. But then, when our plane was landing in Auckland, New Zealand we saw ANOTHER rainbow!! And when we were on our bus to our new farm we saw another one! The rainbows just kept coming. All in all, I probably saw 7 of them in the course of thirty or so hours. What a great symbol for new beginnings.


We flew into New Zealand around 11 in the morning and navigated our way to the town of Hamilton. Our gracious host, Damon, picked us up at the bus station and carted us off to his place. The farm we’re staying at is really cool. While it’s not the most glamorous of places, there a really cool community here. Right now there are about 10 workers staying here: 3 Germans, 2 Malaysians, 1 Chinese girl, 2 Kiwis and us. Everyone here seems super cool and laid back.
The farm itself isn’t much. There a cow that’s about to give birth as well as a 6 day old calf without a mom. It’s early spring right now, so they’re just started to prepare the land for planting seeds and such. There’s a lot of just really random work to be done, so it will be interesting to find our place in all of it over the next few days.




As for New Zealand itself: the country is BEAUTIFUL. After spending a year in smoggy, crowded Seoul, just breathing the air here brings me close to tears. The sky is clear and blue and the grass is phenomenally green. Being in a country of all English speakers is really a relief. I forgot how easy it is to travel when you can communicate effectively with the locals. There are loads of cows and sheep everywhere and rolling green hills. It reminds me a lot of Ireland and Scotland in many ways. I’m so excited to spend a month here!
I spent most of my first day cleaning. There were cobwebs everywhere in the house and a bajillion different things to sweep. After working for a few hours David and I decided to go into Hamilton with our friend Coco (one of the Malaysian girls). We went to these really nicely manicured gardens called "Hamilton gardens" and just enjoyed the lush greenness of the landscape. It's been so wonderful to feel so relaxed all day. We also went to the grocery store and just gaped at the dairy aisle and the selection of Cadbury chocolate that they have here. I've never seen so many Cadbury products in my life!

David and me at the Japanese garden.


Examples of the gardens.

A cool curly plant.

David drove here for the first time today, on the left side of the road. It was an adventure, even for me, sitting in the front seat!! We'll get used to it though. Good thing I learned how to drive a manual back in the states, because that's what we'll be driving here!
Love to all of you! We’ll be updating again soon.