Chocolate Fish

Me at Chocolate Fish, Wellington
Hello all! Happy post Thanksgiving to everyone!! Well, I made it back to the States in one piece...YAY! I had a chance to see my grandparents in LA and hang out with Ian (my good friend from NieuCommunities in Glasgow) and spend some time in Santa Monica. It was so warm in LA!!! At Santa Monica I walked around without a jumper till 9pm. It was so good to be back there. I ate, took a walk on the beach at sunset, and bought dinner for a homeless guy called Michael and hung out with him until I had to go catch my red-eye back to Chicago. Man, let me tell you how blessed I feel after seeing so many homeless people. That made me so much more thankful for everything I went home to...and for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. My family and I went to my good friend Ali's parent's house in Rockford for dinner. It was a wonderful time to catch up with everyone about my time in NZ. Speaking of which, the picture is me in front of a fab cafe called Chocolate Fish. It's where all the cool movie stars hung out while filming LOTR, as Peter Jackson's house and actor's guest house is just down the road. If you come visit me in Wellington, I will so take you there...great food, and chocolate fish! :) Well, it's back to the daily grind for me. I started work on Friday (the day after I got home and T-Day!) and have been working until today...my first official day off!! It's been going great at the Cheesecake Factory...I love to serve people and meet new people every day. Well, that's all for now from bitter cold Chicago!

The verdict is in!!

Wellington, NZ
So many of you may be wondering what has happened to Beth? Well...after my time with my grandparents, I have been inaccessible through the electronic system until just now! But hopefully what I have to say will make up for all those pining away, hoping to catch some glimpse of my life on this earth. As you may well know I have been on the other side of the world looking at working with university students with TSCF (go check out the website!!) I left Tauranga on Friday and trekked down to Palmerston North to catch a lift with a staff worker called Mark. We had dinner with his family then headed off the staff retreat at this cool place called Forest Lakes Camp. There I met all the current staff and new staff members that I would be sharing the next 12 days with. There were staff from all parts of the world...Malaysia, Singapore, Scotland, England, Germany, America (me), North Island and South Island...talk about a world wide team! I was in the midst of those people that I had been hearing bits and pieces about for the last couple of months! But don't be worried on my part...they are fabulous people and were so welcoming to me. Over the next few days of staff retreat, I got to know most staff quite well and share their vision for what they are doing. Luckily the staff shares my love for ice cream and we took a trip to Kapiti in Lindale where I must say has the best ice cream I've ever tasted outside of Italy! If you don't believe me, well, just come and visit and see for yourself. We all then headed to the Student Life Conference about a half hour away where I met amazing Kiwi and International students all apart of TSCF in some form or another. This time was vital for me as I had a chance to get down and dirty and see how this ministry works as well as for them to check me out. On Tuesday I had my interview, not really your conventional interview as it started around 10pm, but I must have made some sense because they offered me a job! So the news you have been waiting for....dun, dun, dun....I will be working as a staff worker in Wellington (on the North Island, it's the capital of NZ) with Victoria University. They want me to come out for the mid-year conference in July, so I will most likely be heading out sometime in late June to the land of the long white cloud. I am so excited for this amazing opportunity to live in this beautiful land and do what I love. Now, if any of you don't know, NZ just got the bid to host the 2011 World Cup (for rugby) and I'm pretty sure I'll have the sport figured out by then and be able to cheer the All Blacks (NZ's national rugby team) along to victory! I did however have a guy explain the positions and rules to me at the conference (Thanks Graham!) and it makes a wee bit more sense, but I find I get lost again after a couple of minutes. So, it will take a few matches to get used to my newly loved sport (as it has to be as rugby is a religion down here), but I won't give up my loyalty to the Cubs!! Much more to come about my trip and what life will look like. As for now, I'm off to bed and then heading back to the states, arriving the 22nd and getting to Chicago at the crack of dawn on the 24th, just in time for Thanksgiving!!! Take care, God bless.

I'm here!!

Yes, I made it to NZ...and it's beautiful here! Walking around without a jacket, sun beating down, man is it good to be back. I'm feeling a little cloudy right now with the time adjustment, even after having a 10 hour sleep, however a little latte and I'm all set! Just as an update, I am planning on going to Wellington the 11th for a staff retreat with TSCF, then attending the student conference from the 14th to the 20th at a place 5 km inland from Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast. Should be good fun and a new place to explore! Keep in touch as will I. Have a great week.