My Precious

Ever since I decided not to go the standard study abroad route and go to Europe, people always ask me why I chose New Zealand.  I could lie and say I chose the country because of its plethora of opportunities to explore a diverse culture and to immerse myself in vast educational opportunities. Or that it's one of the few non-European countries where English is the primary language.  Or that I wanted to meet Lucy Lawless a.k.a. Xena the Warrior Princess/Lucretia from Spartacus.  All of these are completely legitimate reasons.  But alas, we have an honor code at Washington & Lee so I cannot tell a lie.  The truth is, and my freak flag is flying extremely high as I confide this, I am in love with The Lord of the Rings. There, I said it.  I am OBSESSED with the trilogy: I own the box set with hours upon hours of extra features, and yet I still watch them every single time they come on TV.  Ever since I first laid eyes on The Shire and Edoras, I was determined to get my happy tail to New Zealand.  I had an ambitious dream in the ninth grade along with my friends Anna, William, and Ethan that the four of us were going to travel to New Zealand for our senior trip and stay in the Hobbit Motel.

Sadly, we never made it to Hobbiton.  While my dream might have been thwarted in high school, New Zealand has always remained numero uno on my list of places to travel.  So when the time came to decide  if and where I wanted to study abroad, New Zealand was the only option I ever considered.

Oddly enough, even though New Zealand is half-way around the world (they are 18 hours ahead of the eastern time zone), I have multiple connections to the nation of Kiwis.  My mom's sister's husband (Uncle Joe) is a genius agronomist who has traveled to New Zealand more times than he can remember.  He has already set me up with a family in the city where I'm studying (Christchurch) to watch out for me, and he has also put me in touch with some business contacts so I can try to get an internship in New Zealand for the summer (which is actually their winter since NZ is in the southern hemisphere).

As I hum "It's a Small World" in my head, I will attempt to describe my other NZ connection.  My dad was very unique in his youth and had a penchant for unorthodox career paths.  Sometime between getting his MBA and going to law school, he decided he wanted to go work in Saudi Arabia for the company now known as Saudi Aramco a.k.a. the world's foremost oil producer. Yeah.  Any who, so while he was riding Bactrians and picking sand out of his teeth, Phil met a man named Bob Schmuke and his wife Gay. Bob hailed from the United States, and Gay was a native of...wait for it...New Zealand.  After almost thirty years and only a few visits and correspondences, we were able to find the Schmukes and get back in touch with them.  They currently reside in Nelson, NZ which about five hours away from Christchurch.  Gay actually graduated from the University of Canterbury, the same university I will be attending beginning Feb. 20.

Two weeks from Saturday I will begin my trek to the South Island of New Zealand.  I fly out of Atlanta at 5:55 PM on Feb. 11 and arrive in Christchurch, NZ on Feb. 13 at 11:30 AM.  Let me break it down: the total flight time is almost 24 hours and since I'm flying into the future, I lose a day off of my life.  I will never get to experience February 12, 2012.  A small price to pay for my first trip outside of the United States.  YIPPEE KI YAY!!!!!!

Later My Precioussssssssss,

Bess