15 Days...

I got a message on Facebook tonight telling of a couple who have arrived in Christchurch already and are looking for people to hang out with. There are 21-23 Canadians (so far) that are going to UC(CCE) and everyone is posting updates on when they are leaving/arriving down-under. It's funny reading these messages because at certain times I'll get a sense of panic or excitement reading the updates because I'll be doing the exact same thing when I arrive down there. It's almost like it's fiction right now, going to NZ. It doesn't seem like it's actually happening. It probably won't seem like it's actually happening until I am in my new bed, in my new room in Christchurch. Fucking scary.

The January 25th weekend seems to be shaping up nicely! Ducky, Devin, and I are in for quite the road trip and high jinx. I'm definitely bringing my video camera to capture some of the... err... better moments of the weekend. It's my mini summer vacation, really. I finished my eight months of working and now I'm on a three week vacation until I return to school. It's kinda nice... but I have so much to do, but I don't know what I'm doing, and there are so many people that want to see me before I go but I can't please everyone. Oh well, I guess that's what my web page is for. I'll post the link here when it's up and running and ready to go. If anyone knows anything about css let me know because I've written the script right (I'm sure) but it's not working properly. It could be my browser (Firefox) but somehow I don't think so.

In my adventures of getting ready, I was told that I had to inform OHIP that I was leaving the country. Silly me thinks this is just like telling my credit card company I'm leaving the country: a short phone call and all is well. As it turns out you can not have an old health card if you leave the country . A ploy, I'm sure, by the government to get us all updated to the annoying picture card that must be updated every 5 years. Well played sir. So I had to give up my nice red and white card (the woman said she'd give it a proper burial for me) and they are sending my new one to NZ. So, I'm covered by OHIP without having to pay for anything... but my card expires at the end of this year because they want to make sure I come back to the country.

Now, apparently there's this nifty little thing in the OHIP system called "vacation time". Every Ontarian covered by OHIP is entitled to a once in a lifetime two-year vacation period. You can break this up into one year increments if you so wish but there's two years there to play with, without having to renounce your coverage. I would use this for the two years I plan on teaching in New Zealand... but I figure I'll get some sort of plan down there. So why not wait for a sabbatical? Take a year off and just travel wherever. Why not? We are all entitled to this... why not use it while we can? So, an idea for the future. Oh, and if you aren't leaving the country for more than 7 months, don't worry because OHIP will cover you.

Wow... now that I've bored you all to death... but hey, I guess this is the type of stuff you think about when leaving the country. I never would have guessed.

My accommodation are all taken care of. I'm living with at least one other Canadian and one Kiwi. The fourth roommate is still unknown to me at this point. The house is gorgeous. I'll post pictures on the website when I get there, as the pics I do have aren't mine to post.

All that's really left to do is pack. The woman I used to babysit for wants to take me out luggage shopping but I'm going to be at a wedding anniversary party that day. I dunno, I'll have to wait and see.

Tomorrow I am going to treat myself to a movie. I'm going to go see Juno because I am struck by the awesome that is Ellen Page and Michael Cera.

7 days until NORTH BAY! WOOOOO!

Somehow I get the feeling that there are a couple people up there still embittered about certain things from last year... meh, fuck 'em. I know who my friends are and that's all that matters.