Preparing for the U.S.A.

We arrived back in Hamilton on the 25th March. On Saturday 26th Will and I went to the Chiefs v Force game with dad. Dad has been a Chief's season member for about 10 years now, and has a prime seat on the halfway line of the upper level. We decided those tickets were out of our price range, so got him to get us a couple of cheaper tickets down below. Dad texted during the first half to say that the two seats next to him were actually free, so we headed up there to sit with him at halftime.

 

It was a great game of rugby! It was actually pretty close during the first half, but then the Chiefs totally dominated the second half, creating some amazing tries. Charlie Ngati had a blinder, running in three tries. If he keeps up that form he should be in the All-Blacks mix for sure. The game was also notable for the return of local hero Stephen 'The Beaver' Donald, playing his first super rugby game in 4 years. He didn't actually do much out on the field, but it was nice to see him kick a goal. He is number 22 in the pic below, waiting to come onto the field.

On Sunday night mum and dad left for their trip to Hong Kong and China, to spend some time with Warren and Norshidah. We were initially meant to be leaving for the United States that same evening, but we had had some major delays with our U.S. visas, so Will had delayed our flight until the 7th April. We couldn't do anything towards our visas until the University of California, Irvine (UCI), as our J1/J2 visa sponsor had couriered the DS-2019 documents to us, and they only arrived 2 days before we left on the Australian leg of our trip. We then had to fill in some forms online, pay the relevant fees, then book an interview in person at the American Consulate in Auckland. This was a little frustrating as my school in Wellington is literally right next door to the American Embassy, but the Embassy doesn't carry out any consular services!

We managed to get an appointment for 8:30am on Tuesday 29th March. Since it was so early in the morning I had booked us a hotel on Queen Street for Monday night, just a few minutes walk from the Consulate. Our interviews were a mere formality as we had all our documentation and evidence in order, and our visas were granted with no problems. We celebrated with a very tasty brunch at a cafe on Vulcan Lane.

Since the car-parking from the hotel was for 24 hours, and it was a lovely day, we then spent a bit of time wandering around Auckland, and the waterfront in particular. This was nice as I very rarely spend much time in the city centre. Usually on my trips to Auckland I just get to see the inside of a badminton hall!

 

 

 

With visas sorted (our passports were couriered back to us 3 days after our interview), we could then relax a bit, and make the most of the bonus extra time just chilling out in Hamilton. It felt a bit strange staying at mum and dad's place, without them actually being there! Will used the time to catch up on some of his work, and I put in some serious planning towards the U.S. stage of our trip. I managed to find and sign a 3-month lease on an unfurnished apartment just a few minutes walk from UCI, arrange renters insurance for the apartment, organise a 3-month lease on furniture rental for the place, plus opened a utilities account with Southern California Edison and arranged to get the electricity turned on for the day we arrived. Not bad going from a computer on the kitchen table in Hamilton! It was quite hard going at times doing the above without a U.S. social security number, U.S. phone number, U.S. bank account or U.S. driver's licence, but I got there in the end... Mostly it meant we just had to pay higher than usual security deposits since we had no credit history in the States.

With the planning mostly sorted, we could also spend some time visiting our favourite places in Hamilton before we left, and top of the list was the Hamilton Gardens.

One day we also did a nice long walk from my parents place to the Taitua Arboretum.

This place is a chicken lovers paradise! There were several lots of hens with baby chicks around, plus some magnificent roosters.

 

 Near the end of our walk we also had several Piwakawaka (fantail) flitting around. These are one of my favourite birds, so we stopped and watched them for a bit. Unfortunately we didn't have the big lens on our camera so the pictures aren't the best.

This was also a good opportunity for catching up with a few Hamilton based people before we left the country for 9 months. It was great to spend some time with my auntie Julie and my gorgeous nana.

I also had time to visit Colin and Glenda Giddy, my mate Roger (where I helped him and his cousin put together a bunk bed for his son in the house he has just bought in Horotiu!), my cousin Renee and her two lovely children, plus my longtime badminton friends Kevin and Deidre Bartels.

All too soon, the 7th April rolled around. My uncle David kindly drove Will and I up to Auckland airport and we had a very good dinner in the Koru Lounge. I made sure I made the most of my favourite Kikorangi Blue cheese since it was my last chance to for a very long time! Then at 7:30pm it was on a plane to LAX and the start of our new adventure...