Arrived safe and sound

Greetings from the future! Right now it's Sunday evening around 8 PM while many Minnesotans are sleeping at 1 AM Sunday morning. I arrived in New Zealand just find, caught all my flights, and got to ride the train from Wellington to Paraparaumu. One of the things that struck me about this country is that it seems to have many of the different geographic types and styles that America has. Wellington is very tight city. There are roads that are wide enough for one lane of traffic going each direction, others are wide enough for two lanes going each direction, kind of like Hawaii. Once I got on the train I saw a few houses that look like some of the towns in West Virginia that had no hope, I saw graffiti that reminded me of the big city, I saw rolling hills with horses which reminded me of Montana. So in some ways it doesn't feel too foreign.

I'm living in a rental house with five other guys: two Americans and three Brazilians. All the houses are within a few blocks of each other and we walk back and forth between them. The beach is about two blocks from my house.

So far this weekend has been about hanging out, getting to know each other, and getting used to the time change. This morning we went to the Anglican church where Andy is a Reverend. We sang the same kind of songs we sing in chapel at Crown. Afterwards I had some coffee and chatted with the church members. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and hanging out with friends. Tomorrow we've got an afternoon trip to a bed and breakfast. Tuesday we start in the classes.

Let me close by saying this may be my only blog post of the school. I knew going in that we were going to have a media fast from TV and movies. It seems it includes the Internet this year, though I won't find out the full details until we have the formal orientation session on Tuesday. So if you don't see another post before May that's why. Please know that I love you and I pray God is doing good things in your lives.