As this spring semester draws to a close, I am starting my preparations to go abroad again for July-November of 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Words cannot describe how excited I am, although there is QUITE a bit of paperwork to be done in the interim. I've decided to start this blog as an attempt to document some of my before preparations and also as a record of my time in Auckland.
Studying abroad this first time (see: other blog) was so wonderful, but I don't think this experience will be that similar. When I left for Germany, I had never been out of the country. I was still growing into my own as a person (not that I'm not trying to grow now!) and had never truly felt like I was living independently before. I am ready to go back into the "international student" lifestyle with all that experience and the excitement of knowing what a wonderful time this will be for me.
A key difference I see about Auckland and Dresden (city in Germany) is that while in Germany I was really connected to Europe. We did all the weekend traveling, and at some points it felt more like I was on an extended vacation than there for school. Which was amazing, by the way. No complaints, that's for sure.
However, in Auckland, I feel like I will be more permanent. I think that this will be a chance for me to experience a taste of what relocation as a grown-up (read: post-grad) will be like. Granted, I'll still be in student housing, but the experience of moving somewhere without knowing much about it (and never visiting before) will be really unique.
So, that brings us to the title of the blog and the end of this post. This quote/saying is from Eastern mythology (admittedly, the first time I heard it was on Firefly, and the second on Legend of Korra) about two different things. The first interpretation is that you are a small object lifted to great heights by your circumstance, and the second is that you are a malleable object moving in a greater force. Both of these thoughts accurately reflect how I feel my life has played out thus far AND how I want to live my life in Auckland, thus the title. That was really the whole focus of this little blog, and I have a thermodynamics exam I should be studying for!
Until later my lovelies!
