You can't go home again

Getting iced on the good ol porch at Munro. A true

welcome back to America.

Reuniting with my ladies and perfecting

our photo opps.
Wellington Fulbrighters Unite!
More reunions, with my host family

at the Fulbright ceremony at Parliament
The beautiful couple - Eve and Joey

Patrick, graduating from high school!

Bonding time with my sister

As you all know, I recently took a trip back in time for a whirlwind visit of my homes in the U.S. and to celebrate some special people's big days. A brief synopsis of my trip and my arrival back to NZed follows, just a warning, although it may start off a bit "deep", don't worry there's a burrito counter at the end.

Maybe a good starting point to the story of my time at home is this quote from Garden State:

"see one day when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it's gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It's like you feel homesick for a place that doesn't even exist. Maybe it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, it's like a cycle or something."

At first I thought I was just struggling due to the jet lag, short timeframe, drinking alcohol again (getting iced), and emotion of being back. Then I thought maybe I was just losing my mind or NZ had made me soft and I couldn't handle America anymore. And I still sort of thought all of those things maybe combined, until I talked to a fellow Fulbrighter here about her trip home in April, where she said she was a total basket case (she's old like me too) and had a major freak out. On a friend's blog who also lives oversees, I read the perfect description "it felt weird to be homesick when you're actually home". It was so good to see everyone and be HOME, even for a second, but it also was pretty difficult. That said, I did have fun and remembered a few more things I miss and don't about the U.S. -

Don't Miss:

-Katy Perry - thank you NZ for not adopting her yet, being home especially in CA was like being in Italy again with her playing non-stop

-Traffic and lines, forgot what crowds and waiting was like

-the news, nice to not hear about BP and Van der Sloot, even if it is avoiding reality

-drama - hanging out with yourself, and actually just life in NZ, is pretty drama free

-airport security and airlines - in NZ you can bring all the liquids you want and don't have to show id, no taking your shoes off, and you get a choice of three snacks on a 30 min flight, puts the enjoyment back into flying (yes I understand why NZ can do this and the U.S. can't, so hold your comments)

Miss:

-African Americans - its pretty bizarre living without you and I miss you

-Rental radio - sans Katy Perry

-Sunlight till 9:30pm

-Target - there's a show here called Target that I really like, but its not the same

-Hablaing espanol

-Cheap food/drinks/clothes

-Close friends and family, and just being with people who know me

Synopsis of my goals laid out in the previous post:

-Total burritos eaten = 5

-Tono sushi - check, although should have eaten more of it than I did

-Wegmans sub - check and check, three days in a row.

-Sun - fail on two occasions, success on two

-FAIL on Potbelly (had an impersonator though in SD so ok), Letters to Juliet (sure it will get here soon, although would have liked to see it with my Italian cowhorts), and of all things DANCING. When I did finally dance at the wedding, I was told my lean back looked rusty - well obviously!

When I arrived back in NZed, I'm not sure if it was the 16 hours I slept on the way over, or approaching Wellington and seeing the windmills pop up on the horizon on a bright warm winter day, or arriving home to homemade bagels - but I knew I was where I'm supposed to be right now.

Even with the sleep, its a 20+ hour flight from the East Coast and a 16 hour time difference...there's no rest for the weary and I had to head out to the mid-year Fulbright event upon arrival where we hobknob with Fulbright alumni and meet the NZ Fulbright grantees before they head to the U.S. in August. Luckily this event was from 4-7, because by 6:05 people were poking my shoulder thinking I might fall over from exhaustion. Next morning, early wake up to go deliver the status of my research to the rest of the Fulbrighters and the Fulbright board....intimidation station.

The morning started out with a video of Senator Fulbright's life and work. Its sort of funny that the first time we're seeing this is in NZed, but it really renewed my excitement for my research and why I'm here - including a short segment how the Fulbright will change your life. Anyway, my presentation was scheduled for late in the day which I was initially happy about, but after watching 10 of the 12 of us present their work/progress so far, I was really wondering how the Fulbright let me slip through the door. I should say that the majority of the Fulbrighters are conducting science based research here including genetics of the Tuatara, microbiology of sponges, nutrient loading on rocky coasts, methamphetamine use in pregnant mothers, geology of Antarctic ice cores, the history of cattle breeds migration, etc.....Needless to say, my research is not only extremely controversial, but I also don't have any "lab" results to report or fancy scientific terms to employ. BUT I do have Maori language and systems theory. Except that there were a couple of Maori NZ Fulbrighters in attendance, and I began to feel nervous because speaking Maori is one thing to Americans, speaking Maori to Maori and telling them about their Treaty and the intricacies in relation to land use management is another. But I did it, and I think it went okaaay, although as expected a few of them made some comments later on about the sensitivity of the topic

Anyway, we had a big reception at Parliament last night and I got to see my ol buddy the Ambassador again (where he told us we were all Ambassadors, oh you...) and discuss mexican food and margaritas AND we revisited another topic - "Are you related to Robert Beall? He's my law partner". No, no I'm not, but Uncle Bobby, I miss you. Being a Fulbrighter is a funny experience. Example A, there were some poses for pictures with West Side gang signs thrown out to symbolize Wellington - yeah, hard to explain...I had to head home early for my Maori Final the next day and I missed a Fulbright dance party that later ensued, from the pictures it looked epic

Took my Maori final today, so I'm officially done with Semester One. And in honor of that, one of my favorite Maori proverbs - "He moana pukepuke e ekengia e te waka" which means "A choppy sea can be navigated"

Congrats ALL WHITES (NZ Soccer Team), best performance in NZ's history, and.....Congrats America, I'm proud of you for earlier as well!!!!

***I'd like to thank all of you who put up with my mental incoherence while I was home and let you know how awesome it was to see you and spend time with you. Especially to Patter - I'm so proud of you lil bro, and excited for you at the same time; and to Eve and Joey - I'm so glad that I could come back for your special day and to celebrate both of you and your amazing adventure together! I love you guys! To all the rest of you - you know who you are - thank you for hosting me, hugging me, welcoming me back, and making my visit as easy as it could be - you all mean the world to me, especially from a world away.