Week One, Part 2 - Orientation Day

Part 2 of Week One begins here!

Its now Friday afternoon so as i am typing this, i will probably switch between both past and present tense quite i bit - it seems awful considering my mother is very specific about our use of English but i am sure you will all survive!

Monday morning rise and shine was about 6:30 am i think which is something that i am starting to get used to again! I haven't been awake that early in a long time (as im sure mum, dad and Ash can comment on) so the body had a bit of a shock the first couple of days!

I left "home" around 7:50ish and was really panicking as i had to catch the bus into Wellington City itself as we had Orientation Day at Wellington Nannies College starting at 9ish! All i knew about the bus service at this stage was that i would have to catch either the No. 43 or 44, the bus stop was at the end of the street and that there were $5 all day passes available. Little did i realise that the $5 all day passes only applied after 9am (grrrr) so i had to get a normal ticket - $4 EACH WAY! OUCHY OUCHY!

I managed to get off at the right stop on the bus and make my way from Courtenay Place to Wellington Nannies College down Abel Smith Street. Yay for my navigational skills. I thought that i would be really early but there were already a few peps there when i got to the college around 8:50ish and boy, talk about awkwardness and silence! There was an activity we were meant to do but didn't do that until one of the tutors actually came in and realised how quiet it was. Im sure you can imagine a room full of 20-30ish girls, none of us knowing each other and not knowing what to say to each other, being put into a classroom and supposedly getting to know each other - yea, it totally didn't happen but eventually the silence was broken. After the silence had been broken, i found out that i wasn't the only one from HB area - me from Hastings, Leah from Napier and Chrissy from Wairoa.

Orientation day was quite busy and included a city tour, a whole lot of general business/house keeping things about the course which took about two hours, getting to know each other, pizza lunch and a walk or two up and down Cuba Street. We also got given our Communication Booklets and our Weekly Meeting Booklets - with nice pink and green covers.

By the end of Monday afternoon, there was certainly no silence in the classroom and we were all having a ball - the only problem was we were so exhausted, it wasn't funny at all! Course finished about 4:30ish and then i had to find my way back with Leah to Khandallah! It turns out, she is only living about 5-10 mins away from me so we were both greatful to find someone close by!

Week One, Part 1 from Khandallah, Wellington!

Hi there everyone,

how is life going for you all (i was going to say back home in Hawkes Bay) but there are probably others reading this too so instead "How is life going for you all, wherever you may be?"

Life down here (or up here in some cases) in Welly is going great but heck it has indeed been a busy and overwhelming week!

I just realised i have now been down here a week (a week without mum and dad - wow!) and i am pretty much used to the weather already! Although in saying that, yesterday was terrible (winds of up to 14o kph) and there was rain and hail as well - that'scrazy... EVEN FOR WELLINGTON! Its times like that yesterday when i realise how much i miss the famous Hawkes Bay weather (not HB itself, but the weather) but as the saying goes - "When in Rome..."

So as for Welly itself, things are going great. I stayed last weekend with Bridget (a friend from HB) and her flatmates in their flat at Central House - which is located on top of a parking building in Boulcott Street! Yes you did read that correctely - ON TOP of a PARKING BUILDING! And can i just say that Flat 5 at Central House, is totally the best! Anyway, that weekend, went and did a bit of shopping, took a bus out to Kilbernie ( i think) and went and did some groceries at Pak N Save out there - so much cheaper than New World in Town :) Then went to Arise Church (located at the Michael Fowler Centre) on Sunday morning - that was great - its a bit like "The Station Community Church" but maybe 10 times bigger - a mini Parachute Mainstage i guess! I met some really neat people and then a group of us (about 6 girls) went out for lunch! There were three people with my name in that group - one Cat, one Kate and Moi! The weather was so lovely on Sunday we ended up taking a picnic to The Wharf and sat there in the sun for an hour or so!

Sunday afternoon/evening, i got picked up from Central House by Clare Letting (the mother of the family im living with) and her three children! I also within half an hour, had experience my first trip to the supermarket as a nanny - ohh boy! Talk about jumping in (or in this case diving in the deep end!) But actually it was really great and i was suprised how well the children behaved!

Sunday night, i settled in and unpacked all my stuff! Its great having a nice big bedroom with a double/queen bed and a bathroom attached to the bedroom! Its perfect on Wednesday/Thursday mornings when i walk to the bathroom half asleep at 6:30 and prepare myself for a 7am start :) And yes mum and dad, i have managed to keep my room tidy (no clothes on the floor YET)! The first night trying to sleep wasnt very successful but that has started to get better as time goes by!

This blog entry is getting very long so i am going to cut it short and start another post for the begining of my course!

Take care and ta ta for now!
Love Kathryn xx

MOVING DAY!

Today (or yesterday considering i am writting this on Saturday), was MOVING DAY! A nice early start in the morning and final packing was how the day began. Then packing the car and leaving home by about 7:30am and on our way to Wellington!

The trip down wasnt too bad and i did manage to get a nana nap or two throughout the trip. Im glad that mum and dad were driving but dont know how they managed to stay awake - maybe it was just the fact that "I don't do mornings" and they seem to.

Finally got to Wellington around 12ish and then had to negate our way into town - Dad was driving at this time and lets just say that he is not a person in favour of Wellington Traffic. Went to drop my gear off at Central House before heading up to the Nannies College, to get directions to get to my interview with my possible host family at 2. They lived in Seatoun and considering we were not from this city and had no idea where we would be going, the college were kind enough to give us directions out there. Thank goodness for that.

The interview at Seatoun was great and went well according to both myself and the mother of the family that i was meeting. i thought that went quite well and the mother said that she thought it went quite well... the only thing was that before interviewing me, they had been exploring other options. After the interview, i rang the Nannies College to let them know how it went. Later i got a call back from them saying that the Seatoun Family had decided to go with another option (although it was nothing against me) but this was easier for them as they were able to then have someone right through till the end of the summer holidays. This was at like 4:30pm and i was kinda guttered about not having a family. The person i was talking to from Nannies College then said to me that she had another family in mind and would i be able to meet them at 5pm? At this point i was so exhausted (after being awake since like 6am-ish) but said so anyway as i didnt want to be panicing over the weekend and not exactly knowing what i was doing on Monday.

Long story short - 2nd family was great and i got on really well with them. The mother is a little scary when you first meet her but its still good. I am moving in with that family 2mrw afternoon/evening. They are living over in Khandallah so in less than a week i have gone from Johnsonville to Seatoun and then to Khandallah.

For those that are wanting to send a letter or a care package or anything - my address in Khandallah will be:

2 Te Kainga Way,
Khandallah,
Wellington, NZ

The family i am going to be living with seem really great - there are 3 chns in the family (all of which are currently UNDER 5!!!) so that will be a task in itself! The mother is a nurse and works some night shifts so i will have sole charge of the chns on Wednesday and Thursday and will be working 11-12 hours on those days... YIKES! Not sure about the rest of the week at this stage but will sort that out later.

The rest of Friday night was great and i just have to say that i totally love being at Central House and Flat 5 is the bestest ever! Thanks so much for the awesomeness and the amazing hospitality guys (and girls)! We watched a movie and Alex (one of the guys in the flat) and I attempted to make apple crumble (without a recipe) and it was interesting to say the least. It tasted not too bad but we have now all called it "Apple Porridge" - i shall let you all draw your own conclusions for that one!

Went for a walk downtown with Caleb (another guy flatmate) and Bridget (the one i am supposedly stayin with) at like 10:30pm or something like that and then came back to Central House and headed off to bed. Didnt get to sleep till nearly midnight but thats okay.

Its now dinner time on Saturday and i need to head off and get some food - will write more in the blog later now that have updated everyone!

Take care and stay safe!

Until later - God Bless,

xx

Wellington Here I Come

Ok, so these blogs are being written as i am lying on a bed at Central House in welly because i have been so slack at updating my blog.

The week after the holiday programme seemed to go so fast and included shopping, getting paper work filled out for Nannies College, catching up with and saying Goodbye to a whole lot of people and much more.

One of the hardest things during the past week for me would have been the fact that i had to say Au Revoir (at least for now) to the people at "The Station Community Church" and also at "St Peters Riverslea". Man, i thought that would be easy but nope - tears were present on both occasions that Sunday.

Monday morning, i realised that i might indeed need a hair cut before i headed off to the big smoke, so i rang my hairdressers to see if they had an appointment avaiable at all during the week. Turned out they had one on Tuesday and i was so stoaked.

Tuesday, i got a haircut and did a bit more shopping for clothes for the next 6 months.

Wednesday i realised that i had better start packing and so i made a list and started to sort through things. Also, it was time to say goodbye to some more people -something i was once again not looking forward to. It was also one of these two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) when i recieved yet another call from Wellington Nannies College. The person who was meant to be organising a family for me, was off sick (silly Swine Flu) and so were her family, and the college realised that nothing had been done about where i would live in Welly. Long story short, i was meant to be staying in Jville (Johnsonville) but the family there no longer required a nanny. :'(

Thursday just seemed to fly by and before i knew it, it was Thursday night and the packing was pretty much done (apart from a few things to be added on Friday morning). I then headed off to Bay Cities to drop off my band uniform and i thought that i had better pay my subs before i left. Of course John Snowling and some of the band knew that i was going, but when John Snowling is concerned, no-one leaves without being made a big deal of. Later, i sent a couple of emails off to people and then headed to bed, my last sleep in my own bed (in Hawkes Bay) for a while!

Friday was the next day and Wellington was calling my name - i was ready physically for the big step in my life but as for emotionally, im not too sure i was ready for that.

Finally i had been given answers

Wow, what to say? Well the last few months have been pretty tough - living at home, jobless (apart from the odd casual work), stuck in Hawkes Bay and not knowing what to do with my life. I have been often wondering over the last few months, why things werent going according to my plan and why whenever i thought something major was going to happen in my life, it didnt end up happening. Why was i being put through this time of testing and requiring patience? Clearly im not the most patient person in the world and so maybe that was what was needed.

After doing a talk at youth group about all of this, i then headed down to welly for a week and realised that God had been on my side the whole time - all i had to do was acknowledge it and realise that he had a greater plan for my life than i did.

While heading down to Welly on the monday morning, i got a phone call from Wellington Nannies College saying that they had recieved my application a little while ago and it turns out that someone had pulled out of the course, the friday before and they now had a place for me in the course. Well, it was then that i knew Gods plan was being revealed to me. I had my interview at the college on Wednesday 1st July (the day before my 19th bday) and i got accepted! I was totally nervous about the interview but it was one of the easiest i have ever done. YAY - FINALLY I WAS GETTING THE ANSWERS TO ALL MY QUESTIONS!

Had a great bday on the Thursday (thanks to certain people who shall remain nameless) and then headed home on the Friday. What a great week it had turned out to be.

The next week was full of 30ish children each day and working out at St Lukes Church in Havelock North - doing a holiday programme. What a week that was, a time where more patience was required for sure and a few other talents and skills.

After the holiday programme ended on the Friday, i realised that i had one week to go until i moved to Welly! I still knew nothing of what would be happening in welly eg. where i would be living, who i would be living with, what church i would go to etc ... all i knew (and kept gettin told) was that God would supply the answers!