We Are Far Away From Home

Friday, February 19, 2010

Tonight we had the CSU students over for dinner. It was fun to hear their adventures of the first few days in New Zealand. None of them live with each other but most know where a CSU student lives. Some live in dorm-type rooms while others live in pods. One of the girls was telling us she was the only girl in her pod; separate bedrooms but share the same bathroom. They are enjoying the many cultures of this university where there are only 4500 students but 45% are foreigners. Something funny they told us was… in the cafeteria the country flags of all the students who have come to this university hang. But among all the country flags there hangs a CSU flag. GO RAMS!!!
Afterwards, Jack and I went outside. It was a beautiful night and the stars were so bright. We saw the “Southern Cross.” As we were looking up on the internet before we went out to see if we could find where in the sky it was, we realized on the New Zealand flag are four stars…the Southern Cross. Duh! Okay, Jack and I are gradually getting up to speed. We found it in the sky and it was so amazing. We were actually somewhere that seeing the Southern Cross was possible. (Don’t I remember that the Shackleton Expedition left from New Zealand?) But as I stood there underneath that beautiful, clear sky with the Milky Way so predominant, I realized how far away from home I was. It was like taking off from LAX in the dark and landing in Auckland in the dark, able to ignore the fact that I had been flying for 12 hours over the ocean. We are a long ways away from family…at least I can call but I’m sure it was very difficult for Jane Rowntree and her sisters to leave the only home they had ever known. There are amazing things in this world to see. If you asked me if I was homesick tonight, I would say, “Yes!” But if you asked me if I wished I had not come, I would say, “No!” There are many beautiful places in the world and wonderful people to meet.