The (Grand)Parent Report

On Wednesday, once both Mark and myself were home (March 7th) we started calling our family and friends to let them know the good news.

A word of warning - two twenty-somethings should never call their family at a strange time in the day and start with "We have good news"....no matter how much squealing and how loud you follow that up with "Mark won a scholarship to study at the University of Auckland, in New Zealand" they will still ask "When are you due?".  At this point you *sigh* and repeat "Mark won a scholarship to study at the University of Auckland, in New Zealand" and then add on "We're moving to New Zealand"

Our parents and friends have been really supportive of the whole idea thus far - we shall see how crazy they think we are once we get closer to the big move. I think there are some out there who truly believe this is the time for us to try everything once - we currently do not have kids or have large commitments to the Saint John area. People are generally excited for us, and we are just as excited. I think there are others who feel that we will never come back once we live so close to the equator.

We are hoping that we will see a few of you "down under" as we know we will be there for 3 years. What a better time to travel to such a splendid place than when you have friends/family who you can stay with?

Currently, Mark and I have plans to return to Canada ... (who knows...perhaps even dear old Saint John), but we are willing to keep our options open. Mark wants to teach at the university level so we shall see what adventures that will lead us to in the coming years.

Mary-Ellen