Work Visa woes...

Hi all,
Quick update on what we’ve been up to…
We’ve been frantically getting all of our paper work together for submitting our Work Visa applications, it’s been a bit exhausting as the rules aren’t quite clear on what we do and don’t need to submit. We’ve been worried because we only just realized that one of things we do need to send is our passport. The problem is we need our passports to get back to the U.S in June and the process can take about 2 months to complete. So we’ll be cutting it close as we don’t even have all of our info together yet.

A big event
Part of the work visa requirements is that you have to get a full medical exam and part of the full medical exam is getting blood drawn. For those that don’t know; I have an unabashed wimpyness when it comes to all things medical, this includes a fainting spell during an EYE EXAM. Needless to say, finding out I have to get a needle in my arm was a big deal. The good news is, I talked myself into it, overcame my fear and took it like a champ (well, excluding the long discussion I had with the nurse, telling her about my history and hoping beyond hope that she would have some sympathy and say something like “…ah, you know what, you don’t have to do it, they never check this stuff anyway…” or maybe she’d bend down real low and whisper “…hey, I’ve got a stash of spare blood in the back that I sell to piss-ants like you. You can buy one for $1000 and you can walk out of here an unbroken man.” To which I would quickly say “yes please”). I do have to say that the whole ordeal was, in the words of the G.P. I had to see, “bugger all” and by that I mean it was a “piece of piss” and by that I mean it was incredible easy. It was over before I knew it and I was embarrassed that I even spent the time to bare all to the poor nurse.

Weird.
Speaking of my GP and baring all…Can someone in the medical profession enlighten me on something: For a hernia test; does the doctor have to be feeling your privates as you cough in order make a diagnosis? Or can they just tell by looking at your stuff while you cough? Any info on that would be really helpful…and that’s all I’m gonna say about that.


First parental visit:
We had a great time during the visit with Sheryl and Phil (Gay's parents). The highlight (for me) was a tranz-alpine train ride going from the west coast to the east coast with some incredible scenery in between. Then we spent the night and the next day in Christchurch which was a lot of fun and at the same time it was a bit strange to be back there. It was kind of like “hey, we were going to live here…I wonder what that would’ve been like?”

Pictures:
Here’s a bunch of random pictures. Including the visit from Gay’s parents, which includes a helicopter ride that Gay and her mom took...I wont tell the story about that here for fear of embarrassing the main character, but if you know Sheryl please ask her about it. There is also a shot of me trying to catch a mouse which our favorite cat brought into our bedroom at about 3:00am; and a shot of a dish of matzo brei that I made from Julie’s famous recipe. (Thanks Julie it came out great.) Happy Passover!

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