14 days until I get sunburned

So I officially have 2 weeks left until I fly out from New Zealand. It feels strange to say that, but at the same time I can't wait to be home to see everyone for 10 days before I leave again. This has been an amazing time learning about New Zealand and seeing the country, but it has given me a different outlook on traveling extended periods of time. Considering the longest I have been out of the country is 3 weeks, this has been quite different. The common thought about the stages of emotionally reacting to travel and culture shock are in 4 stages. The length of stages for emotionally dealing with travel depend largely on whether one speaks the language, traveling companions, amount of communication from home, and who you are.

The first stage is the honeymoon phase. You love everything about this new place. The sights, sounds, smells, weather (maybe), and the food. This new place is the best thing since sliced bread. This is an easy stage to stay in New Zealand because it is so beautiful here. The people are lovely and there are very few things that you can't get at home.

The second stage is culture shock. This may come quickly when one does not speak the local language, but here in New Zealand is not a problem if you can hear through the accent. Culture shock doesn't have to be some big event or extremely stressful situation. It can creep up on you. It's a sly little monster.

The third and fourth stages are adjustment and acceptance. Then the whole cycle starts again when you return home. For each traveler there are differences in the stage when returning home and the best memories usually come from the honeymoon phase. The world just looks better through rose-colored glasses.

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm not exactly in the honeymoon phase. One of the aspects I think changes my outlook is that I'm not really coming home when I leave New Zealand. Arizona will be a quick stopover on my way up to Montana for my next rotation. One week in Arizona over 5 months. Yet another reason I am so excited my mom is traveling down here for my last week. It will be a great ending to an amazing trip.

I am looking forward to seeing as many people as possible during my short time at home!