Ok, I’ll admit it. I’ve been dismal at keeping up with the blog since we got back to Auckland. I never intended for the end of our wanderings to be the end of our story, but the last few weeks have had us both very caught up, and I fear it may have appeared that way. Jason left for the U.S. on the first of November to take care of some business back home, so I put myself to work finding work full-time. After a few applications and a handful of interviews, the right job came along, and I snagged it. You are now reading the personal blog of the otherwise official Online & Print Editor for Jasons Travel Media, Ltd., a company that specializes in serving tourists and tourism businesses in Australasia. No, that’s not my Jason. It just seems I’ll be having a whole lot of Jasons in my life for awhile.

The position is a pretty significant shift from what I was doing in my last job, so there’ll definitely be an adjustment period, but the people are nice, the office is casual, and there seem to be some opportunities for advancement. What more can you ask for?

On a related note, upon acceptance of the job, our immigration adviser submitted Jason’s and my Expression of Interest (EOI) to the NZ government. We had 205 points and were guaranteed selection from the applicant pool with anything over 160. Like butter, our names were pulled this Wednesday, and we expect to receive our Invitation to Apply (ITA) for residency within the next 2 weeks.

A big part of Jason’s trip home was about digging up the myriad minutiae we are required to present upon application for residency, from certified college diplomas and transcripts to letters from every employer in our professional histories confirming that we do in fact have the work experience we’re claiming in our applications. I have never been more happy that I stuck with the same company for so many years as I was when I heard about Jason’s tribulations on his hunt for supervisors who worked a decade ago for companies that have long since been liquidated. Amazingly, he found them all. The last letter was signed today. We’re also being asked to provide articles that prove the nature of our relationship. Everything from old photos to travel itineraries and envelopes from invitations to friends’ weddings, postmarked and addressed to both of us, are being requested. If any of you get a request for a letter of reference, please do us a solid and help us out. We promise we’ll save you a warm bed in Auckland City.

In the meantime I’m learning the intricacies of life in New Zealand’s “Supercity,” summarizing them as well as I can for the end user, and compiling the information into handy dandy little travel guides. Jason leaves Jax tomorrow, and I’ll be seeing him bleary-eyed and jet-lagged early Sunday morning. I only hope he manages to get all our stuff on the plane and through Korea without incident.