Denver and New Zealand Finally!!!

It's weird thinking that after today I won't see the United States for almost 6 months. It's also a blessing in a way. I've always thought it was a relief getting away from the politics and other issues currently plaguing our country and reading up on them while I'm 9,000 miles away. I spent my evening after the first part of my orientation with my friend at a concert outside of Ft Collins, CO. I got back to my hotel around 4 AM on the day I had 3 hours of OSHA training and 20 hours of flying and waiting to get to New Zealand. Thank God I was able to use my time spent flying for sleeping. I was out before we left the ground in Denver and I woke up as we were on final for LAX. On our 13 hour trans-Pacific flight I slept for about 7 hours. We arrived at Auckland sometime around 0545 this morning. Despite what one would think, New Zealand Customs and Immigration is a pain in the ass to get through. Well, immigrations is pretty easy. You give them your passport and (for us Raytheon employees) your request for a 9 month visa to last you for your deployment, they stamp your passport, and you move on. The hard part is making it through Bio-security. Because I had been hiking through dirt with my hiking boots (as inquired on your New Zealand Customs Entry Card given to you on the flight) I had to step aside into the Bio Security inspection area, dig through my pack and show them that my boots were in fact clean irregardless of the fact that I had told them I washed them. A friend of mine actually had to have his boots washed by the inspectors before he was allowed to continue on. As if that wasn't a pain enough, Raytheon, in all of it's infinite wisdom, scheduled me for a flight from Auckland to Christchurch with an hour and 5 minutes to get my baggage, get through immigrations and customs, get through biosecurity, walk 15 minutes from the international terminal at Auckland International Aiport, wait in a line of 15 people to check in for my flight, wait in another line to pay for my excess baggage, and then make it through the security screening to get to the gate where my plane was waiting...literally waiting for me. They were calling my name over the intercom after they had made the final boarding call for my flight as I was walking up to the gate.

Now I'm in Christchurch and it feels good to put all of that behind me. The only thing I have left to do is pick up my cold weather gear tomorrow, organize my stuff so that I can fly with the alloted weigth I'm allowed and prepare myself for a 5 hour flight and 4 months down on the ice...