Somehow Ended Up in New Zealand

First of all, it's important I acknowledge our lack of blog updates for the last few months. Call it lack of awareness due to several flights and timezones, but it's somehow April already and I just don't understand??? So, lots of stuff headed your way.

The day after selling the Smile Wagon, we left Arizona for New Zealand. But first, because we are who we are, made a quick stop in Tacoma, Washington to check out a residency program that I was interested in, and Chad connected with a local dentist--our Boise host Michelle's brother! We're big on #networking now.

We finally arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand after a 14 hour flight from San Francisco. We stayed at such a beautiful AirBnB that overlooked the city and gave me a great hill to walk up. Our hosts, Jo and Lance, made us feel at home from the start. We arrived to a fully stocked fridge, and Jo even drove us to the bank so Chad could activate his bank account for work. We were feeling very full of gratitude for the hospitality.

For 4 weeks, Chad worked at a group practice in the heart of Christchurch, while I worked in a older persons' hospital ward. What an absolute dream of a placement: patients that were so gracious for care and cappuccinos whenever I wanted them (daily). This was an interesting learning experience for me. I usually don't have to explain how much debt I'm in from medical school, because all the students around me are in an equivalent amount of debt. Explaining medical school debt and residency to the students in New Zealand (and a student I worked with from Australia) was wild. They don't pay the same for undergrad or medical school, often not paying much at all because education is a government subsidy. Additionally, the training structure looks a lot different: 6 years of undergrad + medical school, then 5-7 (or more) years of clinical training.

On Chad's first day, he realized that New Zealand uses a entirely different tooth numbering system (somehow missed this detail before arriving???). Other than that, it was a pretty smooth transition for him, all things considered. It ended up being his favorite temp job he's had thus far. He loved working outside the confines of dental insurance, getting to know the other dentists he worked with who were from all around the world, and going for a walk along the river during his lunches. He did NOT love having to stream the Chiefs playoff and Super Bowl games during the middle of work because of the time difference.

We were both surprised by this lil tidbit: doctors (and dentists) don't usually get sued in New Zealand. Excuse me, what? In general, the population trusts doctors and recognizes that most physicians and dentists are doing their best with the patient in mind. We were told that we'd be hard-pressed to even find a medical lawyer. My mind is still blown.

Since it was summer in NZ, we were able to enjoy 14 hours of daylight each day, meaning we could do some adventuring even on work nights. We filled our free time in Christchurch with surfing, hiking, happy hours, real fruit ice cream (a NZ staple), and a weekend getaway to the town of Mapua with our pals PJ & Christine. PJ is a college friend who relocated to New Zealand a few years ago, and coincidentally lives only 30 minutes from where we ended up being placed!

Our single favorite day in Christchurch was a date day, which included jazz in the park with picture perfect weather, checking out the famous art gallery, and eating one of our favorite meals we've ever had. The chicken & corn dumplings pictured were dreamy. Like that part in Ratatouille where Anto Ego (the food critic) eats a bite of the ratatouille and is taken back to his childhood??? THAT type of dreamy.

We celebrated the end of our 4 weeks of work with the most incredible week long road trip around the South Island.

Thoughts from the road trip:

• You can't see the North Star when you're in the Southern Hemisphere. Instead, they use the Southern Cross for navigation. If you already knew this, good for you, let me learn new things.

• Thai food tastes good anywhere, especially in the back of a tiny Prius on the side of the road near Mount Cook.

• Chad is so good at sitting by random people and making friends with them. We met a couple on our Milford Sound tour that is who we want to be when we grow up: involved with international medicine, have wild travel stories, and take time to chat with younger folks like us. They said, "It feels like we're talking to ourselves 40 years ago!"

• I will find a hot dog in any destination.

  
  

I think the thing we'll miss most about New Zealand is the community we built. Here is our appreciation for everyone that made our time in NZ so memorable, including PJ & Christine, Amy & Thomas (Amy is a relative of one of Chad's coworkers in Maine), Emma & Zach, all the people Chad and I worked with, and more! And even extra extra appreciation for PJ & Christine, as they were quick to offer up Christine's family Prius for our whole time there (thanks for the mems, Hanny!!!).

We weren't thrilled about doing another 14 hour flight back to the U.S., so it should come as no surprise that Chad figured out how we could layover in Hawaii. Being offered a wedge of brie with a glass of wine for an airplane snack definitely made the flight a little easier, though (S/O Air New Zealand). We spent 3 days in Kona/Captain Cook on the Big Island, which served as the perfect way to acclimate back to the American way of things, like driving on the right side of the road and tipping 20% (woof). We checked out Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (BARELY missing one of the eruptive episodes much to Chad's dismay), picnicked on a black sand beach next to sea turtles, night snorkeled with manta rays, and took a shelter pup named Pony on a field trip for the day.

Alas, we made it back to Arizona and back to reality. We will be forever grateful for our time in NZ, and we're already trying to figure out when we can go back. Probably going to live there at some point, so be on the lookout for our international address.

Also, if you are curious about international locums dentistry, Chad will write a post about it. Might be boring, will definitely be wildly informational. Stay tuned.