
The story, of course, won't be the same. But I think that it will still be good, I hope.
In the meantime, our items have made their way through customs without too much trouble. Australia has allowed my traditional sword in, so that's good news. Unfortunately, we were fined for five fruit boxes that somehow made their way into the country amidst our luggage. At first, I was confused by this. But then I realised that these were the boxes from the garage that the moving company had promised to repack. Once I knew that they had accidentally neglected to repack them, I contacted Ausmove right away about it, and they arranged payment of the bill for us. Good job, Ausmove.
By the way, want to know how much it costs to incinerate a fruit box? $25 AUD per box, apparently. Imagine if it had been fifteen and not five boxes!
The next step will be to get Peyton, our dog, safely to Australia. This will take a few steps. We go to the North Island for a bit, while she stays in the South Island with a friend. Then she will need to fly out from Christchurch in early January. I will pick her up from the airport on the morning of the ninth, God willing. She's so little, it does make me a little nervous to send her on a long flight. But I hope that she will forgive me for the trauma later!
My list of students for next year has grown again, so it looks like I will commence my eighth year of teaching without any worries, even though I will have an entirely new location in a new country.
In the meantime, things seem to be tracking okay for a January release of my fifth book. I look forward to continuing writing in a new environment, with fresh inspiration.