Anticipation

T minus two weeks.
Is anything ever what you expect it to be?
Perhaps because I’ve lived in other countries (England, Mexico, Colombia, Grenada) I’ve learned to be more open to new experiences and not have set expectations about an experience. But then, maybe it’s just me.
As I make my final preparations for moving to New Zealand for a year, I can’t help but to wonder what the year will hold. I’m told Dunedin, the city in which I’ll live, has had a mild winter. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I have gone through mild winters without ever putting on a coat. A mild winter in Fairbanks, Alaska, might require sturdier attire, and a mild winter in Dunedin, is….well, we’re back to that anticipation concept.
I have driven on the left side of the road before, but it’s been awhile. This week I purchased a car (a ten year old Subaru) sight unseen (from a doctor who is leaving Dunedin about the same time as I arrive), and I wonder what it will be like to drive for a whole year on the left side of the road, and to adjust back to the right side in year.
And finally, what will it be like to practice medicine in New Zealand? I’m told by those who have worked there (or are working there) the pace is slower, and there isn’t as much fear of litigation. Maybe I’ve gotten used to things here in the States, and will be very aware of the differences when I get to Nz. But I’ve always centered my practice of medicine around the people I care for, and it’s difficult to imagine the people will be that much different. We’ll see…..