No, I've never been to New Zealand. I have a "bloom where you are planted" philosophy. My appetite for a bit of adventure was whetted by spending a month working in Barrow, Alaska, a couple of years ago. I worked in a 20 bed hospital, on the edge of the Arctic Ocean. I was flattered by the offer of permanent positions, while watching as 4 nurses were dismissed for various reasons while I was there. (Not something that happened without just cause, since persuading people to come and work in the middle of the Arctic winter, during constant darkness and cold, is no small task!) I thought my clinical skills were too old, and I wouldn't remember how to do things, but I did! I was able to adapt myself to an entirely different culture (the Inupiat American natives). I've traveled to other parts of the world and been fortunate to travel in the US as well, but my Barrow adventure was probably the most extreme.
I really do like this forum, and you have been most cordial and reassuring, motherbear.
