Peculiarity #1
Though I am from Brooklyn, NY, I finished high school in New Zealand. This peculiarity is due to the fact that I suffer from a severe case of wanderlust, and would take the bus up to the United Nations during my school lunch hour (this was before the days of the Internet) to investigate exchange programs. Being lazy at heart, I searched for a program hosted in an English-speaking country—and wound up living in Hamilton, about an hour and a half south of Auckland. It was a very enlightening experience—think outspoken city girl meets polite small town—but that’s another story.