Checkin' in

Some things that we've noticed:

Creatures: It's strange not to see squirrels racing around. There aren't any here. In fact, there aren't many of the creatures I take for granted. I was talking to my neighbour, Jeff (the weather guy, remember?), and he was telling me how cute some of the critters we have (and NZ doesn't have) are: squirrels, raccoons, porcupines, skunks. Of course, he's only seen pictures of them.

BBQs: We got our new BBQ delivered today. It turns out that if you buy a propane tank to go with it and don't specify that you want one filled with propane, guess what? Right, you get a very big paper weight.

Water sports: So, I had my first sailing lesson about 10 days ago and was not at all prepared clothing-wise.  I actually do have water shoes but they're in a ship somewhere at this point and not where I need them *now*. More importantly, my shirt and pants were not waterproof. By the end of the day, they were certainly well washed though. My next lessons are this Saturday and Sunday and I am now the proud owner of a wetsuit (full coverage) and booties. Yes, booties. I had only ever used that term referring to footwear for babies. It turns out that even cool surfer-dude-salemen selling a middle-aged woman water shoes call them booties. So hey, I have booties (see below) and will wear them with pride.

 

Hill climbing: I discovered last weekend that there is a trail just a few minutes out our back door that leads up one of the many hills around here. It's great for the dogs since they can run around in the tall grass and we don't have to worry about Tatum chasing cars. Climbing to the top of the hill gives such wonderful views of the ocean, city and mountains. I thought our house was pretty high up the hill but from the summit, our place looks like a toy building on the beach. On Sunday, we went for a good hike up there with Pauliina, Andrew, and their dogs, Woof and Phil. Apparently the hill is sometimes occupied by sheep and all four dogs made a wonderful sheep poop discovery (no need to say anything more). Sammy was also proud to have made his own find; as we're walking down the trail, Sammy is running around with a white bone structure in his mouth. According to Andrew, the skull wasn't human (phew). Needless to say, those bones did not come home with us.

That's it for now. Cheers all! 

Beth

 

Camping at home

It's kind of interesting how things that one typically doesn't think too much about, like a cardboard box or a ketchup bottle*, can all-of-a-sudden become a functional part of life, thanks for us to Jon's creativity. Such is the case here as we await our belongings. Last we heard, our things are to arrive in Lyttleton port, close to where we live, on April 11th. The ministry of agriculture will then have a look to make sure we haven't imported anything nasty, and then hopefully not too long after that, we'll be able to replace our cardboard coffee table with a pressed wood one! Ah, the simple pleasures. :)

*unless you're Jon and notice that it isn't Heinz. :)

How I Spent my Winter/Summer/Fall Vacation (Learning a New Life), from Jon

Today marks the three week anniversary of our arrival in New Zealand and there’s a part of life here that’s become reassuringly familiar and another part that reminds us we’re strangers in a new land.

For those of you who know me well, you know I enjoy my routine.  Routine is hard when you don’t have a job (hence the term vacation).   As we settle in, life for me is marked by flurries of activity and periods of waiting/figuring out what to do next.

The daily routine starts with coffee and my routine/addiction to the bean has been improved by our new drip coffee maker.  We now have internet in the house, a huge bonus when you’re a house husband.  Gmail, facebook, espn.com, Stuff (NZ and world news) and fieldhockey.com connect me with my world (yes, my world is a small place).

I see Beth off to the bus stop and then it’s dog walk time.  While driving has been a relatively easy transition, walking the roads has been far more challenging.  To say we live in hill country is a mild understatement.  Life on the mount is filled with narrow winding roads and few sidewalks.  I continually seem to be walking on the wrong side of the road as it pertains to dog management.  Tatum still sees buses as a terrorist threat and is unpredictable as to when she thinks one needs to be attacked so being on the "right" side of the road is key. 

Dog management is one of my major responsibilities.  I’m starting to measure my success as to how the dogs interact with the outside world and we’re making progress.  Down the hill from us is a small park reserve and I got my daily test as to how we’re doing with off-leash adventures.  Will Tatum bolt at distractions unknown?  Will Sammy find something disgusting to dive-bomb into?  How will they make out with new dogs and people?  All good measures of how we are going.

Now that we have a tv and cable (satellite in NZ), I’m learning our new programming.  Most of the programs are American and are from the past season.  Not all of them are network programs.  Homeland is new to us here and is probably the best new show we've found.  Trying to figure out a schedule is another matter completely, especially as it pertains to live sports coverage.  Life without sport was not an option for me, so Sky TV is essential.  However, North American sport and New Zealand sport are quite different.  We have four channels of sport and if you don’t like cricket, rugby or football (soccer) you’re pretty well screwed.  I like football (very good), I’m learning cricket and I have no appreciation of rugby (yet).

When you’re looking to be around the house all day, cricket is the soap opera of sports tv.  It’s on from 10 in the morning until 7 at night as New Zealand and South Africa are currently in a three day test series.  I don’t know that my appreciation of the game could ever compel me to go to a match, but as I said it is compelling background material. 

The highlight of today is we actually get ice hockey on today, San Jose and Nashville.  Live in the US 7pm pacific time Thursday is Friday afternoon here.  Life without the program guide is unimaginable.  You never know what’s going to be on.  Wednesday we had March madness, the first four games, though I haven’t seen it on the schedule since.  Sports Center is on twice a day (unlike the perpetual loop that’s on in the States) and one edition is the American version and the other is Australian.  The Australian version is 80 percent rugby.  Pardon the Interuption is two Australian guys and I don’t appreciate them the same way I do Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, though I don't think Beth equally appreciates Kornheiser and Wilbon at all (she called them the screaming guys back home).

This past Sunday we took a drive out to Akaroa.  It’s probably only 40 kilometers from Mt. Pleasant to Akaroa as the crow flies, but as the crow flies is not how the road goes.  The long and winding road is the understatement of the millennium and there are stretches of the drive where you feel like you’re on a World Rally course.   The trip out was almost 100 kilometers through incredible green hill country.  The two lane road is like a roller coaster and amazingly, there are cyclists with bikes loaded with camping gear making the trek on the same lanes. 

Driving is a good allegory for life for me.  I tend to drive fast, with purpose (a polite way of phrasing it), and with little consideration of those around me.  In America that’s fairly par for the course.  In NZ I am conspicuous in my arrogance at so many levels and am provided with a daily opportunity to work on my serenity/patience.  Life is not a race and I’m not the only person with places to go.  Slower can be better.

On the big news front, I have a job that gets me out of the house.  I’ve taken a job coaching the ladies team at the Selwyn Hockey Club.  It’s not a full time job, but it’s an opportunity to do something I like and definitely helps me learn the culture.  I’m grateful for the work.   The season starts next Sunday and while the team has been strong in the past, I’ve been advised that this season will probably be a rebuilding project.  So am I.

All in all, it’s been a great three weeks.  G’day from Christchurch.

Sammy and Tatum go Kiwi

(We wrote this during our travels but somehow forgot to post it!) What an adventure our little canine kids have had so far! We put them on a flight on Tuesday for LA via Dallas. After 10 hours in their crates they arrived safe and sound. We picked them up at LAX and headed to a nearby hotel for the night. They were exhausted and slept in the big bed with us -- until Tatum's stomach alarm clock went off at 2:30 am. Time for breakfast - one of her 2 favourite times of the day!

At 8:30 am the 4 of us headed off to the pet transporter in LA. The vet checked them out and they were then escorted around LA to get their paperwork finalized with US Dept of Agriculture and other fun places. Meanwhile mom and dad (aka Beth & Jon) took a walk to Manhattan Beach (sorry kids) and enjoyed the day.

Fast forward to 9 pm. We board Air New Zealand, hoping the pups are also on board below us. We thought we might expect to hear Tatum's "dainty little" barks thinking that they could easily penetrate the walls of a jetliner. Thankfully we were wrong.

They were on board and after 16 hours were picked up in Christchurch by the wonderful quarantine folks who took them to their facility outside ChCh. We visited them yesterday and they were *very* happy to see us!!! Hugs, kisses, licks, tailwags, butt wiggles (Sammy, not me) galore.

NZ ministry of agriculture comes out on Monday to check the paperwork that Jon spent 7 months working with the pet transporter to put together. All should go smoothly and then the pups will be able to come "home" with us in a week. (Oh yeah, means we need to get a place. No problem, we're working on that!:)

Evening view from house

Looking out over Pegasus Bay

Settling in

I think it's a sign that we're settling in that I can now understand my students -- at least more so than a few weeks ago. Ah, isn't language a fascinating thing!

We moved into our house last Thursday and are loving it. It has a smallish backyard so not too much upkeep, but big enough for the pups to run around in. And the plants! The hedge is over 20 feet tall so unless Jon plans to invest in some major equipment, I think it is not going to be as trim as the one on Oakland Park. What I really love are all the glass doors and windows which make it very bright and allow for a wonderful view of the bay/ocean. I have a 45 minute bus ride to work but it is so worth it. Besides, I can use that time to blog. ;)

The pups are out of quarantine and you'd never know anything out of the ordinary had happened. In fact, they quite like sleeping in their crates, despite having been in them for almost 2 full days while travelling. We have some wonderful reserves (= parks) near the house so they're enjoying running around. Tatum may even lose the weight she gained while in jail; it's was just so hard to resist that full bowl of kibble just sitting there 24/7!

I learned from some of my colleagues today that kiwis don't talk much about politics (a nice break) but the weather provides lots of fodder for conversation. I noticed this the other day talking to our neighbour, Jeff, who was telling us about places to take the dogs. The reserve by the Old School is great unless there's a southerly, then you should go to Mt Pleasant. But if there's an easterly, well best to avoid that. Of course, when there's a westerly, go anywhere you like. Still figuring this out.

Here are some random things I like:
- everyone says 'thanks' or 'cheers' to the bus driver when they get off
- the university library is opening a wine bar
- my first sailing lesson is this Saturday

Cheers,
Beth

One week in

(Beth reporting) Hard to believe we arrived in Christchurch only a week ago. It seems like yesterday and years ago all at the same time. I think the "years ago" aspect comes from the aspect of familiarity I feel. Flying over, tea with milk was as normal as coffee and cream. Crunchie bars are in the check out line. On the radio, I heard "question period" during parliamentary sessions. Ah, the Commonwealth, how I have missed thee!

That aside, I have been so touched by the friendliness of people. This afternoon I had to keep Jon waiting in the car because the woman in the small shop where I was buying fresh fish was telling me about her friend from NZ who moved to Saskatoon then Ottawa then she married a guy from Washington, DC and is now living there but she left her 18 yr old son in NZ and how could you leave a son that young and move to the US. The salmon was amazing. Tomorrow, the linguistics folks are having a BBQ to welcome us.

Big week ahead. We are moving in to our new house (rented) on Thursday. So far we've been staying in a house provided by the university. The good part is that it is free. On the other hand, I think the owners moved out in the 60's and no redecorating has been done since. Still, it's across the street from the university which has made getting to work very easy. Our new place is a bit outside of the center of town so I'll be taking the bus (good place to do class prep and email!). Fortuitously, it's not far from the ice hockey rink. How did that happen???

It's been very interesting constructing a new infrastructure. Ah, the things we take for granted! This week we got a bank account, credit card, house, and bought: a car, fridge, washer, dryer, coffee maker, toaster over, iron, tivo, kettle, tv, among other things. Fortunately, the university is reimbursing me for some of this. It's been a busy week.

Well that's it for now. Cheers and g'day to you all!
Love,
Beth