On Holiday Again (all but Carrie)

Well, the kids finished a week of school--Joseph's a short week of three days, but all seems quite successful, at least comfortwise. We can't really tell academically yet. Emily never seems to know whether they learned anything, and Joseph isn't complaining about no homework, but it was the last week of the term, so we'll see. Joseph still refuses to be photographed in his uniform, but I think he looks very nice. We'll work on him in a couple of weeks when they start again. Emily's teacher said she is doing fine, and has a very loud voice...but she seems to greet her friends happily, and there is a great playground right outside her classroom--next opportunity I will take a picture of it.



It is raining, raining all night last night; we hope it will stop today, as we are supposed to go looking at houses with the kids this time, and also shopping for some essential items like a TV that Joseph can use for his video games. Poor child has gone without for weeks. It is much warmer this morning, though--57 outside now (7 am), and 63 inside--that's a big improvement. I think we've had some of the coldest weather of the year--that's what everyone says--with actual frost a couple of mornings, hovering around freezing, and the houses here are just not really prepared for that. We're adjusting, though, so that it seemed positively stifling when the house got up to 68 yesterday.



More on Kiwi language: We were puzzled by job advertisements for "panel beaters" in the paper, and then saw on a shop sign that they are the people to go to when you smash your car. We've also been enjoying Hokey Pokey ice cream, which is a New Zealand specialty. If you ask the shopkeeper what that is, they will tell you, helpfully, that it is vanilla ice cream with Hokey Pokey. They are puzzled if you don't understand this. You can also buy chocolate covered Hokey Pokey, and Hokey Pokey biscuits (cookies). No dancing required. Hokey Pokey is a kind of crunchy spun sugar candy. On with my tangent, the kids were delighted that I got ice cream (from the supermarket) in four flavors in one container--chocolate chip, lime chip, orange chip, and chewy chocolate. Something for everyone. It takes me a long time to shop, still, because I have to puzzle over all these new products, trying new things and trying to figure out what the kids will like. They do seem to specialize in biscuits here--an ample array of chocolate-covered and chipped items, especially. Not so much variety of cereal. I bought one of those variety packs so we can see what we like, as most of the cereals are unfamiliar. Except for Cheerios--which is a good foundation.



I start work on Monday; the office is big (and pretty empty, and will be for a couple more months) and the people are helpful. I will do some exploring of campus, too, which seems very pleasant--there are several ponds and gardens.



We hear Bush may be visiting New Zealand. Can't get rid of him...

Clockwise/counterclockwise

As best I can tell, water drains (really fast) in a counterclockwise direction. Besides driving on the left side ofy the road another difference to learn is that the off position on wall switches is UP, and that you post letters. We now have a car, three cell phones (none of whch numbers I. have yet learned, but have speed dial), and four library cards. Hmmm, what can we get two of - maybe school uniforms for Joseph. He got pants, shirts, a sweater and swell black shoes and also gym clothes. There is a small, well used library branch nearby. I drove around part of town yesterday, and in time will become less scared, more confident, probably not prettier (though there is a barbershop called barber shop nearby). I will talk to some audiologist next week about part time work. We have looked at several houses - one very pretty one but too small, etc (sort of an Alice in Wonderland, and/or Goldilocks feeling so far). Traditionally Kiwis do a lot of outdoor activities, so houses, especially bedrooms are fairly small in general, but we have found a couple so far that are larger. I have an appt with a physical therapist today, then we go on a quest for a hearing aid shop for new mold tubing and for a tea shop for some good tea and for an elelctronics store for a tv that Joseph can play his video games on, and the bank to get some checks. May all who read this feel as blessed as I do to have such wonderful family and friends. Manford

Into the Second Week (from Carrie)

We realized tonight that we've been here a whole week now, and it has gone by quickly. Today Joseph started school, and he wouldn't let me take his picture in his new uniform, but he looked dashing...I will sneak a picture, or persuade him, soon. He seems relieved, and quite cheerful, after this first day of the bewildering high school schedule. It's the kind of thing that only an adolescent can understand. There are six different types of days, but really they don't go to school on Saturdays, they just rotate the six days through whatever days they have, so there is little rhyme or reason to what sort of day it is. And on most days, there are just five periods of classes, but on day one, there are six, but they only use five. Luckily, there is a "form" (homeroom) period each morning for orientation...they assigned Joseph a buddy this week to help him get to his classes, but he said it wasn't too confusing. He did have to brave the high school horror of changing into gym clothes, but seems unscathed. They did not make him take a shower. Maybe we should...

Emily still seems very pleased with her school, just wanting to be dropped off this morning, like the other kids, rather than walked in. They were doing the limbo under the teacher's umbrella to come out of the classroom when I picked her up yesterday, so it seems a fun place. Amazing how many kids I see at school and elsewhere, barefoot, in spite of the quite chilly weather.

Manford and I looked at houses today, and they were COLD; most were not currently inhabited, and so had no heat on, and it was about 40 at most out. Most do not have central heating. Some have practically no heating. But the realtor assures us we can install central heat through the ceiling. We probably looked at 7 or 8 today, most being a bit small, but two we liked--one practial, one not. The practical one is 3 (long) blocks from Joseph's school (4 from Emily's), and has 3 good-sized bedrooms and two baths (most have only one), as well as a large family room (often they don't have that) that can be closed off as a guest room. It is five minutes from my campus, and two from the branch of the library. The not practical one is in a different neighborhood with older "character" homes--it has four bedrooms, ceilings that look about 12 feet high, and beautiful wood floors and large--not just large for New Zealand--rooms. But it is not nearly as convenient to school and work, and costs more than we want to pay, and would also take quite a bit of upkeep...so probably not. We're just starting to look, anyway.

Tomorrow Manford takes a driving lesson (and I go along to help me learn the arcane rules of the road) and we look at at least one more house. And maybe I'll get a picture of Joseph.

pictures?

We have some pictures and hope this week to put some on this site. It was really cold this am - around 40 Farenheit (metrically I weigh in around 100 kilograms) This will be short. The nearby coffe shop closes Monday and Tuesday. The wine store serves coffee. There is a mailbox there. Joseph and mom bought his school uniforms today - long trousers, socks, shirt, jersy. Downtown for new shoes - have to be black, laced, polishable. He got an advanced classes placement - only has this week, then a two week break. We go with a realtor to look at houses - on the web found one for 1..24 million - may try to negotiate to 500,000 (ha!). I hope to find a nice house near their schools. Will let you know how tomorrowgoes. Thursday (remember, it is 7 hours earlier and a day later vs Kansas) we look at some new construction. We are the proud owners of 3 cell phones, one of which is chargedup and working. Ta ta for now - Manford

Emily's first school day (by Manford)

Emily had her first day of school prior to a two week break starting next week. She heard a lot of stories, and made some new friends, but did not "learn very much." The staff was very friendly - and the children a little shy at first with me but then ok. We got Joseph registered for high school (about 1300 to 1500 students - a big change from a total of less than 300 at Topeka Collegiate). We met with the dean (whoalso teaches science) a friendly man seemingly well liked by the students. I missed much of the details, as had to walk about a block to pick up Emily - I do know he will get uniforms and texts tomorrow - a little overwhelming. Carrie and visited her school - staff warmly welcoming and she starts teaching the second week in July - more on that later. She has a "flash" (cool, neat) flat screen monitor for her office computer. In her mail were two New Yorkers - so that change of address worked. We got two cell phones (one for me, one for Joseph) and Carrie's should arrive by post tomorrow. Calling cards are by far the cheapest way to call the states - about 2 cents/minute, so who knows some early morning when you are sound asleep and I screw up on the time difference between here and there you may hear my dulcet tones if you answer the phone, but probably not. Haere ra (maori for goodbye) for nowl

The Language (from Carrie)

I've been thinking about these subtle differences in the language, and the puzzles it can create. We have set up our bank account at ANZ bank, which we have been referring to among ourselves as "A-N-Z(ee)"--but discovered on actually going there, that this pronunciation causes amusement among New Zealanders, for whom it is "A-N-Zed." I wonder how they sing the alphabet song. I wonder how come we changed it to zee, as I suppose it was originally zed for the American settlers. Most of the differences are easy to follow, as when we must find the proper car park, and buy a tin of tomatoes. Petrol is a bit dear, at 1.56 a litre, but I was very puzzled to be asked, at the grocery store, if I had "fly-buy's." Then we saw ads offering extra fly-buy's with your major purchases, and I finally looked it up on our indispensible source of information, the internet, and signed up for our own fly-buy card, which gives us points when we buy stuff, which we are going to be doing a lot of. Manford likes his coffee "flat white" (I think this is with cream and no sugar), and we were offered some nice biscuits (cookies) with our tea at Meeting this morning, and Emily got milo, which is a drink somewhat akin to hot chocolate. I'm not sure what it is made of, but I think not milo. We're not in Kansas anymore...

why is it?

Why is it that Carrie's voice got a little strident, rather than staying soft and calm as I took my first drive, around our neighborhood? I only ran up on the kerb once, and was at least three inches from cars parked on the street, and moved very slowly and carefully in front of a car turning left. Why is it that bedrooms in the houses we have looked at are a good soze for a single bed. Why is it that many four bedroom houses hoave only one toilet, eat leaslt separate from the bathroom. Why is it thalt the cell phone place closed early Saturday so we have to wait until Monday to get our phones. Enough whyos!!! We had a pretty good day. Still a little sleepy at 7 pm - dark outside by a little alfter slix. Tomorrow is EAmily's first day at school, goes a week then a two week break. The phone book has advice about what to do if there is a flood, tsunami, volcanic eruption and world-wide disease outbreak. People put the clothes dryer outside in the carport in case it' coatches on fiore, I think. I bought some Hush Puppy black slip on schoes yesterday - very flash! Many people here wear black clothes. We finally got the dvd player working, sort of - has many parallel vertical stripes and an odd color. IF you close one eye and look at it from an angle not too bad. My goals this week are to practice driving, find a physician, get my hearing aids cleaned and have a consultatioon with a physical therapist. What are yours, dear reader? Manford

But where do i park? and will the rain stop

next door, completely on the lawn. across the street, the right side wheels on the lawn, the left on the street. And yes, it really rains hard at night, with no thunder or lightning, and without the 80 + mph winds they are having on the south island. We bought a used Honda minivan, called a people mover or MultiPurposeVan here, yesterday - 2000 is its year of birth, like Emily's and it came to New Zealand in 2004 - four doors that open and lose (the rear ones don't slide), gold, with a screen next to the speedometer that periodically flashes a message in Japanese - in Japan it could also serve as a tv! Emily is now enrolled in school and starts Monday. We signed up for cell phones but don't have them yet. We are going shopping at Farmer's, a department store (there is a Woolworth's in town but it is a grocery store). We are dooing o.k. Carrie's Universi;ty has a health club I will join and next week I will see a physical therapist. So long for now!

the house we live in

The house we live in is red brick with white trim. It is one story. Looking at it from the street (Flynn) you see a front with large floor to ceiling windows, shielded inside by long venetian blinds. You enter from doors on either side. The most used entry is on the south, by the narrow driveway. In backthere is a three car garage and a small apartment whose tenant we hoave not oyet met. Coming in the kitchen is on the right, with a gas stove, a wall oven, a built in microwave, a two door fridge and lots of cabinets and drawers, BZeyooond thoe kitcohen is a dining table and the table holding the computer IPam writing this oon. Directly to the north is a large living room wwith a gas fire and a piano and a tv we can't figupre out how to use to watch dvds on. Behind this are a small study and a toilet separate from the bathroom and three bedrooms - the largest has a coset with three doors. It is raining today, quire hard at times - we hope it will stop before we go look for a car this pm. Joseph may go to school next week, and Emily too. We had dinner at the home of a colleague of Carrie's. There was some screaming at various times during the day as we drove around but we never wept! We signed up for cell phones, a free raxor for carrie, one with a super loud ring for me. We bought some swell cheese at a cheese shop, and went to the Warehouse (like K-mart) for sundries and house goods. Next week we start looking at houses. J:et lag was a little better yesterday. Our best to anyone who reads thisl Manford

Day Two (from Carrie's perspective)

We are making progress! The day started well--we were no longer freezing, as we had figured out the house heat, and also the sun came out--it was a beautiful morning. I visited a potential school for Emily, and the kids were playing soccer barefoot at 11:00. A bit big, though (600 students) and we are leaning toward the smaller school we visited last trip, Silverdale, where they have a mixed 2nd/3rd year class (her birthday just missed the cut-off for 3rd year by two days), and they were having pajama day yesterday and did not encourage visitors, but sounded fun...I will visit today.

Driving is still a bit harrowing, between trying to drive on the left, shift with my left hand, and remember the eccentric right-of-way rules. We hope to buy a car today so we can at least eliminate the manual transmission part of the brain overload. Manford is not eager to drive, so we will start with one car.

We are exploring shops, and found a very tempting cake bakery, getting ready for Joseph's half birthday. They even sell half cakes. And a dutch cheese shop with huge hunks of cheese, and a decent Thai place we could walk to if I lose my driving nerve. We signed up for all sorts of complicated phone banking, internet banking, and EFTPOS (debit card) services at the bank, but forgot to get cheques (practicing--wait, practising NZ spelling), so we have to figure out today how we PAY for the car; we've got the money in the account, but may have to visit the bank again to get cheques. Or maybe they do it all electronically here.

Enough. We need to figure out how to get pictures on here. And take some pictures.

Emily's Blog

I'm happy right in the house I'm staying in for now. And I'm gonna have fun in my real house. I can't wait until I get a robopet. I hope you like this. Good-bye.

We Made It

Here we are in Hamilton! After a long, uneventful flight we were greeted by our shuttoe driver - customs was a breeze, and travelled from Auckland airport, starting in the dark around 7 am and were a little later greeted by a great sunrise - gold and pink. Our current house has three bedrooms, a study, a toilet separate from the shower only bath, a nice kitchen, a living room with a tv and a pipano, a sofa, love seat, chairs, and therer is a dining room next to the open counter kitchen. We are beginning to figure out the various appliances - the clothes dryer is by the garage, there is a big fridge and dishwasher, toaster, coffe pot, hot water maker. We are near a thai carry out restaurant. We are a little tired, so that's all for now.

We are in New Zealand at last!

We have arrived! We stopped in California for visits with family and fun in our last days of summer, before getting on a plane Monday night in San Francisco, and waking up (well, kind of waking, if one can wake from the limbo of airplane sleep) on Wednesday in Auckland. We arrived before dawn, and moved amazingly smoothly through immigration and customs, to be greeted by a van driver, who took us to Hamilton. The grown-ups were grateful not to have to drive that first morning, in the dark, seeing the first rush of traffic, though it was mostly going into Auckland, as we headed south. We enjoyed the sunrise and mist settling in the valleys of the rolling hills on the way to Hamilton. We arrived in Hamilton a little after 8, and were greeted at our temporary home by a friend of the owners, John, who was very helpful. Especially in telling us how to turn on the heat, which is not intuitive to ignorant Americans--we are staying, through September, in a typical middle-class New Zealand house: brick, 3 bedrooms, one bath (actually it's a shower), and a complicated patchwork of heat from gas room heaters, a mysterious system in the ceiling or roof or something in bedrooms, and big blankets. John also helped us rent a car and pick it up, though Carrie discovered, not having asked, that it was a manual, which is ok, but adds another dimension of backwardness to the driving experience. Shifting is left-handed, but the clutch is still on the left.

We all fell into bed about seven last night (well, Emily fell asleep during Harry Potter reading, which means she must have been REALLY tired), and most of us woke before dawn today, Thursday. Joseph is still asleep. We got to the store yesterday, so we have crumpets and tea, and other staples, like tasty cheddar (aka sharp cheddar).

Today, we will get cell phones, visit Emily's possible new school, maybe shop for some warm slippers, scout out some car options, and have dinner with Doug Boer, the director of the clinical program at the University. And charge up the camera battery and figure out how to get the pictures onto this blog, which is here thanks to Manford. Not really very exciting so far, but excitement at this point might be dangerous.