At last, more than you wanted to know--

I’m sorry I’ve been so remiss in my blogging…I have been thinking a lot about many friends, and seem to be fitting in with what we hear is a common pattern of being hit by culture shock (I’m calling it culture fatigue. I don’t feel shocked. I feel tired, and a bit confused—is this new? Am I used to this or not? I can spell programme without hesitation, but some little things irritate me. Things breaking. No marshmallows. I can’t seem to understand high school—you stop whenever you feel like it? Mysterious high-stakes exams. You can go to university from 12th or 13th year, or with no particular qualifications other than turning 20) after six months. The last couple of months have been beautiful, weatherwise—actually, a drought, not happy for farmers, but lovely for the rest of us. Sunny, this month peaking at about 25 Celsius, which is about 77 Fahrenheit, and a bit of rain occasionally, for which we are obliged to be grateful. We have done a bit more exploring, thanks to my cousin Suzy’s visit (see pictures), and her stories about her trip to the South Island are making me thirsty for a trip there.

We started classes at the university this week, and so the campus is hopping and it stirs up a bit of that start-of-term excitement, and confusion, since it should be September, but it’s not. I’m starting to get it straight, though. I’m just teaching in the graduate clinical programme this semester, and the students are good, and I think it will be a good year. I’m also planning a new class (“paper”) for next year (meaning July, 2009) on child development, for undergraduates—I have to do various forms and submit them to a “prescription round” so that the paper can go into the catalog (“Calendar”) and can be scheduled (“timetabled”) for next year.

Charlie has started school, too; she started obedience classes last week. They are held in a park near downtown, and there are about 5 or 6 classes going at once. Manford took her last week, as I was in Wellington, but I took her last night. Both times, she was excited at first to meet all the other dogs, but then got scared and overwhelmed—and then she gets stubborn and won’t move, or only moves trying to drag herself (and me) away from the group. I’m wondering if she’s scared of the teacher, actually. Anyway, the teacher does seem very good, and we’re watching from the fringes and getting used to the whole thing. Lots of treats. But not for being scared; we must ignore her when she is scared. Poor Charlie.

Joseph seems happy at school, and has friends who seem like nice kids. He is taking computer programming, design, and JEEP (junior enrichment and extension programme, a kind of gifted sort of thing) for his electives, and seems to be enjoying them. They are going on some mysterious trip that I think is a camping trip of some sort, but we have no information other than having been charged $160 for the “10th year camp,” and seeing a “Y10 OE” on a school calendar. It’s in two weeks, but Joseph is remarkably blasé about knowing nothing about it. We will find out at least 24 hours in advance, I hope.

Emily also seems happy that school has started, and is making some more friends in the neighborhood, which is useful. She finally let us take her training wheels off this week, out of fear of being teased at the school bike day on Friday. The park near us is a great practice ground, and she’s found she can ride just fine. She is going to start violin lessons at school. Any recommendations for ear plugs for the early weeks? Months? Years? And she is still doing cricket, and drama, so is kept busy. A boy in her class gave her a frog this week, so she is very excited to have her own pet. We think he finally ate one of the flies we managed to capture, but I am unsure how long this pet is going to last…

And Manford has been doing a bit of consultation for a local ENT on dizziness patients, and that has been good for him—he’s so good at it, and having a bit of contact with patients, and the puzzle of diagnosis for some of those is a challenge to him. He has also been going bowling (bocce balls) with a neighbor, and seems to be enjoying that. And walking Charlie, and being the house dad, which is great.

I'd better get back to work...
Carrie