The Boys Finally Get a Home!

Thanks to a couple of people, I've realized that I've neglected to really talk about how Evan & Connor are adjusting to life in NZ.

Frankly, I think they're tired of being 'on the road.' It's hard to be 2 and 4 and not have many opportunities to run around like wild Indians when the urge strikes. Our house back in NH was set up so that there wasn't much they could get into and they had plenty of space to roam. They also really enjoyed their time at school (though you wouldn't know it by the way some morning drop-offs went) because they had plenty of outside time. For the past month, it's been other people's houses and hotels, which mean a new set of do's and don't's every few days, as well as limited opportunities to run around outside.

But, now things are looking up for them. After being dragged all over Christchurch for 2 days while Debi & I house hunted, they are happy that we finally found a house that was nice inside, reasonably priced, and with a big fully enclosed yard for them to run around in. Evan was particularly happy about this, though was disappointed when he discovered that we wouldn't be moving in until Friday. He really wants to have a new house--and once we realized that we have one, he began asking about the stuff in the container! I guess he just wants to have something to worry about--I wonder where he gets that from?

That said, having found a place to live means that I can devote more time to them now. Today will at least include a trip to the playground in Hagley Park and possibly even a ride on the tram in Cathedral Square.

They have enjoyed some of the new food experiences, especially the Tim Tams, (and Debi & I have both experienced the 'Tim Tam Slam'). Evan is still learning the difference between chips and crisps--he informed me yesterday that when he gets fish & chips he is going to tell them to give him 'fish and French fries.' They're both going through withdrawals over the loss of Yogos, the various gummy snacks, and Cheeze-Its that they are used to. However, I think that they're quite happy with the Rashuns, which are like cheese and bacon flavored cheese puffs, and Burger Rings, which are similar to Funyuns.

Adjusting to the new time zone has been slower for the boys than it has for us. Being cooped up can't be helping the situation, I'm sure. They've been slowly working toward staying up later and subsequently sleeping later. Last night they were both down at about 8:30 pm and this morning both slept until nearly 6:00 am. I would have thought getting them to sleep later wouldn't be as much of a problem as it is because the sun doesn't come up here until about 7:30 am! (Of course, it is the middle of the winter here!) Hopefully a good run around the park will help them straighten out their eating and sleeping habits!

Overall, I think they are going to do well here. They've been more than just a little wild at times, like when we were looking at houses, and people have been *very, very* patient with them. We were in a restaurant the other day and Connor was having none of it, running off every chance he got. No one looked twice. There we no sideways glances. I don't think anyone really cared. Evan nearly knocked down an old lady on the sidewalk in Chch yesterday, and *she* apologized! I was mortified but she was so nice about it. I think people here expect kids to act like kids, and because they are very non-judgmental, when kids get a little wild they don't seem to really mind. (Reading that, I can see the danger in that kind of attitude, too, but we'll see how it all plays out.)

On another note, I have been taking pictures, but uploading them has proven to be a bit of a challenge because our wireless internet connection here at the hotel isn't quite as reliable as it needs to be to push the pictures across. I expect that once we get settled in to our house, I'll be able to post them, so be patient!

Cheers!

Driving on the wrong side of the road!

I finally took the plunge today, as we needed to get around the city to find a house to rent. Clearly, schlepping around on the bus was not going to work. So I talked to my new best mate, Nigel, who made a couple of calls for me to one of his mates and within 20 minutes Brent from AAA Car Rentals showed up with a car. "I know you're a family man, so I thought you could use the extra in the wagon," he said. When I filled out the rental paperwork, it turned out that the extra space usually came at a premium, but he was cutting me a deal, reducing the usual rental rate by about 20%. We had a nice chat about the beauties of Chch, the cold of the ocean, and the price of real estate.

Nigel must have mentioned that we were renting the car but hoping to buy one by the end of the week, because Brent offered some insight into the NZ car market. Most used cars in NZ come used from Japan, so the models are a little different from what is available in the States. Our rental is a Toyota Carib, which is very much like a Subaru Legacy Wagon. I mentioned to Brent that Debi and I had seen one on the road and it caught our eye. He then told me that if I was interested in it, or any other car, he could make some calls to wholesalers he knows and see what he could find for me.

I admit, every time someone says something like to me, my radar begins to go off and I think, "What's his angle here?" It's that in-born New England suspicion of other people, I guess, which I'm hoping won't take too long to overcome, because the truth is, unless everyone is scamming me, people here really are that nice.

So, without further ado, I was on the road. Driving on the other side of the road really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I simply followed the other cars, and was off. I kept thinking, "Shoulder to the center, shoulder to the center." Fortunately, every time I can to an intersection and had to turn right, which takes you across traffic and to the far side of the perpendicular road, I had another car to follow. This was important, because visualizing the turn makes me think about it ... and thinking about it makes it impossible to do. I found that by simply turning off my brain and letting my auto-pilot drive, I was able to do quite well, and by the time I was back to the hotel, it wasn't all that awkward any more.

However, there was still this little bit of fundamental strangeness to it all, like trying to do something while looking into a mirror. It's the same, but it isn't.

More first impressions

We have been lucky to encounter what Nigel says is a 'north westerly' during our first two days here, so the weather has been unseasonably mild with temperatures in the 70's. However, it has dipped into the 30's at night, and our motel suite is typical of NZ homes--it has no central heating! We have to keep warm by running an electric heater in the living/dining room area, but with the bedroom doors closed it gets a bit chilly! Fortunately, the bathroom has its own heater, and a towel rack that heats the towels.

Our motel is right next to Hagely Park so we did a little exploring yesterday, wandering through part of the park and botanical gardens to burn off a little of the jet lag in the morning. Today we wandered a bit further, heading into the city proper and Cathedral Square to do a little sight-seeing and set up a bank account. True to what I had been told, the bank had a bin of toys to keep the boys occupied while Debi and I set up our accounts. On the advice of the customer service rep who help us, the boys, too, opened bank accounts to get free little toy helicopters!

We also made our first visit to Farmer's, which has nothing to do with farms, farming, or farm products. It's a department store, and I discovered the truth of something else I had been told: things are expensive in New Zealand. A pair of Transformers (the toys, not the electrical device) and a plug adapter (yes, the electrical device) cost me $70NZ ... as the Kiwis would say, most things are rather 'dear.' (But, hey, if I wanted a surfeit of cheap plastic crap from China, I wouldn't have travelled 10,000 kilometers from the nearest Wal-Mart!)

I also made a visit to the Pak'n'Save, which is one of NZ's grocery chains. Their gimmick is that you bag your own groceries, and it has all the charm and interior design of a BJ's club. Again, as I expected, some stuff was more expensive (shampoo, mustard, lunch meat) and other stuff was cheaper (bread, butter, milk, produce, and NZ wine). The bottle of VO-5 cost me $2.79NZD, but the 10 pack of golden kiwi fruit set me back a measly $1.49! Even more remarkable, though, was that it took me about 5 seconds to find a loaf of whole grain bread without any added sugar (or corn syrup, honey, or molasses). Don't get me wrong--there's plenty of junk food, but I didn't need to head to a specialty shop or the 'health food' section to find stuff that wasn't processed and filled with crap.

I've walked quite a few miles in the past 2 days and the only thing I've found that I don't like about NZ is that being a pedestrian means taking your life into your hands. Of course, a Kiwi who I've met on-line tells me that it really is only a problem in the part of the city where we are right now. Go a kilometer or two out of the city center and there aren't any cars, he tells me, and when you ride your bike outside of the city, you have the roads to yourself. However, that doesn't help me right now as I try to figure out which direction the cars are even coming from!

We've been walking because, frankly, I'm scared to death of driving--driving on the other side of the road. I've been sleeping on the other side of the bed, washing from the bottom up, and writing with my right hand to get myself prepared. Maybe this weekend I'll get myself a rental, aim it toward the country side, and have at it. I'll post pictures of the wreck.

We've arrived!

Hello from Christchurch, New Zealand!

A little over 24 hours ago we touched down at Christchurch International Airport, after more than 30 hours of vans, buses, airports, and flights! We had a total of 18 hours of time in the air on three different planes, so I can assure you, I have never been as happy to be out of an airplane as I was yesterday morning!

Our experience was night and day between the US and NZ. Roughly speaking, most of the people we dealt with in the airports were rude and unhelpful at worst and impersonal and business-like at best. The only exceptions were our ticket agent at O'Hare and a couple of the flight attendants on United.

However, once we began encountering Kiwis it was a different world. Everything changed. People were friendly, helpful, outgoing ... really what I was hoping for but couldn't believe was really true. For example, as we were going through customs here in NZ, the customs agents took our luggage carts for us so we could carry Evan and Connor. They were smiling and joking with us and we wrangled the boys, 8 suit cases, 2 car seats, 2 laptop bags, and a backpack of toys! Earlier in the morning, the stewardesses on our flight from Auckland to Chch were apologizing to us because the rules wouldn't let us use Evan's booster seat on the plane ...

Nigel from our hotel came by and picked us up, loaded and unloaded all of our luggage, and had our room ready for us at 8:00 am! One of Debi's on-line friends came to the hotel and brought toys for Evan and Connor, along with a bottle of champagne and snacks for all of us ... every person we have met so far has been remarkably nice. Nigel offered to introduce me to the principal of Christchurch Boys' School. It's been everything that I had hoped, and if the rest of my time here is like the first 24 hours, I don't think I'll ever leave!

Well, that's got to be all for now, since I haven't been able to get connected to the internet at our hotel and Debi's wrangling the boys at the nearby library. Much, much more soon!