Wednesday, August 30, 2006

name our house

We went for the final inspection yesterday, and all was well. Tomorrow we get the key. The seller asked if it would be alright for them to wait until Friday to come get their swingset out of the yard, and that he'd like to say hello and give us a list of who they used as plumber, electrician, etc. in case it's helpful. Very nice of them. They already took one thing away... Most of the houses here have little plaques with Maori or English names on them. (What is it about living at the beach that makes people want to name their homes?) This house had a little brass plate over the arbor that said "Hillcrest." We liked it, but since it's gone, we thought we'd give the house a new name.

So, want to name our house? It's on a hill, overlooks the sea and Kapiti island. Lots of birdsong and a subtropical forest a little ways behind us. We have a couple of ideas but haven't decided for sure.

In the meantime we are open to suggestion from any and all...

Posted by Jessica at 9:29 AM

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Friday, August 25, 2006

anticipation

D is feeling much better. And with the boss back from vacation he should be back to his regular schedule again today.

Yesterday my neatness paid off when my neighbor came by. Now that we're going they're thinking of moving in here if our landlord will have them, so she asked to look through the house... and I had actually made the bed. (The first time I met my neighbor she told me how disappointed she was when she went to her daughter's home and saw an unmade bed.) Everything was nice and presentable. Those of you who know us (well, mostly me as I'm the bigger mess) will know what a huge turn of events this was.

Less than a week now until we sign papers and start painting. Only a little over a week until we move (or 'shift' as everyone calls it here). I'm buzzing with it. Meditation helps you stay in the present moment, not flying off with judgements or obsessing over plans or rehashing old conversations, so that you're able to just be with what is going on right now. Not that we shouldn't ever plan or reflect, but the more I come back to the present the more I see the value in just being here. And right now I can tell that I am impatient and ready to move! I'm living in an imaginary next week sometime getting the furniture moved... I bring myself back. Feet on the linoleum, cool water at the kitchen tap, sea gulls honking a quick succession of cries, and then zoom, I'm up in my head figuring out paint colors. Back and forth like badminton between what's going on now and how I imagine it may go next week. So I guess I get to be present with the mental activity. I rarely like to write about this stuff mostly because I just don't seem to have the words for it, but there we are.

Posted by Jessica at 7:32 AM

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Monday, August 21, 2006

burial of the Maori Queen

Today was the final day of the burial of the Maori Queen who died on August 15. She had been queen for over 40 years. It's dominated the news all day with the images of the coffin being taken downstream after the service and interviews with Maori from all walks of life. There's also footage of her eldest son who will be the next king. The tradition of Maori royalty began in the 1850's as a response to British colonization, as a way to halt the Maori's loss of their land, and also to bring the tribes together.

___

Unfortunately D has had a relapse of that labyrinthitus virus and is sloggin through work anyway since his employer's on vacation this week. Luckily it's not nearly as bad as last time, but he's really dragging. Otherwise all is well, and we're looking forward to our move in two weeks.

Posted by Jessica at 8:09 PM

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Monday, August 14, 2006

random things

Our blog has gotten bogged down in home details lately -- except for D's scintillating post about NZ/AU rivalry. So a couple of (hopefully) more interesting details...

Everywhere we go now it seems someone spots D, because he's made them coffee. People are always saying, "I know you!" at the grocery store, on the street... I find it comforting, as though we're becomming part of the community a little.

Here are a couple of random things I had written elsewhere in reply to "What do you love about NZ?" in no particular order.

Posted by Jessica at 9:21 AM

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Thursday, August 10, 2006

got the house

We got the house and will be moving Sep. 4 (barring death or dismemberment as my friend Andy likes to say). Looking forward to the move and being able to plant what we want in the yard, unpack a little more and put things in drawers. D will be able to walk over to work in the morning if he wants.

Anybody want to fly over and help us move? : )

Posted by Jessica at 11:07 AM

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Friday, August 04, 2006

house

Our offer on the house was accepted, and we're having the building inspector check it out today. That's the last real hurdle, so we may be moving at the end of the month. I had a dream last night that we were in it and the floor collapsed. (Hopefully the builder will not come back and say the floor is made of popsicle sticks.) We love the house and the views to the beach and Kapiti island. And at least everything we own is still boxed up. Not having a lot of stuff has made me a neatnick for the first time in my adult life! When you don't have much lying around it's easy to keep it clean and tidy all the time. Maybe I'll have to play the "to take one thing out of the box you have to pack another thing back up" game for the rest of my life. Then you have one closed off room full of boxes and everything else is a showplace.

Posted by Jessica at 8:00 AM

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Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Across the ditch

Australia and New Zealand have a real sibling rivalry. It is very much like a little brother being overshadowed by a bigger (and warmer and filled with many many deadly animals) brother. Any chance to put one to the Aussies is very welcomed here and I'm sure vice versa. Much like the selfsame situation within families the younger smaller sibling is closer to the mother (in this case England). This being a point of contention in Australia which sometimes uses the phrase South Seas Poms in reference to New Zealand. A "pom" as it was explained to me is originally an Australian term short for "prisoner of mother England". I have since learned that it is actually short for pomegranate through a circuitously odd sort of event that is only understandable by very bored people who live on island nations with high sheep populations. This includes Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand but not Japan which is weird for completely different reasons.
Part of view that Australia maintains is that New Zealand is boring. The other part is that New Zealand is very boring. New Zealand, however, maintains that it is neither boring nor very boring and calls Australia stupid. (Great Britain at this point threatens to turn the car around.) NZ is also a very proud country that will point out any Kiwi involvement in anything. For example, the Dominion Post had an article titled "Tom Cruise picks New Zealand for Blockbuster film." The article talks about Cruise's character Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible mentioning a lake in New Zealand where he vacationed once. .....(yeah I know) And there are constant mentions of any Kiwi actor or actress staring, appearing, (or just walking past) anything overseas. (especially Australian soap operas) New Zealand has evolved on the fringes of British culture since its beginnings in the 1800's so the average Kiwi has a very pioneering spirit. It is similar to the border towns in the Old West that had to make do for themselves with whatever they had available. It is noticable in small details here. One example I noticed was a gate. In the U.S. you go to Home Depot and buy a gate kit with screws and an adjustable spring. Here someone had tied a rope to it and tied the other end to the fence. The middle of the rope had a heavy piece of metal so the weight of the metal would pull the gate back shut. Ingenious. I honestly would have never thought of something like that. I greatly admire anything that I dub MacGyverisms. That is using ordinary objects for extraordinary purposes. This also evident in their 101 uses for pumpkins.
Of course I do find myself pretty happy that NZ is getting Mtv. I never watched it in the states but I do find it oddly comforting to just to know it's available. It is similar to being in the middle of Kraboblestan soaking in the culture when suddenly you find yourself running happily for the first Burger King you find. It just makes you feel a little less on the fringes. I'll have the sheep, Mtv and pumpkin special please.......... with large fries.

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Posted by Darryl at 2:26 PM

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