Not only Christmas, but of course #3 son's birthday... first one back in New Zealand sans husband... and for him sans father... wee bit tricky, wee bit sad, wee bit stressed, but all in all WE HAD A WONDERFUL DAY!
We got up early in the morning and felt weird so both suddenly started to tidy up the living area... once that was done we woke #2 son and got on with the delicate operation of opening pressies.... #2 son blew us away with his awesome gift of 6 seasons of Mythbusters... anyone who knows us three would know that we love that show, so we watched a bit of it on Christmas Day.
The three of us ate Bluebird Chips (crisps, chips, chippies) and dip for breakfast and when we remembered to have lunch it was nearly 3pm... we then made our home made pizza and enjoyed...
The weather outside was delightful, sunny, blue skies, hot weather, sparkling sunshine turning the ocean into the most beautiful sight... actually that view changes every day and is always beautiful. 'sigh'.
Of course we missed our friends in Thailand, of course we missed our small menagerie of beasts too... but life here is pretty lovely, we love each other, we love our sweet new cat, we love the clean air, we love not being covered in sweat all the time....
Next year who knows how we will celebrate Christmas by then? Hopefully, by then we will have found more of who we are here in NZ and will have sussed out new family traditions for our new family life.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and chok dee for the New Year!
Monday 26 December 2011
Monday 19 December 2011
Christmas....
In the past ten years we've had Christmas in New Zealand once! It was all done for us as we were visiting from Thailand... apart from that we've been having our celebrations in a Buddhists country. As you can imagine, not much fuss at all... here in New Zealand every shop has decorations, Christmas music everywhere, stressed people emanating tension where ever you go! In Thailand it was only ever one or two aisles in the supermarket that sold tinsel, fairy lights and Christmas trees and a little music here and there. In Thailand, international schools close for two weeks, Thai schools don't even have Christmas day closed... here in New Zealand it's the Summer holidays so schools are closed for six or seven weeks AND New Zealand kind of closes for one or two! REALLY, TRULY closes... ah well... just another cultural thing to put on the list of shocking!
So... how do we go about Christmas after all this time? I really don't know. We've managed to buy a gingerbread house that only needs assembling and decorating, so that's number two activity on Christmas Day, there's even a competition attached to it, that WE ARE GOING TO WIN!!! Number one activity is to open our presents which are happily sitting under our little second hand Christmas tree, don't feel too sorry for us, it's not a dead tree from someone's 2010 Christmas, it IS a fake one! Then we get to watch DVDs that are wrapped and under said tree, then off to family for an evening bbq dinner.
Next year hopefully we will have truly figured out more of what Christmas really means and have new traditions developing.... I'm thinking GIVING rather than RECEIVING.... loving and laughing and spending time with people who have no-one to spend their time with, we'll see....
Merry Christmas everyone!
So... how do we go about Christmas after all this time? I really don't know. We've managed to buy a gingerbread house that only needs assembling and decorating, so that's number two activity on Christmas Day, there's even a competition attached to it, that WE ARE GOING TO WIN!!! Number one activity is to open our presents which are happily sitting under our little second hand Christmas tree, don't feel too sorry for us, it's not a dead tree from someone's 2010 Christmas, it IS a fake one! Then we get to watch DVDs that are wrapped and under said tree, then off to family for an evening bbq dinner.
Next year hopefully we will have truly figured out more of what Christmas really means and have new traditions developing.... I'm thinking GIVING rather than RECEIVING.... loving and laughing and spending time with people who have no-one to spend their time with, we'll see....
Merry Christmas everyone!
Saturday 10 December 2011
How Come I'm Hot????
Sitting here in New Zealand after years in Thailand and I'M HOT!! I truly do not understand... it's very likely only about 20 degrees here and after getting used to the heat in Thailand 20 degrees was cold! But I'm hot, even sweating. Really cannot figure that out. I think I'd die if I went back to Muan Thai in the hot season now!
That ocean down there just outside my window is actually beginning to look a little more tempting...
That ocean down there just outside my window is actually beginning to look a little more tempting...
Friday 9 December 2011
Nutters on Buses
Firstly, let me tell you I am NOT having a pity party today BUT.... thinking about and missing my friends in Thailand. When you're living in a host country many of your friends end up becoming family. With your own family members so far away the closeness of friends becomes very important.
People have been telling me it takes up to two or so years to re-establish yourself in a new community! I'm hoping, for such an outgoing personas I am, it will take less time. I'm actually a bit jealous (also super duper happy) of how easy it's been for the boys to make friends here. They get to go to school every day, they get to be with people every day, they get have something to do... I get to deal with finances, pay bills, buy food and all that fun stuff! I've joined a choir but had a flu and cold for three weeks as my body gets used to NZ bugs and germs, so haven't be going along to that. (Oh dear, it does sound like a pity party doesn't it?)
For those of you who know me well, you can imagine how much fun I have catching buses everywhere. Most times I take a ride on a bus I end up chatting with someone. There are people from just about every nation of the world in this city and I'm loving it. Yesterday I was reading a newspaper on the bus and the old guy next to me starting talking to me in some language I couldn't understand, I thought he was a nutter, but it turned out that he was from the Ukraine and had just slipped into his native language... occasionally I do that with Thai and thank people or say hello in Thai. Still haven't stopped stooping when walking past people older than me and my hands do still tend to fly up into an unconscious wai every now and then! Yesterday I also met a lady on the bus who gave me her phone number.... we were chatting about our kids and I told her that I needed to buy some wood so middle son (MS) would have something to do in the holidays, she has wood at home, I now have her phone number, she lives around the corner... who knows... perhaps she is a potential new friend?
Nuff for today, out of bed and into life.... :)
People have been telling me it takes up to two or so years to re-establish yourself in a new community! I'm hoping, for such an outgoing personas I am, it will take less time. I'm actually a bit jealous (also super duper happy) of how easy it's been for the boys to make friends here. They get to go to school every day, they get to be with people every day, they get have something to do... I get to deal with finances, pay bills, buy food and all that fun stuff! I've joined a choir but had a flu and cold for three weeks as my body gets used to NZ bugs and germs, so haven't be going along to that. (Oh dear, it does sound like a pity party doesn't it?)
For those of you who know me well, you can imagine how much fun I have catching buses everywhere. Most times I take a ride on a bus I end up chatting with someone. There are people from just about every nation of the world in this city and I'm loving it. Yesterday I was reading a newspaper on the bus and the old guy next to me starting talking to me in some language I couldn't understand, I thought he was a nutter, but it turned out that he was from the Ukraine and had just slipped into his native language... occasionally I do that with Thai and thank people or say hello in Thai. Still haven't stopped stooping when walking past people older than me and my hands do still tend to fly up into an unconscious wai every now and then! Yesterday I also met a lady on the bus who gave me her phone number.... we were chatting about our kids and I told her that I needed to buy some wood so middle son (MS) would have something to do in the holidays, she has wood at home, I now have her phone number, she lives around the corner... who knows... perhaps she is a potential new friend?
Nuff for today, out of bed and into life.... :)
Wednesday 7 December 2011
Job Hunting
Well, after many years of being an at home mother, THEN living in Thailand for ten years, I am now back in the market for a job! I'm working a little with a marketing company and mostly enjoying that... actually tomorrow get to be one of those people in a shop who tries to get you to buy the yummy food I just gave you a free sample of!
But, but, but today I'm working on an application and CV for a part time job teaching school kids about their local environment with a leaning towards conservation... it's based at the local zoo. Those of you who know me would know about my menagerie in Thailand... two cats, one dog, a bunch of budgies, two rabbits, and a snake... I miss them very much as here we're only allowed one cat - imagine all the loving she gets (spoiled brat).
I am terrified!
I know how to write a CV for jobs in Thailand, but, with my slightly battered self esteem, think that I can't possibly write a decent one for here. Why would they possibly want to interview me, or even hire me? Apparently, life experience counts, so I may be ok.... had plenty of experiences! We'll see.
Any and all prayers and/or happy thoughts for me during this time are gladly accepted.
But, but, but today I'm working on an application and CV for a part time job teaching school kids about their local environment with a leaning towards conservation... it's based at the local zoo. Those of you who know me would know about my menagerie in Thailand... two cats, one dog, a bunch of budgies, two rabbits, and a snake... I miss them very much as here we're only allowed one cat - imagine all the loving she gets (spoiled brat).
I am terrified!
I know how to write a CV for jobs in Thailand, but, with my slightly battered self esteem, think that I can't possibly write a decent one for here. Why would they possibly want to interview me, or even hire me? Apparently, life experience counts, so I may be ok.... had plenty of experiences! We'll see.
Any and all prayers and/or happy thoughts for me during this time are gladly accepted.
Tuesday 6 December 2011
Cold in the Rain
Just a quick note today.
Yesterday, I walked in the rain, my jeans got soaked front and back, my rain jacket (ha!) kept my core dry but my arms were pretty wet... and guess what? I WAS COLD! VERY COLD! Guess my next purchase is wet weather gear...
Why is this a significant thing to blog about? In Thailand for a lot of the rainy season the main reason I was wet was due to the humidity, not the rain! I haven't been missing the humidity, but not too sure about this cold, cold rain...
Yesterday, I walked in the rain, my jeans got soaked front and back, my rain jacket (ha!) kept my core dry but my arms were pretty wet... and guess what? I WAS COLD! VERY COLD! Guess my next purchase is wet weather gear...
Why is this a significant thing to blog about? In Thailand for a lot of the rainy season the main reason I was wet was due to the humidity, not the rain! I haven't been missing the humidity, but not too sure about this cold, cold rain...
Monday 5 December 2011
Springtime
Post number two.... :)
My profile pic shows me enjoying my first Spring for nearly a decade. In Thailand we had three seasons... wet and hot, dry and hotter, dry and cooler! Spring in New Zealand is exquisite! The colours, the scents, the clean, clean air (I hope I never take this for granted).
After not seeing my #1 son for nearly a year, he flew down from Auckland for my birthday so I was with all three sons for the weekend.
One of the things about living in another country is losing your kids to your passport country once they are finished with school. It felt like #1 had been banished from Thailand. Of course he hadn't, but he couldn't get a job there without a work permit, university there was very limited in English and he was extremely restless and lonely. Restless as it was definitely time to move on and grow up, lonely cos most his friends had already left for their respective passport countries.
When he left, I was very happy and very sad all at the same time. Happy for him that he was able to go back to New Zealand and enjoy life there, sad for him that he was facing so many issues with repatriation, finding employment and having to make new friends in a new culture. Very strange thing this realising that your culture isn't really your culture... growing up definitely Kiwi in an expat culture only to find out that you're not really a Kiwi anymore!
People here in NZ say that people leave here too and you miss them... I acknowledge that but - here we go with a rant - we have friends in Thailand, England, France, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, China, South America, North America, Canada and of course New Zealand. Doesn't look like much does it? Many of these people have been more than just friends, living in an expat community your friends often become pseudo family... so we actually have family in all these places! Remembering also that when you say USA that that is a huge place and we could indeed write Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, California and so on...
Face Book and other electronic ways of keeping in touch are great, but the reality is we may never see any of these people again. It really hurts at times, other times we feel extremely privileged to know so many wonderful people in so many places! If money ever falls out of the sky we have many countries where we have free places to stay!
Back to Spring.... time for walk, time for inhalation of that clean, clean air... main motivation being desire to lose weight that living back here in this non-Asian country has put upon me!
My profile pic shows me enjoying my first Spring for nearly a decade. In Thailand we had three seasons... wet and hot, dry and hotter, dry and cooler! Spring in New Zealand is exquisite! The colours, the scents, the clean, clean air (I hope I never take this for granted).
After not seeing my #1 son for nearly a year, he flew down from Auckland for my birthday so I was with all three sons for the weekend.
One of the things about living in another country is losing your kids to your passport country once they are finished with school. It felt like #1 had been banished from Thailand. Of course he hadn't, but he couldn't get a job there without a work permit, university there was very limited in English and he was extremely restless and lonely. Restless as it was definitely time to move on and grow up, lonely cos most his friends had already left for their respective passport countries.
When he left, I was very happy and very sad all at the same time. Happy for him that he was able to go back to New Zealand and enjoy life there, sad for him that he was facing so many issues with repatriation, finding employment and having to make new friends in a new culture. Very strange thing this realising that your culture isn't really your culture... growing up definitely Kiwi in an expat culture only to find out that you're not really a Kiwi anymore!
People here in NZ say that people leave here too and you miss them... I acknowledge that but - here we go with a rant - we have friends in Thailand, England, France, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, China, South America, North America, Canada and of course New Zealand. Doesn't look like much does it? Many of these people have been more than just friends, living in an expat community your friends often become pseudo family... so we actually have family in all these places! Remembering also that when you say USA that that is a huge place and we could indeed write Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, California and so on...
Face Book and other electronic ways of keeping in touch are great, but the reality is we may never see any of these people again. It really hurts at times, other times we feel extremely privileged to know so many wonderful people in so many places! If money ever falls out of the sky we have many countries where we have free places to stay!
Back to Spring.... time for walk, time for inhalation of that clean, clean air... main motivation being desire to lose weight that living back here in this non-Asian country has put upon me!
A Blog... Why?
It's the fifth of December 2011 and I'm back in New Zealand after living in Thailand for nearly ten years. Why? Well, the story is very long. It begins a more than a decade ago in Auckland, New Zealand when my husband and I were extremely excited about moving to Thailand with our three sons (yes, My Three Sons...)... they were 5,7 and 9 and eager to move as well.
As I continue this blog I'm sure more of my journey will be revealed. I'm hoping this will be a more than adequate way of processing things that have gone down in my life and also a place for others in the process of moving to a different country and culture or repatriating to join in and share their thoughts, feelings and experiences. I truly believe that if we can share our journeys then we are able to move on in much healthier and exciting ways.
I'm certainly bursting with stories of cultural faux pas committed in Thailand when we first got there, but who would have thought that the list of terrible cultural slips and misunderstandings continues NOW that I'm back in my home country????
After being so hot for so long in Thailand, who would have thought that I'd be sitting here feeling hot in New Zealand? I thought I'd never feel the heat again.
Who would have thought that ice cream could taste so good?
So, here it is, my first blog... I will ramble, my grammar my be terrible at times, I may be boring on occasion, silly every now and then, slightly naughty, perhaps morose, even borderline insane - but I'm sure we will have fun and enjoy sharing.
This is my place of process, it can be yours too, welcome, sawat dii kha, kia ora...
As I continue this blog I'm sure more of my journey will be revealed. I'm hoping this will be a more than adequate way of processing things that have gone down in my life and also a place for others in the process of moving to a different country and culture or repatriating to join in and share their thoughts, feelings and experiences. I truly believe that if we can share our journeys then we are able to move on in much healthier and exciting ways.
I'm certainly bursting with stories of cultural faux pas committed in Thailand when we first got there, but who would have thought that the list of terrible cultural slips and misunderstandings continues NOW that I'm back in my home country????
After being so hot for so long in Thailand, who would have thought that I'd be sitting here feeling hot in New Zealand? I thought I'd never feel the heat again.
Who would have thought that ice cream could taste so good?
So, here it is, my first blog... I will ramble, my grammar my be terrible at times, I may be boring on occasion, silly every now and then, slightly naughty, perhaps morose, even borderline insane - but I'm sure we will have fun and enjoy sharing.
This is my place of process, it can be yours too, welcome, sawat dii kha, kia ora...
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