Thursday 21st – Monday 25th

I’m enjoying my free time over here more than I should; at some point, I will need to return to the working world. Before we left, whenever someone asked what I was going to do and I couldn’t answer, they would kindly say, “Oh, just enjoy yourself!” I imagine everyone who said that was thinking, however, “What a lazy bum. And how spoiled!” I’ve gotten a similar response here in NZ whenever someone asks what it is I do. In the first few weeks, I could at least say, “Oh, we’ve just arrived and are getting settled!” But now, as we are approaching a month, my response is starting to sound weak. And volunteering two days a week does still leave three week days of unemployment. I have found plenty to keep me busy somehow, but I do realize that it is sort of unacceptable to be a “woman of leisure” – you can be a stay-at-home mom, but people don’t relate well to “stay-at-home wives”.

However, let me walk you through one of my very busy days…okay, it isn’t very busy at all, but I’ll take you through it anyway. On Fridays, there is a running club that meets at 9:15 just a few blocks from our apartment; I’d mentioned to Cory on Thursday night that I was thinking about joining the group that next morning. Kindly, Cory pointed out that I don’t actually run anymore. My rationale was that any group that can meet to run at 9:15 on a weekday probably included a lot of retirees and that I could probably keep up with retirees. But I heeded Cory’s gentle warning and chose instead to run a route on my own. Cory was probably right – I made it about 3k – along the beach and the bay. And even had I been 80 years old and retired, my pace was probably slow. So maybe being able to run with the retirees will be a goal for the future.
After such a strenuous morning, I treated myself to lunch. I ordered the fish sandwich at Two Small Fish. I’m pretty sure the owner was the waiter and the chef. Please do not picture a square, breaded, minced fish fillet with tartar sauce on a white bun. Instead, try to taste a fresh, seasoned Dory fillet, on a bed of local rocket (a type of green), displayed on a wholegrain loaf with a parmesan spread, sided by roasted tomatoes. Not bad, not bad.

There was still much to be done that afternoon. When you go for dinner to the home of someone you know well, you assume that you will be able to reciprocate. (As I write that, I realize that we have several friends back in Iowa that are probably rolling their eyes as they read this. Tina and Nate, Jessica and Matt, some day I will cook for you. It just won’t be nearly as good as when you cook for us.) Here, we don’t yet have that reassurance of reciprocation (hey, what if I don’t like these people!?), so you feel a little more guilty throwing yourself on their hospitality. So, other than the requisite bottle of wine, I’ve tried my hand at making afghans. I don’t think New Zealanders realize that afghans are unfamiliar to us Americans. If they did, I assume they would be constantly bragging about how they have a fantastic treat that we do not have. I had one from a bakery and quickly realized I was going to have to learn to make them myself, as I would be unable to afford the habit I have now developed. So I found a recipe and have made two batches. Both batches have gone to couples who have had us over for dinner; if I didn’t take them to our dinner hosts, I would eat them all in a matter of days (or hours). They are a chocolate cookie with crushed corn flakes in the dough, making them pleasantly crunchy and not too sweet, which is good, as you top them with a dollop of chocolate icing. I’m salivating just thinking about them now... So I had to whip these up, which is no quick feat, especially as the recipe is not in cups and teaspoons, but grams, which slows me down considerably.

By the time I had the afghans out of the oven and frosted, it was time to pick Cory up. He was at the private hospital, which is a little further away. He also failed to mention on the phone that he had to run back to the public hospital and check on a few things. (I should have brought a book for all the time I spent sitting in the car). Once we got home, it was time to start on dinner - cheese scones and potato soup for the evening meal. The cheese scones were a success; the soup could use some tweaking. See how being a stay-at-home wife can be busy? :)

Well, after such a busy Friday came the weekend. We went and picked up our bikes on Saturday. I know we’ve commented on how kind people have been, but here are just a few examples of kindnesses… We decided we wanted to buy bikes and Cory’s co-worker immediately sprung into action; in addition to giving Cory lots of tips and pointers about what to look for, he scoped out Trade-Me, a NZ-based website somewhat like Ebay. When he didn’t find anything there, he directed us to his favorite bike shops in town. Then, he loaned us a bike rack for our car so we wouldn’t have to buy one. Then, as were picking our bikes up, I got to talking to the shop owner’s wife, who was manning the counter. Somehow, don’t know how exactly, it came up that we didn’t have recycling at our apartment (she directed me to the drop off site I’d been trying to find), so I was going through garbage bags quickly. For garbage bags, as we have just a tiny bin, I’ve been using plastic shopping bags, so she tucked in some spare ones for us to use at home. In the meantime, the shop owner offered to help Cory put the bikes on the rack. Turned out we needed his help, as the bike frames were much larger in circumference than the rack was set-up to carry. Instead of pushing us to buy a bike rack from him, he went back to his shop, got some thinner material, and helped us wrench the bikes onto the rack. I’m not sure I’m doing justice in trying to explain these little kindnesses, but there, in one silly bike-buying experience, are several examples that we appreciate greatly.

We had other errands to run Saturday, too, including trying to purchase a cell phone for me. The costs of cell phones, in addition to home phones and internet, are a little different. There are very few “unlimited” plans – everything is based on usage and is fairly expensive. In the US, Cory and I had a plan that included our two phones and provided us with more minutes than we ever used; it cost us around 60 bucks. Here, I can do a plan with 60 minutes a month for about 60 bucks; that doesn’t include Cory and it doesn’t include the cost of the phone. To set up a contract, they needed a visa, so I had been waiting on that. Once it arrived, I was looking forward to have a phone; since we are sharing a car, there are times I need to be available for a phone call and don’t really want to be sitting at home. So, visa in hand, I was excited to set up a phone plan. However, I failed the credit check. I don’t know why exactly, but I’m assuming it’s because I simply have no credit. (Hmmm… any chance that not having a job was a factor?Ouch.) Bummer.

That night, we went for dinner at the home of one of Cory’s co-workers and were joined by three other guests as well. We had a delicious dinner, a menu chosen for it’s offering of traditional New Zealand fare – mashed kumara, roast lamb, and braised carrots, served with quince jelly gravy. In addition to stuffing my face, I got to pick the Kiwis’ brains a little bit, in as socially appropriate manner as I could (nothing like peppering your hosts and other dinner guests with a million questions). I was pleased to get the simplest answer to my questions about rugby league and ruby union – these are two different versions of rugby and it seems important to know at least that they are different. Turns out rugby league is what we see played by the All Black and back in the US, while rugby union might be considered a little rougher. Both are big over here. I got all wrapped up in other conversation, though, and forgot to question everyone about netball. It is played only by girls (in skirts) and appears to work a little like 6-on-6 basketball. I’ll keep you posted…

Sunday, we woke to pouring rain, but bravely soldiered on with plans to head to Wai-o-tapu (“sacred waters”), another area of thermal activity. I know, we really can’t get enough of this! It was a great day, starting with viewing Lady Know Geyser in action. From our guide books, I knew that she erupted at 10:15. As we waited in the rain, Cory and I discussed why there would be such a predictable time, based on a 24-hour cycle. We soon had our answer. The guide, right around 10:15, stepped up to the cone from which the geyser erupted. He tossed in some large pellets and proceeded to explain that the biodegradable detergent he had just added to the subterranean cistern caused the surface tension of the cooler water to decrease and allowed the lower, boiling water to steam and erupt. (Or something like that.) The phenomenon of the Lady Knox Geyser was first discovered years ago, when prisoners came to the lake’s edge from a nearby prison camp to wash their clothes. Supposedly, the detergent from their clothes had a similar effect to what we witnessed. Envision that, huh? Casually washing your clothes, chatting with the lads, cursing your luck at being caught in whatever unsavory activity you’d been doing, when…HOLY CRAP!!! I can’t quit picturing the tale of that first eruption.