Three months abroad: What we've been up to lately
- Christine
- Oct 9, 2017
- 5 min read
Though my mother swears, forlornly, that it's been six months since she's seen us, we're actually just completing our first three months in New Zealand.
It's been an incredible time, with lots of learning and growing, exploring and adventuring -- and tons of fun, too! I thought I'd give a quick update of what we've been up to lately and some reflections on our time here so far.
Make new friends but keep the old ones.
Did your mother tell you that growing up? I heard it all the time. Making connections has been a priority for us here, and we're starting to gain a little network to call our own.
The Adorable Girl has done the best of all of us, making friends with some really sweet little girls in her class. Thankfully, their mothers are nice too, and we've had tea and playdates with a few of them. The Adorable Boy made friends with one wild little chunky guy named Walli and a few other little boys from his class. I connected with one of the moms, and we've done tea, met at the playground and even went hiking sans kids one school day. And Shane has lunch nearly every day with his new coworker BFF who likes spicy food as much as he does :)
I'm ever so grateful for the people who have welcomed us and helped us find our footing here. When a mom from the girl's class asked me to tea one day, I could have kissed her on the cheek! I stopped myself -- I didn't want to show her how weird I am right off the bat -- but I was thrilled by the kindness. And I intend to pass it along the next time I encounter someone in a new situation.
Take me out to the ballgame
Last weekend, we got both kids signed up for the New Zealand version of T-ball, called Kiwi Ball. We're super psyched about it. A few of their friends from school play as well, which means we'll get to spend time with their families. And the league itself is run by these nice, funny older fellows who are somewhat thrilled to have Americans in the midst. Baseball is not a big sport here, so it's not often they come across people to talk shop with. Shane can talk baseball all day long -- so he'll fit right in.
Kick some butt
Two of our evenings each week are spent at the local middle school where the girl practices Tae Kwon Do. Since moving, she's had to learn a new version of the martial art as New Zealanders practice a different form than what she did in America. But she's catching on fast and kicking butt these days. It took some time and effort to find a good Tae Kwon Do school, but we love where we landed. It's run by an incredibly nice, talented woman, her husband and daughter. They've gone out of their way to make us feel at home, and I'm grateful for that. The girl and Shane will even be going to an overnight Tae Kwon Do/Harry Potter camp in a few weeks. Girl's mind blown!
Shop like an American
How much would you pay for, say, a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing? $4? $5? What if you'd been craving it for, say, three months and just happened across a bottle of it? Would $9 hold you back? I can tell you it won't -- and that it's worth every penny. Shane found us a grocery store that sells only American brands of food. Kraft Mac n' Cheese, Snickers bars, Cheetos, Trader Joe's salsa -- all kinds of unhealthy things you can't find in the stores here. We spent...oh, a lot of money on the American essentials: Goldfish, mac n' cheese ($39 for a 12 pack, gasp!) and my beloved ranch dressing. Oh so good. The store was weirdly packed with New Zealand natives. I have no idea why someone would pay $7 for a bag of chocolate chip cookies if nostalgia wasn't a factor, but I guess those chewy Chips-ahoys are worth it. :)
Plan an adventure
Hardly a day goes by that we're not out exploring a new playground, a beach, trail or town we've never been to before, and we're only barely scratching the surface of what New Zealand has to offer. I frequently find myself in existential crisis mode after looking at the map of the country we have hanging in our living room. "We're never going to see it all! There's so much more I want to do!" To try to ease my woes, Shane has started planning some travels for us. Next month, we're heading to New Plymouth, a town a few hours south in the foothills of Mount Taranaki (an active volcano; don't tell the boy ;). In April, we will fly to Australia and drive from Sydney to Brisbane. NZ's South Island is still front-and-center on our to-do list but we haven't figured out a way to do that trip quite yet.
Contemplate the future
That sounds a little heady -- but what's really under contemplation is what I'm going to do with my life while in New Zealand. I've applied for some part-time jobs, had a terrible interview for one (that I didn't get, surprise surprise) and have spent some time thinking about what working will look like for me here. Financially, we are OK with Shane working full-time, which gives me a little flexibility to find something that's right for our family. We were drowning at home with both of us full-timing it, so we want to avoid that as much as possible. The school schedule -- with two-week breaks at the end of three terms and a six-week break at the end of the school year -- is just as unfriendly to working families here as in the U.S. So I will need to be on call for kid duty a lot of the time. And I have to say, I'm OK with that. The kids and I have had a lot of fun together on their recent break (I've done my fair share of screaming too, don't get me wrong ;) It's clear that I need my creative outlets and community connections, but maybe not in the form of a 9-5? I realize it's a luxury to even be able to have this discussion with myself, and I'm grateful for that. Any of you got any ideas??
Explore more and more
Oh we've seen some amazing things. The most gorgeous green hills. The moodiest black-sand beaches. Rainbows that stretch across the whole horizon. This place just...man, it's something. This past weekend, we tramped up the Te Henga Walkway to get a birds-eye view of Bethells Beach. Breathtaking. And we checked out the visitor's center for the Waitakere Ranges. Oh the views! I'll share some photos and the video from those recent adventures below. As you can probably tell, this is my favorite part of living in New Zealand, and every day is an opportunity for a new adventure. :)
Comments