Land of Oz

We decided a few years back that we wanted to change our gift giving habits at Christmas time.   After packing containers of STUFF,  throwing away boxes of STUFF and struggling with each move to find places to put STUFF we decided we wanted to make Christmas less about getting.  We want our family to focus on the birth of our Savior, giving to those in need, blessing others around us and creating special memories.   Our poor little tree does look very barren come Christmas Eve.  It's ok though because we are learning you don't wrap experiences and memories in pretty paper to sit under a tree.

You live them.

We headed to AUSTRALIA otherwise known as OZ to those of us in the Southern Hemisphere.  We left Christmas Eve and found ourselves in Melbourne (pronounced "Mel-bun" NOT "Mel-BERN").  We stayed with some lovely friends we met in Fiji a few years ago.  We hosted a NZ trip for them now they were showing us "Melbun." 

Cultural Note: Kiwi's and Aussies are EXTREMELY competitive against each other.  Don't confuse the two, they will be offended.   Let's say you meet a New Zealander in the US and you say, "Oh, are you from Australia?"  They will want nothing more to do with you after that comment.  Same if you call an Aussie a Kiwi.  (CONFESSION: i can rarely tell the difference between an Aussie accent and a Kiwi accent.  If i admit that to my NZ or Australian friends they are both equally appalled i can't hear the revolting difference.) 

We spent a very hot Christmas Eve at Brighton Beach.  

Cultural Note:  Can you tell the difference between a NZ flag and an Aussie flag?  There's only a 1 star difference between the two.

 We learned about the value of beach front property.

Brighton Beach Boxes.  

Adorable little colorfully painted huts lining the beach. No running water or electricity.  A place to store your beach stuff and find some shade.   How much would you pay?! 

(Read about some Crazies here!)

(At $285,000 i am not sure i can legitimately use the adjective adorable anymore. )       

Christmas Day our gracious friends included us in their gigantic family reunion and lunch at the local Lawn Bowls Club.

Next day we headed to the country side.  We were on the lookout for the amazing Australian wildlife.

During our drive out to Flinders we were GIDDY to see kangaroos bound across the road in front of us!  (The only way to possibly capture this on film is to drive the whole trip with my eye glued to the camera.  Not gonna happen!)

i did manage to get a shot of one bounding across a field during a walk. 

We found a Christmas Beetle and various other types of birds and bugs.  We were able to avoid other deadly Aussie animals so we considered that a success.  

Cultural Note:  NZ prides itself on having NO deadly animals, spiders, snakes or plants.  You can walk out in the great outdoors and never worry about being harmed regardless of where you step or what you pick up.  Australia on the other hand is known for their strange and deadly animals and spiders.

     

But the views!

Will she remember this as the Christmas her parents didn't buy her any of the latest toys or the year she stood at the edge of Australia with her Mum?!? 

Next we headed to Sydney and played the part of ultimate tourists.

Friends in Sydney hooked up us up with a sampling of all the local junk food.  

We did it... We sampled Kangaroo meat.  That's how we roll, gotta try the local stuff.  The kids are keen to try anything!  (For those interested it is a gamy tasting meat and doesn't taste at all like chicken.)  i preferred it as a burger rather than on a pizza and honestly i'd choose a camel shwarma over a kangaroo burger any day. 

Cultural Note:  Kangaroos are so common they are considered pests and locals do consume the meat.  If you go camping you may very well run into some at your campground.  Friends of our shared how the cute little 'roos boxed and scratched their kids one summer.

But i mean come on!  How adorable are they?!  

The koala on the other hand completely harmless.

i am not kidding when i say we were tourists.  We saw the platypus, the dugong, the wombat

and the cassowary.  

The only thing missing off my animal bucket list was the adorable  

QUOKKA (see it here) 

(rhymes with the way an Aussie would say Soccer... Socca')

We even caved and took our kids to Tussauds Wax Museum.  We kept telling ourselves, "Memories... Memories we are creating memories for the kids."

 Turns out even the Wax Museum is culturally based.  There were quite a few unrecognizable figures.

The kids actually refused time at the local amusement park.  A little too freaky it seems.

But the again the views...

There are lots of ways to save money as a family.   

Pay $250+ per person to climb the arch of the bridge (which would be very cool) or be frugal like us and pay 13$ to climb the tower to enjoy similar views but less thrills.   

i got to spend my birthday at Bondi Beach.

Bondi Icebergs Swimming Pool

One of the few pools in the world where you should check the daily surf report before swimming.  Pounding surf effects swimming conditions.

Bondi to Coogee Walk

i was treated to a delicious sushi dinner and hand made birthday messages written in soy.  These are sweet and fleeting days!

My mama's heart knows i need to hold tightly to images like these.

This teen guy willingly walked this way with his arm slung over my shoulder for 20 minutes chatting it up.  i am still a bit taller and can still wrestle him to the ground but i know we are just counting down the days until that all changes. 

 Taking in the sights of a different city is exciting and memorable but its the togetherness of ANYTHING that turns it into a remarkable memory.    

Chris and i try to make time for just us but often it is hard to make it work and rarely does it happen on family trips.  BUT how lucky were we to score a babysitter for our kids the night of NYE?!  

Aren't we Sassy Funky Fresh?!   

i mean really!  We get to take a dinner/dance cruise on the Sydney Harbor at New Years Eve! Feeling pretty fabulous and in our prime.  Not at all like an old married couple.  

We mingle, we dance, we meet and befriend other fabulous people from California.  We are TOTALLY relating and having a great time.   Just when we are feeling all fabulous and youthful we find out these very cool people who are SO like us (hear the sarcasm?) have only been married 6 months.  SIX MONTHS!  The only people they know that have been married longer than us are their PARENTS!  Our feeling of youthfulness quickly flies out the window but we are able recover some of our fabulousness when they swiftly mask their shock with, "We would never would have guessed we've been married 18 YEARS!"  Sigh 

We discuss similar service projects we've all done in Mexico.  We ask them how they ended up with the organization they went with.  "Oh, we connected through Facebook."  

Oh, OK....Mark Zuckerberg was still in diapers and the Internet wasn't even INVENTED when WE went to Mexico.

So from here on out we are hoping to cling to Sassy and Funky but thinking Fresh is now a mute point.  

We continued to danced the night away (because we can!) and take in the stunning fireworks show.  We gave in to the fact that we are indeed an older married couple with teen and pre-teen kids

but there is a whole lot of fabulousness to love about that!

Watch Your Mouth

The other day my 10 year old gave me a tutorial on substitute teaching.   i am in the lengthy and expensive process of trying to convince the NZ Ministry of Teaching that my CA teaching credential does indeed deem me fit to substitute RELIEF teach within my children's school.  It is going to cost me about $1000, and endless amounts of paperwork including police clearance from every country we've ever lived in.  (Try getting an Arabic police report in English sent to NZ.  That is a whole other story.)  BUT the point is i figured once i complete THAT portion the teaching would be simple.   Riley doesn't want either of us to be embarrassed by my behavior in her school so she gently reminded me i still haven't mastered the "English" language or culture here.   

Let me just give you a few words i STILL slip up on. 

WARNING:  This post contains more colorful language than previous posts.

1.  The first day in class when a teacher told the 8 year olds to make sure they all bring their "RUBBERS" to class tomorrow.  Straight face she said it... in all seriousness.  No context whatsoever for me to try to figure it out.  

RUBBERS= ERASERS

2.  The day at school when "MUMS" (not MOMS) were talking about the school "GALA."  Naturally, i get all excited and start daydreaming about the prospect of dressing up in formal attire and enjoying a lovely evening out.  Quickly my dreaming turns to confusion when i am told how lucky we are that our class has the TOMBOLA booth and not the hot dog booth at the GALA...????? What?!  

GALA= SCHOOL CARNIVAL with face painting and cotton candy on a Saturday afternoon.

TOMBOLA= i can't even begin to explain.  That deserves a separate post.

3.  i have known even before arriving that we should NOT use the word FANNY-PACK.  FANNY is a word reserved for female anatomy.   Luckily, i really have no use for this word anyways.  However, there are moments of forgetfulness.  Can you imagine the look on New Zealanders' faces when we are chasing Riley playfully around the beach telling her we are going to swat her "little fanny??"

FANNY=VAGINA 

4.  (This is a new one for me.  i like to keep up on the latest in education you know.)  Riley told us we have been using the word "period" all wrong.   "That is it.  No discussion, period."  Wrong use of the term she says.  AND when i am teaching she explains i should not use that word to describe what comes at the end of a sentence.  i am having a hard time following her at this point.  So i ask for clarification.  "You mean the little punctuation dot which ends each sentence that isn't a question mark or exclamation is NOT called a PERIOD??"  

"Yes MUM, instead use the phrase "full stop."  

 i am absolutely sure her little 10 year old mind must be confused so i consult my kiwi friend who has spent time living in the States.  (She is one of the few who doesn't laugh at my English As A Second Language Questions.)  She verifies Riley is indeed correct.  The end of a sentence is followed by a "full stop."  What??

PERIOD= MONTHLY CYCLE FOR A WOMAN, or a SECTION OF CLASS TIME

"."  = FULL STOP

5.  Signs like this plastered all over school.  Seriously... no context...just... MUFTI.  Luckily someone threw me a bone and let me know this means kids don't have to wear their school uniforms that day.

6. i continually want to reprimand kids for their foul mouths.  It is true kiwi kids in general feel free and comfortable using words in front of adults that most kids in the States would reserve only for the playground away from adult ears. However, i find myself wanting to stop them from commenting on others' "ass" or from using the F word when in fact they are keeping the language G rated.

COOL= SWEET AS

GOOFING AROUND = MUCKING AROUND

FRIENDS= MATES

When Kyle first told me he was mucking around with his mates i wanted to wash his mouth out with soap.   Say it out loud and tell me it doesn't sound dodgy??!

i could go on and on but i won't bore you.  Let's just say quite often i am confused about what is being discussed and many times the person i am speaking to looks just as baffled.   You should see the look on those dazed and confused little faces as i try to talk to Riley's friends.  Honestly, they think i am speaking a completely different language.  

SANDALS= JANDALS

SWIMSUIT= TOGS

KETCHUP= TOMATO SAUCE

TRUNK=BOOT

NAPKIN=SERVIETTE

SILVERWARE = CUTLERY

COOKIE= BISCUIT

SNACK= MORNING TEA

Living in another culture is good.  It keeps us humble and teaches us to not take ourselves too seriously.  Trust me we have done a lot of laughing.  Oh the mishaps and stories we could tell of our foolishness and the mistakes we have made even when we think we are all speaking the same language.    

Culturally we are always a little off as well.  We reserved a skating time at the local rink for Kyle's birthday.  He thought roller blading would be a fun way to muck around with his mates.  He invited his friends only to realize skating for boys is considered really lame here.  None of his friends wanted to come and they couldn't understand why he would ever pick such a stupid place to have a party.  Not lame as in... "We are in middle school and too cool for that" but lame as in "only GIRLS roller skate."  Culture here equates skating with figure skating rather than hockey therefore very feminine.    We obviously changed the venue.  

The same month we discovered roller blading is for sissies we also learned costumed ONESIES for the whole family are cool sweet as.   Really!  You can easily find Men, Womens' and Children's Onesies and it is perfectly acceptable to wear them in public when the weather is cool. 

  

   

It's Been Awhile

It's October here which means Spring.  Although the flowers are blooming and the weather is warming, i continue to inwardly long for fall and find myself making homemade versions of pumpkin spice lattes in the morning.  What's a Northern Hemisphere girl to do living in the Southern?  

i have had numerous people ask me why i haven't posted anything on the blog lately.  It seems time has slipped away from me as i had no idea it has been almost a year since i last posted.  Honestly, i have so many thoughts and funny stories to share but i just can't seem to find time to get them out of my head and onto the blog.  i know many people will find this oddly ironic but the reason for my lack of time is because my children have started in the New Zealand school system and i am no longer homeschooling.  Yes, it is possible to have more free time WHILE homeschooling than when the kids are away from you all day.   While homeschooling our days were our own to determine the pace and rhythm.  A pace that let us do whatever we wanted.  Some days it was school work and writing, some days i made them do my housework and other days if we wanted to hop on a boat and explore a neigboring island because it was a beautiful sunny day we could.

Tiritiri Matangi Island a Wildlife Sanctuary which is a 30 minute ferry ride from us

 Which means it is a really cool place to walk around and see nature

Hello kitty rock bows

As of February of this year (which is the beginning of the school year here in NZ) the kids started Year 5 and Year 8 in the NZ school system.  Which let me translate for you... means 4th grade and 7th grade and new time constraints.  Lots of changes for us in the process.  Although the kids were in a school in Dubai it was an American School so although there were 90 different countries represented at their school, it was an American based curriculum.  We understood the structure, terminology and expectations.  However, now we are in a completely different school structure and we have been wading through new waters.

(Oh, and we have a new puppy which also time consuming.  Meet Pippa)

First off all NZ schools have strict uniform policies.  Children are required to wear school specified shoes (more on that later) socks, shirt, and shorts.  Yes, shorts have been the hardest thing for us to adjust to.  No matter the temperature my children are sporting little bare knees.  i often am driving them to school in layers of clothes, my Ugg boots and warming my hands around a steaming mug of coffee.  The temp in my car says 3 degrees and even when we convert it to Fahrenheit,  37 is still too cold to be wearing shorts.  Thankfully they are allowed an extra layer of clothing on top when they get too chilly!

We were told the first week of school there would be a "Powhiri" or welcome assembly.  We later understood this to mean... "Welcome to the great unknown."  

You see The ENTIRE hour long Welcome assembly was spoken in Maori with no translation of any sort.  Maori are the native people of New Zealand and the language would sound similar to what you might hear in Hawaii.  (According to NZ stats though only 20% of Maori can hold a conversation in this language.)   We had absolutely no idea of anything that was said throughout the entire assembly but then neither did the rest of the audience.  The only part that we did understand was the "hongi" or traditional Maori greeting that occurred between the adults leading the ceremony.  The hongi could be considered the island's form of a handshake.  (Even Prince William and Princess Kate embraced a hongi while visiting in NZ)         

Hongi  Photo borrowed from businessevents.newzealand.com

We have been introduced to other terminology besides the few token Maori words, in order to make it through the school year.  "On Purpose Day" at school for Kyle's class means this...

 leaving school for a day to swim, swing and slide

in order to get to know each other better.

i still don't get why it was called "On Purpose Day" but whatever, it was lots of fun!

Riley's classroom isn't traditional.  She learns in a studio.  The picture above is called her Home Base which can serve as an instructional area.  It is a small all glass cubicle of sorts with cushions and benches to sit on.  These rooms then open up to a greater area that connects with 2 other grade levels and a library.  Students can study on the floor, on a cushion, at a table or with a friend.  Wherever it suits them.  They are taught in small groups and whole class lessons rarely happen.

   The larger area where 3 grade levels converge.  Even though i have a background in teaching this whole system is a bit overwhelming.

Schools run on a 4 term system.  That means we will have 9-10 weeks of school and then 2 weeks off.  School starts in February and ends just before Christmas.  Classes run from 9am -3pm with only a morning tea break and a lunch time.  There are also lots of sports day taken throughout the term where students take the day off to SPORT.

 My personal favourite being Surf day where parents can join in.

There is also field hockey, touch rugby, netball, and cross country.

Which by the way brings me to the topic of SHOES!  i have touched on it before but i can't help but revisit this again because after 2 years here, i personally still can't get used to it.  i do find my own children buying into the philosophy though.  SHOES are NOT REQUIRED.   In fact for PE my children are told to take OFF their shoes.

Riley putting on her shoes before she goes HOME from school!

The lost and found drawers at school are filled with SHOES, not hats and sweatshirts.  Pairs and pairs and pairs of shoes.

Cold enough for a jacket layer but still no need for shoes.


And the school cross-country run?  This was the note that came home to prepare us for the day.

Some parents were discussing their disappointment in how kids had to run a portion of the cross country trail on a concrete path instead of muddy trails.  Apparently in the past all cross country events were run shoeless and in muddy slippery terrain.  Although shoes were advisable many kids still ran 4K without.  

My kids did run with shoes but mama had to show them how to remove the mud encrusted mess at the end of the day.  Barefoot sure makes for easier cleanup.

The process of starting school has been a good one.  We are learning to adjust,  appreciate and roll with the differences.   The kids have made lots of new friends and are happy at school.  There are definitely some advantages to a bit more laid back school system.  The whole process has been another reminder that each country is unique and comes with its own culture regardless of my preconceived ideas.  i will be honest that at times i have had to ask dumb questions of my friends, inquire what words mean and show up to events and places completely unprepared because there are enough subtle differences here that make us stand out.  Comments that we add to conversations are sometimes returned with blank stares.  It's keeping us humble and reminding us to laugh at ourselves.  

i will also add it is making an impression on my children.  i am frequently hearing them call me mum and the other day when i picked one child up from school they showed up to my car with NO SHOES!