My Sister!

Is ENGAGED!!! And is coming to visit me in 4 days! With my other sister!!! How can one contain all the joy!

Gushing

Absolutely gushing. With such joy, such happiness. Holding it all in (for the time being)!

The last few days have been the happiest of my life. Absolutely. I am so lucky. I get my share of dark days... they always say to look for the silver lining in the clouds. But the one I found is so much better..

You may have to click on the photos to see them as they're meant to be seen. Yesterday was a cloudy day, but there was a lining. And it was pink. How beautiful it is to see something like this  - unexpectedly, surprisingly, clearly, and simply. 

Thank you for all your support and loving thoughts and comments. It means everything to me. I miss my family!

Second Aid

Brain a little heavier from the productive day that I've had learning about first aid in NZ. Course complete.

Freshly seared steak, straight from the grill... a slab that is *almost* too big to eat alone. Slightly pink in the middle...rimmed by fat of a perfect thickness. Just the way I like it.

Macaroni and cheese... steaming hot and meltily creamy.  No vegetables.

Hair trimmed, body radiating from the heat of the jacuzzi and cool of the pool. Sparkling clean from a shower.

Splashing from the pool heard in the background. Jazz music soothing the warm summer air.

Surrounded by people from all over the world. People I can talk to if I want. People I can ignore if I want.

Bugs chirping romantically, the sun and the pink clouds now gone, stars suspended in the sky... cars strolling by.

Warm bed with clean sheets waiting for me. Top bunk.

Ice cold beer 2 inches from my hand. Still half full.

Shopping in the morning.

The scenic drive back to Paihia in the afternoon.

IT'S LOVE.

"Mine Eyes Do Not Lie!"

If you dial USA's 911, you get NZ's 111. So what you see is what you get...  You can try to hang on to "the American way" with which you are most comfortable and familiar... but it will only remind you of how far from home and how surrounded by NZ you really are. It is very difficult, very confusing, irritating, and frustrating to learn and realize that every little thing you thought you knew has become strange. Including yourself.

The viscosity of Coke, the number of times a phone rings before you get an answering machine, measurements of temperature and distance, availability of hot water in your washing machine, cost of mascara, time it takes to burn under the sun, number of people who sail and/or farm - are all starkly different. But that's expected. It's the other things - the things you thought were universally IMPORTANT that really aren't, that makes you wonder what has happened to your sanity. Time after time, you are proven wrong. Call it what you will, but it feels like a kick in the face.

*By "you" and "yourself" I mean "me" and "myself," so don't get scared, because obviously I'm surrounded by NZ, and most of you are resting comfortably at home wherever you are. Probably in America.

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble, it's what you know for sure that just ain't so." - Mark Twain

I don't want any trouble. But woooosh, it sure feels like something has been pulled out from under me - and I've been swept off my feet (and not in the good way). Maybe I can come away stronger, wiser, more tolerant. Or decide that I like the differences and stay. But right now, the big differences in the big things make it easy to resent the small differences in the small things. I wish I could get a grip on something, anything, to remember what it feels like to know what I'm doing. But I am grateful that I can't. Because this is why I left the U.S. This is why I'm here. To see, and to find, what's important to me.

I promised I would give an update on some of the things I've been up to. So here you go: I've been volunteering for the local library, selling *gently used* (and also some *beat up* cover-chewed-off, smelly, and sometimes furry) books twice a month and when cruise ships come into town. I've also been helping out with a local/global wildlife project (it's mostly in the brain storming, rough draft, consolidating stage, so it's hard to explain). And I'm currently taking a first aid class with St. John to learn more about NZ's system of Public Health/Safety. And to learn how to save a life the Kiwi way. I did forget to mention - that I'M NOT IN PAIHIA! At this point, I think that's "worth writing home about!" (funny expression that I never heard til I came here, I probably didn't use it right. Especially since I'm posting on my blog and not writing home at all).  I am in Whangarei, until the 2-day class ends. I'm learning that NZ's methods of first aid administration really are different than those of the U.S., and it confuses me. I mean, human life is human life, right? There are tried and true methods, always a "this is why we do things THIS way and not THAT way?" But there must be something else at play here... I don't know what it is.

How can you know who/what to trust if you don't feel you've been well-informed? I'll take as many kicks in the face as it takes to find out.

Even if it means a stiletto in my eye.

Waitangi Weekend: Wakas and Hakas

Lately it has been celebration after celebration here. I'm not complaining, but it is a little exhausting! Anyhow, as a testament to the all-too-unreal feeling that NZ offers, I tried to capture some pieces of the sky to convey how day after day, it's like turning on the TV right when The Simpsons are starting... 

So there was another wedding, and another birthday party. I had my first ride on a motor-bike, nearly peed myself, but now I want one! Weee... (...in more than one sense...if you get my DRIFT...)

The birthday party was a fun celebration, the groom celebrated his 40th the day after he got married...

Don't ask me where that KY came from...

I don't know...what it is :X

See? The sky is always GORGEOUS. I tried to take a snapshot of the stars, but my camera is not high-tech enough. You'll just have to come see for yourself...

Waitangi Day was 6 February. The Waitangi Treaty Grounds is only a short walk away from Paihia... that was pretty fun too.

Interesting garb... Maoris, a backpacker, and a preacher. I sense a joke coming on...

Haka: a ceremonial Maori war dance that involves chanting.

Of course, to maintain enough energy to carry on throughout the festivities, you need food!

What better way to celebrate the indigenous Maori culture than with an American hotdog!

and Korean BBQ!

and sundaes in a watermelon!

YUM

In case you don't really believe that I was there

Where Ngatokimatawhaorua, the world's largest waka (ceremonial Maori canoe) is housed at Hobson's Beach on the Treaty Grounds. It was built for the treaty centennial (that's a 100-year anniversary) in 1940.

More food!!! Seafood chowder... how can one resist?

A cool demonstration on fire-safety by the Fire Department

Yours to choose

So all-in-all I am having a great time. But I'm also anxious to get into the research, projects, volunteering that I've been meaning to dive into. I'll give updates on that another time...

Until then, have a HAPPY SUPERBOWL XLIV, my fellow Americans! Queen Latifah, Carrie Underwood, the Who... plus American Football - big bulky men in tiny tight pants sprawling all over each other in the most appropriate of positions! What's not to like?

Two Birthdays and a Wedding

SORRY it has been SO long since I posted. I will do my best to rectify the let-down and sweaty anticipation with some great photos. As of today, January has come and gone, and as predicted and for the most part, 2010 is off to a great start. So I am due to finally sit down and clue you in on the evolution of this Paihian life.

There were a few birthdays..

cake for Clare

and kake for Karl!

Both delicious...yum! And the longer I stay here, the longer I discover how many of the things I love and cherish come to be connected with other things that I love and cherish. And New Zealand has turned out to present in so many of the equations.

New Zealand + Denny's = JOY!

New Zealand + Viennetta = HAPPINESS!

New Zealand + Disc Golf = FUN!

Over the weekend, I attended one of the most beautiful weddings I've never been invited to. Congratulations to Michele & Karl (not the Karl I know), who wed on January 30, 2010 in beautiful Otehei Bay, on Urupukapuka Island!

The blushing bride, riding in on a Harley!

 ...ready to take the plunge

The bridal boat

Wine stop!

Doesn't really need a caption, does it?

Found it! Kinda looks different in real-life, though.

Everybody... just as they are. Doesn't really get better than that...

... or does it ...???

A thousand oysters are worth a picture! And the FISH... YUM!!!

I would say this picture makes me hungry, but I am still full from this feast 2 days later :)

BEFORE

AFTER

Home-made cake!

 Beautiful Sunset

The wedding party

Their first dance... with many more to come.

Congratulations to this beautiful bride and groom. What a beautiful and fun-filled celebration.

And now it is February. I was supposed to leave Paihia today, but let's not dwell on that ;). What's important is that I am still living, still happy... still in Paihia. Redundant, I know!

So what next? Waitangi Day is coming up. Paihia is right next door to Waitangi, so it should be quite an event.

Waitangi Day commemorates a significant day in the history of New Zealand. It is a public holiday held each year on 6 February to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document, on that date in 1840. 

Superbowl XLIV is also coming up (Feb. 8th here), and so are Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year (both on Feb. 14)! Needless to say (but still choosing to say), I am looking forward to another great month here in the Bay of Islands.

I have met many wonderful people, and many wonderful friends/relatives of wonderful people. They are the ones who make this place truly unique... and I am privileged and humbled because of them!