Oh Noooo...The Mac died.

Ouch. We were posting last night's Thanksgiving entry and the unthinkable happened; the mac died. Everything froze. We rebooted, but then an ominous little question mark folder appeared on the screen. The really scary part was the loud click from deep in the hard drive. I could almost see little gremlins trying to break out of my cute little MacBook. We turned off the power and the clinking continued. We just sat there, not sure whether to laugh or cry.

Ahhhh! Our connection to the world, gone in the click of a mouse. I am so glad that Doug was holding the mouse and I was on the far side of the table. I didn't do it! The bad news is that we may be out of communication for a few days, unless we can sneak into an Internet cafe like now. The good news is we are getting to move into our new home early, Wednesday, 19 December, one week from today and six days before Christmas. Once our stuff arrives we'll have another computer, not to mention all the rest of our stuff.

This week, we'll post as we can. We'll be back daily next week...

Our First Kiwi Thanksgiving...

Thursday, 22 November – & belated Thanksgiving wishes (since we are posting them several weeks late)

Kiwis don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. So, today was a regular school day for both boys and Liam even had cricket practice after school. Both boys shared about what Thanksgiving is with their classes. Liam said his class thought pumpkin pie sounded disgusting.

The first thing I am thankful for is that Colin had a terrific day at school. He said he had two groups of friends that invited him to join their recess games. He was thankful to “have a group of friends to play with and a back up.” I think his teacher had a class talk about including everyone so nobody feels left out. Whatever she did, it worked. Colin has hope again.

No turkey this year because our rental kitchen in not quite equipped for that. We made Chicken Marbella instead. It only takes one dish and we have that. But we had the most luscious pumpkin pie, “creamier than crème brûlée,” according to Doug. A pie that we made from scratch, meaning we started with roasting a pumpkin, no cheating with canned pumpkin because we couldn't find it anywhere! It was sweet with no sugar added. And we also couldn't cheat with a Pillsbury crust. We were extremely proud of our pie. Liam and Colin helped purée the pumpkin, which was much appreciated because we had to purée by hand. No shortcuts this Thanksgiving.

We, of course, made vegetable animals. Anyone who grew up at Thacher in the ‘70s will remember making them under the pepper trees on the Pergola as our parents cooked. We made creations out of candies, like gumdrops and marshmallows, toothpicks, gourds and other veggies. These animal creations became the centerpieces for the Thanksgiving meal. We continue this tradition with our boys for yet another generation. I wonder how many other present and former Thacher fac brats do too?

We had been planning on bringing our animal creations as handmade pets to Pet Day so they could do double duty. But at the last minute we remembered someone at schooling telling us that making artwork out of food was disrespectful to Maori customs. So our animal creations just hung out with us in the shoebox apartment for Thanksgiving.

We send all our Yankee friends and family warm Thanksgiving wishes. We are most thankful for all of you.

Colin is having a rough time

Wednesday, 21 November
Colin just fell apart at dinner. He had been out of sorts since he got home from school. I can’t even remember how the conversation started but with lip quivering, he said, almost in a whisper, “I don’t think I can go on. I just want to give up. I wish there was no recess at school. Recess is supposed to be the most fun time.”

Colin went on to explain that during playtime he asks different groups of kids, usually groups with a boy member of his class, if he can play with them. According to Colin, his classmates are usually willing to include him, but there is a "boss" of the game that is not from his class and doesn't know Colin and the boss says Colin can't play. When he is not allowed to join, Colin says he walks around alone hoping to find someone else looking for a playmate. Sometimes he finds another classmate walking about alone and sometimes he spends the whole recess by himself.

Playtime is very different than at the boys’ old school. There are many more students, a much larger area and the lunch recess period is twice as long. Those are normal adjustments that I expected, and even being the new kid on the block, who gets left out can be part of the normal adjustment. But seeing Colin so distressed breaks my heart and Doug’s too. We have never seen him so stressed and upset, especially about school.

Doug, Colin and I curled up on the couch. We talked about how this time is a big transition and change for all of us and about how we have to be patient making new friends and fitting in, particularly, because school has been in session 11 months for the rest of the students. And, that even though the transition period is normal, it can still feel awful. We talked about what we could do to make this transition time better for Colin. We came up with three top ideas. First, we would try to invite some of Colin’s classmates over to play. Second, we would ask for his teacher’s help and advice, especially about making recess time better. Finally we role-played with each other about how to handle some of the playground situations that Colin has been experiencing. We agreed to talk each day to see if any these new ideas helped Colin. We snuggled a long time at bedtime. I just wanted to hold and love my little guy, which I know won’t solve his troubles on the playground, but it is all I can do tonight.

I feel doubly heartbroken, because Colin has been struggling with this problem for days and he didn’t tell us until tonight. I think he didn’t want to be sad and upset about anything associated with this move to New Zealand. We have been planning and dreaming about this adventure for the last two years, which is a huge chunk of Colin’s life. Several nights ago he came upstairs after he had already gone to bed. He was sobbing. I went and snuggled into his bed with him. I held him close as the gulps for air lessened, the breathing relaxed and deepened and finally he fell back into sleep. In the morning he seemed his normal self and I decided the sobbing had been a bad dream or over-tiredness and general stress from all the new experiences. Now I know to always follow up for details. With Liam all the angst is upfront and verbalized immediately, like his mom. Colin processes completely differently. So much of his processing is internal. He doesn’t like to show what he perceives as weakness. I feel I have to always let him know he can share anything with me and Pop (Doug), that we are here for everything and anything. I have to watch for more subtle signals and this time I missed them. Doug and I will also talk more to the boys about the fact that even though we are excited to be in New Zealand, some parts of this move are challenging and are not always fun. We will all have rough days and homesick moments. We don’t have to be happy about everything, all the time.

After Colin fell asleep, I sent a long email to his teacher asking for her advice and input to help us help Colin navigate this rough patch. We’ll help him find his way, one day at a time.

A few more important Friday events I forgot mention…

Friday, 16 November
Friday was Pet Day at Queenstown Primary School. I have been around schools practically my entire life and have never seen a school event even remotely like this day. I have seen a student bring a cat, a puppy or dog, a turtle and even once in while a horse to school for sharing with friends. At Queenstown Pet Day, the entire study body, six hundred plus students, brings a pet to school. Doug and I walked to the school from the town centre. We peaked in the boys’ classrooms, but classrooms and most of the school was deserted. We walked across campus towards the playing fields and then started to catch glimpses of Pet Day between the buildings. We came to the top of the staircase, looked out over the fields and burst out laughing! It was absolutely over the top! The field was covered with people and animals. There were probably several hundred dogs, loosely segregated into small, medium and large groups. There were also rabbits, mice, guinea pigs, hamsters, lambs and calves. Cats were given a classroom as a quieter inside alternative to help them relax, as if that was possible. Wet Pets too were indoors. We learned that in past years seagulls diving into the tanks and fish bowls caused mayhem and devastation. This year the fish, frogs, tadpoles, lobsters, sea monkeys and little shrimp were safely housed under a roof. I didn't have time to visit the Feathered Friends, but spied them from a distance. I saw an assortment of chickens, chicks, roosters, parrots, ducks, and parakeets all lined on the shady side of the Wet Pet classroom.

All Queenstown school children wear a rainbow assortment of big, brightly colored sun hats that look like inverted tulip blooms. Doug and I scanned the sea of parents, mini Tulips and animals with the vain hope of spotting our own children. There was a table of homemade pets for students to bring a homemade pet, if they didn’t want or didn’t have a live pet. We started there and found Colin’s acrostic poem about our dog, Jolie. We eventually found Liam in the big dog area with his picture and description of Jolie. On the way to find Liam, Colin flew past with a pink tulip-headed friend. Colin looked thrilled to be tearing around virtually unsupervised. His companion said, “Come on Colin. We gotta go.” And, that was all we saw of Colin until after the assembly. Liam toured the animal sights with us for a while. Did I mention that many of the animals were in costume, particularly the dogs and lambs? There was a superman dog and a dog with a huge chain, white t-shirt and dark shades that looked like a gangster pup, or maybe is was Mr. T. The lambs stole my heart, especially the little one sporting a pink scarf, as soft and cuddly as her wooly coat. Her owner had her on a leash; it was a classic case of who’s leading whom? Doug and I sat and watched the children taking their pups through the obstacle course with widely varying levels of success. As I sat by the obstacle course I glanced up to the sky. Paragliders spiraled down towards us and landed on the adjacent field. I wished I had their birds’ eye view of Pet Day. The final event was the dog race. One group of students each with a dog lined up along one edge of the paragliding field and in the middle of the field a second group lined up to face the first group. Someone yelled ready-set-go! The dogs took off. Superman dog with cape streaming lead the pack passed the human finishing line and ran on across the field followed a large number of his fellow racers.

The day concluded with an all school assembly and the presentation of Pet Day awards. All the students clustered together on the lawn for the award ceremony. Most had handed their pets off to parents, but here and there a lamb snuggled next to its child.

How I wish we had bought a camera…

At the end of Pet Day assembly, I walked the boys back to their classrooms to get their school bags. Meanwhile, our house contract went unconditional. Doug received a call from our agent and he authorized our agent to inform the sellers that we removed the conditions of the due diligence. No turning back, we bought a house in Queenstown, our new home.

Good On You, Colin and Liam

15 -16 November
A little aside: After tucking the boys into bed, I headed upstairs to boot up the laptop and log on to Skype. No friends or family are logged on now. My Google home page updates me that the time is 2:30 am on the east coast, 1:30 am in Texas, 12:30 am in Denver, 10:30 pm on the West Coast, and 9:30 pm in Alaska. My brother and I are only an hour apart, but today is his Friday and today is my Saturday. I am sending sleep tight wishes to all of you. While you sleep, I watch the sun lower over a white-capped lake. The shadows slide longer and the landscape softens. Except for the mountain ridges, their jagged edges stand out in high definition, backlit by a pearly and cloud hazed sunset.

Colin and Liam are playing cricket. Colin joined a Milo Have-A-Go programme with one practice each week for wee players, ages six to eight years. Liam is playing in the Junior programme with one practice and one match per week. Both boys, but especially Liam, have to retrain themselves. In both baseball and cricket someone throws a ball and an opposing player bats, but that is the end of the similarities. In cricket the pitcher is called a bowler and he pitches with a running wind up and straight-arm throw. The batter tries to defend the wicket and hit the ball. If the batter hits the ball, he runs between the two wickets to accumulate runs. Okay, I’ve exhausted my knowledge. Liam is working on a blog entry on cricket details.

The players wear whites, white polo shirt and white pants. This is the only time I have ever seen Liam and a group of his peers hanging out all dressed in white. What crazy person chose white uniforms for a sport played by running and skidding on grass? But, I have to admit that looking out across a field of nine and ten year old boys in white polo shirts and pants is definitely cute. From a distance they look so proper and civilized. Up close the grass stains tell a different story.

Doug, Colin and Liam are all fired up about cricket. They all want to learn this new sport and they’re making friends with like-minded people, sports nuts. I suggested cricket could be their enterprise. I love watching the boys play sports, but I was stunned to learn Liam’s games would be three hours. Three hours is a bit past my attention span. I am trying to at least learn the basic objectives of the game. Colin’s practices are just my speed. They last an hour, 10 – 11am on Saturday. They start at a civilized hour and don’t consume a half of day. Given a choice, I like sports that I can participate in with my children, like skiing, especially if the time commitment is big chunk of the day.

Cricket is just another example of Liam and Colin’s pluck. Liam and Colin have no idea how to play cricket, but they are giving it a go. Liam had his first practice on Thursday and his first game the next afternoon.

Here are some photos from the cricket.

Animal Encounters

by Liam and typed verbatim by Carolyn - See photos of rough and final drafts. There are also some photos of rabbits taken by Liam and Colin at the hotel near the Dardanelles in Turkey.

As I thought back over the trip I notest how many animals we met and I decided to write about them.

The first animals we met over were the alley cats in Istandbul. I was pretty crazy to go around a corner and see an alley cat hissing at me.

The next animals we saw were the rabbits outside our hotel. The hotel was near the Dardanelles. Colin and I got some very close up pictures.

The next place we went was Sirice. The animals we met were some turtles and some frogs. I fell in the pond that they were in.

The next place we went was Kabak Natural Life. It was only tents. At Kabak we did not met any animals but they made some noise. The roosters started at one and the donkeys started a four.

After around five hours of hiking we arrived at a place called the Dervish Lodge to meet the flying cat. I got its name because someone threw it onto a sunshade befor our eyes.

The place after that was a place where there are not many animals. Although one night going to our room we found a small dog on the steps.

At Çirali we stayed near a beach. In Çirali we met the biggest dog on the trip. It is call an Anatolian shepherd. The owner said that they can fend off bears. There was one father, one mother and three furry puppys.

In Kale we stayed on a peninsula that you could not access by road. We met a small dog named Upty. He lead us to a castle, got bored and left us at it.

Marmaris was our next and last stop in Turkey. There were no animals at the hotel but ther were some horses tunning on the road as we left.

In Rhodes we stayed in a town named Lindos with not streets. Ther were some small fish in the ocean and there were donkeys carrying people

On the island of crete there were lots of cats running around our room. One of them we named Hermes because he stole milk and the Greek god Hermes stole some cows.

In both Athens and Bankok we did not meet any animals.

The boys get to see their new home

Wednesday, 14 November
Up to now I haven’t really been able to talk about our new home. First, Liam and Colin hadn’t yet seen it, so I didn’t feel it was something all of us could celebrate together. Second, this home is absolutely perfect for our family. Doug and I were hanging out on the couch the other night sharing a bottle of wine and watching the sunset. Doug said, “You know this could be our forever house.” I had actually been thinking the same thoughts but had been afraid to say them aloud. The implications are tremendous. The wild traveling adventure is over and now we are thinking about setting down roots…who knows what will happen. The wanderlust may hit again, especially someday when the boys are off to school. In the meantime, I will have hills to wander on foot or horseback. The boys will have enough space to get lost. Doug can learn to fly fish.

For friends who have stayed with us at our Alma cabin, the house has a reminiscent feel with lots of exposed wood beams and open space, except it is constructed of mud bricks, similar to adobe, which are a meter thick. All the wood in the house is recycled, with wood beams salvaged from dismantled bridges and double doors from an old bank and an old theater. I don’t think there two walls that come together at a right angle, all the walls curve from one space to the next. There is a spring-fed pond outside and the pond water is used in some heat exchange process to heat the house through an in-floor heating system. This is the first house to use this newly developed heating system designed in Auckland from what I’ve been told. Across the pond is a barn for play space and with two stalls that could house an equine friend someday.

The property borders reserve, for US people think National Forest land. The house looks out over the reserve land to Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by dense native bush, including Manuka. The bush reminds me of the chaparral in the hills above Ojai, but darker, taller and denser. There are so many birdcalls, but none that I can recognize yet.

Strangely, New Zealand does not have any native land mammals. All of the land mammals were introduced over the last couple of centuries by European settlers. Without predators, extraordinary bird life developed. We haven’t seen a kiwi in the wild yet. Colin wants to go to the North Island and search for them. We have seen a Kea, an alpine parrot up at Mt. Hutt near Christchurch on a ski trip several years ago. Seeing a big greenish parrot strutting boldly about in the snow made us all laugh. At first we thought it was someone’s pet. Then, we realized there were several hanging around scavenging lunch scraps under the picnic tables.

I have digressed from the house visit. We had a much more successful visit than last week. I brought snacks without nuts, which helped start things off better and nobody vomited. The boys were thrilled to explore their new home. They quickly chose their rooms and found the “secret” mini firewood door next to the fireplace that opens into the laundry room. After a quick look through the house, they headed for the barn. Liam wants to set up his electric train in the loft, where he says it will be safe from people in the house. Then both disappeared down the path to dig in the stream behind the barn, while we talked with the current owner and our realtor.

We are scheduled to close on the house Christmas Eve. We have thought about camping out in our cotton sleep sacks in our new home so that we can wake up there Christmas morning. We probably won’t have movers available until after New Year’s Day, at the earliest. I have even considered renting camping gear at one of the outdoor shops in town. We have to move out of the shoebox apartment before Christmas. None of us wants to take a trip or get a hotel room; we all just want to settle.