Wearable Arts

Before I get to the subject of this weeks thread, apologies for no post last week. I have a bad back you see, last week it was unbearable and I couldn't be bothered to do anything (still had to work of course, the joys of self-employment). I wont bore you with back pain details, anyone who suffers knows what I am talking about. I am trying the latest course of action (I have tried many) and am following a Pilates method, which involves holding stomach muscles in all the time to support the back, and you know what, it seems to be helping.

Any way for the last month or so Georgia's school has been spending a lot of time on a thing called "Wearable Arts". This is where each class has a theme and makes costumes to wear which are "artistic" in nature, hence the name. I do wonder whether these projects take up too much school time, shouldn't the little dears be working out the area of triangles and such? But the reality is I feel these projects are very worthwhile. The school held a performance of their creations last Wednesday night, and I have to say it was very good. From 5 year olds up to 11, all on a proper stage with light shows and music, in front of 700 people and no mistakes. What these projects achieve is the creation of teamwork in the design and making of the costumes and confidence in performing on a stage in front of so many people, skills which will hold them in great stead for their life ahead, and whats more they actually enjoy going to school. I just wish my school days had been so much fun with opportunities to shine. Georgia's class did a performance based around the mobile phone, it was excellent and the performance started with a film which was directed, filmed and edited by Georgia (she has a talent for that kind of thing). What you do find in NZ is that the kids are confident and articulate but their knowledge of the big wide world is sorely lacking. Georgia was doing a project on Julius Caesar and none of the other kids had heard of him and only one had any idea who the Romans were. I will go now, it is school holiday time and we are busy, and I still can't be bothered and my back still aches and .......

Take things for granted

You know when I say this phrase in my head I wonder if it actually means what I think it means, say it a few times to yourself and you will wonder the same. But in this instance I want to talk about those things around me, the things I see everyday but that have now become familiar and everyday, yet the first time I came here they filled me with awe. I bring this up now because last week I had a walk up the Mount. It must be a year or more since I have been up, and that is the crazy thing, our cafe is in spitting distance of the Mount, I look at it everyday and yet I so rarely walk up it. The thing is, when you walk up the Mount you are in another world, a world of strange contrasts, you could be in the Lake District or the Greek Islands or the Bush, the scenery changes with each step. When you reach the top you are out of breath but exhilarated, the views........The Maori revere the Mount as a place of Earth power, and you can feel it, open your mind and a clarity of thought flows through you.

It is also a place of extreme sports, from rock climbing, paragliding and sheep worrying. There are plenty of opportunities to fall on your backside and if you are feeling suicidal you couldn't pick a nicer cliff to throw yourself off.

I really think I should do more to re-explore the awe inspiring visual experiences that are on offer here, I will just have to make the time, and get out of the rut that I have slipped into. To this end I went to Hobbiton (Matamata) on Tuesday, not much there but the drive over the Kaimai range made the trip worthwhile. We then popped into Cambridge and got back just in time to pick Georgia up from school. A good day, away from the routine, that left me refreshed with a few ideas buzzing in my head. I will have to do a few more little trips before the summer season starts as I don't see the sun again for 6 weeks.

I will now spend some time uploading some photos, I have just seen a new icon on the toolbar that says I can add a video, (or has it always been there?) so I will give that a bash as well. (gave it a bash but got sick of waiting for it to upload)

p.s. just gone to the preview page an it says video has uploaded 29m 0f 59m so I will go have a cup of coffee and come back later and see what happens before I hit the cancel button.

Homesick?

So what is homesickness? I ask this question because it has come up in our expat discussion group (a bunch of drunks in the pub) and in one to one counselling situations (a cup of coffee at the cafe). I have come to the conclusion that it means different things to different people. From my point of view I have not felt any desire to return to the UK and I miss nothing. It is easy to have a nostalgic view of the UK, I have had some fantastic times with some great friends, but those days ended long before I came out here. In fact those days ended when Georgia was born. From being involved in our local bike club in a big way with great friends, we have a kid and become instant lepers. It is a fact of life that you only have friends for that period of time when you all share the same interests. So for me the break from close friendships was already made. Our lifestyle of weekend bike rallies and European trips was also at an end. We had become Mum and Dad and with that new responsibilities. It is hard to put away your childish ways, but a fundamental change takes place within your Psyche when you become a dad, and the desire to party loses its appeal. I enjoy being a dad and do the best I can. Georgia has seen things and done things in her 11 years of life that I would only have dreamed about at her age, and I know for certain that life for her in NZ is, and will be better than the UK. So if I ever think back to those wild exciting days and whimper, all I have to do is look at Georgia and the "dad thing" overrides all else. So for me homesickness is illusory, it is nostalgia for a time in my life that had had its day anyway. Having said that when things are hard it is easy to look back at those happy times and wish you were there.
So that is my angle, but for other people it seems quite different. Here are few of the points that people have made as they define what homesickness means to them. No family and friends support structure is there for you to moan to, to entertain you when you feel bored and unmotivated. Those places that you felt comfortable in, are gone. The familiar things from sports teams to Favourite TV programs, all different. The more stressed you feel the more importance you give to these things, and there is no doubt that starting a new life here is full of stress, and there are no happy memories (but happy times)here to give you comfort (when you look back in a few years time, you will see happy memories, but for now your mind will drag you back to the UK).
I feel life here is like a jigsaw, all the pieces are here, but they don't all quite fit yet. But what I do feel, is that you need to understand that you are a pioneer in a new country, you are starting a new family line, it is time to let go of the apron strings and to come to the fore as a truly independent person, with this realisation you will grow strong and confident and look forward not backward. (It's still alright to miss your mum though).

Lunar Eclipse

It was chilly on Tuesday night but it was well worth being outside to watch the eclipse. The skies cleared just in time for the main action and come 10pm there was a full eclipse and a bronze coloured moon. I have to say I don't remember ever having seen such an interesting event (but saying that I don't remember much these days, listen kids, when adults say that alcohol destroys brain cells, BELIEVE them. Those chickens have come home to roost.) What was I going to say next errr....

Any way changing the subject our friends are selling their house and I have done a virtual tour for them, so if you would like to look round a $450,000 house which is a pretty typical one for this area go to http://thevirtualviewcompany.com/5putakaplace. The tour takes just a few moments to load in, as long as you have a broadband connection. Short and sweet this week as I seem to have a lot of work to do at the moment.

Clean and Green?

I love the unspoilt beauty of NZ, there is contrast every where. Where we live there is of course the beach with the off shore islands, and the hills are but 15 mins drive away. Everything that has been untouched by man has a magnetic power, it draws you and holds you, your senses are overcome by the magnificence of it all. That said of course, what man has touched is at its best unsympathetic to the beauty of the surroundings.
There has always been a practical side to builders of a European origin, a kind of "I need a building to put tractors in, I've got some corrugated iron, it might be a bit rusty, but will do the job nicely." It is just a pity that said structure is next to, and draws the eye from some natural beauty. Now to the clean and green title. Litter has been discussed in the local paper, it is a growing problem, but nothing compared to the UK. What has been of concern to us, is stinging eyes. You can be driving along and suddenly your eyes are stinging and watering, and can be so bad that you have to pull over. This phenomenon seems to coincide with the spraying of Kiwi fruit. A little investigation on the Internet and low and behold, NZ allows Kiwi fruit growers to continue to use insecticides that are banned in other parts of the world. I tried not to look too hard for the effects of these sprays as I don't think I can do a lot about it, but they look prime candidates for the stinging eyes. I think I will look on EBay for a chemical warfare suit and practise holding my breath for 2 months at a time instead.

There is a natural irritant around at the moment. It is a fine yellow dust, which is in fact pollen that blows off the pine trees that inhabit Matakana Island. It causes a lot of sneezing in our household, and makes a mess on the car, but that seems to be it.
As I am talking about stinging eyes, it reminds me. I am a great fan of Natural remedies as they really seem to work, with no side effects, so as I find useful ones I will pass my findings along. If you have an eye infection, put some "colloidal silver" into it, you get instant relief and the infection disappears in 3 days, and with that tip of the day I will leave you for another week.

New Arrivals

It is always nice when you have been chatting to people via e-mail in England and then they pop in the cafe a couple of months later for a pizza and a chat. Such was the case on Monday night when Cath and family came in. Cath had found our website and we answered some questions, and now she is here and like us is another resident of "pommymoa" (papamoa). They visited an estate agent who helped them find rental accommodation, but like all the desperate agents out here, the old dollar signs fill their eyes when they realise you are a newly arrived Pom. Yes they think you have arrived with bucket fulls of cash and will only be to happy to sell you an over priced house with a 10.7% mortgage, they like to strike quick before the jet lag has worn off. They will be your best friend, maybe show you around, offer to take you fishing on their boat, by, what friendly helpful people these Kiwis are you may think. But sign on the dotted line and bye bye new friend, hello huge debt and over priced house. Renting really is the best option when you arrive, there are loads of nice houses to be had. When you have been here a while, found your feet, decided where you really want to live, be it the coast or countryside, seen were the real estate market is going price wise, then you might think about buying. If you have the money to buy outright, great, but do you really want to pay for your house four times over on a 25 year mortgage? Cath is renting and has already noted the price difference between coastal and country living. You can get a house with acres of land 10-15 miles inland for half the money of a coastal bungalow.
It is a grim time for selling houses at the moment. There were around 60 houses sold in the Mount/Papamoa area last month and there are over a 100 real estate agents operating from 12 offices chasing those sales. A lot of the agents are part time, few are very professional some are a joke. They charge around 4% of the house selling price so you will see that some will make money, some dream of making money but with those high charges the growth in private house sellers is increasing each year. There are no worries about buying privately, just get a survey on the house and a solicitor (they cost about $600 for the sale). So if you are arriving and looking to buy, take your time, and buy what you want, not what some slippery estate agent wants to sell you. As a final note, I know four estate agents personally and have dealt with several others, with this point in mind I think I have been very kind with my thoughts on them.

Customer Service?

Just a bit of a follow up to my last post here and then on to the topic in hand. At the gym I go to , I catch a bit of an "infotainmment" program called Sky "News". A bit of digression here first. I am not by any means a fitness freak but there comes a point in your life when you look in the mirror each morning, and you begin to wonder who the old guy is, that is staring back at you. I tried shuffling round a bit and if you catch the light just right you can improve the look of things, but when parts of your body begin to sag, it is time to do something about it. So I have got into the routine of dropping Georgia at school and then calling into the gym for 20 minutes graft on an elliptical trainer. After 4 weeks you will be pleased to hear that my nipples have now removed themselves from under my armpits and are making their way back to their starting position in life. While on the subject of getting older, how come I am losing the hair on my head, but it is growing on my feet! What's the story here, you get old and turn into a Werewolf? Any way in the last post I mentioned about the pharmaceutical companies and by sheer coincidence the next day Sky News invited a doctor on to the show to talk about the asthma drug "Symbicort" which has just been made available on prescription in Australia. The news presenter did not ask one serious question, like are there any side effects, is there any advantage over the current drugs, how much is it costing the Health Service. Instead it just ran like a commercial, with the presenter and doctor agreeing how lucky we all are that such clever doctors like himself have developed this wonderful drug that is now available to everyone. By the way the side effects are:

• Common side effects
  mild irritation in the throat, coughing, hoarseness, thrush (fungal infection in mouth and throat)headache, trembling, rapid heartbeat
• Less common side effects
  sleep difficulties restlessness, nervousness and anxiety dizziness, sickness, muscle cramps
• Rare side effects
  skin rash and bruising, itching, spasm in the airways, depression, behavioural disturbances, facial swelling, high blood sugar levels, chest pain, irregular heartbeats

To get on to the thread of this weeks post. I went into the local newspaper office this week thinking I could get an advertising rate card. Now not a big ask you might say, but the woman behind the desk informed me that they do not give out that kind of information. I must have had a blank expression on my face which the woman must have assumed meant I was stupid, because that is how she treated me. I rephrased the question and got the same answer. I asked how people are supposed to know how much their advert is going to cost them. The reply was that if you have an idea of the type of advert you want, that they can give you a rough idea but not a definite price, I said I knew roughly what I wanted, but I must have used up my quota of time as the woman turned away and restarted her conversation with her colleague. It is a fact of life in NZ that customer service is poor in most places, with untrained staff that really don't care and get shirty if you show signs of frustration. The worst is the retailer Dick Smiths, They have some good buys but you have to know all about the product you want before you go in. I asked once for some information and got the response "I don't know" I asked again in a different way and got the response "what I am saying to you is, I don't know" with an edgy tone, I asked if there was any one in the store that would know? "I don't know" came the reply and off he went. I could go on with more examples but I don't want to bore you. Just expect untrained, unmotivated, unhelpful customer service and you wont be disappointed.