An International Kitchen

This weekend I will be an American in New Zealand cooking Mexican for Japanese friends. I’m excited J So how did this situation come about?

Well, first of all, Mexican food is hard to come by in New Zealand. That is possibly because there are not many Hispanics here (most of the immigrants here are Asians, Indians or UK-ers), so I suppose in some respects the demand is not what you would expect to find in the US. Because it is not something normally found here, the majority of Kiwis are not familiar with Mexican cuisine. So, regarding my dinner guests, my Japanese friends have never had Mexican food and have been quite keen to try it so we finally settled on a date for this week.

One of my favourite stores in New Plymouth is Piano Works, where they sell all manner of pianos and sheet music. The owner was one of the first people I met when I got to town, and I often drop by to look for something or find out a bit of info on music around town. So when I popped in one day, I was introduced to their new staff member who turned out to be Japanese and we quickly struck up a friendship. She is also a pianist so we did a recital together in September, and have another performance coming up. Through this friend and many trips to the Japanese-owned sushi restaurant in town, I have becomes friends with a couple of the other Japanese ladies in town around our age, but often have opposing work schedules, so we are looking forward to the get-together.

Having always cooked and/or eaten Mexican food, I tend to take it for granted that everyone knows what a fajita is, how to make a quesadilla, or what goes in an enchilada. But in NZ that is not the case. So today at lunch as we were discussing weekend plans I shared excitement over the upcoming dinner plans. This led to questions such as the best uses for tortillas, how to make enchiladas, etc. I was declared to be the resident expert on Mexican cuisine as I was the only one present who grew up with such kitchen delights J

Island Weather

Growing up in the Midwest, I was used to the idea of weather rapidly changing. Thunderstorms, strong winds, still days, sunny, cloudy, rainbows, muggy, humid, tolerable were just a few of the conditions you could expect at a given time throughout the year. I have mentioned before that local Taranakians will say this is the place where you can experience all four seasons in one day. So today I thought I would explore that topic in a bit greater detail.

As a general rule, you can expect Taranaki to be windy, sunny, rainy, beautiful, dreary, hot, chilly, and windy. Yes, I know I said windy more than once. That is because the wind really can be quite strong here. You will also note that I did not mention snow, ice, hail, sleet, muggy, or freezing. After surviving two winters here, I have experienced below freezing temperatures all of twice. Those two time were two mornings in a row when I was up before daylight to get ready for work, during a "cold snap." Alternatively, summer temperatures have in my experience not gotten over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (about 35 degrees Celsius) but who knows what is in store for this summer.

On the worst days, it is damp, cold and rainy. This can be expected during the winter. It rains most days during the winter months and you rarely see the sun. Sadly this means you also rarely see the mountain. If you do want to see it, the best time is around dawn, for some reason that seems to be when there is the least amount of cloud cover around the mountain. Spring and fall vary widely as to temperature and the amount of sunshine you see. But when summer comes to Taranaki, it is worth all the windy and rainy and cold damp grumpy days. The sky will be a clear, bright blue. You can see the mountain, often still with bits of snow on the very top (I climbed it mid-summer last year, there was snow in the crater even then). The ocean is several shades of blue and green and the sun is bright and warm. It is true that the sun is stronger here. Fair-skinned folks like me make a habit of putting on sunscreen every day before leaving the house, and keep it around for further application if outside a lot. A day that gets up around 85 degrees will feel as warm as a day up to 100 degrees in the Midwest, BUT no humidity!! Ok that's stretching it a bit. There is humidity but somehow it is not the muggy oppressive heat that I grew up with. The hardest part of summer here is having to go to work. We are lucky to have a big window in our office where we can see outside. It is not uncommon to see all of us giving the outdoors longing looks most of the day. The community is quite active and there is a plethora of summer outdoor activities to partake in, which makes it easy to get out and enjoy the season.

If you are planning to visit NZ during the summer, you can expect the opportunity try out the beach, surfing, kite-surfing, cricket on the beach, rugby (apparently something you can do all year long, All Blacks beat Australia last night, yay!), soccer, mountain biking, tramping (hiking), mountain and rock climbing, marathons around the mountain (I will be participating in a "round the mountain relay" in the 3 weeks as part of Powerco's team), and many other activities. One activity that I find to be noticeably lacking is baseball/softball. Those of you who know me will acknowledge that I am far from being a star athlete, but I always enjoy a good game. It is just not a kiwi thing though. I have been enthusiastically following the Royals adventure through the playoffs (thanks for the text updates dad!), much to the amusement of my Kiwi friends who fail to completely understand the sport. I have also noticed that beach volleyball is not huge here, but that could be because I have not yet found the right beach for it (again I will point out that I am better sticking to music over sports, so I likely would not play much anyway, it is simply an observation).

If I were to sum up an explanation of Taranaki weather, or really I think New Zealand weather in general, I would say it is milder than that of the Midwest. There are noticeable changes as the seasons come and go, but there are not the temperature and precipitation extremes that Midwesterners experience between summer and winter. I found that in the heart of winter I did miss snow a bit, although I could see the snow-covered mountain from afar which usually worked as a fix, and I will probably get my fill of it while home for Christmas this year. I have found that I do not miss the muggy humid summers, because despite the strength of the sun here, the heat is not so unbearable that you stay inside just to avoid melting. For those of you who are planning your trip here as you read this, I will advise that Taranaki is not the only windy place. Most of the places I have visited claim to be nearly the windiest place in the country.

Hope you have had a fantastic weekend and have a good week coming up.
Here are a couple of pictures just for fun. If you have seen them before, enjoy them again :)

In Whakatane, October 2013

Traveling to the tip of the North Island

Sunset, winter 2013

Flowers in Picton, March 2014

Everday life

In the last few months I seem to have settled into a nice routine of work, music, and local adventures. I have not done much major traveling around New Zealand in quite some time so I do not have as many pictures or new places to share as I did the first few months I was here (not because I have seen everything, just because I have become more grounded in New Plymouth). This means I have the opportunity to share little tidbits about ordinary life that are different in New Zealand than in the US. Do keep in mind that some of what I will say in this post might differ if I were in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, or Dunedin (the 4 large cities in NZ). New Plymouth is a far bigger place than many I have visited, but it is a small city as opposed to something like a major city. For those of you who might be familiar with the area I come from, Clinton or Harrisonville might be reasonable comparisons, although I must say they quite noticeably lack both a gorgeous mountain and the beach J

When you do not own a car, things like the price of gas or the most convenient place to get gas when you are late for work but running on empty tend to not really cross your mind. But since I have recently acquired my very own set of wheels, these are things of which I now take note. Gas around here tends to hover right around $2.15 a liter. I would like to take this opportunity to note that in 15 months time, the lowest I have seen is $2.09 and the highest is $2.25 (within New Plymouth, not the country as a whole). Having grown up with gas prices as moody as the weather, the lack of fluctuation is delightful. However, I still prefer the cost of gas in America, because one gallon is 3.7 liters, which means one gallon of gas costs nearly $8. While we are discussing paying for gas, pay at the pump is not a common find in NZ, but neither is the requirement to pre-pay for your gas. I have now found two gas stations in New Plymouth which have pay at the pump (there are at least 10 stations around town that I know of, probably several more that I have yet to come across), so not a large number. But there is no issue with pumping first and then heading to pay what you owe at any of the non-pay-at-the-pump stations.

It is fairly common knowledge that America has become a nation of convenience. This means drive-through food places and banks and ATMs are easily found in most towns. New Zealand has far fewer drive-thrus and those which I have seen are only food places. I have not yet come across any drive-thru banks or ATMs. In New Plymouth, the only options are Burger King, McDonalds, and the recently re-built KFC (it caught fire about 6 wks ago). There are plenty of ATMs around town, but you have to be willing to get out of your car to get your money (most grocery stores have one, so you can get food with the money you just took out haha). Banks are usually only open Monday through Friday from 9am to 4:30pm so if you need something which cannot be accomplished online or with a phone call, plan your day accordingly.

I have started making a mental list of daily things like this which I find interesting to share. Hopefully it interests you too, because there will likely be more to come. It is a beautiful spring day, warm and sunny with a Taranaki breeze (which means the breeze is a bit strong and still slightly chilly). I am anticipating a week of cabin fever at work as the weather forecast is for sun the next few days J

Back Beach