Christmas Parade

I moved here in 2013 and have spent 3 of 4 Christmases here, but a summer Christmas still feels strange. Warm weather, fireworks for Guy Fawkes, and cooking outside on the BBQ all feel more reminiscent of the 4th of July than Christmas. But there is a noticeable presence of lights, Santas, and other festive cheer. So this weekend, we decided to participate in the season and headed into town for the annual Lions Club Christmas Parade.

This was the first parade I attended in New Zealand, and only the second in a foreign country (the first was for a major holiday in Japan, although I cannot recall which holiday...). For a parade put on with likely minimal sponsorship and largely volunteer efforts, it did not disappoint. I think my favorites were the bagpipes, the marching New Plymouth Brass, and the classic cars :)

Taranaki Bulls won the Ranfurly Shield this year!

Wearable Arts creations

I found Rudolph!

Apparently Harold the Giraffe has his own TV show....

New Plymouth Brass

Stranger in a foreign land?

The life of an ex-pat is always an interesting one. People from each country I have lived in has a different reaction to foreigners, in my experience at least. However, the time spent getting to know the locals and attempting to learn the culture, language, etc. is always a worthwhile journey that leads to breaking through barriers and perceptions on both sides.

The challenge of being able to “blend in” is one that I have always attempted to overcome in some ways, although it has always been more about learning proper cultural things rather than trying to hide my American-ness. In Japan I always knew there was no hope of “blending in” because I was on the tall side of average height for women, and am just a bit too white to not stand out! In Austria I found that once I went shopping and had a more European wardrobe, I was less obviously American as long as I did not try to speak German! However, on that note, my flatmate and I had a funny interaction our first week there when we tried to ask the lady at the supermarket which box was laundry detergent. She knew no English and neither of us could remember how to say laundry or wash or clothes in German! Sign language it was J

New Zealand has perhaps been the easiest country to “fit in” as I feel as if I do not stick out as much. However, there is an ongoing discussion of who has an accent J People from home tell me that I have been here long enough to absorb some of the Kiwi accent. People here who have known me most of the time I have lived here will acknowledge that while I still do have an accent, it has mellowed. Yours truly cannot tell any difference in her accent, but is aware vocabulary has changed a bit, as I have adjusted to local vernacular. As my accent has changed, I’ve noticed folks here cannot always determine where I am from. I have recently been amused with some of the guesses as to what it might be, which include Irish, German, Canadian and somewhere North Americanish.

Setting aside the accent, one of the coolest things about living overseas is learning about the differences in everyday life. One of my personal favorites is the work culture here, where four weeks of vacation is the norm. Sick days are also the norm. This makes for a much better work/life balance I believe.  On the other side of that, my favorite thing to introduce Kiwis to is biscuits and gravy. The first time you mention it to one who is unaware of this delicious creation, they get this lovely mental picture of some kind of cookie covered in brown roast gravy. Not quite so yummy haha! However, I must say all that have tried it have been impressed with how tasty it is! I have even shared the recipe a few times.

Being from the Midwest, once it is established that I am in fact American, the next question is what part of America. If I say Missouri, they say “oh…. I think I’ve heard of that…” If I say Kansas City, the response is usually “I’ve heard of Kansas!” Oh well J

Hope you are having a good week. We are looking forward to a sunny weekend here!

Labor Weekend at Lake Taupo

The stretch from Queens Birthday at the beginning of June to Labor Day at the end of October is always a long one because there are no holidays, it rains almost incessantly, and the damp cold feels as if it is going to cling to you and the house for ever. Not to mention it is an ongoing battle to get towels and jeans dry if you do not want to go to the laundromat to dry them (it is not common to have a dryer in the house here), and even people on an office worker schedule can find themselves going to the dark and coming home in the dark because on the dreariest of days it may not seem fully daylight until 9am!

However, I am pleased to report we have emerged into spring! I have flowers on the table that I picked from the garden, and my seeds for jalapenos, bell peppers and some herbs are coming up so I am feeling successful with my green thumb this year.

Since the weather has thwarted our plans to leave Taranaki several times this year (hurricanes, slips closing the road, gale-force winds that could blow you off the mountain road), we decided that Labor Day weekend was our chance to get away. Lake Taupo is a nice 3.5 hour drive away, with plenty of relaxation or activity once you get there.

We opted for relaxation, in part because it turned out to only be sunny the day we were driving there. Lots of time spent in coffee shops, art in the park and perusing some local art galleries, and a lovely stroll through the Taupo Botanical Gardens allowed for a nice relaxing weekend away. I found the botanical garden to be an impressive setting, as the front gate advised it is totally volunteer run.

Mt Ruapehu in the distance

Voted New Zealand's coolest McDonald's

The Lazy Trout restaurant

Newsy Update

Well, life has been busy and it seems to have turned me into a once-a-month blogger, oops. My intention has always been to post at least twice a month, but I suppose something is better than nothing :)

Perhaps with the pending arrival of summer, I will have more interesting things happening and will therefore be more inclined to write. Since the show ended, it has become a rather rain-filled time (thus limiting outdoor activities) with some overtime at work and focus on things away from technology.

So what have I been up to?
I successfully completed my second half marathon two weeks ago. It was an "undulating course through scenic country-side" which you can translate as difficult while running past cow pastures. But, I did it! I beat the time from my first one, completing the 21.1 kilometers in 2 hours 5 minutes. The first half had 3 big hills, plus 2 in the second half, so I was happy to see the finish line! It was also not the best day to run, as good 'ol Taranaki decided to bring out the rain, but it was not windy so I thought on the positive side I did not over-heat.

On rainy nights when I did not have half-marathon training to do, I have slowly been making progress on my quilt. I am now about two-thirds through, which means the end really is in sight. My goal is to finish it by New Year's.

Most recently, we were lucky enough to get a sunny weekend so I got the garden tidied and planted. For at least a few days, the yard is all set. Bushes are trimmed, weeds are pulled, and I have veggies growing. Tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapenos, and herbs will hopefully all survive the spring growing period. A few flowers have added some color here and there as well, so it is starting to feel like summer will really come.

Next to the driveway

Front porch adornment

Successful pruning!

Soon-to-be veggies and pretty flowers :)

My cool planter boxes that Troway helped
me build!
(ok he did most of the work, but I tried!)

Made it out for a quick hike on a sunny afternoon

Long weekend coming up for Labor Day, so if you are lucky I will have some fun pictures from Lake Taupo to post soon :)

Taranaki Arts Festival

Each August, New Plymouth hosts the Taranaki Arts Festival. Musicians, theater groups, dancers, and other wonderfully talented and creative performers come to town and awe audiences with their
unique skills. Historically I’ve been out of town, working overtime, or otherwise unable to attend any
shows. So this year, making it to at least one show was on my to-do list. I lucked out and made it to 3
shows, each more different than the last.

The festival offers a wide range of shows, to appeal to just about any audience. This year there were
potluck house concerts, lunchtime concerts, and three venues for stage shows. The headline act was called Velvet and was a disco circus from Australia. Although I did not see the show, there were rave reviews all around town. Other highlights were a David Bowie show, a theater show commemorating Anzac Day, a Michael Houston concert (New Zealand pianist), and an Irish band.

The first show I attended was called Chef: Come Dine With Us. The show was a non-stop action spoof on cooking shows, put on by a South Korean comedy group. The act included rappers,
break dancers, opera singing and a bit of audience participation (luckily yours truly was not chosen
for that!). Throughout the show they made sushi, pizza, Chinese chicken noodles and Korean
Bibimbap. The group never missed a beat, kept you guessing on what was coming next, and had
constant action combining dancing, cooking choreography and special sound effects done by the
rappers.

The third show I went to (the second was my favorite so saving it for last) was called Perhaps
Perhaps Quizas. It was a solo theatre act by a Mexican comedian. It was not in the least what I had
expected, but I was impressed by her talent, attention to detail, and effectiveness in conveying her
message, particularly emotion. She did not speak a single word during the show, but used body
language, hand gestures, and facial expressions to take the audience on a journey through
loneliness, finding love, and then losing it.

My favorite of the shows I attended was Anatomy of the Piano. This was a multimedia stage show by
a UK performer. The artist took the crowd through the story of his piano adventures, intermingled
with the history of the piano and the personality of some classic composers. We learned how as a
boy he had asked Father Christmas for a spaceship to get to the moon and instead received a piano.
He talked of boring piano lessons and how he tried to use a piano to fly. This led us to his adulthood,
where he shared experiences that happened because of the piano, and how he realized with music
you really can fly. Throughout all this, we were able to appreciate his skill as a pianist as he
accompanied his own storytelling and displayed the various characteristics of baroque, romantic,
and jazz eras.

It is back to work Monday morning now, but the last couple of weekends have been a nice change
from the daily routine, with opportunities to appreciate the many talents in this world.

Bulls vs Waikato

If you are a sports fan, particularly a rugby fan, the good news throughout the long rainy winter is that there is usually some form of the game for you to watch. The All Blacks play periodically, Super Rugby franchise enjoys their season throughout June/July, and of course there’s always little league if you’re willing to brave the weather on Saturday mornings J 

This month saw the start of the provincial rugby season, so Sat night we headed out to Yarrow Stadium to watch the Port Taranaki Bulls take on Waikato (it is unclear to me what Waikato’s mascot is…). Provincial rugby would be equivalent to minor league baseball teams, if you happen to be like me and struggle with the difference between all of them. Of course it makes it harder when players team-hop because I’ll hear a familiar name and think I know what it’s all about.

I am not a diehard rugby fan (as evidenced by my falling asleep on the couch later Sat night as the All Blacks were beating Australia in game one of a three game series), but I do enjoy the stadium atmosphere. The weather had cleared a bit from the windy/rainy morning, so it was chilly but not too cool to be out and enjoy the sport. There is still a lot I do not understand about the game, but I have learned enough to be able to follow along. I now know what a scrum is, and a line out, and what it means if someone says "knock on" or "offside." I can also occasionally tell why a penalty was given, and know that if there's too many "dropkicks" in the game, it is considered boring.

It turned out to be a fairly exciting game. Both teams scored early, with the Bulls scoring significantly in the first half. Waikato made a comeback in the second half that put them very close to winning. However, Bulls tightened their defense and won by a margin of five points! We did have an interesting comparison conversation regarding terminology between rugby and football. The conclusion is that it is slightly less exciting to jubilantly say “Try” rather than “Touchdown” if a player successfully reaches the end zone. Since rugby requires the ball to touch the ground in the end zone for points to be scored, “touchdown” seems ironically to be more fitting. 

Ye old mascot

A line out

A scrum

Trade Aid Nice Spice Night

Now that I have caught up on sleep and recovery time from the busyness of the Mary Poppins show season, I have been enjoying having my schedule to myself again, and getting to choose where I am in the evenings. After so many months of late nights at the theater or rehearsal rooms, it almost feels like a novel concept! So I have had some much needed catch-up time with friends, gone to ladies night at Mitre10 (think Sutherlands type of store), and enjoyed a food tasting night at the local international store.

Trade Aid has become one of my favorite places to gift shop. Every time I stop in the store, there is something different to be found. It is a fair trade organization that sources all its products from solo or small business operations in Palestine, Asia, Latin America, etc. The items they sell are colorful, unique, and beautiful. I had stopped in awhile back and while there saw a sign for a "Spice Night." It turns out they were offering a free food tasting event highlighting some of the food items they sell.

So I called some friends, RSVP'd and away we went. We laughed a bit as the group ended up being yours truly, the resident American, a Brit and a Taiwanese. To round out the multi-culturalism, we met a lady from the Netherlands while at the event.

We were not entirely sure what we were in for, but it turned out to be a fun night. We were greeted with steaming cups of Indian/Sri Lankan hot chocolate and yummy products on sale. After a bit of mingling, the night opened with a speech about spices. The speaker was a young man whose family owns one of the local Indian restaurants, and he explained some of the little-known uses for the spices being used that night, and talked about the role spices play in Indian culture.

Next came the food. Best part of the night, by far! There were 10 to 15 different dishes, each delicious and unique in its own right. There were meat and vegetarian options; sweet and savoury; spicy and mild. Rice, vegetables, couscous, quinoa and lentils complemented the spices and meat used in each dish. Dessert was also available, and the spicy chocolate chip cookies, ginger crunch bars, and  steamed pudding were all a yummy twist on classic favorites.

My two favorites parts of the night was the ability to bring home recipes for everything we tasted, and unexpectedly winning the raffle, which resulted in a nice goodie bag :)

My winnings :)