Wednesday, October 17, 2007
All Blacks
No, this isn't a civil rights issue. The All Blacks are New Zealands professional rugby team. Unfortunately, they lost to France in the world cup before I had a chance to figure out what rugby was all about. I saw a few minutes of the game while sitting outside a French cafe (guess which side they were on?) in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Pretty cool. Too bad the TV was so small and the game moved so quickly or I might even have seen what a rugby ball looks like. NZ was all bent out of shape because they weren't allowed to wear all black--they lost the coin toss with France and had to wear silver instead. Assuming the World Cup is the end of the season, I wonder when it starts? The stuff I know about rugby is...well, if you read this post you know everything I do!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Where we'll be in Christchurch
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Note that this address is written 1/29 Clyde Road, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand, just in case you want to write us. We should be at this address from November 9 until...January or February.
Another season, another adventure
Well, it's (almost) a sure thing, we are going to New Zealand. We have flights from LAX to Christchurch and return. We have our visas (Bob and Karen have work visas, Abby has a student visa). We have our (still empty) luggage. And we might even have a pet/house sitter!
We will be staying in Christchurch, in a house owned by the University of Canterbury (hence the blog address). They call it a flat. We would call it a duplex. We've had some interesting revelations as we explore living in NZ. High speed internet access is sold by 1) speed and 2) volume. Cell phones are pretty expensive and cover less than half the country. Cars are tiny, but pretty inexpensive. Car insurance is not required. Flat rentals are by the WEEK. It just might be colder in Christchurch in summer (Dec-Feb) than it will be here in North Carolina in winter (Dec-Feb). Of course, what should we expect from an island that has PENGUINS on it and is the home of Operation Deep Freeze, an Antarctic preservation group. Oh, and the natives in NZ are not May-or-e, they are Ma-ow-ree, where the Ma-ow is a dipthong. I've already been popped on hold. The bank forms we sent in are signed 'Yours faithfully,". They have only a few NZ TV stations, and most of them reputed to be somewhat dull. Of course, there are only 4 million people in the whole county. And a vacation home is a bach. Oh yeah! And Qantas (I know this is Australian, but that is the airline we are taking to Auckland) doesn't have a U because...it stands for Queensland and Northern Territories Airline Service.
The Visa operation was pretty easy, all things considered. While I never got an real person at the NZ Embassy in DC, I was able to call the New Zealand Immigration Service in Wellington, NZ, talk to someone, get an answer, and an offer to hold on the line while I filled out the forms if I wanted him to! We were told it might take as long as FIFTEEN work days to get a work visa, so we gave ourselves 25 work days and worried. Of course, in less than a week we had all 3 visas returned.
We will be staying in Christchurch, in a house owned by the University of Canterbury (hence the blog address). They call it a flat. We would call it a duplex. We've had some interesting revelations as we explore living in NZ. High speed internet access is sold by 1) speed and 2) volume. Cell phones are pretty expensive and cover less than half the country. Cars are tiny, but pretty inexpensive. Car insurance is not required. Flat rentals are by the WEEK. It just might be colder in Christchurch in summer (Dec-Feb) than it will be here in North Carolina in winter (Dec-Feb). Of course, what should we expect from an island that has PENGUINS on it and is the home of Operation Deep Freeze, an Antarctic preservation group. Oh, and the natives in NZ are not May-or-e, they are Ma-ow-ree, where the Ma-ow is a dipthong. I've already been popped on hold. The bank forms we sent in are signed 'Yours faithfully,". They have only a few NZ TV stations, and most of them reputed to be somewhat dull. Of course, there are only 4 million people in the whole county. And a vacation home is a bach. Oh yeah! And Qantas (I know this is Australian, but that is the airline we are taking to Auckland) doesn't have a U because...it stands for Queensland and Northern Territories Airline Service.
The Visa operation was pretty easy, all things considered. While I never got an real person at the NZ Embassy in DC, I was able to call the New Zealand Immigration Service in Wellington, NZ, talk to someone, get an answer, and an offer to hold on the line while I filled out the forms if I wanted him to! We were told it might take as long as FIFTEEN work days to get a work visa, so we gave ourselves 25 work days and worried. Of course, in less than a week we had all 3 visas returned.
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