I work with two women - one from Australia (across the ditch in Oz) and another from here, a truly lovely kiwi woman. It is hard to find people from here - I met an Emergency Department physician from Huntsville, Alabama! I was in a group of people - a South African, a Brit, a German, a Texan, and a Kiwi! Talk about a melting pot! With all these people from all these places there are lots of differences. I don't want to think about all the differences between all the places from which people come but just about Nashville and Palmerston North. Tennessee and New Zealand. There are lots (heaps) and I will jot them down as I find them but here are a few.
There are about 4.4 million people in New Zealand in 103,733 square miles. There are about 6.4 million people in Tennessee in 41,234 square miles. There is room here! We walk to a lagoon where there are ducks and swans and now baby black swans! Lovely to go feed them on the weekend. We spend so much more time playing as a family now. There is so much less stress in our home here. It is really balanced now. Here people DO balance work and life. They do not talk about it like we do in the States. People go on trips, spend time with family, do stuff together.
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| baby black swans at Hokowhitu (pronounced Hawkofitoo) lagoon |
The police do not carry guns and can pull you over for random breathalyser test - anytime day or night without cause... It happens - a friend was running errands and came to a road block where the drivers were funnelled down to one lane and asked to breathe in the tube - it was 9:30 a.m.!!! Yes, she passed... Now that is a deterrent! The police ticket bicycle riders without helmets!
Here when someone calls my child precious I now know that it means something more like obnoxious/pain in the rear/spoiled... It has not happened except once...
When someone is making evening tea, they are cookin' dinner... Took me a minute on this one, couldn't quite figure why people were stressing over making a cuppa (cup of tea or coffee)...
There are no hired crossing guards, teachers and students trained by the police manage the job beautifully at no cost!
There is no tipping.
There are heaps of differences at the grocery (market) - prices are high! Fruits and veggies can only be purchased in season (prices outrageous otherwise), no graham crackers or grits, no Crest toothpaste, hamburger is called mince, chips are crisps, fries are chips, cookies are biscuits, catsup is called tomato sauce, the eggs are sold from a shelf not the cooler... The avocados are very nice! We love kiwi fruit. There is not enough competition in the grocery business to make prices reasonable and offerings more diverse... Did I mention that there is not a hot wing anywhere - I have tried to find one and cannot. I contacted the Melrose Pub and they gave me some pointers but I have not perfected it yet. That will be one of my first stops when I return!!! Hot wings, chunky bleu cheese, cold beer and laughter! Looking forward to that!
We have choices for who provides our power, gas, cable, phone - who knew?? There is no central heat or air. Proper insulation is not the standard if it happens at all. There are no double glazed windows. Homes can be really draughty. We stay in our kitchen/family room with the fireplace going and get our bedrooms warm just before we go to bed.
Recycling is done without question or thought. It is a part of life here. Approved garbage bags (biodegradable ones that the trash man will take) are $2.50 each and some weeks there are only one or two from our cul de sac. People really take the environment seriously here. People compost, the city council provides recycling bins and pick up. We take care of and are thoughtful about the environment. People bike/walk to work. We hang our clothes to dry. Kids are brought up this way. It is smart.
The children do not wear shoes (flip flops are called jandals) and wear shorts and tank tops in winter! The seasons are milder - not the shift in temps that we are used to but - wow! - it blows a gale here! and does it ever rain - sometimes in the front yard while the sun is shining in the backyard or garden as it is called - even if there is not a flower or vegetable in sight.
There are no snakes or squirrels. There are lots of birds, animals, flowers that we have never seen before.
Children walk or ride scooters or bicycles to school alone from a very early age, rain or shine, without parental supervision, safely. People are more fit, less fat! They move here - walk, run, cycle, scooter, etc... There are great sidewalks and parks and gyms... Adrian's jeans are bagging off of him as a result of his walking!
There are flowers blooming year round here - my garden is full of blooms even in the winter! lovely!
I dropped my phone in the road where I park my car while I work. I realized it was missing, re-traced my steps and could not find it. My co-worker called, I hunted, no luck. I called the gym where I had been earlier, no luck. I worked and hoped that it would turn up. I received a call from Adrian in the afternoon, my phone was found! I called the phone (again!) and a gentleman answered and gave me the address - He pulled over on the road, picked up my phone, tried to find me, returned my phone, reinforced my very strong belief that people here are NICE and GOOD!!!
I took Abigail to the dentist because I just knew that her permanent teeth were coming in above her baby teeth - I over-reacted come to find out (shocking, I know!) but we had an exam, an X-ray, and an appointment time slot - Guess how much I was charged?!?!?! NOTHING! ZERO! FREE! See, reasonable, nice and good... It helped that the kiwi dentist had a wife from Tennessee - I know, small world!
There are less rules - people mostly do the right thing... People help each other, are kind to each other, a lot like home really. I believe more now than ever that we are all the same on the inside. We may sound different, look different, but we all want the same stuff no matter where we are - peace, kindness, good friends, laughter, hot wings when you can get them. Cheers!!!
Check out Abigail's accent!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc-nPWk9MNQ&feature=youtu.be
