Christmas Letter for 2008

                                                  2008
                         A year of momentous celebrations.
                         … and a few disappointing ordeals:
January -
• in which Megan’s mother Joan was here to visit
• in which we learned these momentous revelations about dear old Mum: she named Megan after a character in the book Apple Tree by Galsworthy; she is afraid of heights (has never been up Seattle’s Space Needle); and she went to a strip club on her 18th birthday (courtesy of the corrupting influence of her older sister)
February -
• in which we sang back-up (along with 700 others) for opera diva Dame Kiri Te Kanawa at an outdoor concert in the park
• in which we had a driveway party with our neighbours to wish Joan a bon voyage
• in which the school year began and Megan was back in a classroom teaching Social Studies and English, in addition to a little librarian work on the side
March -
• in which Austin (28) embarked on a Political Science degree
April -
• in which Megan tried a very British sport called bowls, which is similar to bowling only there are no pins to knock down, it’s played outdoors on perfect grass, and everyone wears white and keeps a stiff upper lip
May -
• in which Megan celebrated another birthday and disappointingly got another year older
• in which the newlyweds (Carlin and Kristen) living in Phoenix, got a new dog
June -
• in which we began a series of ascents of Auckland’s 50 volcanic cones – called mountains, but actually just hills a few hundred metres high
• in which we went to see the musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert - good fun with outrageous costumes, plenty of ‘70s disco retrospective, and therapy for any latent homophobia
July -
• in which Megan bought a scooter and achieved notoriety among the students as the teacher on the red scooter riding around Auckland. Her coolness factor increased substantially
• in which Megan wanted to sing with a select group to welcome Condoleezza Rice’s visit to New Zealand, but was disappointingly rejected because they were recruiting young singers, despite being the only one who already knew the words to the American national anthem AND being able to sing in a fluent American accent
August -
• in which Nolan (26) announced he would be going to law school next year
• in which Boone (23) came to visit and to summit 8 mountains/volcanic cones/hills while here
• in which Boone played Scrabble against Curt 18 times during his 4 week visit – Boone won 12 times but that’s only because Curt disappointingly had “crap for letters”
• in which we had another driveway party to celebrate Boone’s visit, and then another
September -
• in which we went to our first rugby game, a truly Kiwi experience
• in which we stopped in Bellingham, WA on the way to England, and Curt delivered 3 original paintings as gifts to the boys:

• in which we spent 3 weeks in England to celebrate our 30th anniversary
• in which Megan was hit by a taxi in London while walking across the street. She survived with minor bruises; her beloved muffin was smashed in the ordeal
• in which we went to Bellingham, England and learned it’s pronounced Bell-in-jum there. Really.
October -
• in which we stopped in Portland, OR on our way home from England and saw Curt’s family, our old church family, and Megan’s old school (plus a special stop for Mrs. Fields cookies)
• in which we came home to learn that our church had failed miserably during our brief absence – first approving and then rejecting the appointment of a new pastor because she was gay. We were incensed, frustrated, and sorely disappointed over the ordeal
November -
• in which we gathered with our (Kiwi) neighbours to celebrate and offer a toast for the American election results
• in which we gathered with our Kiwi neighbours again 4 days later for the New Zealand election results
• in which Megan got hit by a car while riding on her scooter. She survived with a few cracked ribs and some minor scrapes and bruises; her beloved scooter got smashed in the ordeal
• in which Nolan and Erica announced their engagement and upcoming summer wedding
• in which Megan bought another scooter
• in which Curt finished 2 more paintings:








December -
• in which we write our clever Christmas letter

Signing out

Hello all! Boone here again. Sadly, it's my final night here in New Zealand so I'm writing my recap of the whole trip.

I left off my last entry right before our trip to Rotorua which was pretty awesome, I learned how to perform a haka. It was Father's Day in New Zealand but that didn't stop me from beating Dad mercilessly at Scrabble later that night. I'm a great son. The following day I took off for the Coromandel Peninsula where I found a hostel and met my flatmates, Eric and Johannes. The three of us drove to Hot Water Beach despite there being a terrible storm. Hot Water Beach has loads of geothermal activity underground so if you dig a hole at the beach during low tide it will fill up with hot water, hence the extra clever name, Hot Water Beach. We were hoping that sitting in a natural hot tub would somewhat counteract the cold from the storm, but that didn't end up being the case.

Eric and Johannes had to catch a bus early in the morning so I was on my own for the following day. I went to Hahei and hiked to Cathedral Cove, got my feet wet. There were two little dogs that were walking the trail with me, I think they lived in the area. They followed me all the way back to Hahei Beach, but when I walked up to the car I heard barking down on the beach. I could see one dog and he was barking at the waves. I couldn't see the other dog in the water but the barking dog continued to bark as he went down the beach, seeming to follow something he could see in the water. I sprinted down the beach, ready for a dramatic rescue, only to find that it was a different little dog and he was barking at the waves because he was just a dumb dog. The two dogs I had been walking with were down at the other end of the beach.

Yesterday we flew down to Wellington and explored the Beehive and Parliament building.
Outside the Parliament building is a statue of New Zealand's longest serving prime minister, Richard Seddon, 1893-1906. He was an avid opponent of women's suffrage. I found it pretty funny that the statue faces the recently-built Kate Sheppard Hotel, named after New Zealand's most prominent member of the suffrage movement (she's on the New Zealand ten dollar bill, he's not on anything). We went to a rugby game between Wellington and Waikato, I loved it, I wish rugby was bigger back in the states. Later I went out to a couple of sports bars with my flatmates, three German girls, and we watched more rugby, the All Blacks beat the Wallabies 28-24. After the game we went dancing at this pub that had a live band. Didn't get back to the hostel until 2:30.

This morning we flew back to Auckland and Mom asked me for all my 'bests and worsts' of the trip, here's a few...

Best memory - Paihia hostel
Best volcano (of the 7 I summitted) - Rangitoto
Best kiwi food - meat pies
Best Maori word - Whakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao (I'm not making it up)
Worst part about driving in NZ - the 'give way' rule for lefts turns, absolutely ridiculous
Worst scare - thinking there was a puppy drowning at Hahei Beach :(

New Zealand is pretty amazing, and is completely and utterly different from America. I feel like everybody here has a generally nicer attitude towards foreigners than we do in America. There's far more unprompted help offered everywhere. Everybody is far more trusting here. You can accidentally leave a bag of groceries in the cart at the store and go back and they'll simply tell you to grab everything that was in the bag, someone will return the misplaced one. You can go to the library and check out books even though you have late fees to pay. If you don't have the money on you, no worries, bring it next time. That wouldn't happen in America. And I know these are just small examples but they build up.

The politics are completely different as well. In the US, presidential candidates campaign for about 2 years, but here in New Zealand they do it in 5 weeks. Why does it take two years for us?
The US is a completely politically divided nation, divided for the most part into two parties, Democrats and Repulblicans. Here in New Zealand there are 8 political parties. EIGHT! In the US, hypothetically every Democratic candidate for any office in Congress can lose an election 49% to 51%. Congress would be entirely Republican despite the fact that 49% of the country voted Democratic. New Zealand has a system so that every party is represented proportional to the votes nationwide, so everyone has an equal voice.

The media is completely different. They actually report on things going on throughout the whole world, whereas in America practically all I hear about is what's going on in America. There's far more positive stories than negative ones; in America I feel like all we hear about are the latest local crimes, or the next thing they're adding to the endless list of things that cause cancer. It imposes this fear in us that there's danger lurking around every corner; New Zealand doesn't have that fear. And tying this back in with politics, in the US if you're liberal you watch liberally biased news and if you're conservative you watch conservatively biased news, it's just how it goes. But here in New Zealand I don't see a lot of bias in any of the news.

The food is healthier. I know that sounds strange, but what I mean by that is (for example) a McDonald's double cheeseburger in America is literally dripping with grease, but when I order one here, it's almost dry. It's the same company, and supposedly the same product, but you can literally taste the difference. I'm pretty confident they actually add straight grease to the burgers back in the US to make them tastier. No wonder 64% of our population is overweight.

And while I love all these - what I would consider - improvements over American society, I have grown so accustomed to our rude American behavior, our biased media, our greasy food, and our imperfect democracy, that I don't think I could ever leave it. I doubt my mom will ever stop trying to persuade me to move to New Zealand, and that's all fine and well, but I'm pretty happy with my stars and stripes. Cheers, mate.

Anticipation

I've always hated it when people start out by saying, "I'm sorry I haven't written in so long..." but I'm tempted to say it myself this time. I haven't written a blog in 3 months(!) and it's not because I was lacking things to write about. On the contrary, it's been quite eventful around here.

First, the anticipation: We're leaving in a few hours to catch a plane to America to attend Carlin's wedding! We'll be gone for 2 weeks, including a short stop in Las Vegas, a week in Phoenix where the wedding will be held, and a side trip to the Grand Canyon with the boys after the wedding. It'll be great! Unfortunately, my brain left about a week before the actual trip began, and last week at work I: forgot my keys on Monday, forgot my glasses on Tuesday, forgot my lunchbag on Wednesday, and finally LOST my keys for good on Thursday. Obviously, I need a vacation. I promise to write blogs all about our trip when we get back because I'm sure there will be lots to tell.

Now a snapshot of everything that's been going on during the last 3 months:
• I'm teaching one class of Year 7 English this term. Yea! I love it. The girls are sweeties. Am scheduled to teach at least one class next year, and I'm trying to get more than that.

• Big excitement at work trying to catch a thief who was stealing money from the library. Secret cameras, night vision, bait, sensors, etc. This sort of thing is pretty thrilling in a librarian's world. We feel like we're on CSI. The plan worked. Our money (mostly overdue fines) is safe again.


• Even grander drama at work involving a less-than-glowing performance review, and the resulting backlash at those who submitted the aforementioned less-than-glowing comments. Different people are in emotional meltdown on different days. There's too much friction everywhere and we're caught in the middle of it. I'm too old for all this drama. Vow to find someplace sane to work. Start applying and interviewing for other jobs, as are 75% of my co-workers.

• Went to Melbourne for 4 days in September for Curt's birthday. Vow to write some blogs about that, too. Curt did some sketches, and we went to museums, beaches, gardens, markets, etc. Excellent trip. I definitely needed a break at that point (see above) so it was especially good.

• Spent about 6 weeks catching up on the family photo albums, which were 10 years behind. It was fun to go through all the old pictures and re-live our travels, but it's sure a big job. Feels so good to have it done finally! Vow not to let it get so far behind next time. Can remember making that vow last time ... about 10 years ago.

• Curt painted/redecorated the guest bedroom (formerly purple!) in anticipation of Carlin & Kristen visiting us after their wedding and after a honeymoon in Fiji.


• New Zealand's national rugby team, the All Blacks play in the World Cup and the entire country is obsessed, getting up at 4:00 a.m. to watch the games taking place halfway around the world. Inexplicably and possibly unforgivably, the All Blacks lose in the quarter-finals, and the whole nation goes into mass mourning mode.

• Went to see the musical "We will Rock You" based on songs by Queen. The pulsing bass line, vibrating the floor, takes me back a few decades. Good fun.

• Spent lots of time planning for the wedding: I had to find a mother-of-the-groom dress (I'm not much of a shopper) and fancy shoes (I'm a sensible shoes-type). I had to get hotel rooms reserved, car rented, and show tickets purchased (Las Vegas). I made a spreadsheet (well actually it's more of a matrix) of who's arriving when ... and who's staying where ... and who's doing what. It's a masterpiece. Most importantly, I identified all the locations of Mrs Fields Cookies stores in Las Vegas and Phoenix. I'm ready to go.

So. Maybe you can see why I haven't written in a while. I vow not to get so far behind this time. Really.

Rugby convert

I watched my first rugby game on TV over the weekend, and I'm sold on this sport!

First of all, I learned it's called a test or a test match, not a game. The All Blacks were playing the hated Australian national team, the Wallabies, for a GIANT trophy called the Bledisloe Cup which truly is a silver cup but it's about 3 feet high. Fortunately, the winning team captain is buff enough to lift it over his head effortlessly.

We're starting to pick up more of the rules, but are still a little fuzzy on some of them. Sometimes when there's a penalty, the other team gets to kick for 3 points. Sometimes there's a penalty and the other team gets a scrum. I'm not sure why. Anyway, I knew it would be good to watch a game and try to figure it out. But I also found myself watching the game just to marvel at it and appreciate it.

Here's some of the reasons why I love this game:

1. Just before the game, the All Blacks perform a Maori war dance called a haka. They really get themselves riled up, and it intimidates the opposing team. It's quite impressive.

2. When they run across the line at the end of the field (to score), the guy carrying the ball always slides on his belly in the grass, even if nobody is trying to tackle him. It looks like fun; like boys who can't stay out of the mud.

3. When the ball goes across the touch line (out of bounds), the play from the sidelines to throw the ball back in is called a Line Out. Here's what is so cool about it, though - the teams each LIFT a player up high to try to catch the inbounds throw. So there's about 4 guys at ground level who grab the legs (calves, thighs) of the catcher-guy so he becomes 10 feet tall. It's a little like lifts in pairs ice skating except the guy they're lifting is probably 250 pounds instead of 98. (that's why it takes 4 guys to lift him) And admittedly it's not quite as graceful as ice skating. But it's pretty phenomenal to watch nonetheless.

4. The game doesn't stop! When someone gets tackled, he has to give it to one of his teammates behind him, and everyone has to get off him and go chase the new guy with the ball. There's no huddle. No standing around for 3 minutes to catch your breath. No strategizing or calling plays or talking to the coach on the sidelines. They think on their feet.

5. These guys are tough. They are huge and strong, and they don't fall down and pretend they're hurt like soccer players do. They don't wear pads or helmets although recently some have begun taping their ears because they keep getting torn off. (in the next picture, you can see the player on the left has black tape around his head which protects his ears)

6. In spite of all that adrenaline and yes, testosterone, the game is still pretty structured and under control. There's just one ref on the field in charge of the game. He blows his whistle every few seconds to tell everyone to get off the tackled guy ... and they're already in the process of getting up anyway so it goes pretty smoothly. He calls offsides or some penalty, and nobody complains. They just line up for the kick or whatever. He's also exceedingly polite: "Line up, Gentlemen." "Step back, Sir" "Up you go." I half expect him to offer tea to the bleeding players any moment. The ref can also ask for confirmation from another official who is in charge of the videotaped replays, so if there's any question, he can get a second opinion. The overall rugby organisation even assesses penalties after the game is over: One Aussie spear-tackled a Kiwi and could have easily broken his neck. The next day, the offender was suspended for 5 games, even though there was no penalty called at the time. The fans weren't too concerned about the ref missing that illegal tackle because everyone knew it would still be dealt with after the game.

7. There's no 30 minute pre-game show from a studio that looks like it belongs in Vegas. There are no cameras during the game zooming in on the cheerleaders. There's not even much time for commercials - just halftime and injuries. There are no feature vignettes about the players visiting a children's hospital earlier in the day. There are no post-game interviews with big dumb athletes who can only give monosyllabic answers. Perhaps the New Zealand media realises that these athletes are good at playing a sport, but not necessarily good at talking.

8. And finally, WE WON! The All Blacks were down 11-20 at the half but came back to win 34-27. Not only did they win the Bledisloe Cup (which is the championship between NZ and Australia), they also clinched the Tri-Nations Cup (which is between NZ/Australia/South Africa).

PS - There's another reason why I like this game. The players don't wear saggy pants; they wear short shorts that show off their powerful thighs. They wear tight shirts that show off their physique. They're really buff and quite cute!

All Black teams

New Zealand's high-profile rugby team is called the All Blacks, which has spawned many creative derivatives:
Tall Blacks - the NZ basketball team
Small Blacks - kids' fan club for the All Blacks
Wheel Blacks - NZ wheelchair rugby team (I'm not kidding)
All Whites - NZ soccer team
Black Caps - cricket team
Black Cups - barristas (making lattes, vs Australia's coffeeroos)
Black Sticks - hockey team
Black Sox - softball team
Black Cocks - badminton team
Black Magic - sailboat (America's Cup)
Black Ferns - women's rugby team
Silver Ferns - women's netball team
White Ferns - women's cricket team
White Sox - women's softball team

I have a few ideas for more team names:
• Naming the NZ Karate team would be easy - Black Belts.
• The curling team could be the Black Brooms. (if there is a curling team)
• Perhaps the polo team could be the Black Mallets or the Black Ponies.
• How about a team called Black Balls? Surely there's a "ball" team out there needing a name ... bowling maybe?
• I think the national swimming team should be referred to collectively as Black Water. That sounds ominous, don't you think? Maybe it would even help them beat those dastardly Aussies.
• The possibilities are endless. There could be Black Wickets (croquet) and Black Racquets (tennis) and maybe even the Black Holes (golf).
• While we're at it, the postal service could be the Black Mail and the store selling All Blacks memorabilia could be called the Black Market.
• Hasn't there ever been an All Black named Jack who they called Black Jack? Or one named Smith who was called Black Smith?
• Of course, for all I know, some of these names may already exist.

You probably noticed that most of the women's teams prefer to soften their image compared to the blackness of all those black teams. They go for silver teams and white teams and fern teams. (The fern is a national symbol) What I want to know is why the women's cricket team isn't the White Caps like the men's Black Caps? It seems appropriate since NZ is surrounded by so much water.

Overall, I heartily approve of New Zealand's clever team names. They're so much more creative than Team Canada or the Dream Team.

I have one confession, though. I have to admit that I do like one of Australia's team names. They call their soccer team the Socceroos. Cute.

Cricket, rugby, and library cards

Today when I was at the Telecom store trying to set up internet access and cable TV at our new house, the two young salesmen tried to educate me about New Zealand sports. They were asking if I wanted the Rugby Channel (I kid you not) or the other Kiwi sports channels. But I declined and told them I don't understand any of those sports anyway. I noted, however, that there's been a lot of cricket on TV lately, which I can't follow at all.

Here's what I learned from the Telecom guys: Cricket is a lot like baseball except instead of running around four bases, they just run back and forth between two bases. (Think of them running from home to 2nd and back) And instead of three guys batting per inning like in baseball, the entire team of 11 gets to bat. Then it's the other team's turn to have their 11 guys bat. But in cricket each team only does this twice, not 9 times like in baseball. There's somethig called an "outing" that may be the same as an "inning" which would be pretty funny if you think about it. I don't really know yet because I haven't learned any of the terminology. I'll work on it.

Anyway, besides cricket, I also admitted that I don't know anything about rugby. Well, the whole office was in an uproar about that one. Everyone agreed that I simply MUST learn about rubgy, because it's the national sport here. In the end, they inspired me to go find some books about rugby at the public library.

So Curt and I took a little field trip to the library and even got our own library cards. Getting a library card was actually pretty exciting because it made me feel like an official Auckland resident and not a tourist. I think it's significant that I got my library card before I got a credit card or a debit card. I LOVE libraries. We spent a delightful evening there browsing through magazines, DVDs, newspapers, and books. There were about 5 shelves full of rugby books in the 796.33 section. I checked out one book called "The Girls' Guide to Rugby" and a children's non-fiction book about how to play rugby. Here's what I know so far:

They have really cool names for the positions:
FORWARDS:
• Hooker
• Loose-head prop
• Tight-head prop (the hooker+loosehead+tighthead combined are also called the front-rowers)
• Locks (also called the second-rowers)
• Blind-side flanker
• Open-side flanker
• Number 8 (Yes, that's the name of the position. Does this guy always wear number 8 on his jersey?)
BACKS:
• Half-back
• First five-eighth (I am NOT making these up)
• Second five-eighth
• Left wing
• Centre
• Right wing
• Full-back
Don't you love those terms? I'm especially fond of the" Loose-head prop" and the "Second five-eighth." I need to continue my research and find out what those names mean or where they came from. It's hard for me to imagine little kids growing up wanting to become a "Second five-eighth" but that's exactly what the children's book was about!

Now for the scoring: They get five points for a "try." To me, a "try" would mean they attempted to get the ball over the line but didn't make it. But I am wrong. A "try" means they DID get the ball over the line. They scored! They scored a "try." I can tell this is going to take a while before I am rugby-literate.

Arrival in NZ

Well, we arrived on December 25th. It seems fitting somehow to set foot on New Zealand soil on Christmas Day to begin our new life. It was sad to say good bye to so many good friends at work, at church, and in our neighborhood, but we are looking forward to new friends in our new country. On the way to New Zealand, we spent 4 days in Hawaii which was a perfect transition for us. We stayed with my brother Ross and his family, and my parents were there too, so we got to spend some quality family time with everyone before we said good bye. Being in Hawaii also provided us the opportunity to get adjusted to the warm weather. It had snowed in Portland the day before we left! But it was plenty warm in Hawaii and when we landed in Auckland (pronounced "Oakland") it was summer and about 75º.

As we passed through the immigration checkpoint at the airport, I was expecting an extra-long session with the officer because we had a US passport, but are arriving as NZ Permanent Residents on one-way tickets. Alas, he spent 60 seconds looking at the stamp in our passports (which took us 7 months and 200 pages of documentation to acquire!) and waved us through. That's it?!? I wanted to take a photo of this momentous occasion, but suddenly it didn't seem very momentous. Oh well. We're here!

Our friends, Rick and Bev were at the airport to meet us, and it was good to see their familiar faces. Thankfully, they took us to our hotel because we needed a nap and a shower after flying all night. Later, they came back to get us and took us to their house for Christmas dinner. Their daughter Christina (a primary teacher) was there, as well as their daughter Sharron (a nurse), her husband Kris, and their friend, Jo. Sharron and Kris just returned from living and working for a year in the U.K. This is apparently a common practice and is called one's "Overseas Experience" or O.E. for short. Everyone seems to have an O.E. after they finish university. Anyway, they just got back last month and were living with Rick and Bev for a while. Christina still lives at home, too.

We had a nice family Christmas dinner with all of them and sat around afterwards learnng about the best cell phone plan, the best bank, the best neighborhoods to live in, etc. We have so many decisions like these to make and it's really helpful to have their advice! They also tried to teach us a little about rugby so we would have some background knowledge. Rugby is VERY popular here and the national team, the All Blacks, are like gods and hearthrobs all wrapped into one. During our conversations, I struggle listening to their accents, however. Kris was saying "the beest thing is"...and it took me an extra second to realize he was saying "the best thing is". Later, however, I realized something: my name, Megan, will be pronounced "Meegan" by people here, which means everyone will always get it right! That'll be a first.