Goodbye, Farewell, Amen....now what?

Some reflections on getting here and being here so far....

Getting here....leaving was far more difficult and emotional than I could have imagined when Shelley and I first considered leaving and moving for one year. In our past we had spent time in different places and always had come out of the experience feeling blessed for it. And looking back it is difficult to recall the exact feelings which accompanied the decision to leave or the actual leaving. In other words it always seemed to be easy and felt right. This time after the decision was made to go it felt surreal and there were many doubts about it being the right thing to do.

The obvious answer is... back then it was just me, or just her, or just us (eg college, Omak/JVC, graduate school, residency) Now, we were determining the fate of our, "very happy to live in Vermont", well adjusted kids.

They all had/have trepidation, having known nowhere else but Wilmington as their home. Logan and Izaak, the younger two, often expressing their fear, anger and dismay. A poignant moment was when they drew out stick figures being eaten by sharks on their chalkboard with speech bubbles like, "Help, I am being eaten, this would not have happened if we did not move to New Zealand!"


The changing of one's life in mid stream for one year is difficult because of how we have changed, now rooted to a place and to the people in that place. Rooted by the roles we play in that place.

Arriving....we arrived to beautiful, sunny, warm days and had time to get used to our surroundings; to go to the beach, the library, the Tip Top dairy. We adjusted to driving on the left side of the road, to looking over the left shoulder while backing up, to using the turn signal, which is on the right side of the steering column instead of the windshield wipers and vice versa (how many times have I tried to signal to only see the wipers go back and forth furiously!), to the time zone, to getting the nuts and bolts down in terms of internet, phones etc. We oriented to new jobs, new schools, and new neighbors. We arrived to a walkable life. My commute is a killer, a whole 3.5 minutes by foot. Three dairies (think ice cream/candy shop) are easily accessed by my kids on foot, scooter or skateboard. Our schools, town pool, and community center/gym a mere 500 metres away.

Missing familiar foods, the food is close enough to home but is different enough to make us sad and in some ways the most homesick. Milk, yogurt, hot dogs, sausages, chocolate milk, cereal and ketchup, just weird enough to frustrate Shelley and the kids. 

Starting to engage and observe the bicultural nature of New Zealand, a land of settlers as the polynesian Maori arrived earliest and the Europeans arrived not so long ago...interesting how our experiences with American Indians while in Omak seem to be echoed here but with a twist. The Maori were never overtly subjugated like the Indians of North America and the Europeans have tried to structurally make amends for past abuses and move into the future side by side with the Maori. There are many unfortunate similarities to the Indian experience as well. Like Omak, my appearance seems to subconsciously help me working with Maori as they are not quite sure what I am (I could pass for a Maori/Asian mix).

This ethnic camouflage also appears to effect the kids as they meet kids around town and at school. Eli seems to be getting 'in' with the Maori kids at the high school and so is Logan, with Izaak having a surprisingly difficult time getting in with his classmates despite being my most gregarious child back in Vermont. I am not worried but surprised.

However, despite all the differences, which the kids are especially focused on and are always pointing out, and some early difficulties, I am excited and looking forward to the next 11 months. Already aware this time will pass quickly. Trying to take it all in, the good, the bad and the ugly. Our initial fears mostly dispelled, now we can focus on making a life for ourselves here, albeit a temporary one, and once again be able to look back upon another experience as one more blessing in our oft-blessed life.