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Deb in NZ

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Everything posted by Deb in NZ

  1. I need to restart flylady. Our long drawn-out renovations have caused me to fall off the wagon.
  2. This is a problem worldwide. Here in NZ there isn't quite as strong a push that you NEED to go to college as what you see in the States. But for the past 30 years or so the apprenticeship system was not kept strong. The result of this is that when we had the big earthquakes in Christchurch 7 years ago NZ found that there were not enough tradesmen to work on the rebuild. We are missing almost a generation of qualified tradesmen. To complete an apprenticeship takes as long & as much study as earning a bachelors degree. We need to be encouraging our brightest students who show an interest in the trades to take up apprenticeships, rather than pushing them into college. I see schools here dropping pre-trade courses, such as metal work, only to add in courses such as dance & coding in its place. This is a recipe for disaster IMHO. If we don't get more students entering the trades, tradesmen will need to come from the 3rd world countries. We are already seeing this in NZ & in many cases quality does take a dive. In ds#1's trade more than half of the workers at his company are from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, etc. Many of the tradesmen working on the Christchurch rebuild come from overseas. Ds#2 works in building one day a week while studying at uni. He still plans to do an apprenticeship after completing his degree as job prospects are so much better in the trades. A number of his friends from high school who went into apprenticeships rather than uni already own their own homes & are making really decent wages. To get quality tradesmen we need to do a combination of things. Pay them well. Give them the respect that they deserve. Encourage our young to take up a trade. JMHO,
  3. I wonder if expectations are too high. Do you have any experience in doing hands-on work? The reality of what is achievable vs. expecting perfection is a problem in today's world as more & more people have little to no experience in doing things for themselves. Dh is a tradesman & he much prefers working in commercial work rather than residential work as residential clients tend to be very unreasonable in their expectations. JMHO
  4. Newport is in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, almost on the Canadien border. You should get foliage, apples, & hiking there easily. Weather in late September could vary from low 60s to below freezing. I lived in the Northeast Kingdom the year before I moved overseas. It's a beautiful part of Vermont.
  5. That hasn't been the experience of my dd & ds#2, but they studied in Tauranga & Palmerston North, not Wellington. Wellington is an artsy city with a popular cafe culture. Ds#2 goes to Wellington often during the year for hockey training/games, to watch big name sports matches, catch up with friends studying there, etc. If your dd has one nice dress & a nice pair of dress pants & a couple nice tops she should be fine. Other than that uni students dress the same as what I've seen in the States (jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, sneakers, etc.) Puffer jackets (what I grew up calling down jackets) are very popular here in NZ & would pack up real small in a suitcase. If your dd forgets something she should be able to get it here easily as we have many of the same brands that I find in the US. Chargers for cell phones, etc can easily be picked up here. Most tablets & cell phones have chargers that have USB at one side, so it's as simple as getting the plug in part to put the USB into to make it work. Most shops that sell computers will have chargers that will work with laptops. Make sure she does bring a copy of any precriptions she takes needs for her allergies & asthma. Wellington is a city of hills & public transport & walking are the main means of transport around the city. She will want a good bag for carrying what she wants during the day. Wellington is also built on a major fault line, so have her have a bag that she can grab in case she needs to get out fast if an earthquake hits. In November last year a big EQ hit Kaikoura in the South Island that had people as far away as Palmerston North evacuating buildings. Ds#2 was happy as he ended up having one of his final exams cancelled while they checked the buildings for damage. Dh worked in Christchurch after the big EQs & he always had a bag ready to grab if another big one hit. Luckily he never needed to use it.
  6. Today's the shortest day of the year here in NZ & we are heading into our coldest part of the year. Wellington is wet & windy, so not known for being warm. I grew up in VT & have felt much colder here in NZ during the winters because of the high humidity & lack of insulation & indoor heating. I live in Northland where we get only a 2-3 frosts on a really bad winter & we have citrus fruit ripe in the back yard during the winter. She will want to dress in layers, usually 2-3 layers indoor & an extra wind/water proof layer when outside. Wool is the best choice for winter tops. She can get merino undershirts, tops, & sweaters here at reasonable prices if she doesn't have wool tops. Slippers are important for keeping warm indoors. We find electric blankets help to warm the bed for sleeping. If she is staying in the hostels (dorms) this might not be allowed, though, as ds#2 wasn't allowed electric blankets at Massey Uni hostels last year. Air NZ is very strict on weight limits for carry-ons, so make sure her carry-on bags are less than 7kgs. HTH
  7. I've subbed for the past 7 years. Dh lost his job because of restructuring & we had just decided to put ds#2 in PS for high school, so I applied for a last minute opening at the local intermediate school. I didn't get the job, but got added to their relieving teacher (substitute teacher) list. Since then I've averaged 2-3 days a week work. Up until a year ago I worked only at the intermediate school in any class they had need of me, including the specialist classes (art, music, dance, etc.) Mid-2016 I put my name down at the local Catholic Primary school & love working there. I was nervous about working at a new school and with the littlies after so long at the intermediate school, but I find that now I actually prefer it. My name got given to another small Christian school in town & I get quite a few days work there a term as well. If you are well liked, your name gets around. I enjoy subbing as I get the joy of working with children without most of the politics, paperwork, etc. I aim for 100 days work a year, which roughly relates to 50% of the school days. Here in NZ we are paid 1/190 of what our full-time annual salary would be (capped at step 8), so for casual work subbing is very well paid. For dh & I having flexibility in when I work has allowed us to put family first at times as when we took a week off to go watch ds#2 play in the NZ u21 hockey tournament. This is something I would not have been able to do if I'd been working full time. I have been asked to apply for a term long position at the intermediate school teaching food technology next term as the current teacher is retiring at the end of this term. I have been her favourite reliever for the past 7 years. I've put my CV in & will find out next week if I have got the job. I'm not sure I really want full time, but for a term (10 weeks) I figure I can do it. It will give us a bit more funds for our home renovations as I will be on contract & will receive my full salary level, not capped. Positives about subbing: work only 8:00-3:05 no meetings, assessments, fundraising, camps, etc. flexibility to fit work availability around other commitments reasonable pay for casual work opportunity to teach creative lessons. As teachers got to know me they often told me to do my own thing for the day. Negatives about subbing: no job security no pay during holiday times (12 weeks of the year) stress of last minute calls to come work need to be able to think on your feet & come up with last minute programs for when there is no plans left need for extremely good class management skills no opportunities for professional development HTH,
  8. protein is important for feeling full. Ideas of what my very active sons snack on: eggs --- boiled, scrambled, fried, etc. smoothies (yogurt, milk, a handful of frozen fruit, banana) oatmeal --- make with milk in the microwave. no mess as it cooks in the bowl you eat it in. PB & J sandwiches --- ds#1 would sit down after work with a loaf of bread & the PB & jam jars & make / eat sandwiches until satisfied mini pizzas using tortillas, pita bread, etc as bases & using whatever they could find as toppings. A jar of tomato paste worked as sauce as did left-over pasta sauce. cans of tuna on toast or crackers left-overs --- I was lucky in the way all 3 of my dc would eat most anything & still do. Ds#2 is an elite athlete and he always has a box of chocolate milk & a banana after trainings / games. Good, simple food doesn't have to be expensive.
  9. Two of our 3dc have now gone flatting. When I was in a decluttering binge a couple years back I put together bags if linens for each dc with towels, blankets, double size sheets, etc. When dd & ds#2 went flatting they took their bag of basics. I would have them start with an extremely minimal amount of kitchen gear & only very necessary furniture unless they are definitely sure they are going to be in that flat for a number of years. Moving a lot of gear is expensive & difficult. Also, are they renting alone or will they have roommates? Have they already found flats or are they just looking? If they haven't yet signed leases they may find some flats are furnished. JMHO
  10. After years of living overseas I now ask " Where is your accent from?" Being an expat myself when I'm asked "where are you from?" I'm not sure if they mean where I was born or where I now live. Here in NZ it isn't rude to ask where are you from as knowing your whakapapa (your heritage) is very important to the Maori people. As young children they are taught to recite their iwi (tribe), their awa (river), their manga (mountain), & their parents' names. Knowing where you are from is vital. As an expat American the only time I get annoyed being asked where I am from is if the next question is about the current POTUS. :-P That question gets VERY old, VERY fast. ;-)
  11. All 3 of our dc pay for all their own medical costs & have since they turned 18. I am so-o-o-o thankful that we live where the cost healthcare doesn't add to our financial worries. Universal healthcare isn't perfect, but I prefer it to being in a position where I have to choose to do without necessary medical care due to my account balance. Growing up in the States (1960s-1980s) I never worried about medical costs as my dad's job at IBM had great coverage & when I graduated from university my teaching job had health insurance as a benefit. Each country I lived in since moving overseas in 1990 has had universal healthcare, including 2 developing countries.
  12. My dd's APGAR scores were 1 & 3. She was full term, but I had an emergency c-section. I had been in labor for almost 3 days, throwing up most of that. When they would put on the belt to measure contraction it was constant up & downs, no breaks, but not any of that pain was productive as I never dilated at all. My mother was a maternity nurse at the time & she later told me she was very concerned for both dd & I. But everything worked out in the end. Dd was the biggest baby in the NICU, going home with me at one week old. Ds#1's scores were 8 & 10, c-section as well after another long labour, but one with 5 minute breaks. I finally gave in to allow another c-section after 3 days. This worked out to be life-saving for ds#1 as the cord had knots in it and was wrapped around his neck. Dh told me this years later. I only remember the dr saying "this ain't no small baby" as he pulled ds#1 out. Ds#2's scores were 10 & 10. Dd was a much better student than either of her brothers, so those low scores don't always foretell future difficulties.
  13. My current favorite planner is from tiny.com.au (they do have a US site as well.) I like the way each page is organised in columns. You can choose to have dates across the top or down the left hand side. You personalise it to your won specs. I chose 6 columns, one for each of us in the family + one for me work hours. Even though my dc are now mostly grown I like to jot down when they will be home or where they are currently as all 3 dc travel a lot for work or pleasure. I have the A5 size as I wanted it to fit in my bag. If I was still HSing I would get the bigger A4 size as well to use as my teacher's planner or an A5 for each dc to use for planning / recording their lessons. JMHO
  14. How about a baby backpack? I haven't been to Europe, but when we lived in Fiji I used public transport all the time. When we moved there dd was 2 & ds#1 was a newborn. We were there for almost 4 years. If I did take a stroller, I only took our Maclaren umbrella stroller. Dd would walk, but if she got too tired I would have her sit on the edge of the seat, moving ds#1's feet to the side. When ds#1 turned one we got a baby backpack & that made things so-o-o much easier to get on & off buses, etc. The baby backpack was easier for me to carry ds#1 as most of the weight was carried on my hips, not my shoulders. It had a small bags attached that I used for nappies, etc. IF it was raining, an umbrella covered us both. Also, he didn't get too hot as he did when I used our front pack carrier. JMHO,
  15. New Zealand in general is known for earthquakes. Northland, where the Bay of Islands is located, is the only area of New Zealand where earthquakes are very, very uncommon. New Zealand is a beautiful country in which to live, but it is not with out it's challenges. The cost of living is much higher than that of the US, with the exception of health care & tertiary education. Income inequality is high. Some areas of NZ resemble the 3rd World in life-style challenges & poverty. Although local's call NZ "God's Own", it isn't paradise. JMHO,
  16. I'm an American who's lived in NZ for the past 20 years. DH is a NZer. There's pros & cons to living in NZ & the two cultures are very different. Maori culture is a big part of life up where we live. As others have mentioned we don't sit on desks or tables or pillows as it's tabu. The reason is that it's considered unclean to put your bottom where you place food or your head. Te Reo (the Maori language) is part of the curriculum here & most official ceremonies are opened with a song or prayer in TeReo. We've had roads routed around where taniwha live. Foods are different from what I was used to in the States. There is much less processed foods in the shops & much less sugar in the foods overall. Yes, beetroot (pickled beets) & fried eggs are common on burgers. Mayo is NOT a common or preferred spread. I learned early on not to order what I liked from home as NZ seemed to have weird ways of preparing "American" foods. I've had taco salads that including coleslaw, pizzas that had a scone-type crust & canned spaghetti as a topping, & for years the pepperoni on Pizza Hut's pizzas was just not right. At least now the pepperoni has improved. When I first came to NZ it felt like my m-i-l was always serving a meal. Breakfast, Morning Tea, Lunch, Afternoon Tea, Dinner (commonly called Tea), & Supper (a snack before bed). School kids have 30 minutes for morning tea & an hour for lunch, in all years from including high school. Houses are not heated or insulated to the standard that I was used to in VT. We live in the "winterless north" but I have been colder here than I ever was growing up in New England. 50F outside in the middle of winter is not bad. 50F inside is COLD! I now wear layers of wool, slippers inside, etc. just to stay warm. Insulation & double glazing are just now becoming more common in new builds. We are renovating most of our house & I have insisted on both in our house. The cost of food, gas, housing, imported goods, & travel is higher than what it is in the States. But the cost of healthcare & higher education is much, much lower. Sports are a big part of small town life here. Most weekends will find people of all ages from preschoolers to retired people taking part in the different sports of the season. Sports are organised in clubs, not schools, so are accessible to all. The arts are organised in clubs as well. Homeschooling is very easy here in NZ. You simply need to apply for an exemption to homeschool at age 6 or when you begin if you child is older. After getting that exemption you receive a small supervisory allowance from the government twice a year while your homeschooling child is between the ages of 6-18. Most areas have homeschool support groups. Most days I love living here in NZ. My dc are dual citizens (US / NZ) but are much more kiwi, than yankee. Ds#1 is currently in the States on his OE. He moved there the beginning of March. Here in NZ he is considered very conservative. Well, in VT he is finding he is much, much more liberal than the progressives there. He was planning on living & working in the US for a couple years. DH thinks he'll be back before xmas & head off to Aussie instead as the money is better & he will find the culture less foreign.
  17. Almost all high schools here in NZ require uniforms. When ds#2 was in high school he had his #1s (formal uniform = blazer, white button down shirt, tie, & dress pants) & his school uniform (polo shirt, shorts, & long socks), & his PE uniform (T-shirt & gym shorts). He had one set of #1s, one set of PE uniform, & 3 sets of school uniform (one to wear, one to wash, & one spare). In the winter he would add a wool jersey (pullover sweater) to his school uniform. He only had one jersey to start with, but I was able to pick up a 2nd hand one early on, so he had a spare if he got wet on rainy days as wool takes forever to dry. Depending on how often you do wash & whether the uniform can go in the drier, would determine how much I'd buy. Three sets of the uniform he needs for most days would be the minimum I'd be happy with. Five sets would be the maximum. Boys grow fast during some years of high school, so that would be a factor as well. Ds#2 wore the same size for Y9 Y10, but jumped up a size each of the next 2 years. Luckily for me a friend gave her boys' old uniforms when her youngest finished school, so for Y11 & Y12 ds#2 wore those. For Y13 he would have been in #1s everyday if he hadn't changed schools to take up a hockey scholarship as he had been named a perfect in his old school. I was planning on getting him 3 pairs of dress pants, 3 short sleeve dress shirts (summer) & 3 long-sleeve dress shirts (winter) if he hadn't moved schools. Again one in the wash, one to wear, & one spare. JMHO PS---I really like school uniforms. I find that my children needed less clothing overall when they had school uniforms & they focused better at school when in uniform.
  18. I used cloth on all 3 of my babies. With dd I used all-in-ones (Kooshies) as I wanted easy to use to make sure I didn't give up. Where we lived then disposables were over $1 each & rubbish was a huge problem. As we had washers & driers supplied & our electricity paid by dh's company washing was no added expense for us. When ds#1 was born we moved to Fiji & I had 2 in diapers as dd was almost 2yo at the time. We had twin concrete laundry tubs & a wash board to begin with for doing laundry & line drying only. Dh did get me a twin tub washing machine after a month there, which was a huge help, but think semi-automatic vs automatic washing machine. As my all-in-ones took way too much time to dry in the humid tropical weather I ended up buying a dozen local chinese cotton flat nappies & 2 dozen bigger flannelette nappies to use. I learned very fast which folds worked best. I liked the origami fold best & neither child had problems with rashes, leaks, etc. The flat nappies washed & dried much quicker & could be folded to fit each child as needed. When ds#1 outgrew the smaller nappies we used those for double diapering at night. If we were going out I would put on a cover, but if we were just around the house I often did not as this helped the area to "breathe" & helped to prevent rashes IMHO. We were back in NZ when ds#2 was born & had a real washing machine :-) We had a drier, but with the high cost of power here, I line dry most of the laundry. I ordered some diapers to use for ds#2 that were rectangles made up of 2 layers of cloth (1 terry cloth & 1 flannelette) These were simply folded into pad to be placed onto wraps & used as you would an all-in-one diaper, but much cheaper & easier to wash & dry. I used cloth wipes for all 3dc & bought cloth "pull-ups" (Kooshie brand) to use for bedwetting after they were potty trained. For our family we used cloth for a combination of reasons. Economically we couldn't afford to buy disposables when we lived in 3rd world nations. Ecologically neither dh nor I wanted to add to the number of disposable diapers we saw floating in the ocean around our island home. Health-wise cloth was better for at least 2 of my dc as they broke out in rashes when I used disposables, even the most expensive Huggies brand. We also had MUCH less leaks & blow-outs with cloth than disposables. Even overnight cloth was more effective for us than disposables. I even traveled with cloth diapers, rather than disposables. I never tried to sew my own & wouldn't really suggest it as a way to save $$ unless you are a very good seamstress who enjoys sewing & sews regularly. JMHO
  19. NZ here, but I have lived in Fiji & the Marshall Islands as well, both of which have some form of socialised medicine. In the Marshall Islands most people went to the hospital for treatment. The mornings were for sick people. You went & took a number & waited. The afternoons were dedicated to different special cases. One day was for prenatal, another for leprosy, another for nuclear disease, etc. One day I went because I found a lump in my breast. I was able to have it removed the very next day. I can't remember exactly if we had any co-pay, but if we did it was less than $10. I had all my prenatal care for dd in the Marshalls & her well-child visits for her first year. In Fiji hospital care was free, but there were private doctors as well if we chose to go that route (about $20 / visit). I had my prenatal care for ds#2 in Fiji & well child visits for dd & ds#1 in Fiji. In NZ hospital care is free & visits to your GP are free for children, adults have a small co-pay, depending on what health centre you belong to. In my province we pay $17/visit for adults. Medications are $5 / prescription for Pharmac approved medicines. All hospital & specialist care is free if you go through the public system. Depending on the day / time / urgency of your complaint wait times can really vary in A&E (the Emergency Room) The longest I've had to wait is 8 hours (from arrival to departure) for my broken arm. I believe it was about 4 hours waiting in the waiting room after registering that time. The quickest I've been seen is 10 seconds (when I passed out right next to the stroke doctor when visiting my m-i-l in the A&E after she had a stroke) Most times I took my boys they were in a bed in less than 2 hours. We can usually get an appointment with the GP the same day, if we aren't fussy as to which doctor we see. If it's not urgent, we usually can see our main GP that same week. Referrals for specialist care are usually with-in six week, but sometimes we've had an appointment with-in a week to 10 days. Dental care if free until age 18. Young children visit the school dental nurses for a yearly check-up. Fillings & cleanings are done on a as needed basis. Highschoolers are seen at participating dentists' offices. Low income adults can get urgent dental care at the hospital, but this has long wait times & little choice in procedures(i.e. they like to pull teeth instead of doing root canals ) Quality of care I've received in countries with socialised medicine is at least as good as what I've received growing up in the States. In some cases I'd even say it was superior. In NZ where my boys were born I was in hospital for a week (c-section births) & for the next 6 weeks a Plunkett (baby) public heath nurse visited us at home to check on me & the baby. Dd was born in the States (c-section as well) After 3 days they wanted to discharge me, even though dd was in NICU & I was having problems with an infection in my c-section wound. Thankfully my hospital bill for dd was covered by Dr. Dinosaur in VT as it was over $20k. My hospital bill in NZ for both my boys' births was $0.
  20. I have adult children, too. I'd love to join.
  21. 1994 Toyota Corona with over 325,000 km My new-to-me car is a 1994 Toyota Corolla with less than 100,00km. Dd drives our 1997 Ford Festiva with over 220,000 km Ds#2 drives our 1998 Mazda Demio with over 224, 000 km Ds#1 has a 1996 Mitsubishi Diamante with tons of km (over 200k for sure) We don't "do" new cars in our family :laugh: When we got married over 25 years ago dh's car was a 1968 Fiat. We had to up-grade the seatbelt each time we added a child to the family as it originally had no seatbelts.
  22. Thanks for all the ideas. Luckily I haven't had to do without a kitchen until yesterday. The single hob I got to supplement my small appliances is an inductive hob. Our new stove is inductive, so I thought it would be a good way to learn to cook on one. Also, I liked the fact that it didn't get hot as cooking in rooms not designed for cooking can be a challenge. I sold the idea to dh by saying that the hob could come in handy for when we have a larger dinner party (i.e Thanksgiving, etc.) or to take when we travel to cook in our room. Dh has been able to organise a corner of the rumpus for me to use as a temp kitchen. It's not ideal, but will work much better than our very cluttered lounge that is a dumping spot for gear from other rooms being worked on. I have one week left before school starts for the new year & another 3-4 before I normally get consistent work. I'm aiming to use this time to do a ruthless declutter as everything is our of closets, cabinets, etc. & I can see we have tons more than we need. Thanks again for all the words of encouragement.
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