Tag Archives: everyday life

In Hindsight

Posted on January 3, 2012 by newenglandkiwi

2011 was, overall, a year the like of which we will not see again soon. I know most of my friends in New Zealand couldn’t wait to see the end of it. For various reasons, a lot of people I … Continue reading →

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Recovery

Posted on November 7, 2011 by newenglandkiwi

We got power back last Tuesday evening, just as I was eating a cold dinner by candlelight (the combination of the noises I made when the power returned and the sudden appearance of light everywhere sent the cat under the … Continue reading →

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A Real Girl

Posted on September 25, 2011 by newenglandkiwi

This week I finally got to apply for a Social Security number. They’re a very odd thing, Social Security numbers. All they’re really meant to be used for is paying your taxes: essentially they function as a sort of national … Continue reading →

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The Big Picture

Posted on August 22, 2011 by newenglandkiwi

So remember how before I left last year, I wrote that blog post extolling the virtues of uncluttered housing and talking about how when I got to America I’d keep our house all modern and furniture-low and not accumulate a … Continue reading →

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One Year On

Posted on August 15, 2011 by newenglandkiwi

A year ago last Friday, I was sitting in Christchurch Cathedral, listening to Helen Clark give a talk about development in the third world. It was three days before I was due to get on a plane and leave New … Continue reading →

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Entering the twentieth century

Posted on April 8, 2011 by newenglandkiwi

Two things happened last week I didn’t expect: we got cable, and I had a really positive customer service experience. From Comcast. Also, the weather has vastly improved. In the draft of this post, I speculated that these were signs … Continue reading →

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Fences

Posted on March 31, 2011 by newenglandkiwi

My attention was re-directed today to something I’d sort of stopped noticing: this place has a serious lack of boundaries. No, not like that. In the most literal sense: there just aren’t that many fences or hedges here. Along my … Continue reading →

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I Guess I’ll Just Have To Curse

Posted on January 14, 2011 by newenglandkiwi

As my parents can probably attest, I’ve always been one of those people who likes things involving fire, whether it’s fireworks, barbeques, toasted marshmallows, or power outages and their excellent excuse to light lots of candles. Accordingly, seeing as we’re … Continue reading →

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A Miss Is As Good As A Boxing Day Blizzard

Posted on January 1, 2011 by newenglandkiwi

So we definitely didn’t get a white Christmas, but only by about twenty-four hours, as the “Blizzard of 2010″ roared in on the evening of the twenty-sixth and dumped a foot or so of snow on us. It was not … Continue reading →

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Say Cheese

Posted on November 19, 2010 by newenglandkiwi

I think I have discovered one of the great advantages America has over New Zealand: cheese. I know, I know, it doesn’t make any sense. New Zealand is one of the world’s leading exporters of milk products. We have cheese … Continue reading →

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