Tell about YOUR World, and YOUR life

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Hi, I'm an Aussie but living in New Zealand, so I probably qualify.

- What you do for fun:

Family - grandkids are the best! But I also play several instruments (primarily guitar) and really enjoy jamming with other muso's. Apart from that, have an academic background so astronomy, lectures & etc. I'm not a sportsman, built for comfort, not for speed, but I do like a fast paced game of chess (lol).

- What everyday life is like for you

My day to day job is now IT Engineer/Business Analyst. Which has challenges and variety enough but is really just what I do. In my youth, I used to obsess and stress over it but I'm chill these days. I've got good & flexible working hours and am essentially my own boss. I probably should retire soon but I can't see myself as fading away in a rocking chair.

- What the weather is like

Nice weather here in NZ. In Australia (Sydney predominantly) it gets too hot for most of the year. New Zealand is a couple of volcanic islands and generates its own micro-climate. It is called Aotearoa by the Maori, which roughly translates to 'land of the long white cloud'. It has tropical rains interspersed with stunning sunshine. It is really lush and bright green, especially compared with the East coast of Australia which is largely olive.

The light (in artistic terms) to me appears brighter and more vivid than that in Asia, Europe and the US, but that's, perhaps, a prejudice.

- What you eat for dinner

Generally, each meal includes a meat somewhere on the plate. I'm a bit of a 'foodie'. Thinking of what I usually buy, chicken and lamb would be the go-to meats but that's usually a price/convenience thing. There are also foods in NZ that I'm fairly sure are unique. Fijoas and Tamarillos are seasonal and grow everywhere (and of course Kiwifruit) and Kumara is nearly as prevalent as potato. Whitebait and Pippi's also form a part of the diet but considering that we are close to the water everywhere in NZ, seafood doesn't play as big a part of the diet as in Australia. Usually if we do eat seafood, it wasn't bought at a supermarket (my daughter is a keen fisherwoman).

- What is a trip to the grocery store like for you?

I think that our best produce isn't actually in our supermarkets, but is exported. Supermarkets are for packaged foods, mainly. We have a lot of these little fresh produce grocery shops where we can get anything straight from the farms but of course they have a variable stock based on the seasonality of produce. To give you an idea, our local town center has two supermarkets but five fresh produce shops.

- How you get to work?

I call it the long carpark. Auckland traffic was designed by idiots. We have multi lane highways with no traffic that go nowhere and heavily used motorways and roadways that haven't been upgraded for decades (because they'd interrupt the traffic). Petrol also costs a bomb, with the Auckland council lumping on extra charges because the major roads need emergency funding to sort out. And diesel also is a screw up, you pay at the pump for it and then you have to separately calculate, report and pay 'mileage' for tax purposes. At least it is pushing the populace to embrace EV's and Hybrids.

- What differences you see between your life and others outside your country

Far too many to list but they are really probably minor differences. I don't think we have the political polarity that is going on elsewhere. People move flexibly from left to right without much noise or nonsense. Our governments are quite 'centrist' anyway.

I do think NZ sense of humor is quirky and different than elsewhere. It has English/European roots but grew up in isolation, with strong Maori/Islander input. We have unique 'turns of phrase' that are probably confusing to others New Zealand humour From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think that Europeans are far more self isolating than Maori/Islanders, who grow up with more physical contact between family members. So I sometimes feel that personal space boundaries are infringed a bit (but then again, I'm a bit Aspergers, too).

- Things you like, and even things you don't like

Don't like ageing much. Like most other things.

- What your apartment or house is like

A 5 bedroom, two bathroom place on a hillside overlooking the water and back towards Auckland. Lots of glass (double glazed) bi-fold doors and large windows. Rural location out of the 'burbs but close enough to get into town in about 40 minutes on a good traffic day.

We have several grassed fields around the house where we raise a few cows. Also have an orchard where far too many chickens free-range. We have two dogs and a goat too. We also have what appears to be natural bushland but is in fact the drip field for our biocycle composting sewage system.

Oh, and we have solar hot water and LPG for cooking/heating so we could be independent of the electricity grid if we wanted.

- What you do in your free time (if any)

Whatever I want.

I like Sci-Fi films & TV, play music, read, I can mow the grass for hours (me-time isolation). We can go to the (black volcanic sand) beach or the (white sand) harbor/river beach and fish or swim, our local township has car shows and other fairs and events. There is a steam railway for us to take the grandkids to. Stacks of restaurants and we can even go into Auckland for a show, a gig or a lecture.

We have friends that we visit and have meals with about once a week, too and some local cinemas.

a reply to: chr0naut

We have a college buddy. Good friend of ours. He and his wife are living in New Zealand at the moment. He's the flagship surgeon at a vet clinic down there around Christchurch.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: chr0naut

We have a college buddy. Good friend of ours. He and his wife are living in New Zealand at the moment. He's the flagship surgeon at a vet clinic down there around Christchurch.

Yeah, Christchurch is colder and the South Island 'rattles' quite a bit more than up North.

Still, Auckland is volcanic (slow volcanic, though), so we could have a bit of excitement one day.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I was drawn into your post, until I got to here "We're all just like you really".

Typical American arrogance.

Why even bother initiate this post if you've already decided that "We're all just like you really"?

a reply to: pseudoless

Well, the statement was meant as a kind gesture, but seeing as how you feel so entitled...

We're just like most people, but NOTHING like YOU!

You're SPECIAL!