Moving right along.....

Hard to believe we're already on Day 6 in New Zealand! The first picture above is a few of the sunset over the South Island as viewed from our front deck! Not bad...The other is of Abby and her friend, Naomi, in Wellington, where we went this weekend to check out the Pacifika festival, where people from all the south pacific island nations whose people now inhabit NZ come and show their wares, their clothing, their music, their art, etc. It was a fabulous day, even though the weather was a bit cold and windy.

On the technology front, still no internet and no phone at our house, so checking and sending email is intermittent. We hope to have all that installed by end of this week, but it could be a bit longer. I did just get a cell phone today, but that does me no good really aside from calling one or two people I know here in Paekakariki and for emergencies! Calls are 89 cents/minute here, so I have to rethink how I use my mobile phone.

Aside from communications, we're sort of settling in. It's so beautiful here, and Jennifer and Michael have made us feel very much at home. Yesterday, we spent the day at the beach...our first really nice weather day. The day before that, we were in Wellington.

Update on the school situation...the kids had their first day of school on Friday and LOVED it. Abby has told me several times how much she loves school here. I'm not sure if it's just because she's the center of attention or because they get an entire hour for lunch (outside) or because there's swimming virtually every day or simply because it's all so laid back. But we'll take it for now! On other social news, Abby and Becky have joined a Girl Guide troop and Brownie troop, respectively, Abby and Naomi are fast friends, David and Aidan are great buddies, and there's even a friend for Becky...Ayla is the 7 year old daughter of one of Jennifer's good friends. So all is good.

I, myself, have mostly been running around trying to figure out how to get settled enough for everyone to be comfortable.,..food shopping, getting communciations, buying wet suits (yes, the water is freezing) and bikes (we live about a 20 minute walk from school), and figuring out how to pump gas and drive on the left side of the road! Today is the first day I've felt a little like I want to go home to my comforts and my familiarity, but I know this, too, shall pass. We're looking forward to Jim's arrival in a few weeks.

A few funny words you all might enjoy: togs (swimsuit), capsicum (peppers--red, green, etc), buiscits (cookies), trainers (sneakers).

Things I like here: the coffee, the butter, the eggs, the yogurt, the simplicity of the people and of life, the views, very little homework. Oh, and did I say...very little homework?

Things I don't like: the prices, the absence of loved ones.

First Day of School

These pictures are taken from our front deck as the kids got ready to head off to their first day of school this morning. It is a very windy and stormy day....fairly typical for this area, I understand. Still, I'm grateful that we're not experiencing 12F degree temperatures and ice storms the way we would be if we were home. The kids had mixed feelings about going to school. Becky, especially, was a bit apprehensive, so I'll go back there at lunchtime to see how they're doing. The school is very small and friendly, and there are so many wonderful things about it....1 hour outdoors at lunchtime, no shoes if you don't want them, lots of singing, and not as much homework as we're used to at home. It should be a wonderful experience, even if a bit scary at first.

Jennifer and Michael are taking such good care of us here. I sit at their house as I write this before I run off to the nearest town of any size (Paraparamau) to set up home phone and internet service and to do some food shopping. IN the meantime, Jennifer generously lets us use her home and provides us with love and good dinners! The kids each have a good buddy so far. David has Aidan, Abby has Naomi, and Becky has a good friend of the family's, Ayla. All are happy, as am I.

I woke up around 6:30 am today and did a little yoga while feeling the breeze and listening to the waves. Later, I went for a run along the beach. Ahhhh..... I suppose eventually, I'll have to get down to a little work, but that can wait for next week....

We do miss all of you and are grateful for everyone's support as we set off on our big adventure!

We arrived!

After a long trip, we finally arrived here in beautiful Paekakariki! It is really all it's cracked up to be, no doubt. At the same time, I'm a little challenged at the moment with lack of phone, internet, and all the comforts of home, so pictures and long posts are a thing of the future...the near future, I hope!

For now, I wanted to let all of you who might be reading this blog know that we are here safe and sound. We're renting an absolutely lovely house right on the beach...nicer than any house we've ever lived in actually.

In a few days, as we get settled in, I promise there will be more news from the Southern Hemisphere.....stay tuned.

It's the moment we've all been waiting for (by Carolyn)

Today was the day that determined the day that the kids and I would leave for our big adventure. By that I mean that today was the Princeton Girl Choir winter concert at Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University. As many of you know, Abby loves to sing. Actually, all of us in this loud family of ours love to sing, and Abby happens to have a beautiful voice. This was her first year in the Choir, and today was the first real concert of the year, so we stayed around here for the big event. It was well worth the wait on many levels. First, the girls' voices (about 30 girls grades 3-5) were angelic. Second, the whole experience of singing in a choir has been great for Abby. Third, so many people we love came out to join us and send us off...my parents, Jim's mom and sister and her husband, Abby's wonderful teacher, Mrs. Siggelakis (who saved the day by remembering to bring flowers...our heads were spinning too fast for us to remember...), and my dear friend Karen (mother of Abby's friend Emma, who is also in the Choir) and her family.

In other family news...

• Abby's basketball team won their first game of the season on Saturday night, beating a tough team by whom Abby's team had been crushed on several previous occassions (see picture of Abby with her teammate, Allyson).
• Becky and David had a sleepover at their friend, Griffin's house on Friday night.
• Carolyn finished up her last US based work assignment on Friday.
• Becky and David got their faces painted at the Peddie School Carnival just before going to Abby's concert (and so showed up painted like a butterfly and a bandit, respectively)
• Carolyn's mom and dad spent the weekend in Hightstown and were a tremendous help with the kids while we packed.
• Sadly, Jim's dad had an incident that landed him in the hospital earlier today, but the word is that he's on the mend for now.

So here we are, acting as though we're calm, when really we're excited (about the adventure), nervous (about the unknown, about being a single parent for a short time), tired (from all the thinking and anticipation), and sad (about leaving Jim for 3 1/2 weeks, our friends and family for 4 months, and Jim's dad when things are so uncertain). Most of the greatest joys in life come with some of those emotions involved, I suppose.....thus the elation of the joy that follows.

Now that I finally know how to post to this blog, I intend to write more often. And for now....final touches on the packing and off to bed.

A Time of Change Pt. 1

Well, life seems to come at you so fast. If anyone where to ask me how things are in my life, even a week ago, I would be hard pressed to find anything that was not great. I have the typical complaints that everyone has, but they really aren't much in the grand scheme of things. I have a wonderful wife, three amazing children, a great job with smart and thoughtful colleagues, and I'm going to NZ for three months. What could be better? Nothing, of course.

One week ago my dad called me to say that he has been coughling up blood for three weeks and that he is pretty sure he has lung cancer. Huh?! The breaks of my life came on, it started to veer off the road, and life seemed suddenly different. None of the other things have changed of course, but it was still a shock. So much so that I am still kind of putting it together.

You see, my dad is really a great man. I have never known anyone who didn't like and respect him. He is super smart, very independent, and, as a well read person, has a strong sense of right and wrong. Even after all of the life he has lived he still gets pissed off by the indignity that people show to each other. He hasn't become cynical (much, anyway) and he certainly hasn't become callused. I hope I carry much of that with me every day. As my sister-in-law wrote in an email, quoting Jim Croce, "you don't tug on Superman's cape" because my dad feels like a superman. I know, the intellectual part of me says that we all die, and that statistically he doesn't have a lot of time left, but still, that was all so intangible. Cancer is tangible. At his age it is probably a death sentence. It sucks that it is happening to him, to me, to us! Of course, there hasn't been an actual diagnosis (that comes next week), so I have a hope that it is not as bad, or profound, or real as it seems. Still, I'm sad.

My first thought was that I shouldn't go to NZ. What would I do if he died when I was there. I'll be there until June. It's unlikely, but you never know. In his dad way he said the thing that I wanted and needed to hear (actually he wrote it). To paraphrase, he said the most important thing to him was his family and their chance to pursue their dreams. If he were to die early we could do a memorial service anytime, it isn't time sensitive.

So, to conclude this post, for now, life hasn't changed too much. In some ways it feels better and more real. I feel luckier than ever to have a family like I have ( I still get tired, however), to be in the place I am in (literally and metaphorically), and to be able to do the things that are important to me. Thanks for reading. There is more to follow

We got our Visas!

Carolyn's first Blog here.

As of yesterday, January 16, 2008, it's about as official as it's going to get save for when we actually get on the plane on February 11th. After two rounds of trying and many hours trying to sort out what was needed and what kinds of visas we needed, we got it right. I must say that the NZ Embassy in Washington, though not particularly personable, is efficient. It took only one week from send to receive. Funny thing how the folks at the Embassy here in the US don't even come close to representing what I think the actual people in NZ are like. Every person with whom I've spoken who is actually IN NZ is so wonderfully friendly and warm. The folks in Washington act like they can't wait to get you off the phone. Do you suppose it's possible that living in the US has soured these people? I have to not think about that because the answer might depress me too much.

I have a dear friend, whom I've known since I did a semester abroad in Spain in 1985 who is leaving today with her husband and three children to embark on a round the world adventure for seven months. Sadly, they won't be coming to NZ, but I feel happy knowing that someone from my very first travel adventure is continuing the quest in parallel with me. Some may say it's crazy to take your children out of their home environment during the school year---my guess is that it will be an experience that will shape their lives. We'll see. Stay tuned....

Why Do We Do a Sabbatical?

I had an interesting conversation with a good friend about the "criticisms" I have gotten about the trip to NZ. The main concern I have heard is that I could go anywhere I wanted to go to study experiential education (read: you could do it here). My friend Paul, who I think is wise in many ways, thought it best to think about the trip, the sabbatical, as an enrichment beyond the educational piece. It is also an enrichment of your life. Just living in a culture that is different enough to be challenging will help me to be a better teacher, and person, especially as I get an opportunity to visit different schools. As I have been telling others about my sense of the sabbatical program at Peddie, one of its designed purposes is to give a teacher the chance to be more purposefully introspective about who they are and what they do as teachers. Additionally, NZCER will be tremendously helpful in focusing the direction of my research, maybe more than any other group with which I could spend time. It is really a matter of perspective, hence the picture.