10 weeks and counting!

Well as of today there are 10 weeks left and we'll be on a bus on our way to Auckland! Yippee!  Now on top of it, I tried to give away Katie Perry, but after sending her off in such a tramatic way I had to get her back.  We had our french doors open for her to play outside.  At the same time a new family moved in across from us in the same garden and their little girl about 3 came over to play and pet the cat.  Well the cat does not like being chased and the little girl was loud so Katie was trying to run away.  In the meantime the people to pick up the cat shows up with no cage as the cat they were to be passing on to their granddaughter who lives in Auckland.  Now it's a lady with two children with her so I guess she was the grandmother.  We try to get the cat into their car and it doesn't work.  She starts clawing John to get away.  In the end we get the car doors closed and Katie dashed onto their dashboard and looks at me terrified.  I could have cried.  So I tell John to get in their car and we'll help them to their home with Katie.  The cat settles on John's lap.  We get to their home and as soon as we're in their front door there's a bed to the right, Katie runs under it.  We go home.  I cried all day/night.  I just did not like how the whole thing went down.

The next day when John's friend Stephen is here to do some homework with John we start talking about Katie.  I had gotten through the day ok, but of course every time I thought of her tears would come to my eyes.  John finally asked do I want to get her back and we'll take her back with us.  I said yes!  I had to beg him to call though since I didn't have the nerve.  John ran upstairs to make the call and came down and told me the guy said he'd rather not give her back and that Katie was outside playing with the neighbours cat.  Then I said ok, well at least Katie is ok.  About 3 minutes later Johns phone rang to ask if we still wanted the cat back and John said yes please.  The man said ok, but you might need to bring your wife because we let Katie out this morning and she won't and hasn't come back in and we can't find her.  She'd been "lost" all morning.  We hurried over there.  When we got there the grandma pointed out that Katie had been in the neighbours yard all morning, but would go running when she would see her.  So we knew she'd stayed in the area (and hoped).  We started calling, but no luck.  The grandma and her granddaughter went back to their home and we spent the next hour in the wind and cold calling and calling.  We drove around the block and back.  When we got back we went back into the neighbour's yard and finally we heard Katie's meowing!  What a sigh of relief that I could have cried.

So we've taken Katie to our apartment and now looking into the possibility/cost of taking her back with us.  So far one quote is up to 3100 NZD!  It's crazy expensive. If only Mike our flatmate or Stephen would take her I'd feel better about the whole thing, but otherwise I feel we need to take her.  I normally don't like cats, but I really love this one. 

Otherwise things are going well with us.  I told my boss before the holidays we would be leaving, but of course I had a better reason (which I am not putting here yet) as to why we were leaving).  He was very happy for me and it went really well.  I plan to tell my colleagues when I go back to work.

Still no news regarding keys and my apartment in Stockholm - a real pain and very immature reaction from the guy there, but hopefully it will get settled even if it only happens right before we get back.

I can't wait to be back in my apartment again in Stockholm and actually have a real holiday!

Today was a great day!

I'm still living in mazes with what I'm writing only because this is public, but today was a great day, went exactly as hoped and now we're looking forward to December because that is when I will publish our news publically as well as to people we know.  I suppose our trip to New Zealand brought along something great after all and as much as I am really looking forward to getting back to Sweden, now I'm just going to enjoy time.  I still am looking forward to getting into the last term at work because I'm hoping things will start winding down and I won't feel the stress of all the planning. 

The carpooling to Wanganui is nice even if it's not always easy relying on a 2nd person.  Also considering our time differences in the afternoons with me finishing at 3pm and her finishing at 4.30 pm, not out of work until almost 5 most days, it doesn't leave me getting out of early from work too many days.  Luckily I'd choose to carpool pretty much anytime over having to do that drive by myself.  It was fine in the beginning and it's nice an odd time where I can come home early, but it's still nice for the company, savings on gas and not having to be responsible to drive all the time.

I still have to say we haven't seen much of New Zealand and I can't say I'm keen to.  I wouldn't mind going to do whale watching, but that's about it.  Between my drive from Palmy to Wanganui everyday I've seen enough of nature with cows, sheeps and chickens, along with all the land and mountains on the side.  I'd probably appreciate it more if I didn't have to be up at 5.30, leave by 6.20 and home again by 6pm.  However, doing that kind of drive everyday just makes me want to go back to what we had in Sweden. 

On October 1st the shipping company comes to pick up all our things so we haven't started packing yet, but I'm sure somewhere in September we'll have to start doing that.  We were debating on doing something that week, but we've made no plans at all.  I know John would be quite happy to sit home, but I think it could be a good time to do something so we'll see.

Tickets booked

Our tickets are now booked for December 15th so we will be celebrating Christmas in Stockholm.  The shipping company on this side has already contacted us to come by and check the volume of boxes we have to ship so we can get a confirmation on the price for shipping.  They will be coming by tomorrow when John is home from school. 

We've taken in a flatmate, one of John's school friends, to rent out our second bedroom while we're here. He needed a place to stay and we were quite happy for the company.  He's a lovely guy and it's working out great! 

It's harder to settle back into work after the two week holiday and I don't know if it's because I was in the work mode before and had gotten into the swing of things and now the break threw me off or if it's because I know I'll be heading back to Stockholm in just two terms and it's difficult to put as much effort in as I was doing term one.  Don't get me wrong.  I still want to do a good job, but all those hours I was putting into planning term one just isn't happening this term.

John has gotten most replacement visas and id cards.  We went to Wellington this weekend to fill in the paperwork for his Danish driver's license and got that taken care of.  Once that arrives, he's only waiting on his Nemid, which will probably be shipped to Stockholm since they don't want to ship it here.  Then we need to wait for the guy renting our apartment to send it onto us.  That will be about a month away as he's on holidays.

So no more news to share for now so no news = good news :) 

Life gets exciting....

Well this past weekend our car got burglared and John's wallet, our gps, our camping backpacks with all our camping gear got stolen.  Our car was parked right outside our apartment.  We thought we locked the doors, but they must not have locked properly since nothing was broken to get into the car.  It's sad we lost our stuff, but now we know we live in a shady area and I can't get out of here soon enough.

Just like when moving to NZ we might have something more exciting to come, but nothing to confirm yet so it's just a waiting game.   Won't write yet to spoil anything so you'll just have to wait too.  This is my last week of holidays until my next 2 weeks in October which can't come soon enough, which feels crazy to say now. 

We are keeping an eye on flights and plan to book shortly, just haven't done so yet.  So I'll leave you off for here just with our newest disappointing news and hope something happier comes along next time.

The month of July and 6 months left.... and counting

Well although I don't always feel like time is flying, it really is.  I've already been at my job (which I love) since April and have had to learn heaps in a short amount of time.  It looks like John and I will be going back to Sweden together (yeh!) not separately as he signed up late to get back into Stockholm University and based on the statistics we see he doesn't have a chance to get in so late.  So he'll have to apply for the January 2013 entrance instead.  The lady at the university he has had contact with will make an individual studieplan for him since he has already done two years of study already, but we know he'll have to go past the original graduation date since the degree has changed from an entire primary school teaching degree to a 1-3 degree or 4-6 degree.  I'm just thrilled he'll be with me here until it's time to leave.  I booked a bus ticket from Palmy to Auckland since there was a cheap ticket for us both at 4.99 total on the 15th of December.  It's a night bus ride so we arrive in Auckland the morning of the 16th.  Our current plan is to book tickets for the 17th of December, but we will book those tickets shortly. 

We just got back from our first ski trip at Mount Ruaphehu and the first day went very nice with beautiful weather, although for me I found the slopes a bit twisty.  John loved it.  I'm just not as confident a skier as he is.  The 2nd day the slopes were closed due to high winds.  The 3rd day (as we had a 3 day multi pass) you could only go up if you had a 4 wheel drive car or chains on your car, neither of which we had.  So we did try to ask for our money back for the passes and they said no.  In addition, they did not offer free bus rides from the bottom of the slope to the top for those without chains or 4wheel drive vehicles which I thought was very poor considering the price of the passes.  So it was a bit of a disappointment since we know we won't go back.  It's too expensive of a journey just for one day.

Now we're back in Palmy and John's back to school next week while I have another week's holidays after this.  We've put a few bits of furniture we bought up for sale on Trade Me hoping some of it sells now as they are the big things and stuff we can manage without.

So while in New Zealand I think my Raynaud's (which I'm not officially diagnosed with, but pictures of my fingers match it perfectly) has become prominent and with the tad bit of cold now my fingers go fully numb and white.  I even notice while sleeping I'm waking up with pins and needles in my hands even if they aren't cold.  I'm in the process of visiting doctor's and waiting on a blood test to see if there is any underlying condition for my problem.  Bad circulation runs in my family, but I don't know anyone else in my family with this.  John says I don't exercise enough and he's right, here in NZ I don't, but with my almost 12 hour work day I just have no energy.  I also don't believe that's the cause.

I have to say that I still think for winter, the weather isn't bad outside compared to what we're used to.  It's still just inside (which is a shame).  I'm counting down the months to going back to Sweden and I'm simply going to have a long unpaid holiday from the middle of December until the middle of August.  Hopefully I have something to enjoy that time with, but that will remain to be seen for a while yet.

The days are flying, but time is going slowly

Since we decided to move back to Stockholm, we've actually made up our mind to move by December.  I thought we could stay until we earned our permanent visas, but this is not a country I would consider moving to again in the future so just won't bother.  Instead we'll head back to our beautiful Stockholm, warm apartment, secure job and be happier there.  We are hoping John will be allowed back into the teaching programme he was doing at Stockholm University before he left it to move here and study at Massey, but since the teaching programme changed we have a strong feeling they will make him enter the new teaching programme instead, which involves teaching grades 1-3 OR 4-6, not all of the grades.  Unfortunately, that will mean Denmark will probably not approve the programme and he won't get money from there.  That money will be important especially if my job doesn't let me back until the planned time in August 2013, which is what I agreed with them before leaving.  I will then be on holidays in Sweden until August 2013 and John will be studying so it will be many months with no salary.  With that being said, we have calculated our budget and although we'll have to be careful, we can actually manage to do it.  I on the other hand would rather begin work, bringing in the income rather than such a long time off.

The other thought is finish up working here until April 2013, which is what I was hired until and then move back, but that means I'd be living here alone until then and I'm not thrilled about that at all.  John also said no, we can afford for us both to go back and not worry about me staying here.

So that means time to ship our belongings back again.  Lucky the company we shipped our things here with, I have contacted and the guy is so nice and helpful so we've already got things rolling in the sense of paperwork.  We can't do anything more until we have a date we can move and book flights.

I am enjoying my new job a lot, but it's not enough to convince me to stay here.  It is a very challenging job and teachers do a lot of work here.  I think I'm doing pretty well.  I've caught up on understanding most of how things work, but when I think that something new comes along that I need to learn.  I also got my salary assessment done and it came out to be SOOO much more than I planned on getting so that was a real treat.  It'll help me save some and make a nice time out of being here.

For me honestly, time can't go fast enough.  I know I should enjoy it while I'm here, but I'm so cold all the time in my hands!  They are constantly going white and I do plan to take myself to the doctor, but I know there isn't anything that can be done about it.  Now we just have to figure out the logistics of how to make everything work.

Move done, job begun....

Well the move to Palmy went smoothly.  I've started my new job, which I love.  Everyone is very friendly there.  It is a lot of work though and I am putting in hours of planning both in the evenings and on weekends to be sure I do a good job.  That being said it'll feel good when I understand how everything works.

Our apartment is much warmer than what we had, though I'm too spoiled from Sweden.  It simply isn't the kind of warmth I am used to.  For me the move has been much tougher than I thought.  I do miss Sweden, my apartment and the warmth.  We have been talking a lot and kind of come to the decision that we will put in our time here since I've been given a leave of absence from my job in Sweden and we will put in the time to earn permanent residency here after all the trouble, money and effort we put into moving here, but we will move back to Sweden.  I think John would be happy doing whatever, but we know the job security in Sweden is safe.  We didn't realise the job market here for teachers would be a battle with over 150 applicants applying for the same jobs I want.  Of all the applications I sent out and with my experience I only ended up with 2 interviews.  That being said, I did get one of those jobs and it was within three months of moving here and I love the job I got so maybe there was a meaning it would work out this way.  That being said it's just too risky and we don't want that risk.

Someone else at my new job is leaving and his position will open up so I'm going to wait and see if I get asked to apply for a permanent position even if I am new at the job.  It just would make it cozy and safe right up until we leave.  We must stay until July 5, 2014 to be sure we can apply for permanent residency and have our travel conditions removed from our passports so that is why we're staying until then.

In the meantime I've given notice to the guy living in our apartment in Stockholm so he knows.  I just did that today actually.  I know it might seem a bit early to be thinking as a lot can happen in a year, but it was a very stressful move and my fingertips are almost constantly white since I think my body thinks it's cold. It actually has been beautiful weather for the most part, but it's just different here.

Our neighbours cat who is the cutest thing (and I'm not terribly fond of cats) visits us daily for some food (which we've now treated her to a cheap bag of cat food which she doesn't want as she wants our real food) and a cuddle.  As I speak she's lying on John's lap passed out asleep.  We did try to let her in one night, but that didn't go so well as she got sick.  So we haven't tried since then and won't just in case.  She pops in whenever she likes and knows to run to the kitchen where we keep her water and a little dish with food.

I will love getting the work experience here and all the ideas.  It will definitely be something I'll use and keep with me when I go back to Sweden.  John would probably be happier if I enjoyed it here because I think he easily could consider staying, but I think he's also a little hesitant, just not as much as I am.  It's probably one of those things where we should have visited first and been aware what the living conditions were like before deciding.  That being said, being on a holiday somewhere is not the same as living there.

In my head now I'll be happy knowing we can visit John's family for Christmas' again once we do get back.  I do love his family and I love how caring they are to him.  John has amazing friends as well and I loved visiting them this past summer when we were there.  I also love the time I get to spend with my own friends and their little girls since I do miss them.  Missing people is not the reason though for me not wanting to live here.  It simply has to do with the job security and warmth which I miss most of all.

Well now we're off to watch a movie, get into bed and go to sleep!

Palmy! Here we come....

Well I've handed in my notice at the daycare, if I didn't mention that last time.  We got the approval for an apartment this afternoon, which we'd been waiting on all day for.  We drove this past weekend to Palmy so I could have a look at both apartments we had narrowed it down to or two that really matched what we were looking for with room for our belongings.  I only got to see them from the outside as it was John who went to the viewings.  I actually quite liked the one we picked even if it'll mean noisy neighbours.  That's ok, at least we'll have company.  It's a 2 bedroom complex with an upstairs and downstairs.  John says our two new dressers will not fit upstairs so that's going to be a real pain.  However, I'm absolutely thrilled to be moving!  I wish I had more time off from work with the move to "relax," but I can't have everything. 

We have a mover guy coming on Friday so John & him will move while I'm at work.  After work I'll drive to Palmy for the weekend and come back here Sunday evening to stay with our kind neighbours until Tuesday since Tuesday is my last day.  Wednesday I'm off to the new job and it's a while for holidays for me then.

So now, I'm really hoping something changes and I love the new job and find this is where we want to live.  Then I have to hope a permanent teaching job opens up for me.  It would be great if this school decides they want me to stay, just because it is only an hour from Palmy and I'll have just gotten settled when my contract will be up.  I also hope our new apartment can be kept warm because I definitely don't want to continue living with the cold that I've been living with so far. 

So internet, phone, electricity company have all been notified and changes made.  Change of address is done.  Now it's just to get through the next week of daycare.  Let's just say that my mind is elsewhere and not there, even if I am still doing my job.  I've been studying the new curriculum and all the books I got from the new school to prepare myself as best I can.  I've prepared a class blog and some online games for the children with special needs that might need that extra help.  So I'm pretty excited what I've done. 

Now I'm off to relax and read a bit before I fall asleep.

Wow, wow and wow!

Ok, so I had the skype interview and hung up feeling very sad thinking I didn't feel it went as well as I hoped.  First when I turned on skype I had myself by the window for light and of course it was too shiny in the camera so I quickly had to try move so it was clearer (stressful).  Apparently there were a ton of people in the room, but only the principal carried out the skype interview, but everyone else could see me on a screen.  Then they got straight to the core questions.  Wow I felt overwhelmed and wasn't sure I was answering them properly.  It was a lot about how I teach and the NZ curriculum.  Now I couldn't explain of course fully I felt about the NZ curriculum having not worked with it, but I had read up on it and in detail what I would have been required to teach.  I was able to apply how I have worked and will work as a teacher and that was how I answered the questions - all honestly. 

Well it turned out they called my references in Sweden (very impressive they managed to figure out the time difference as I'm still struggling with it myself) and checked with two I believe.  I then got a phone call the next day offering me the position!!!  I couldn't believe it.  They said they were impressed with my interview and I was highly recommended.  I am going to do a great job and make them want to keep me now :p  It's only a 1 year fixed term as they call it.  The teacher I am taking over for is getting 1 year off so I will be taking her position. 

I begin in 3 weeks.  I told the daycare I will be leaving and they took it well.  I was a bit worried.  Originally the plan was for me to stay until I got my passport back from immigration, but this was simply too difficult to do.  It wasn't a field for me and I was very unhappy.  My 3 months is up April 12th.  John will go into Palmy immigration on the 16th with the letter and then I just need to hope my passport gets sent back to us with the restriction removed.

We have in the meantime decided that if I don't get anything permanent by Feb. 2013, then we will aim to go back to Sweden.  I have my job held for me there and my apartment, but hopefully now that I have a job, something permanent comes up later, we can begin to enjoy NZ and we can stay here.  I don't have that feeling yet, but only due to the hectic start and not having been able to really enjoy it here quite yet.

We are trying to decide our living arrangement, whether I move into the room he is renting at Palmy, storing our stuff at our neighbours house until we decide what to do or if we take the chance and rent our own apt. at Palmy and move our stuff to that place rather than having to move everything twice.  The problem is we have some heavy things that won't be able to be lifted without help, which makes it difficult to ask for help 2x to move the heavy things.  I suggested asking our neighbour to help with the heavy things until we can decide properly, but it does make more sense to get an apartment, pay someone to help us move and do it once without imposing on our neighbours either.  They have been wonderful and supportive to me while here.

At least with this position, John and I can live under the same roof.  We've pretty much decided that I will travel to school everyday by car.  It's a one hour drive, but I'd rather live in Palmy in the city that another town like we're in now.  Also, considering it's not a permanent job, for me it feels silly to choose that area to live in.  So it might be an early start to my morning since I think it opens at 7.30, but it'll be fine. 

So that's my newest news and I feel very happy and proud I got chosen!  I'm off to see the school on Monday as I'm invited for morning tea and I told the daycare that I need the morning off, but I'll be in by lunchtime.   Off to start breakfast and packing for the day :)

Time for 2nd one tomorrow!

Well as the title says, it is time for a skype interview tomorrow.  I was very happy they could offer skype considering I'd have to borrow someone's car (and there is a limited amount of people here I know that I could ask that of - a neighbour and a colleague) and then take more time off to get there.  Now it doesn't really conflict with anything.  This one is closer to where John goes to school, but not a permanent position, but it is a 1 year position.  Granted, getting experience is always a beginning.

We have started to talk about our worries and the "what if I don't get anything permanent" senario.  We have decided to give it a chance until February and if it doesn't work out that I can get any permanent position, we will then have to consider going back.

I can't admit I'm fully happy doing what I have to do now, unless I could use my "crystal ball" as someone on the forum once said and see what the future holds.  It's cold in the house unless it's been sunny in the day and my days consist of counting the days from when John leaves until John gets home.  I count the hours at work until I'm done and worry everytime I get called in if they're letting me go due to financial reasons they're having.  Lucky for me I'm not one they are letting go and I'm very grateful for that.  I didn't know until it was a possibility exactly how grateful I was.  I suppose we were aware compared to Sweden that the job security here isn't as good, but seeing where I am now, it's scary how bad the job security is.

I suppose looking back we were very very spoiled in Sweden with very well built houses and apartments, great job security, wonderful parental leave (though that's not something we need to worry about), much better pay (though that doesn't bother - at least not if I'm teaching) and just in general the safety net.  Now I can't say much yet about New Zealand since my days only consist of working and evenings consist of looking for a school who would like an eager, hard-working, wonderful teacher!  I have applied to literally everything (no exageration) that is permanent and primary over the entire country this past weekend.  Now people says it's not the right time to look.  Well I have to start to look and there are positions out there.  It's just a matter of them wanting or not wanting me. 

I honestly can't wait to get something permanent so I know I can plan for being there because then I can also plan for living here!  Once that happens we then plan to tour and see this country we were so eager to move to.  We know there are so many beautiful places to visit, but any money we make we save for the possibility of having to drive to in case I get called for an interview.

Now my fingers are crossed for tomorrow because at least that would be a start.  I have my long distance cousin in Auckland praying for me (also a teacher) so it was nice to have a chat with her to get some advice.  She is working & living where I'd love to be.  Well with John in Palmy is my first choice, but 2nd choice is Auckland because there is a university there and John could transfer there.  We still haven't heard anything from Denmark and whether they are going to pay him to study here.  It would be a nice bit of money to help towards his school if they say yes.  It might also allow extra funding for me to stop and do subbing until I got a permanent position if I can't get anything.  Maybe I'm just not being patient enough, but I feel I've had enough holidays now at the daycare and want to get back into what I love doing and what I do best.  It's strange not using my evenings to plan.  I actually like planning!  Well it is nice having this extra free time, but still I'd rather teach.

I've started to look into seeing if someone has a room to rent in this area so then I could use the car and go to Palmy on weekends instead of us living here.  Apparently though this is the wrong area to do this in since people don't rent as it's all Army subsidised living.  Of course it is.  Anything to make my daily life easier is just not happening right now.  We had a lovely little mouse living in our house.  The little thing just couldn't help but make his markings and then had the nerve to eat everything off our traps without setting them off!  Well we caught him 2nd time around and so far no sign of more. Phew it seems it was just the one (knock on wood!).  Ok, so a mouse might not seem like a big deal to you.  Well let me tell you.  I haven't had to deal with them since I was a child.  So I'm not used to taking care of them as an adult either.  I even considered getting a cat and let me tell you I am not a huge fan of cats since I'm afraid of their claws.  No, really, I didn't plan on getting a cat, but I did ponder the thought for all of 10 seconds. 

Oh did I mention the dead bird in our "chippy" (the little stove in the kitchen).  Oh yes and I most likely didn't mention the day I came home to literally a hundred flies swarming in my kitchen since it was a hot day and the crock pot was on.  Well they say this is normal here.  I kept saying the amount of flies I have was not normal, but nope, no one would come check it out until I investigated.  Well, not being a house owner, nor a farmer, nor a person really with anything to do in nature (well I do love camping, but still wouldn't consider myself any expert), what did they really want me to investigate?!  Well maybe it was the dead bird I found a month later in the chippy that I mentioned in my first sentence?  Not sure and don't think it was that, but you never know since I've no idea how long it was there. 

Now I'm off to sleep now that I've put my frustrations down on the web.  At least I can get a giggle out of my story as I write it.  I should probably say in all of this that John loves it here and he'd probably love it more if I was doing something I liked.  I know he worries because of me and the getting a job part.  I promise if I get a permanent job in teaching, I won't complain.  :p

1st down and possibly a million more to go...

I visited my first school and went through the 1st interview.  I absolutely loved the school and can't describe how I feel I'm perfectly suited for it since it is soooo similar to my last school I worked at.  Now if only they can feel the same way.  I was very nervous, but answered all questions honestly and felt I did a great job.  What might come against me is not having NZ curriculum experience, but I've read through it and it seems to be very simply and similar to what I've already worked with.  So now when my phone rings, it'll be the news I'm waiting for - either a yes or a no.  Every part of my body has parts crossed just hoping the answer is a yes!  Beginning next week I've completed 2 months where I'm at and I'll be breaking in my last and final month for immigration.  Then I'll get the letter ready for my employer to sign and John will be in to immigration in Palmerston the Monday after my 3 months to hand it all in personally.  We know they won't sign it off right then and there, but at least we will know they have it in their hands.  I just had a colleague go through the same thing and it took her 3 weeks to get it.  On the other hand she sent it to her agent first who then sent it into immigration before she got it.  I can't write too much about the school since it was only 1 interview and I don't have an answer.  It'll only make sense to write once something becomes of it.... or not.  So fingers crossed and lots of prayers for me this week - and that's even if they make their decision this week.

Time moves slowly in one way and quickly in another...

The days themselves seem to be going by very quickly, yet the time at the daycare is going very slowly.  I hate when John leaves for Palmy and I love seeing him coming in the door on Thursday evenings.  We spend out weekends baking, cooking dinners, been to the gym once, however now we go to the gym to take a hot hot shower - figure may as well get the most out of this place while we have it so we don't have to turn on our hot water tank and waste our electricity.  It sounds crazy, but it's so close by and it's a heck of a lot quicker than waiting for our tank to warm up.  This weekend there was a market day and about all of 4 small tables were there which took us 2 minutes to look around.  Then we decided to go to the Army Museum.  Considering we have Army defense id's we got in for free.  We spent an hour looking around, went to the child's room to dress up and play army guys (we were the only people in it thank god or the kids would have looked at us like we were crazy) and then we left.  We stopped across the street at a little coffee shop and had a very late breakfast of scones and juice and I will leave off the part that I ate a hash brown potato.  After that we went home - apparently I left my handbag there with my wallet, but luckily didn't notice until I was about to head to the gym with John today.  Then I panicked and lucky lucky me as soon as I walked in they recognised me and had my handbag which someone turned in!  There was only 20 dollars in it, but all my id's and visa card and EPTOS card (which is the equivalent of a debit card, but is not a visa).  I was so relieved to get my bag back.  I'm so happy for people's honesty.

Now my goal at work for the next few weeks is to keep quiet, get earplugs and get through the day.  I won't write anything compromising for my own sake here about my job, but it is simply not for me.  I'm just not happy there and since I'm not happy I find myself just frustrated daily about it. 

Now my fingers are crossed that term 2 can bring something new for me to actually enjoy - we'll have to see.  This time I'm in the country so hopefully it's not as hard as being out of the country.  My lovely Nanny when I called her today said she'd light some candles and pray for me and she'd ask everyone else to do so for me as well.  Hopefully with a whole town praying for me god might listen and help me out :p

Our things have finally arrived....

Our belongings were supposed to arrive Thursday, but around 16 the delivery driver called to say he wouldn't make it, but would Friday at 8.30 in the morning work.  I said of course.  At least they have been pretty good about calling and keeping me informed so I won't complain about that part.  Friday morning 1 delivery guy arrived.  That made me angry when John told me because he ended up helping, of course because he offered, but still after all the money we paid you'd figure they'd send at least 2 people to carry all the things.  I know there is really no way this one guy could have carried (without dragging) all the things we had.  Okay, since the furniture was well wrapped, maybe he would have dragged without damaging anything, but that's a lot of work to expect one person to do!  Lucky John was home to help because otherwise he'd have been on his own.  Our couch was too big to fit in the very small doorframes here so that is now sitting in the garage.  It was really nice to sleep in our own bed again last night.  We don't plan to unpack all the boxes at all since we really don't plan to live here long term, not that I have now seen the beautiful town of Palmerston North and of course that is where John will be studying for the next 4 years so we will have to find a solution so I can get there too :)  So we'll take out the neccessary things we need from the boxes and everything else will stay packed.  It's also fun to have our tv again if not for the shows, then simply for the sound in the background.

So I have a few more days where John is home and it's a three day weekend here.  Then he leaves on Monday evening for Palmerston North, but he comes back home again Thursday evening so it won't be too too bad.  I'm counting my 3 month period so I don't feel I must do what I'm doing.  I want to know what I'm doing is for me and without restrictions so another week and one month is done!  So far I'm supposed to be keeping my salary slips and well the job has only provided me with one and there seems to be a problem getting the 2nd one (sigh) as they say it got emailed and they can't back track.  Well I hope when that time comes immigration understands it and I'm going to still try to get them to back track so I can have my slips!

Otherwise, it's been not as cold in the house as to when we first arrived and I've learned very quickly how to light the fire so I'm very proud of myself that it doesn't take 45 minutes anymore, but can be done in minutes.  We've sort of given up on the chippy in the kitchen, more of less because we really haven't needed it and on top of that the job still hasn't delivered or arranged my first load of free wood.  I hate nagging, but I'm going to have to follow up on that... once again. 

Well it's been a very lazy Saturday morning for me and I suppose it's time to hop out of bed, get breakfast and look through more of our boxes for other goodies we might need :)

A few weeks short of our first month....

It turned out the charges from the shipping company were never included from the Swedish side.  I did find an old email when I was first corresponding with the Swedish side and it was clearly stated.  It's just too bad they didn't clearly state it on the invoice when I was paying.  Our belongings passed inspection and was released last Wednesday to the shipping company on this side (Conroy).  I had hoped they would have delivered to us by last Friday, but nope, they said possibly this coming Thursday.  They will call us the day before. 

I'm hoping the days fly back at the job I'm at now.  We're very lucky to have such a nice neighbour who has been great to talk to and offers all sorts of advice.  She has a wonderful sense of humour as well and we get along great.  She drove us to Taupo last weekend to show us around with her cute little son (who is also in the same daycare I'm working at, but he is on the baby side while I work with the 3-5 year olds, technically the 2 1/2 - 4 year olds).  We spent the day in Taupo and since it was a 3 day weekend for us here last weekend we drove ourselves to Palmerston North on the Monday to see John's school.  Most things were closed, but it was nice to be able to see where he will be going to school.  We ate lunch and had a quick look around the mall, bought John a new wedding band as somewhere in the move he lost his.

I suppose I'm somewhat getting used to the cold, but not enjoying it one bit.  I think I'm too spoiled by the indoor warmth in Sweden that until we can get our final destination to be close to that I'm going to complain of the cold until then.  Being outside though is lovely, especially when the sun is out as it gets so hot!  Most of the evenings we go over to our neighbour, sit there having tea and a chat and then by the time we get home it's bed time under our electric throw which my lovely colleague loaned us until we get what we need.

In our garden we're growing all sorts of vegetables left by the previous owner of this house and some things we've planted ourselves.  We have already had rubbarb, lettuce, strawberries and chives.  We have now planted parsley, lettuce, corriandor and beans.  Our kind neighbour grows three sorts of lettuce, silverbeat, parsley and tomatoes which aren't doing so well.  We are then sharing with each other which is great. 

We've been meaning to get around to meeting our neighbour on the other side of us, but he never seems to be home (though we did see his car and dog there today).  Also, we've simply been enjoying our time with the one neighbour who is home in the evenings and her little boy so we've not gotten around to putting more of an effort.

Now I'm off to find some kind of dessert to make!

Just a few pictures from Taupo....

Here at last...

Well we arrived at the airport with our luggage we were told we were allowed 30 kilos!  To think that we had called every place we could think of to see if we were allowed more and the answer was no and then to arrive and we were told we were allowed 30 kilos.  On the good side that meant we took everything heavy from our carry-on and packed it into our bags along with our jackets and snowsuits so it made our carry-ons much more pleasureable.

We first travelled to Hong Kong where we got free wifi which was really nice since we could check facebook and update our status.  The time there went pretty quick even though there was a delay.  Finally we arrived in Auckland and it wasn't as scary with immigration as I imagined.  It seemed it was fruit they were after rather than everything else we had read on the list.  The dogs kept smelling people's bags and they were asking those people if they had fruit in them.  The people we saw had already eaten the fruit out of their bags.  We were warned in Hong Kong that my bag didn't make it onto the plane from Sweden so I should be ready to fill in a report in Auckland.  I was so sad because I was the one who needed to begin work and had all the important things in my bag.  Then when we arrived in Auckland, it turned out to be John's bag!  Sad to say, but I was relieved haha.  They gave him 130 New Zealand dollars as we said how are we going to manage. On top of that the bag did arrive 2 days later so that worked out fine.

We arrived in Waiouru and as exciting as it was, it was also scary for me.  The house we are renting is very old, lets in drafts and I'm learning extremely quickly how to light a fireplace and keep it lit.  A co-worker loaned me an electric blanket which is my life-saver as of today.  It works and I don't care now about the fireplace so I think I'll have to get myself one of these.  I'm worried also about John having to study so far away.  He rented a nice room from a very nice couple and I went with him to see it. We'll just have to make it work while I'm fullfilling immigrations requirements about the job I am going to be doing for the next three months.  Everyone is very nice, and my colleagues at the new job are kind too.  It's just different than what I'm used to doing and being somewhere with no shops is strange.

I received an email today from the shipping company on this side to ask for money before shipping our belongings!  That was a shock and big disappointment because on the Swedish side we were told it covers delivery door to door.  Right now I've written an email back to the company and included the Swedish company in the correspondence and hope it gets settled as we need our things.  Otherwise, I plan to pay the bill and do a complaint on the Swedish company if they won't cover the cost.  Hopefully it gets settled because it was a big bit of money they want and right now we're trying to get a budget going after buying all our appliances and really don't want to fork out 1300 New Zealand dollars for something we already thought we paid.

John is just loving New Zealand and is so excited.  The scenary is beautiful and I know once we get settled where we can be together on weekdays too and I'm settled in a job that is along my line of things, I can relax then and enjoy it even more.  We do have a beautiful garden and we spent a whole day out in it last weekend and got sunburnt.  Lesson learnt - sunscreen needed!

The 1st picture is me on our 2nd evening with a fire going although it's summer.  The 2nd picture shows a beautiful rainbow after tons of rain on our first week in New Zealand and believe it or not the 3rd picture is the view from our backdoor or actually window in our kitchen.  It's amazing to see this!