OK…so a journal you say for this Dec KPI
business!!! Hmmm!!! A little odd I thought at first. While I do see the whole
point about people getting to know you a bit better I was still a
little…well....reserved about the whole process.
The thing is that I am no Bridget Jones! In
fact, the very thought of a journal strikes a certain fear in me that stems
right back to my primary school years (yes…a very long time). I remember when we used to family
holidays my mother would make us keep a journal and I absolutely loathed having
to sit down and write about the daily events on any of the school holiday trips
we took. And when I did the big 2+ year trip overseas ( you know, the work/travel thing) after Uni, I am very proud to say that I did the travel journal thing for
a good three months before finally giving up. I thought that was an
extraordinary effort for me considering I didn’t have my mother nagging me to
do it. I guess it is understandable now that I am not on Facebook or Twitter
and have absolutely no intention of ever starting a Blog.
So anyway, a little background there before
I start just in case I need excuses for my banter!
Week 1
Just found out about this months KPI and
yay…I’m on the journal directorship!!
It is now 3 days before packing up my life
in Wellington NZ and moving back ‘home’. After years of telling people back
‘home’ that I am coming home ‘soon’, it has finally happened and of course this
comes at a time when I finally feel settled here (after being here for just
over 6 years). Isn’t that just typical!
Still, I won’t be missing the constant
wind, 10 month long winters and …hmm..let me see , having to duck for cover or
change my accent every time Rugby is mentioned which is about once every 2
seconds over here (if only the Wallabies had a better coach ,eh?)!
Week 2
Fastforward to arriving in Australia, the
last days before leaving Wellington were positively hectic and saying goodbyes
was hard but upon arriving in Sydney, just the blast of hot air when walking
out the front door of the terminal made it all worthwhile…I so missed the heat
that an Aussie summer brings! The top temperature I experienced in NZ in 6
years was about 25 degrees and reported as a ‘scorcher’ by the local radio
stations! Hilarious!
So now the education begins for my Kiwi husband
and children! After 4 days staying in Scone with my parents, my 5 year old
displayed all the (mild) symptoms of heat stroke. Oh dear I thought…not a good start to this move however,
kids being kids and generally more stoic than us adults, he got over it (and 3
weeks on happily plays in 30+ heat and complains of being cold when the air con
is turned on for the really hot days).
Then of course there are the bugs, spiders,
snakes etc to deal with. Big education lesson there! New Zealand has no snakes.
Apparently there are also no poisonous spiders but I am yet to be convinced of
that. I found a few that looked remarkably similar to the funnel web and then
of course they also have the infamous and huge bird spider over there (not that I found one of those thank
god!).
My husband (a kiwi through and through)
continues to tell anyone who will listen that everything kills you in
Australia…snakes, spiders, jellyfish , rockfish (potentially wives at times!!!)
and of course sharks. Being a scuba diver, he has now given that recreational
activity up in fear which I am thinking may be a good thing considering that
there does seem to be quite a lot of those there sharks around lately!!! And
the look on his face when he is made aware of the big Huntsman spider comfortably
and calmly sitting above his head in the lounge room is priceless!
Week 3
Christmas…tick! New Year…tick! Find a house
to live in….no tick!
Oh my goodness what a hassle! Anybody got a
house to rent on the Central Coast? What a terrible time of year to be looking
for a house…or maybe it is just like this all the time! Renting a house over
here requires you to sell your soul ...or totally expose it atleast as the
information they require when applying is astounding. Oh my, it was so simple
in little old New Zealand. Am crossing fingers , toes and everything in between
that we get something soon as getting a little desperate now.
That’s it for me. Looking forward to
getting to know everyone a little better on my weekly visits to the office when
I finally find a home!!!.
