So, what have we been doing in the two months since our return? We have both found work. J is back at the Department of Corrections coordinating the volunteers in the three Wellington prisons – a job she left at the end of March 2008. She contacted her previous manager about a possible reference for another job she was applying for and ended up being offered a three-month contract in her old job as the Department is restructuring and not able to make any permanent appointments. That situation hasn’t changed, so it’s not impossible that the work will continue beyond the end of her current contract. We’re not holding our breath, however.
C has taken on what is referred to as a “portfolio” of work – that means a whole series of part-time and/or short-term positions, all of them related to language teaching in some way. She’s a part-time languages adviser to schools; part-time lecturer in language teacher education and occasional contractor to critique resources for learning languages in NZ schools. In January, while the rest of the country is on summer holidays, she’ll be trying to manage all of these at once. Some serious juggling will be required, especially as the first week of university teaching coincides with a very full week of language material critiquing… still the thought of the next summer in France will see her through! We are lucky to have found the work so easily.
Speaking of next summer in France – we have booked our tickets to leave here on June 7 and will leave Paris on October 7 to come home. That’s later and shorter than we would ideally like but made necessary by the demands of one of C’s jobs. Still, it’s that same job that means we can afford to travel again, so we’re not really complaining. Better 4 months on the boat than none at all!!!
As the winter weather really starts to bite in the Northern Hemisphere, we are happy to NOT be on our boat, despite cheerful missives from other friends who still are on theirs. We are enjoying being in our own home again and have planted our little vegetable garden. We’re just about to start eating the lettuces and silver beet but the cabbages, broccoli, capsicums, beans and tomatoes are a few weeks away yet. They are, however, flourishing and so the garden is full of potential. The flower garden that we created at the front of the house last year now looks utterly established, if not slightly overgrown – it seems incredible to be cutting things back already. We still have lots of work to do on the other flower beds but all in good time…
We haven’t yet done anything to the inside of the house this year but that is about to change as well. We’ve decided that we can afford to make some changes in the kitchen, which will result in the addition of a dishwasher (yay!!!), modernisation of all the cupboard doors and the heightening of the benches - the previous owner was tiny and the bench height is about 10cm below the norm. Even J finds it too low, so you can imagine how C struggles – and she is the one who really likes to cook! Work on installing the new kitchen will start in the New Year. Much of the painting will need to be done first. We’ll do the laundry at the same time and that will be the last of the 80s wallpaper hidden forever. Only the gold/mustard-coloured floor coverings from the same era will then need attending to…but not before the summer of 2010/2011 and then only if we find work again.
The friend and former colleague whose extended leave has created work for C has also kindly left us her car to use. This is most fortunate as C works in Karori, about 20km (a train and a bus ride) away in one direction and J works at Rimutaka, about 20km (train + 20 mins walk) in the other direction. We managed with public transport options for a couple of weeks but having the extra car really is a god-send!
We have failed miserably in some of our preparations for Christmas this year. Hardly anyone has received a Xmas card from us and some presents will remain under the tree until well after Xmas because we didn’t have them bought and wrapped before their recipients took off for the summer holidays. Still, we’ve succeeded in getting some others off in time and we have got suitable food (and drink!) in store. Our tree is up and looking beautiful – mostly because we had an early Xmas dinner a couple of weeks ago with friends who’d be elsewhere on the day. Those of you from the Northern Hemisphere probably don’t realise the extent to which the logistical arrangements for summer holidays and Xmas can interfere with one another in this part of the world.
Unlike many people, we have no set routine for Christmas; we just go with the flow… Tonight we are celebrating with our neighbours across the road. C’s made a summer pudding, which looks gorgeous! (Berries are a feature of Xmas desserts here – better than a traditional Xmas pud in this season.) Tomorrow, we’ll have a late and luxurious breakfast with friends up the valley and then come home and cook Xmas dinner for C’s very pregnant niece and her partner – assuming that the baby doesn’t decide to appear before then.
After Christmas, we are going to spend a few days in Dunedin, where C will celebrate her 50th birthday on January 1st with her family. We think it will be the first time mother and all five siblings will have been together since the 40th birthday celebrations, so that’ll be pretty special. Everyone in the family knows how to cook, to organise, to fit in and to clean up, so nothing is actually planned – it will just happen and it’ll be fun and easy.
So, all that remains is for us to wish you a very Merry Christmas, wherever you may be and whatever the weather. May the New Year be filled with love, good health, happiness and at least a little bit of adventure, and we look forward to catching up with you sometime during the year.
