TheMadKiwi

Oh I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside...

2012-02-21T04:03:00.001+05:00

In an effort to starve off any thoughts of homesickness and to spice up life a little, I decided to head to Brighton for the day to catch up with an old friend who lives down there. I caught the train from Victoria Station and splashed out a cool 24 pounds on an off-peak day return ticket (they were only 6 something online so have no idea why it cost me so much at the station... perhaps I should be more organised next time and buy in advance?) and took the 1 hour journey south to the coast. I slept the whole way! Oh the joys of being on holiday.
I was met at the station and all of us spent the day down by the beach and at a couple of parks... with a brief stop at a cafe for a hot chocolate and a toasted sarnie (it was bloody freezing out so needed something to try and warm me from the inside out). It was a brilliantly beautiful day with loads of sunshine. The fresh sea air wore me out so I treated myself to an afternoon nap on the way home too! haha.

Beacb huts at Brighton

Locked out of a the hut

The ocean... it is a long swim home to Aotearoa from here!

I have no doubt that there are a lot of memories inside this tiny seaside shed

A random door... reminded me of a scene from a movie... like Trainspotting or something

The Pier at Brighton

View up from Brighton Beach

Lucky Number 3

2012-02-05T19:57:00.001+05:00

I'm snowed in. Figured while I have a day of lazing around that I should update my blog, hence the 3rd posting today!
It started snowing last night about 6pm and didn't let up until the morning. I donned layers of clothes and my gumboots and ventured out in my neighbourhood to capture photos of the white stuff before it melts.

Bicyles in my front yard

Fire escape stairs

Holly berries and melting ice

Yeti? foot print

Folks negotiating the icy hill

Digging out their car

College students made a snowman... that enjoys Guiness

A snowy scooter

View out of my bedroom window

My home :-) well a tiny corner of it is mine!

Winter Break in North Carolina

2012-02-05T18:56:00.001+05:00

For the 2nd year in a row I have been able to return to North Carolina for a winter break and celebrate Christmas and the new year with friends. It is like going to my 2nd home. I love the warm welcome, the friendly faces, strangers saying "hey" (they don't even look you in the eye in London) and the TLC. I don't go to North Carolina to travel but instead I go for the people. I was spoilt by everyone and hopefully I added a little additional cheer to their festive season too. Here are some snap shots of stay...

NOT SO AWESOME...

2012-02-05T18:39:00.000+05:00

I have this crazy laundry machine that is a dual washer and drier... no idea how it washes clothes and then dries them. Anyway, I went to rescue my jeans between the two cycles (jeans dried in the drier are awful and stiff) and found my debit card stuck to the glass window of the front loader :-( It seems I had left it in my pocket after the quick trip to the store yesterday. I managed to peel the melted card off the window but in the process lost all the numbers and the magnetic strip. Bugger. The card is however very clean but unfortunately it is also ruined. It is such a pity that my awesomeness (see previous blog post) did not even last a full month. A quick google search proves however that I am in company with making this stupid mistake... http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090302194630AA4zypG
and that cookies is yet again the the answer to another of life's problems :-) hahahahahha

I'VE DECIDED I'M TEMPORARILY AWESOME

2012-01-11T02:44:00.007+05:00

Ok, I was stoked at the weekend to arrive back to the UK from my trip to the USA and to find that the ceiling in my new apartment had not fallen down (see photos from the disaster from last summer). Unlike my last vacation, there was no email message relaying the news of destruction...

"Morning Jane,

When our contractors attended to change the sash chords to your windows, it was discovered that part of the ceiling had collapsed over your bed and personal belongings. I have instructed our contractors to secure the ceiling and make good the damage with new plasterboard and a skim of plaster and to also tidy your room as much as possible without disturbing or moving any more than they have to. They will place any damaged items to one side as we do not want them to remove anything. I have also asked that they brush down all your furniture and bedding and leave it as neat and tidy as possible.

Please see attached photograph of damage to both the ceiling and your room. I understand that you may be alarmed by the contents of this email and the attached photographs, however we have the matter in hand and our contractors will be carrying out remedial works prior to your return which will hopefully minimise the disruption to you.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Kind regards..."

This time when I arrived home I did find that randomly my laptop computer had a cracked screen. How odd is that? I mean, I live alone so there are no roommates who could have broken it by mistake. I have no pets. The laptop was left on my bedroom floor so there was no chance that it could have fallen off something. Very odd indeed! I used my iPad to find out how much a replacement would cost and it was over 100 pounds (you'd think I'd have realised that it would be sensible to have household contents insurance but still I don't have any coverage). It is an older model and a netbook but I really do love it. Anyway I figured that it must be possible to just replace the screen and surely I could save a little moola if I did this myself rather than take it to the repair shop. And so I went online and googled the make and model (MSI Wind u100). I found the part I needed to order on Amazon. I used a gift card that I have been given from work for Christmas and 30 pounds of my own money and 48 hours later I have the new part. Using my immense skills I was able to disassemble my laptop and switch out the screen. The device still works! Miracles :-) Now, I'm not saying that I will/should give up my day job but I am saying that for this hour at least I am temporarily awesome. haha. I also highly recommend my supplier http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006PRCTME

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

2012-01-05T01:41:00.001+05:00

Yesterday was Jo's birthday. I feel so privileged to be able to celebrate this special day with her and her USA family and friends. Unfortunately for her, she had to work all day. I am still chillaxing at her house on holiday so decided to make myself useful and constructed a birthday cake (I say construct as I am not sure that a box mix and a store bought frosting quite count as baking)! I think that there may have been some errors in judgement during the process of applying the pink stuff... I soon realized that my actions were not reversible haha. I think rather than making a career change to 'cake decorator' that I might just stick with my day job.

In honour of Jo's birthday (and having too much time on my hands) I also took it upon myself to construct a sock monkey. I bought a kit from www.notonthehighstreet.com. It came with a pair of socks, stuffing, pattern, thread (but no needle unfortunately), buttons, ribbon and even a packet of candy to eat while making the animal. The whole thing took me under 2 hours to make and was easy peasy.

PASS ON THE MESSAGE... DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE

2011-11-06T18:17:00.000+05:00

This has to be one of the best advertising campaigns ever. Very clever and funny too.

The Mad Kiwi and The Rugby World Cup 2011

2011-11-06T18:10:00.001+05:00

Just wondering if I had a role in the winning of the Rugby World Cup this year... I mean I did actually get to touch the William Webb Ellis Cup back in May when I attended the London 7s at Twickenham.

I think my poor liver is still recovering from all the celebrations 2 weeks ago when NZ finally lifted the cup again after waiting 24 years. I watched the game at the Walkabout with hundreds of other Kiwis and a handful of French. What a terrible game it was but what a relief it was to win :-)

Journey Through the Balkans and on to Istanbul

2011-11-06T17:40:00.005+05:00

This year I spent 5 weeks of the European summer travelling through the Balkans and then on overland on to Istanbul, Turkey. The trip had its highs (relief from the 38 degree heat swim in the public pools) and its lows ( the train ride to Veliko Tarnovo in the same heat). My favourite destination was Sarajevo. This city is surrounded by mountains and holds so many stories. I could spend months here looking, listening and learning about its history and its diverse people. I dream of moving to live in Kotor, Montenegro where the mountains fall into the sea and the warm sea water begs me to swim in it (or was that just the pina colada effect?). I was fascinated by the graffiti on the walls of the various cities that I visited. I think this form of expression more clearly demonstrates the emotions of the population that that which is filtered through the main stream media.

The UFO a top the bridge in Bratislava

The mountains behind the city of Sarajevo

Fishing in Kotor, Montenegro

Ostrog Monastery high in the mountains. We spent a night staying here.

View down on Dubrovnik, Croatia

Washing hanging in Kotor, Montenegro

Who says that cats prefer milk?

We had a picnic in a farmer's field in Romania

Hay piled high in the fields in rural Romania

George takes a rest outside an old wooden church in Romania

The quiet international bus station in Bratislava

Aboard the overnight train to Istanbul

Trip to Wales... and now I feel homesick

2011-11-06T02:46:00.002+05:00

Last Friday I caught the train from Paddington Station to Wales. Luckily I managed to score myself a forward facing seat with a table. I'd hoped to do some paper work during the 4 hour journey but soon found the journey too bumpy so made do with reading the newspaper on my new Ipad 2 (thanks to Guardian for 83 free newspaper editions) and sleeping!

I spent a fab 2 nights in Wales with great mates. It is always awesome to get out of London and see some big wide open spaces. I feel quite claustrophobic in the big city where I have to crane my neck to see the sky over top of the buildings and even then it is often just a dull grey (moan, moan, moan). The bright green grass combined with the blue sky and sheep all reminded me of home. What a fabulous part of the world the Swansea area is.

Margam Castle, Port Talbot

PACKING MY BAGS FOR THE NEXT BIG ADVENTURE

2011-07-10T16:58:00.001+05:00

I'm off on another big adventure this week. This time I am going to go and check out Eastern Europe. I've never ventured into this part of the world before so am excited about experiencing new countries and new cultures. My plans are for 5 weeks backpacking through Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia - Herzegovina, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and finish up in Istanbul, Turkey. It is quite a lot of ground to cover in such a short time but I am hoping that this trip will give me a taster for locations that I would like to return to and explore more in depth at another time.

A free trip given to me as I've done so many before with the travel company :-)

The second part of my adventure :-)

I am now only four days out from departure and I think I've got all the supplies that I think I might need or that make life on the road just a little bit more comfortable. My usual packing technique is to create a pile that I add to over a couple of weeks when something dawns on me that it might be useful or practical for my journey and then in the last few days before my trip I start to cull the pile back to pretty much just the essentials.

I'm not quite sure what to pack for this trip as temperatures will be hot in the destinations. I'll also be visiting quite a few cities so I don't want to be too scruffy yet most of my 'nicer' clothes are probably too heavy weight for the summer climate in Eastern Europe. I'm settling for cotton shirts rather than t-shirts as I figure they will dry easier when hand washed. I'm taking my green frog feet Keen sandals instead of my trainers as they are lighter and might suit the heat a big better. I had bought these about 4 years ago for a trip to India during the monsoon season when I didn't want floating stuff to end up between my toes. They had at the time cost me the earth - about $80USA but even though I have worn them pretty much every day for 2 years when in Uzbekistan, they still look and feel brand new. On reflection they were a an excellent investment I think! I'm substituting a sweater for a pashmina or scarf as I figure I'll only need something light to keep the drafts off if there is AC on the plane there or on any trains or buses. My inflatable neck support/cushion this a must. I can sleep anywhere sitting upright with that thing. Same goes with my ear plugs and eye patch cover thing - I am a much nicer person when I get my sleep :-) I've packed a few granola bars this time which is something I never usually do. I think I must be getting set in my ways as I get older but I really do like to have cereal for breakfast.

Hopefully while I am gone my apartment will undergo some renovations. I need to pack up most of my stuff just in case the letting agency does actually follow through with replacing my carpets. I will clear out the freezer and fridge this week as I am going to switch of the mains power too. I am on a meter for electricity so seems a bit pointless to keep stuff running and using up the pennies that are left on the meter. I am not sure of the fate of my herb garden and flower pots but can only hope that the traditional English summer weather patterns will kick in and they will survive with any rain that falls!

Not sure if I'll have time to blog along the way but I'll try.

GRAND TOUR OF LONDON

2011-07-08T16:06:00.001+05:00

I spent an amazing day on Wednesday sharing this great city with a friend from New Zealand. I'd previously taken a day tour with Urban Adventures and it was fantastic to be able to retrace many of the places I had visited before and share them with my friend. On the map below I have drawn a rather crude squiggle of our route for the day.

We first met at Charing Cross station which is opposite Trafalgar Square. I hadn't realised that there are multiple exits to the station so it took repeated phone calls on the mobiles to finally meet up but it all worked out in the end :-) The Square was as splendid as ever and in fact was mostly fenced off in anticipation of the grand premier of the final of the Harry Potter movies which apparently was happening the next day (I've never read any or seen any of the movies so really wasn't that interested). Thousands of fans had lined up with the hopes of getting access to the site - pity about the rain but their umbrellas made a colourful sight.

We made a brief visit to the National Gallery and checked out van Goph's famous 'Sunflowers' painting:

and also 'Wheatfield with Cypruses':

These are both just inside the gallery - take the steps up the middle and then the first right and go up those steps and then take the first door on the right and walk through the first room into the second and there they are :-) We were first there and so had the entire room to ourselves. It was great to be able to view them both close up and from a distance without having the view obstructed by other people.

Third stop on my grand tour of London was the New Zealand Embassy and the NZ store around the corner called Kiwifruits. I splurged on a bag of Burger Rings, Cheesels and 2 Kbars while my friend discussed opportunities to sell her amazing and very comfortable handmade leather slippers and kids shoes in the store.

After asking directions from a random stranger on the street about the quickest route to Buckingham Palace which instead resulted in a 15 minute conversation with a lovely Irishman with friends in Ruakaka in NZ, we headed off to see the Changing of Guard. Usually this takes place every second day but fortunately for us during the summer they put on the show every day. We soon became sidetracked and headed to the Horse Guards Parade and admired the Horse Guards and caught some of their ceremony instead. It was great to be able to get up so close and not be crowded out like I was last month when I tried to catch a glimpse down the road at the Palace.

Next stop on the tour was Number 10, Downing Street then on to the Houses of Parliament with Big Ben.

Taking this photo reminded me of the minarets in Uzbekistan. I amassed a huge collection of images of them during my 2 years living there. I wonder how many photos will I accumulate of this landmark during my time here in London.

The bells of Westminster Abbey chimed as we walked past.on our way towards St James's Park. It wasn't that long ago that my mother and I stood out here on the Monday of the week of the Royal Wedding waiting to enter for the ANAZAC Day service.

We grabbed a muffin from a snack stand in the park and took a stroll past the ponds admiring the wildlife including naughty geese and some very cute squirrels. By the time we reached Buckingham Palace the Changing of the Guard ceremony was drawing to an end but the crowds were still very thick. My friend managed to catch a glimpse by scaling the famous black fence. I was quietly thinking to myself 'I was inside there just last week at the Royal Garden Party'. What an amazing experience that was.

Trying to cram more into our day, I hailed a black cab to Knightsbridge so that we could explore Harrods. Despite having a huge summer sale on the prices still seemed way over the top to me. It is fun riding the escalators though pondering what one might spend their money on if they were that way inclined. We were lucky to get a few chocolate samples for free in the food hall and also see some rather pampered pets in the dog salon upstairs.

We caught the tube to Piccadilly Circus and made a few purchases at the famous Lillywhites sports store (has gone downhill since I last visited) before heading to a pub for a much needed pint of cider and a shared plate of nachos. By this time we'd been on our feet for about 5 hours and the rest was much needed. After catching our breaths we walked along the souvenir lined streets to Leicester Square and passed M&M's World where more teenagers were gathering with the hopes this time of catching a glimpse of the band JLS who apparently were launching the new store. We didn't hang around as there was shopping to do!

My new bag. I can't wait to try it out :-)

Next stop was Covent Garden where we watched some of the buskers before opening up our purses and making some great purchases. Boringly, I stocked up on bug spray for my upcoming travel and a new travel pouch at the Kathmandu store. I was delighted to discover a new store just around the corner called Ellis Brigham which had a massive sale in the basement of The Northface goods and I soon filled a shopping bag with socks, a new pair of the most amazingly comfortable shoes, a day pack and a pair of winter gloves all for 77 pounds.

We grabbed a quick grilled panini at a wee cafe opposite the Lyceum Theatre and popped into a store to get water and candy before going to see the musical The Lion King. We had seats way up in the second row from the back but still I was impressed with the view. We paid 27 pounds each on Ticketmaster for them which was a real savings compared to those that were in the same level for 62 pounds. There was even a small set of binoculars for hire for whole show for just 1 pound! They were hardly needed though and the atmosphere with all the excited kids was fantastic. I had seen the show in New York many years ago yet was still amazed by the costumes - especially the flowers and the hyenas. Loved it!

The final adventure of the day was the journey home. I offered to take my friend on her first Double Decker bus ride. We traveled up The Strand, through Trafalgar Square, through Oxford Circus and then to Marylebone. We ended up staying on a bit to long and didn't get off until St John's Wood! At least now she can rattle off half of the Monopoly board. After quick hugs and a few tears I put her on a tube back to her hotel and then trudged home. What a day! There is so much to see and do in this city that we barely even scratched the surface. I shall suggest in future that my guests stay longer :-)

PORTSMOUTH

2011-07-08T00:14:00.002+05:00

A dear family friend from New Zealand is here in London visiting for just a few days. She had her heart set on visiting Portsmouth, which is a place I have never been to before.

I've been trying to make a concerted effort to get out and see different parts of the UK, plus I have 2 weeks to fill in before I head off on a 5 week adventure around Eastern Europe, so I decided to make things happen.

I booked us tickets on the National Express bus for just 12 pounds each (the day return off-peak train was 31 pounds and took just the same amount of time. I have in the past been able to find 1 pound fares to places such as Brighton but this time I didn't book early enough in advance). I met my friend at Victoria Station and we walked down Buckingham Palace Road to the bus station. The ride to Portsmouth took 2 hours and the bus dropped us off at The Hard which is right next to the Historic Dockyards. Thankfully there was no entry fee to enter the port so we just wandered around and quickly popped into a couple of the many stores there. At the entrance was HMS Warrior and then many museums. Down the end of the dock we saw what we had come to see - Horacio Nelson's ship The Victory.

My friend stands at the stern of the ship.

View of The Victory from the dock

A closeups of the stern

A view of the rigging

Ropes

Statue of Nelson - notice that one eye is not painted.
I learned that he lost sight in this eye in conflict.

Work being done of repairing the bow of the ship

After our wander around the dock we headed off to find a meal of fish 'n chips and ended up at an outlet mall which was 5 minutes away from the dock. I haven't shopped in since Christmas so enjoyed a quick look through and ended up buying a much needed sunhat and another gorgeous necklace.

Site 2 on my friend's wish list was Portchester Castle. We asked at the dock's information office for directions the castle and were advised to catch Bus 5. We boarded the bus and asked if this one was the right one to get to the castle and got a positive response from the driver and felt quite pleased with ourselves. Within just 10 minutes the bus driver announced to us that we had arrived. We had indeed arrived at the beach front Southsea Castle - clearly not the one we were looking for! An extra 10 quid later and 1 and half hours after we left the dock, we finally arrived in Portchester. It isn't really that far from Portsmouth but the bus had to first return to the docks and then I swear stopped at every stop along the way. By this time it was pouring with rain and we were dropped at a street corner with hollered advice from the bus driver that the castle was just 200m down the road. It wasn't. It was only about 1km but as it is right on the sea front it didn't actually appear into view until we were right out the front of it. The streets around the castle were beautiful and definitely deserved further exploring but with the rain we were not keen to hang around. We had to run to catch the bus back to Portsmouth and then only just made the connection to London with seconds to spare.

This fun filled day was topped off with a hot pub meal near Victoria Station and a shared jug of Pimms :-)

BEAUTIFUL LONDON

2011-06-26T22:36:00.000+05:00

28 degrees today in London. A gentle breeze with perfect blue skies. Today London is beautiful. I spent a large chunk of the afternoon lazing under the trees in a park in Hampstead Heath. I have a new Lonely Planet guide to read and a couple of books by Patrick Leigh Fermor to devour before my big eastern Europe adventures begin but I didn't find the atmosphere in the park conducive to reading. People started packing in and sitting very close. It soon became difficult to avoid overhearing conversations, being nibbled or slobbered on by wandering dogs and so instead I people watched. I love people watching. There were badminton games, cricket balls thrown, picnics, kids learning to walk, throw, run. Overheated, I had a great excuse to stop off for ice cream on the way home.

When Mum stayed she planted up some found boxes with herbs and flowers. I've nurtured them for the past 6 weeks and each day when I pull up my blinds I am greeted by these amazing flowers :-)

These are right by my bed

The boxes were 'reclaimed' when the neighbour threw them away. The one with the pink flowers in it is actually a hat box.

View from the street. Some of the herbs have turned to flowers but they still look pretty!

These pots are on the front door step.

I was given flowers on Friday. I am not good at arranging them and don't have a decent vase but they are still colourful!

I have moved my sofa... I should perhaps have also made by bed before I took the photo. My bright and cheerful home :-)

My invitation to the Royal Garden Party arrived!

I am very excited!

'Blue' and Blue Peter

2011-05-29T16:11:00.002+05:00

Scored my 2nd Blue Peter badge in just 6 months! I was on the set of Blue Peter - in the famous Blue Peter garden for the episode where the band Blue were guests promoting the Eurovision Song Contest. I got to talk with the band. I haven't quite decided which of the band members is my favourite and but Antony Costa seemed the most down to earth and was really chatty with the kids. As my knowledge of British pop relates back to 2002 when I was last here, I have since read up more about the band and their activities of late and perhaps they're not the best role models!

It was very cool though to see how a television show is made. Here it is:

Day out in London

2011-05-27T01:53:00.001+05:00

Champing at the bit to get out of my tiny apartment and explore London before our glorious early summer quits on us, I am managed to successfully nag at a friend to join me in Trafalgar Square to see a mass Morris Dance. I decided to catch the bus rather than venture underground to the tube. As my stop is the first on the route, I managed to secure the front seat on the top deck. I decided to take some photos along my route as we passed through London's streets from NW London to Trafalgar Square.

Design on the top of a cab

Camden Town

Lions in Trafalgar Square

Ship in a Bottle at Trafalgar Square

Nelson's Column

Morris Dancers... there was more crowd than dancers

Random Apartment Block

Waiting at the bus stop

The Morris Dance ended up being interesting and unique but also a little underwhelming as it wasn't quite as 'mass' as I had thought it would be. I did get a chance to talk to one of the dancers about just what exactly they were all up to. It turned out that the guy was from Adelaide, Australia! After all the dancing I dragged my friend for a walk down Fleet Street, past the Wren church and down to this 1600s pub called 'Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese' which I had visited a few weeks early on a walking with Urban Adventures. I enjoyed a pint of cider in the basement, saw Samuel Johnson's chair and then headed to Leicester Square for dinner at an Italian restaurant. A great day/evening out!

3 WEEKS OF ADVENTURES IN LONDON

2011-05-02T19:23:00.002+05:00

Sunbathing in Hampstead Heath

A German news crew interviewing folks in Hyde Park

The West entrance to Westminster Abby

My mother has just left after spending three weeks staying with me here in London. We walked this city from head to toe and took in some amazing sights including attending the ANZAC service at Westminster Abby, celebrating the Royal Wedding at Hyde Park, sunbathing in Hampstead Heath during the heatwave, dressing up and singing along at the karaoke Sound of Music cinema, sampling the delights of Borough Market, riding the Millennium Wheel, shopping at the Camden Markets and of course riding a double decker bus through the city to Trafalgar Square. Fabulous!

I highly recommend the tour company http://www.urbanadventures.com/ who are affiliated with my favourite tour company of all time http://www.intrepidtravel.com/ . We did 2 different walking tours in London. Each was 4-5 hours long and luckily I managed to time them so they were 2 for 1 prices. We had the same guide, Joe, for each and he was a lot of fun. The information was not overwhelming and the tour was of a moderate pace. I learned so much about the city and loved the small alleyways off of the Strand and Fleet Street. I think I'm more equipped now to get myself around the city and feel far more confident to explore it on my own. There are so many wee courtyards and squares in that area that really are hidden away. My favourites were by Samuel Johnson's house and also near the Middle Temple near the Temple Church. All I need now is more guests to share all this new knowledge with!

Hyde Park at daybreak on 29th April, 2011.

Number 10, Downing Street

View of the Houses of River Thames and Houses of Parliament from the Wheel on the South bank

view from our bubble of another bubble

St Paul's Cathedral

Bunting on Regent Street

Changing of the Guard

My favourite hat at the wedding celebrations in Hyde Park

My mother's friend celebrating in Hyde Park

I FOUND LEAH!

2011-02-25T04:20:00.000+05:00

After 3 days of searching and calling random people, I finally found my friend Leah who I could not locate in Christchurch. It is like a miracle. An insane feeling. I'm overwhelmed with emotions. So happy to find her and that she is safe, yet also devastated that her dad said she has lost her home. Combine all this with being overwhelmed by the devastation and loss that others are experiencing at this time and I am a bit of a wreak. News updates from Christchurch are not hopeful and I wonder what the next few days holds for the city as we all await the recovery and the announcements of names. It is times like this that needlessly remind me again that what is important in life is relationships and family. Makes me question why I choose to live so far from home.

CHRISTCHURCH EARTHQUAKE

2011-02-24T04:25:00.000+05:00

I'm stuck here in London, a million miles from home wondering what on earth I can do to help the folks in Christchurch at this time. It's been almost two full days since the earthquake struck and destroyed the city and I feel like my heart has been wretched out. My family is safe and sound but I know that many aren't so lucky.

I've found it quite difficult to get updated ongoing information about the rescue efforts. The media here in the UK show flashes of the scenes but the events in Libya dominate the news reel.

I'm trying to locate a good friend Leah Pickworth. I haven't heard from her since the morning of the day of the quake. I've used Google's person- finder application ( http://christchurch-2011.person-finder.appspot.com/ ) to post a message. Someone has responded and said they got a text from her a few days ago. I've tried calling her home number. I tried calling another Pickworth family in Christchurch that I found in the whitepages. I've tried Facebook. I've tried emails. I've picked random friends of hers on Facebook and emailed them and asked them if they've heard from her. One replied and said that they had not yet but they would keep in touch. Leah, I am positive that you are OK and that you are with your family. I know that phones are down and the internet isn't always working. I know that if you're OK that you're busy helping other people. I can't wait to hear from you to confirm this.

If you're like me and trying to keep updated on what is happening with the rescue efforts I suggest you try:
NZ Herald newspaper online: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
Television NZ online: http://tvnz.co.nz/
Radio NZ live: http://www.radionz.co.nz/

If you're also in the UK and trying to find ways to help, Vodaphone customers can make a donation to the Red Cross by: NZQUAKE to 70801.
The British Red Cross has also launched an online appeal at:
http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now

How to donate to the appeal within New Zealand

Banks:
-    BNZ: Red Cross Canterbury Earthquake Appeal, online or at BNZ branches, with no transaction fees charged on donations: 02-0500-0982004-000
-    ASB: Christchurch Earthquake Support Fund in ASB branches or online: 12-3205-0146808-00
-    Westpac: Westpac Canterbury Care Fund, which is in partnership with the Salvation Army, either at branches nationwide or to the account number 03-0207-0617331-00

Other:
-    Vodafone users can donate to the Red Alert Canterbury Earthquake Appeal by texting "Quake" to 333 to make a $3 donation to the Red Cross Canterbury Earthquake Appeal

Also check out http://www.trademe.co.nz/christchurch-earthquake-support to offer your support to those who have specific requests for help or if you have a room to spare etc.

KIA KAHA Christchurch

My New Favourite Place: Everyman Cinema, Hampstead, London, UK

2011-02-20T02:49:00.002+05:00

Today I felt like going to the movies but I didn't feel like traveling far. My ear ache is still playing up and I still have almost no voice. I'd walked past a wee cinema in Hampstead earlier in the week and decided today might be the perfect day to catch a flick. I went online to see what was playing and easily managed to purchase a ticket (disappointingly they don't offer a student discount... my student ID card expires next month and I'm trying to make the most of the discounts I can get with it). Anyway it turns out this the Everyman Cinema is my new favourite place and here is why...
* They have sofas instead of traditional cinema chairs. Real sofas. They are roomy. They even have double sofas if you're with a partner.
* The price is the same as at The Vue yet the cinema is much smaller (maybe 100 people could fit?)
* There is inseat waiter service. Waiters came and gave me a menu and within minutes I was enjoying a hot chocolate and a homemade dipped crannyberry biscuit all for around 4 pounds.
* Bathrooms are right outside the door and were spotless and there were no cues. Bonus (especially after the hot chocolate)

I went to see Inside Job. Here's the trailer:

As I was living in Central Asia in 2008 I wasn't really exposed too much to the fiscal crisis. The past 12 months I was a student and therefore had no money anyway. This movie (which is narrated by lovely Matt Damon) explains how the crisis began and the series of events that have played out. It was rather long but the narration was in plain English making it very interesting and easy to follow. I'm still none the wiser as to how we can overcome this global issue but I do feel a little more informed for having taken the time to see the movie. Afterwards there was a Q&A session with author and film maker David Malone. Not a bad way to spend a wet and cold afternoon in London.

First Trip to the Middle East

2011-02-20T02:37:00.000+05:00

I spent 4 nights in Dubai last week for work. I had stopped over here previously on a journey from NZ to the UK but airport stops don't count in my list of life highlights. This trip was definitely an eye opener as I had heard from so many folks about their enjoyment of living and working here and so I was curious to see it all for myself.

Most of my time in Dubai was spent working but the evenings were free for me to explore and with my travelling companions I was able to squeeze in a bunch of fun... here are the details of my new adventure.

DAY 1
I flew direct to Dubai from London on British Airways. This is the 2nd time I've flown BA (the first being my return flight from New York to London) and their service still doesn't impress me. The interior of the plane cabin is circa 1988 with a pathetic in-flight entertainment console and even worse dinner options. Lesson learned - I'll avoid BA in the future. Short hops will be OK but on an 8 hour flight and longer comfort really does matter. Anyway the flight into Dubai was uneventful until we were coming into land and my ear infection flared up. Ah the pain! Due to fog we had to stay in a flight pattern over the city for over 30 minutes before we were notified that the flight was being diverted to Abu Dhabi instead! By this stage I was in a lot of pain and trying my hardest to keep it all together (I may have shed a few tears). We spent 3 hours on the tarmac on the plane in Abu Dhabi before finally completing the 30 minute flight back to Dubai. As this was an overnight flight (left at 10pm and arrived at 6:30am local time... well actually 10am after all the delays) and I'd worked the whole day before departure, I was knackered by the time I finally got to the hotel.
The Media Rotana was located about 30 minutes from the airport by taxi but unfortunately when I arrived they said they didn't have a room for me! I was blowing away on my kleenex (a cold... not crying) and I think the receptionist felt sorry for me and upgraded me in order to find me a room immediately. When I got to the room the door wouldn't open. The housekeeping staff also couldn't open it. I returned to reception and they upgraded me again... I ended up in a huge suite on the top floor - 21st with a massive room with 2 beds all to myself :-) I spent the rest of the day sleeping and ordered a hamburger meal from room service as I was too sick to even contemplate heading out to explore.

DAY 2. Spent the day working but on the shuttle to work was able to spot the tallest building in the world. Didn't manage to find time to go up it and tickets were sold out days in advance.

Later that night I went out with new friends and we had dinner and cocktails at the Intercontinental Hotel before going to the Amy Winehouse concert. Although I do very much like her music, I didn't have high expectations for the concert. Amy was awful. Really awful. She was booed off stage multiple times and spent 90% of the concert scratching at her arms and cleaning her nails. She was wasted. Couldn't remember the words. Only sung about 6 songs. Here is a review.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/columnists/dean-piper/2011/02/13/amy-winehouse-plays-another-shambolic-gig-115875-22919125/

I want my money back!

After the concert (more like midway through as we left early) we headed to the mall and did some late night shopping. The mall was open until 1am! Pay day is not for a few weeks yet so being short of cash I only bought a new bag for work. I'm pleased with my purchase. Prices really were not any cheaper than in London but it was nice to shop without the crowds. We taxied back to the hotel. Taxi's are somewhat cheap here making it much easier than catching the metro.

DAY 3
Worked all day and then in the evening went out to the Spice Souk. Having lived in Uzbekistan, I'm I wasn't that overawed by the spice market but did enjoy talking with the boatmen who were transporting goods on wooden flat bottomed boats to Iran. The journey takes 10 days. It would be so awesome one day to make this journey.

I loved this part of Dubai as it was not so opulaent. I found it easy to strike up conversations with the people I met. I also enjoy the people watching :-)

At the Gold Souk. So much gold!

Four of us managed to eat out for dinner at a small street stall for 40 AED (about 8 pounds UK). This price contrasted starkly with the meal on Day 4...

DAY 4

More work and then in the evening before my 2am flight we all donned our 'glad rags' and headed out to the 'Atlantis' on Palm Island for dinner. http://www.atlantisthepalm.com/dining/specialoccasions/seafiresteakhouse.aspx

What a fabulous evening with great company. I remember having a couple of great cocktails and then an amazing smoked duck salad and a side order of calamari (I am more than slightly addicted to calamari and these were cooked oh so perfectly). They served fresh bread and we requested olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I think we had some spicy wedges somewhere along the way too... the sweet Joven bought us over some complimentary mini-icecreams. Check these out...

I think he was supposed to share them with other guests but we found them all too tasty and he finally relented and left the entire tray at our table!

The taxi ride back to the hotel was the most amazing experience as we discovered that one of our companions is a classical singer and she blew us away with her talent! What a privilege to hear Miss Candice sing like an angel. She later belted out 'I Will Always Love You' in the hotel lobby which really did cause me to shed a few tears as it is always so hard to have to say goodbye to great friends! Hopefully we'll all get to meet up again in London sooner rather than later!

I flew out later that night and awoke half way through the flight to find I'd lost my voice completely... but that is another story. My overall impression of Dubai is that it is all about excess. If you're into shopping (I'm not) and living the high life (again not for me) and you're willing to sacrifice exposure to natural beauty in the environment (such as trees and grass... or you do love the desert) and don't mind the sandy winds, construction sites and can develop a thick skin to ward off the ill-treatment of foreign workers by locals, then perhaps you'll enjoy Dubai. For me it was interesting to see but I very much doubt I could live there. Never say never though, right.

New York, New York

2011-01-16T23:01:00.002+05:00

I caught the Amtrak train northbound from Rocky Mount, North Carolina to Penn Station, New York City.

View Larger Map

As I dislike flying immensely and the fare was only $65 (I'm making the most of my student discounts before my student ID card expires in February), I was delighted by the opportunity to be able to stretch out a little and perhaps even get some work done on the 9 hour journey. Unfortunately for me I hadn't counted on getting a little travel sick from all the bumping and swaying of the carriage so grading my students' papers was completely out of the question. Instead I watched a few movies on my Ipod and had a huge afternoon nap. I had 2 seats to myself and no one sitting behind me so reclined the seat and sprawled out :-)

I arrived at Penn Station about about 9:30pm and after collecting my checked luggage, my hosts hailed down a famous NYC yellow taxi and we headed the short distance to the East side where they live opposite the United Nations Building. Their apartment is slightly bigger than mine in London but with 3 adults sharing the space I tried to be considerate with how I unpacked and stored my belongings (not any easy task for me... I'm not good at living out of a suitcase or backpack. I usually just dump everything out and make a pile).

This being my 5th visit to New York City, I didn't have a wish list of 'must do' things. Instead over the next 3 days I went with the flow and was delighted with the outcome. I had amazing pancakes for breakfast at the Penn Club with great company, ate roast duck on an exploration of China Town, quesadillas and Corona at a fab Mexican restaurant, Thai green curry and even New York style pizza before taking in the amazing dance at the show Billy Elliot. I explored the shops around Times Square, got overwhelmed with Macy's and bought my first pair of Gucci shoes at DSW. I even managed to squeeze in a special guided tour of the United Nations building which let me see the Security Council and the General Assembly. This was awesome and was about an hour and a bit long.

A street in New York (can't figure out how/why the picture is rotated wrong)

Photo I took on the tour of the UN Building of the General Assembly

Photo of the Security Council

Close up of the tapestry on the wall of the Security Council

Snowing!

UN Building

DSW deserves its own paragraph. This store is huge and has thousands of pairs of designer shoes marked down to crazy prices. And when googling them, I just discovered they have an online store. The prices seem much higher than what they are in store but there are still bargains to be found. If you're in NY do not miss this store. It is in Union Square which is a lovely spot to visit anyway.

Map of Directions to DSW

I caught an overnight BA flight from JFK to LHR and arrived home about 2pm on Sunday. After lugging 60kg of luggage through 2 tube lines I deserve a medal!

Grand Ole USA

2011-01-03T21:36:00.000+05:00

Despite the multiple flight cancellations which delayed my travel plans by 6 days and shortened my overall trip by days, I made it to the U.S. of A from London for Christmas. And what an indulgent time I have had here. Combining late morning starts with luxurious afternoon naps has enabled me to catch up on copious amounts of sleep and has helped to reduce stress. It wasn't long before I was confused what day of the week it was... a tell-tale sign that I had settled into V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N mode. Good times with good friends has been the order of the day. I've shopped beyond my heart's content (well my suitcase's actually) and have additional luggage to take back to the UK with me at the end of the week. Shoes, clothes and pretty home accessories are the order of the day as not only are they much cheaper here, the stores are more accessible. No need to catch the bus or tube and lug bags around here when the giant stores have parking right out front :-)

The snow from London followed me to North Carolina and late on Christmas night the storm came through dumping over 10 inches of snow. It looked so beautiful and apparently was record setting amounts in some areas - poor old Roxboro had snow on Christmas Day for the first time in over 100 years.

The back yard... the cars are buried. Luckily we had use of the 4 wheeled vehicle to check on a friend's cat.

I've journeyed back town to my 'hometown' of Sanford to catch up with friends. Although the trip was an overnight one, the time spent with them will always be too short. One of the perils of being a global nomad is the naked fact that you have to say goodbye to often to too many good people. Whilst I come away so pleased to have spent time with my friends, my heart always feel a little more broken each time I leave once again.

American cuisine still shocks (and often surprisingly delights) me. On this brief visit alone I've been able to set my lips around some fried turkey, Red Lobster biscuits (the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), Chick-Fil-A strawberry milkshake, grilled pimento cheese sandwich, versions of Pilsbury dough creations, Xmas M&Ms, fantastic Chico's salsa (restaurant in Rocky Mount), Hagan Das dulche de leche icecream (I know you can get it in the UK but I have a hard time finding a store that regularly stocks it), hint of lime tortilla chips and tonight we're off to the Outback restaurant to celebrate Jo's birthday so no doubt a Sinful Sydney Sundae will be added to the list.

Tomorrow I'm off to Jo's school for either the day or part of. She wants me to see her class and meet the kids that she's told me so much about. Then Wednesday I'm Amtraking north to New York for a few nights with more friends before starting work again next week. Oh how time flies by so quickly. I haven't yet considered new year's resolutions. I spent the last day of 2010 in bed sick as a dog although arose briefly at 11:45pm to let of fireworks (shhhhhhh, wasn't us). I do know that there are some great adventures planned already and I am excited to working/learning alongside my students :-)

All This Snow Business

2010-12-19T04:46:00.000+05:00

LOTS of snow here in London today. Beautiful views of it all from my windows...

And while it did spend a large chunk of the day just sitting at the windows watching the flakes fall, I am hugely disappointed that my flights to the USA tomorrow are all delayed and most probably cancelled. I have no idea how/when/if I will get to North Carolina for Christmas and am bracing myself for having to celebrate here on my my own in London. That would be one for the books - a new experience indeed.

Singing at the Royal Albert Hall

2010-12-13T00:49:00.001+05:00

On Friday evening I accompanied my class to the Royal Albert Hall so that they could perform in a charity concert for Clic Sargent. What a fantastic evening! It was amazing to first of all enter the famous hall which I had remembered seeing on TV during coverage of the Last Night at the Proms and then to actually be able to sing there was a very memorable experience. My favourite part was the Michael Jackson medley and now I can also claim that people have paid me to hear me (well actually, 1,600 kids - but I was amongst them) sing! hahaha.

During rehearsal - before the audience arrived.

The 'mushrooms' the roof to help with acoustics.

Dionne Bromfield (Amy Winehouse's god-daughter apparently)

London in the Winter

2010-12-05T03:50:00.001+05:00

A million excuses about why I haven't updated the blog in over 6 months. Basically boils down to stress, stress and more stress. Moving country is always and exciting time but also creates a load of financial and emotional stress - all of which I hope to very much under control come the New Year.

On a brighter note, this week it snowed in London and the streets looked almost beautiful. School was closed on Thursday so I got to enjoy a big sleep-in too. Today I toughened up a little and put on 5 layers of clothing and headed to the Borough Market to check out the sights and sample the food. I was successful at both and came away having tried pear cider, 5 different cheeses, Turkish Delight, mushroom pate, some dried meat, pesto and some spices. Highly recommended outing for visitors to London. Photos posted below :-) Then went for a stroll along the South Bank where a Christmas market was being hosted. Always lovely to see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament lit up across the Thames. Caught the tube to Green Park and enjoyed a great Japanese meal at a wee restaurant that I can no longer remember the name of. A lovely afternoon/evening.

George Pub - 350 years old

Off to the USA later in the month. Very excited to be returning after 3 and half years absence. Can't wait to see everyone again.

LOVE IT

2010-07-12T20:04:00.001+05:00

I have been scouring the internet trying to come up with inspiring ideas for the beginning of the new school year (in the northern hemisphere) and have found some really interesting ideas... this isn't one of them that is going to help me out with this but I still love it. Go to Wordle.net and input/cut and paste a set of text and the site arranges the words into a random pattern. The more frequent the use of specific words in the text then the greater prominence they have in the final design. You can then change the font, layout and colours to suit yourself or use their automatic random selector. I thought this would be a great application for creating posters for the PYP attitudes and Learner Profile. Also students easily use this to display sets of vocabulary that they have created. You could even created pages for wall displays or book covers... the applications are endless.

Today I taught classes at an Early Learning Center. Two sweet 4 year old girls kept singing the Beatles song 'Yellow Submarine' ( I have no idea who taught them the words but they knew them all) and it is pretty much stuck in my mind and thus inspired by first wordle creation.

3 MORE SLEEPS UNTIL MOVING OUT/GRADUATION DAY!

2010-07-12T17:53:00.001+05:00

Oh my my, oh h*ll yeah. Time flies! Only 3 more sleeps until Graduation Day. It's crazy to think that something I have dreamed of for years and then finally actually worked on for a few years is finally coming to an end... which means of course that I'm excited about moving to the next phase in my life and thus another big adventure. Tomorrow is scheduled as 'packing up the apartment day'. I have a final laundry load to do then clothes to squeeze into the space left in my backpack, throwing away/donating of stuff that isn't making it on my next journey, and then cleaning! I've been such a sloth that my wee fridge freezer is so frosted up that the door barely closes and nothing fits in the icebox. The wee apartment is long overdue for a vacuum and then of course I have to tackle the oven. I hate cleaning ovens. However at the end of the day I have a final hoorah planned with some uni friends and a bottle of red wine :-D Day after that I have to collect my graduation gown and guest tickets to the ceremony... then my family arrives from Sydney and University/Graduate House has a special dinner on Wednesday so we'll all be attending. Apparently the 7 graduates (it's mid year and most people will graduation in December) will wear their gowns. Hope I don't spill my soup down it! Graduate is early Thursday, then we have a lunch with the Anthro/Archeology department then we're all off back to Sydney. I'll fly home to NZ on Monday.

In the meantime I have 3 days to make use of the free, unlimited, high speed internet in my room. I'm currently downloading podcasts of walking tours around London. I'm also checking out some teaching resources, videos etc that might come in handy during the next few months. That leads me to ask anyone if they tell me more about this Google Wave thing that I have only just discovered (I'm been a hermit for the past 12 months and am obviously totally out of the loop). I am keen to figure out if this is something that I could use with 10-12 year olds. At the moment I have reservations about the privacy of the discussions. I am keen though to see how I could use if for surveys and videos. Any advice or suggestions are much appreciated.

LOOKING FOR NEW MUSIC FOR MY IPOD

2010-06-30T12:02:00.001+05:00

I have thousands of songs that I could/have loaded on my iPod but I am so tired having to skip through them to find something that really suits my mood. So I deleted the lot. I'm starting from scratch and I'm on the search for some new tunes. It really isn't such a huge mission since I have been a social recluse for at least 3 years now. After living in Uzbekistan for 2 years where I wasn't exposed to any Western pop culture and then the past 12 months where I have lived as a hermit while I study, I am so out of touch with what people are enjoying. So this is a huge shout out to people to email me or leave a message in the comment box of some suggestions. I have fairly eclectic tastes so nothing other than trance, gangster, polka or Cliff Richards will be ruled out!

I have a few weeks spare time before I graduate and begin my next adventure so I am making the most of the opportunity to surf the internet and take advantage of the free downloads. I randomly stumbled upon this girl Lan Li and I think I am now a huge fan. It is crazy how the internet works but to cut a long story short (or not) I found her on http://www.iie.org/ while I was checking out some university stuff. Back in 2008 she was an exchange student from the USA to London and recorded a series of 12 videos of her stay called 'An American in London' . I was curious about Lan Li's experiences because when I previously lived in the UK I shared a house with an American, an Australia and a Canadian (as well as me the Kiwi - is sounds like some kind of joke aka 'they all walked into a pub' etc) and I used to giggle at the American who would come home with great exclamations such as "Why do they (the British people at her work place) call push pins DRAWING PINS?" Of course I found it hilarious cos being a Kiwi we also call them drawing pins but having lived in the USA for 3 years I could sympathise. Anyway... when I was watching Lan Li's videos I found out that she was also an amazing musician. She's posted a view videos on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/worldismarble#p/p She posts under the name Worldismarble
but I think the sound recording isn't that great to put on my ipod so I'm hoping that she is able to produce some professionally soon. When I googled her I found some more links to her music. She has a few songs on
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=935308.
I LOVE the song 'Goodbye'.

She mentions that she is going to try and put some up on itunes over the summer. I guess that in North America this is about now so I'll be keeping a look out for her - Marblesiworld. Check her out!

I'VE DECIDED TO MOVE TO REYKJAVIK

2010-06-26T07:44:00.001+05:00

Due to my myopic focus on completing my studies, I have paid little attention to the world events and thus the election of a new major in Reykjavik, Iceland completely slipped by under my radar. Iceland holds a fond place in my heart as I spent my 27th birthday in this beautiful country and have even considered going to university there - primarily because it is free but also because I hear they have wonderful vodka :-)

Back to the new major though... I read this New York Times article today by Sally McGrane

( http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/26/world/europe/26iceland.html?hp) and would like to now suggest that the Best Party of Iceland form a branch office in Auckland, New Zealand and campaign for a member to become the leader of the new Super City.

Check out the Best Party's campaign video:

And you've just gotta love the Best Party's Platform:

To help the homes in the country
To improve the quality of life of the less fortunate
Stop corruption
Equality
Increase transparency
Effective democracy
Drop all debt
Free bus rides for students and the poor
Free dental services for children and the poor
Free swimming for everyone and free towels
Drag those responsible for the economic collapse to court
Complete equality of the sexes
Listen more to women and old people

I'm proposing that Mikey Havoc of Push Push and bFM fame be party leader and his posse include Michele A'Court and Ben Lummis. I have no doubt that this group of 3 can bring some common sense and heart to management of the Super City and that their campaign video would be so much more interesting than John or Len's. Good luck!

GOOD LUCK TO THE ALL WHITES

2010-06-24T13:51:00.001+05:00

Dear Lads,
We're so proud of your efforts so far. You're ranked 78th in the world and have exceeded everyone's expectations for you. Now you've got the chance to perform one more time on the world's stage. Do us proud. Play hard against Paraguay Come home heroes!
Love
The Mad Kiwi

DUPLICATE BLOG ENTRIES FIXED

2010-06-21T17:39:00.000+05:00

Yippy! I managed to finally find a website that gives instructions (that I can actually understand!) on how to solve the problem of blogger constantly duplicating blog entries. Thank you!
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2010/02/duplicate-blog-posts-remove-duplicate.html

MASSIVE UPDATE ON THE BLOG

2010-06-21T11:47:00.001+05:00

Finally I've got time on my hands and fast enough internet access to finally overhaul my blog. I've been wanting to add photos for ages but haven't figured out a way to do it so that the collection is static and doesn't shift to another page like my usual blog. So now I've added a few pages and embedded a wee slide show for each country. For the life of me I can't figure out why blogger posts the slide show twice on the single page. I've googled it to try and find an answer but no luck. For now I'm stuck with duplicates. Oh well! The blog still doesn't quite look how I'd want it to but until I upskill in IT then I'm limited in what I can do.

And of course I must mention the amazing news that the New Zealand All Whites drew with Italy - the World Champions last night in South Africa. Way to go lads!

PHOTOS ON CAMPUS

2010-06-19T17:26:00.001+05:00

I took some photos of my walk around campus. It is an amazing space with so many trees and a river than meanders through it. Flocks of cockatoo swarm in the trees as the sun goes down. This apparently means that it is going to rain the next day.

YIPPY

2010-06-18T13:40:00.001+05:00

Well depending on my final assessments, I graduate in July! What an amazing adventure the last 18 months have been. My brain aches and my eyes are wonky but I love almost every minute of it. I highly recommend the opportunity to take up extra studies. One day I hope to tackle a PhD ... I'm only 3 days out since my last assessment though so the thought of 3-4 or even 5 more years is not appealing to me right now!

I've got 4 weeks until I move out of my campus accommodation and not a whole lot planned on the agenda. Next week I'm going to hear the President of East Timor give a speech, there is lots of rugby on tv to watch too and I have a whole lot of sleeping to catch up on. I have been pre-booked for a bit of substitute teaching at a private school, I need to clear out my junk and get back down to having only enough stuff to fit in my back back... because come the 16th July I'm heading off on the next big adventure! First I'll head home to New Zealand for a few weeks then I'm off to the UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited.

THE MAD KIWI IS CURRENTLY IN... AUSTRALIA

2010-03-05T16:47:00.002+05:00

Despite popular belief and persistent rumours, Australia is not part of New Zealand and New Zealand is not that tiny wee island at the bottom of Australia. Nor is there a bridge from New Zealand to Australia. Although, perhaps there should be. It would be cheaper to get between the two countries then. It is actually about a 3 hour flight from Sydney to Auckland over a bloody big stretch of sea. That time does not include the 2 hour pre-departure stuff at the airport or the passport queue at the other end... or indeed the lines to buy duty free vodka.

Small little New Zealand holds its own against its bigger neighbour… just check out the scores from the One Day cricket match between the two countries this week oh and the 20/20 match. We won’t even mention the huge rugby mismatch J

Anyway now that I’ve dug the knife in (and twisted it a little), I shall announce that I am actually back living in Australia… for now. I plan to be here until about mid June. Hopefully at that point I will graduate and find a willing new owner for my lovely 1995 Ford Falcon station wagon (hopefully in that order and hopefully both in the same week). Yes, the car is missing a few pieces from when my stepdad gave it to me 6 months ago but these are just cosmetic. It still has 4 wheels and an engine. It even got a new battery last week. If you’re interested email me. Great for backpacking. It easily fits 5 adults and all their gear. Asking price. About $1,000.

There really isn’t any more news in my neck of the woods. I have moved accommodation. I was going to say “moved house” but I haven’t lived in one of those for 9 years now so that doesn’t really work. I have a wee studio apartment. It is pretty tiny. About the size of hotel room. The single bed makes it look bigger. I have a wee stove so can try my hand at cooking. I made very bad scones today. I live on campus which is handy. Um, I am doing some relief teaching which the bank manager also thinks is handy too. I am way short of cash actually. Very nervous. I haven’t got enough to get me through the semester L I’m hoping that in 4.5 weeks time I will win lotto. Pity I don’t have any money to buy a ticket. I sold my fan today. Got $9. It was actually for sale for $8 but I charged an extra $1 for delivery. It isn’t really that hot anymore so I didn’t need it. I only used it once. An old flatmate gave it to me. Should I buy a lotto ticket with that money? I wonder what else I can sell? If you’re wondering, I do accept donations also. Donations to me are not tax deductable but I might bake you some scones.

Love from The Mad Kiwi

NZ Premiere of The Lovely Bones...

2009-12-14T14:34:00.004+05:00

Check out my photos of the NZ Premiere of The Lovely Bones.

Susan Sarandon barefoots it on the red carpet

Rose Mc Iver braves the Wellington cold

A passing shot of Rhys Darby :-( This guy is a legend but just ran past us so no luck here for a shot.

Peter Jackson answers questions from the press.

THE MAD KIWI'S LIST OF HER FAVOURITE THINGS

2009-11-01T04:50:00.002+05:00

I figured if Oprah could have a list then so could I. A pity that I can't give my viewing audience a free sample of each!

1. Industrial strength ear plugs. Note that they are not those weak foam ones. These are the read deal. No fiddling around with squeezing, then pulling your ear etc. Just jam these babies in and I'm guaranteed a quiet night. Bonus is that they have a bright red string attached so if they fall out in the night they are super easy to find in your bed!

2. This stuff is insanely good. I'm not usually a white chocolate or mashmellow fan but these are amazing! I was given a bar for Halloween yesterday and now I think I am addicted. Be warned... get ready for a sugar hit!

3. Daniel Carter's legs. Not only is this guy a brilliant rugby player for New Zealand, he is not that bad to look at either :-)

4. My pink pair of fake crocs. These are the most ugliest shoes ever invented. I promise to never wear them in public. And screw wasting money on the real deal when you can pick up a pair at BIG W for $4.95. These puppies are essential when you share a shower block with 5 other people who have an aversion to house cleaning. Enough said.

5. Fruit snakes! I'm addicted. No other brand quite has the flavour. My room mate from Germany laughs at the jelly babies as apparently in her country they eat jelly bears. I never really thought about how strange it is to eat candy the shape of children!

6. M*A*S*H. Still wins out over Home and Away, Neighbours and all the other mid afternoon crap they put on TV. The earlier seasons are the best... Trapper John, Frank and Henry Blake. I have been known to cry on occasion.

7. A coat hanger. The aerial on my car was broken off years ago and replaced with a coat hanger. Real classy looking but at least I can still listen to the radio!

8. My black velour bathroom. Again, not to be worn in public... even around the room mates. But who needs clothes when you can wear a robe? haha.

The Whanau Visits Canberra

2009-10-06T13:06:00.001+05:00

Oh I'm all homesick now after saying goodbye to my stepbrother and his family. They came to stay with at university for two nights. We had such a fabulous time. It was great to have people to hang out with, go to dinner with and obviously heaps and heaps of laughs too. We ended up gate crashing the rugby league grand final up at the other dorms as our tv wouldn't work. We looked a right bunch turning up with our cheese platter, salsa and tortilla chips and bags of popcorn while the teenagers at the dorm sat their drooling and then rushed back to their rooms to get beer at half time. Then we go to participate in a fire drill. Very exciting with the trucks and firemen. Unfortunately they then turned all the gas service off to the building and so my planned BBQ was ruined. The next day we went at played a Questicon. It is a giant science playground really. Lots of gadgets for the kids to touch. There is this slide called Free Fall which I didn't go on. You hang from an overhead pole and then just let go (hence the free fall part) and fall until you hit the slide and slide down. Little kids were doing it so it couldn't have been dangerous but it sure looked scary!

We went up the Telstra Tower for the most amazing views over the city. Dinner was a Traders in Dickson. We ate in a tram carriage! Today we went to the War Memorial Museum. We rushed around in an hour and half. You could easily spend days there. They have amazing interactive exhibits like a bomber plane that you stand in and it vibrates and there is a screen that opens up on the floor as though you are actually in the plane getting ready to drop the bombs. So much to see there and entry was by gold coin donation.
Classes start back next week. I have mountains of work to do before then though. Only one more month until the end of the semester.

click on photo to enlarge

What's Going On Outside Your Bedroom Window Today?

2009-09-30T09:09:00.000+05:00

Right outside my window are trucks as construction has started on a new parking lot and 7 story building. I'm overjoyed.

Um, I Think Something May Have Gone Wrong!

2009-09-30T06:54:00.001+05:00

I opened up my chilly bin to do my daily turning of the cheeses and found that my brie had turned to liquid overnight! I dunked them in boiling water which removed the green mold skin and then sprayed a new white mold on the outside. The harder cheeses (the 3 green lumps) are quite firm and seem to be coming along well. These will be another 4 weeks of maturing before I wrap them. They really should be dipped in wax but I don't have any. I hope I don't give myself food poisoning!

Part of the brie slipped through my fingers and landed on the floor. Groase!

I think my career as a cheese maker may well be doomed by the results of this first attempt. I shall keep my day job... oh that's right, I don't have one :-)

The Goods...

2009-09-21T14:07:00.000+05:00

Procrastinating and seeking to find a haven from the noise of the drilling outside my bedroom window as construction of a 7 story building starts, I decided to cook up the paneer that I made yesterday.

palak paneer

matar paneer

The results are a delicious dish of matar paneer and palak paneer... both made from 100% fresh vegetables
:-) and they tasted way better then they looked.

Having Whey Too Much Fun

2009-09-21T07:22:00.002+05:00

Yesterday I took a cheese making course at the Old Cheese Factory near Braidwood in New South Wales (about an hour and half from Canberra). It was run by the legendary senior lecturer from Charles Sturt University, Barry Lillywhite.

The Old Cheese Factory

I am more than a little addicted cheese and was so excited to be able to find a course being held while I am here in Australia. The day was brilliant and I learned so much about the art of making cheese and have developed an even greater appreciation of the work that goes into making even a small block of cheese. We make three cheeses - a paneer (I shall cook some matar paneer with that tonight and some dal and rice), a blue brie and a harder blue cheese. There were only 10 of us on the course and luckily I was paired with a lovely lady Annie (my favourite cat was called Annie) who was a very competent farmers wife. I introduced myself by disclosing what a terrible cook I am and that she shouldn't feel bad about bossing me around! We got on wonderfully and I turned out to be a great dish washer, milk stirrer and mold turner overer whilst she took control of the temperature readings and time keeping. Everything seems to be so precise and I kept forgetting what and when we had done the previous step in the cheese making process. We were fed home made beef pies for lunch with relish and organic vegetable salad followed by a fruit salad with sheep's milk yogurt and a glass of raspberry and pear(?) wine. I ended up also purchasing a couple of the most delicious bottles of champagne apple cider which with 9.8% alcohol content, I might save them until my university studies are finished for the year. I now have 7 blocks of cheese that I need to nurture with TLC for at least the next 6 weeks. They are currently soaking for 6 hours in a brine solution and then need 24 hours of drying before I stab them and put holes in for the mould to hopefully start growing. I then need to somehow procure materials to construct 2 humidity chambers for them to rest in for the next few months when I am required to turn them daily! Like I said, I have a great appreciation for cheese makers now. I am hoping that I will be able to use a chillybin and put water and the bottom and build a platform above the water for the cheeses to sit on. I don't have a thermostatically controlled fridge like a wine fridge to keep them at 14 degrees so will just have to do my best by finding a cool spot in the apartment (and hope that my flatmates don't touch them!). Yicks. I also bought home in my drink bottle some of the left over whey and used instead of milk in my pancakes this morning. They were delicious. I wonder why we can't buy whey at the store since it is much better for you?

Next week I start my glass blowing course through the Canberra Institute of Technology at Canberra Glassworks. I'll have to post some pictures of my soon to be master pieces! haha.

GIDDAY MATES!

2009-09-19T15:55:00.000+05:00

Well it's been a while since I sat down and updated my blog. I've been in Australia for 2 amazing months. Most of my time is spent studying but I've also managed to pick up some part time work :-) I didn't come here to work but it is nice to be able to add some moola to the bank account rather than watching my savings dwindle away. I'm having a blast. I live with 5 other people - the oldest of which is 7 years younger than me and the youngest is 14 years younger! What a diverse bunch we are - a Kiwi, an Aussie, 2 Malaysians, a German/Pole and an Austrian. Meals times are interesting with so many 'exotic' dishes being cooked up. We joke about the cleaning fairy who seems to whisk through our apartment about once a week (when I get time). I'm trying to gently encourage them to clean up after themselves but am adamant that I am not their mother and therefore refuse to nag. I've learned to wear shoes in the kitchen to avoid having things stick to my feet! It sounds disgusting but really they are great companionship and as long as I can find my ear plugs I always manage to sleep well. As for the study, well I love it. It is the hardest thing that I have ever done. My brain aches, my eyes strain and I am completely stressed but have learned so much already. There are 6 more weeks until the end of the semester and I have what seems like a million assignments that I need to work on.

I haven't been out exploring much as I am truely just enjoying hanging out in Canberra. I do love going to a park on the other side of Lake Burley Griffin. It is only about a 10 minute drive from the apartment I feel like I am somewhere remote. It is so quiet and kangaroos hop past and wild cockatoos fly over head. There is a beach there so I hope to go swimming when the weather warms up a bit more.

Haven't finalised plans for the summer yet but I am definitely heading back to New Zealand for a few months. I'm looking forward to the first family Christmas in years.

Pictures of Canberra:

My wee room on Campus.
It is nice to have some of my personal stuff to make it my own space. The tv room is right outside my door. The other flatmates don't ever watch it so I kind of feel like it is an extension of my bedroom.

At the Lake

There's No Place Like Home

2009-06-26T16:18:00.004+05:00

I did it! For better, or worse I managed to last out 2 years teaching in Uzbekistan. There were a whole bunch of highlights, trials and tribulations and I am so glad to finally be back home 'Down Under'. One day I'll be ready to laugh about the whole experience - it's still a bit soon for that though. I don't want to disparage anyone else who lived/worked there as every one's experience is unique to them so at this stage I prefer not to elaborate too much on my experiences. Someone told me that over time you only remember the good stuff. I hope so.

I spent all of last week in New Zealand. I caught up with a bunch of friends, was shell shocked by consumption choices at the mall and restaurants, baffled by the price of things and totally devoid of any knowledge of popular culture. After 9 years of living overseas I felt a wee bit foreign in my own country. I did get to watch an All Blacks rugby game on tv with friends (we won against France! About bloody time after the horrendous result at the World Cup in 2007). I think it won't take much time for me to readjust and get back in the swing of things. I'm still dreaming of the day when I can finally buy a place of my own there. So in my 8 days at home I managed to consume more than my fair share of chicken chips. No, they're not made of chicken and don't really even taste like chicken but they sure are bloody good. I'll be looking out for something similar when I'm over in Canberra. Email me some brand suggestions :-)

For the next 3 weeks I'm in Queensland, Australia just chilling with my Mum and stepdad. Gosh I missed them so much. We got to spend a brilliant few weeks together in India over Christmas but again there is nothing like being together at home - even if it is in Australia (joking, I really do like it here). Went to the bowling club tonight and then out for dinner. BBQ planned for tomorrow and a few test matches to watch on tv. How quintessentially Australian is that! We have no fixed plans for the rest of the time just hopefully selling the house so that my parents can move back to NZ ASAP.

After my holiday up here I will be heading down to Canberra for university. My stepdad has given me his old car (haven't driven in 2 years and was pretty bad when I did) and I'll be loading it up with my stuff and driving down. I think it will take me about 3 days to get there. Boo hoo. I've finally got accommodation sorted. There is such a shortage of places for rent there and the prices are ridiculously expensive. I will be staying in a student dorm on campus. I'm almost positive that I'll end up lumped with a bunch of 18 year olds. I can just see their reaction now when they find out this old lady is sharing the apartment with them! Anyway I am totally stoked to be able to focus on studies as a full time student and not have to juggle work at the same time. Here's hoping for some decent grades! I have a few ideas for travel (if I can get the time) and will head down to Melbourne for a weekend some time at the end of July. Can't wait to catch up with friends that I taught with in North Carolina. I am also hoping to pick up my camera again and get back into photography. Life has been so stressful for so long that I haven't taken any pictures this year.

What a Day, What a Week

2009-05-20T18:04:00.002+05:00

I've been feeling really antsy about moving country again. Australia will be my third country in 3 years and it means yet another set of goodbyes, packing up my possessions and moving on. I'm totally psyched for it though and have been counting down the weeks for what seems like forever (I'm at 3 weeks to go and I'm been counting since 24!). I'm a bit bummed that time isn't going by quicker (and I feel guilty for this as I know there will come a day when I will regret wishing away a single second) and I'm missing my friend and family like crazy. However, today was one of those days when a reality check comes in the form of news that slaps you around the head. In the middle of firing off a whinging email to someone back home about the crap week I've had, I was interrupted by a friend who shared some news about a very challenging personal situation that has the potential to drastically change her own and her family's life. I was stuck for words and did my best to respond supportively and then spent my entire day thinking about her and wishing that I could just wish away all her worries, and thinking about how out of whack my outlook on the next few weeks is. I'm spoilt. So I'm going to work on attitude. There's some corny quote that goes something along the lines of "Life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it". Yeah, I need to work on that.

In other news... apparently a UFO was sighted in Tashkent.

http://www.allnewsweb.com/page6826828.php

Putting Out The Trash

2009-05-10T13:42:00.006+05:00

This morning while I was hanging up my freshly ironed clothes (yes, miracles do happen) the door bell rang. It scared the bejebbers out of me at first as I seldom have visitors and if I do they phone first. I ignored the first and second ring as my landlady told me that she'd already payed 'taxes' for the year and so no one should come bothering me. The third ring was irritating so I went and peeked through the spy hole and saw a woman there - not a uniformed police officer coming to 'inspect' passports, so I unlocked the 3 locks that secure me safely in my apartment and swung open the reinforced steel door. I have no idea what the woman wanted to tell me but through the tone of her voice and the waving of receipts I guessed it was to pay 'taxes'. Not wanting to part with any of my soum I waved her on upstairs to the other apartments where I promised someone would speak English and could then translate for me/her. I rushed back inside and tried to call my landlady. I say tried, because I failed to get hold of her. It would help if I actually had any credit left on my cell phone. Opps. Well my friendly upstairs neighbour came down and told me that this was the Trash Lady and that she wanted 12,000 soum which is apparently the tax for taking care of the trash. Gid yeah trash? I asked. Where is the trash? What trash? Where does she take it? Apparently she comes every month. No one knows what trash she collects as it certainly isn't ours as we regularly traipse the 1/2 km to the dumpster down the road where homeless people peck through it before the feral cats get a chance. Anyway my friendly neighbour gave the Trash Lady my landlady's phone number and so I get to keep my 12,000 soum and best of all I get to keep putting my own trash out.

And so I did. I took my giant blue plastic trash bag for a walk and decided this time to take my camera to record this wee adventure. Today's trash walk ended up being rather fun actually. I was escorted by 3 wee kids that were roaming the apartment complex. We didn't really understand much of what we were saying to each other but it made a mundane chore interesting.

p.s. check out the Uzbek eyebrows drawn on the doll!

ANOTHER YEAR OLDER

2009-05-08T10:41:00.003+05:00

Yet another birthday crept up on me this week... I'm getting older every year!

Last week they held the annual Spring Bazaar and work. I packed up all my junk (stuff that isn't worth shipping back down under) and sold it off and came home in the afternoon with a tidy sum of money which of course will all be blown as soon as I get back home and have access to a shopping mall. In the corner of my lounge room I now have a grown heap of wall hangings, carpets and stuff that I have collected on my journeys that all needs to be boxed up by the shippers when they come in a few weeks to haul my possessions off. I'm a big ahead of the gun as I have 5 weeks left here in Tashkent but I am really excited to move on to the next phase of my life. There is so many other things that needing doing in the time that I have left here... more strawberries to eat, photographs to take, university assignments to complete, report cards to write, and 2 open bottles of liquor that need consuming. Perhaps if I reverse the order of that checklist I might get more done (the photographs might be a little more interesting too)!

As for my plans after here, well I've applied for university accommodation for July but I'm not holding out much hope as they offer rooms up to undergraduates and international students first. I'll just arrive a few weeks early I guess and take my chance with private renting. I'm now on the hunt for an internship from Nov - end of February. I'm so excited about trying out something different.

Spring is almost here

2009-02-21T12:24:00.004+05:00

I don't want to jinx anything but I think that spring is almost here in Tashkent. I am so thankful that we only had one week of snow this winter... and all of it while I was on holiday in India. The snow stuck around on the ground for a while but that was in the first week of January. It snowed a couple of times after that but it wasn't cold enough to stick around. After last year's absolutely freezing winter I personally am much preferring the weather now!

I went to the 'new' Korzinka supermarket yesterday (up past the Grand Mir hotel) and they had boxes of big red strawberries for sale. They were 20,000 soum a punnet (about $15 usa!) so I didn't buy any but they sure bought a smile to my face knowing that it won't be long until more fresh fruit and veges start appearing at the bazaars.

I've been reading a lot on the internet about the global financial crisis. I feel fortunate that it doesn't seem to have impacted me personally very much... yet. I have obviously lost out on my retirement scheme contributions (not that there was much put away anyway) and the value of the shares I hold have plummeted but because there isn't really too much to buy here anyway I haven't really had to cut back on expenses. My bus ride to work went up a few months ago from 300 soum to 400 soum per ride (about 20 cents to 30 cents) which for me isn't such a big deal but I remind myself that local people generally don't have a disposable income - average wages are less than $200, so any added expense really cuts into the budget.

I now have less than 4 months left here in Uzbekistan. It is almost time to start thinking about packing up my stuff, selling items that I won't need (like my snow boots) and giving away the rest. I'm actually getting really excited about moving on to my next big adventure... in Australia :-)

Oh What a Week

2009-01-18T01:23:00.002+05:00

8 Days in the UK. It's been an insane week full of adventure. As well as attending the BETT Show and meeting educators from around the UK and International Schools, I've loved hanging out in the evenings with my niece and nephew. We've taken bus rides, been to the park, a ballet lesson, played in the Wendy house, made up lyrics to karaoke songs and today even made a short trip to the New Forest. I've caught up for drinks with friends, had a serving of fish and chips, 2 meat pies, gourmet meals every night - cooked by my brother. My bags are packed (well the cheese, bacon and pate are in the fridge waiting to be packed at the last moment) and I'm making my last itunes downloads before returning to the land of slow Internet and meals of shasklik.

I've decided not to renew my contract and so I now only have 6 more months until my new adventures begin.

Hello From London Town, England

2009-01-13T03:47:00.003+05:00

As per usual, life is hectic and insane. I haven't updated the blog in months and have had a few emails from people whining about the lack of photos lately. Sorry. I'm living it up in London this week(last week it was Delhi... next week back to Tashkent though). I'm here to attend the BETT Show as part of my professional development for my job. I have a busy itinerary but am loving being here with family, enjoying my brother's homecooked meals and speaking English to everyone - even the old ladies who pass me in the streets.

Yesterday I went into the city and caught up with friends who'd come over from Wales, and Allister who'd come to stay in Uzbekistan in October. I hadn't seen them since I was over in 2007 for the rugby. We had a fab afternoon and had amazing tapas at a Brazilian Cafe. I managed to get sloshed on a single class of cider. Jeepers I must be getting old. Today I played all day with my niece and nephew and recovered from jetlag. This evening I figured out my schedule for the BETT Show and made plans for Friday at another friend's house. I really miss living in this country!

The Gypsies

2008-11-22T12:50:00.005+05:00

This photo was selected by the Tashkent Photography Club as my best image for this month's theme of 'People'. It is of a group of female Uzbek Gypsies sitting around a fountain outside the gates of the Registan in Samarkand.

Update from Tashkent

2008-11-22T12:33:00.002+05:00

Winter has arrived in Tashkent. Last week it snowed for a few hours in the morning. The flakes were huge and surprisingly enough actually covered the ground for a while. The kids loved the first snow of the season and raced around trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues. The adults are happy that it all melted by lunch time - it's too early for snow yet! I am bracing myself for the cold winter months ahead and hope that the climate here does not repeat the bitter freeze of last year where Tashkent experienced its coldest winter in over 50 years. The heating in my apartment was turned on around Nov 1st and the place feels like a furness. There is no thermostat control to regulate the temperatures so I leave all the windows open! It's about 5 degrees outside today but I'm sitting here on my sofa wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

Some strange 24-48 hour throwing up thing as been going through work this week. I had Monday and Tuesday off work and slept the entire time. Luckily everyone is rebounding ok from it although people are exhausted.

I saw the great soccer play Rivaldo last week as he got off his team bus at the Grand Mir Hotel, (where I was enjoying a cup of hot chocolate) after his team won the Uzbek championship.

I've been a bit short on money this month so have taken up the challenge of riding public transport rather than enjoying the usual convenience of hitchhiking/flagging random taxis. Usually it costs me 2,000 soum (about $1.75 USA) to get to work each day in a taxi but if I walk about 10 minutes to the bus stop and wait in the cold for the bus, I can get to work for 350 soum (about 20 cents USA). If I speak politely to the bus drivers assistant (a kid who comes around to collect the money), the bus makes a special stop and drops me right at the gate to work. I've also caught trams quite a bit as they stop pretty much right at my house. I haven't quite figured out which train goes where (none go directly to work but I can transfer and fork out 2 X 350 soum and get close to work... although it would take about 60 minutes which is probably longer than what it would take to walk) and no one seems to have a map to look at so it is a bit pot luck. I have managed to survive this month on $180 though which included all food, transport, Internet and telephone expenses. Quite an achievement. I really do wonder how local people get by on far less than that and manage to feed and clothe their entire families.

I'm Back From My Travels - Uzbekistan From East to West

2008-11-02T20:45:00.006+05:00

I'm back from 9 days of travel across Uzbekistan from East to West. It's the 3rd time I've made the journey and I'd say it was the most enjoyable yet. I'm enjoying revisiting places that I've explored before and was startled when store owners in both Bukhara and Khiva remembered me! At first I thought it was some sales ploy, a chance to make conversation, but when they reminded me of who I had been travelling with and what I had purchased previously it was obvious that they did recognise me. How weird is that!

I decided to travel by car rather than train this time around - it suited our timetable better and allowed us to follow a more southern route that I can had covered before. From Tashkent Metro stop Sobir Rahimov we caught a shared taxi to Samarkand. It took about 4 hours (we were stopped for 20 minutes by police as they questioned me about my job and we also stopped to buy gas, melons and bread) and cost 22,000 soum each. The train takes about the same time and is cheaper but it leaves at 7am (too early as my friend's flight arrived at 6am) and then the evening train wouldn't have got us in to Samarkand until midnight. The roads were lined with apple sellers and stalls with jars of honey. It was a pleasant trip and thankfully and driver and his 2 teenage friends didn't play the music too loud.

We checked in at the hotel Antica. I had prebooked (they speak English) by telephone earlier in the week and knew that they were full but they had arranged for us to stay at a 'cousin's' hotel... the Dyor which was next door to a shop by the Registan with birdcages hanging from the porch. Don't stay at this hotel. Great location. Very dirty. We spent the next 2 nights at the Antica and loved it (only $35 for a double room) and the breakfast was amazing. I don't usually like tea but they make the most delicious fruit tea ever! The hotel is located right next door to Gor Amir and is a 5-10min walk to the Registan. Rooms are quiet,warm and everything was great.

This was my 7th visit to Samarkand so I wasn't too keen on spending a great amount of time at each of the sites. One of my favourite adventures was visiting Shah-I-Zinda (the tombs with all the steps... up on the hill) after dark. It looks like it is closed and all the lights are turned off. If you stroll on up to the gate there will be a couple of men looking after the place, perhaps reading the Koran. Pay the entrance fee and the place is yours to stroll around. Take a flash light as it is quite spooky... especially with the grave yard right next door!

We spent the most part of day traveling about 1 hour south west of Samarkand to David's Cave. We walked the 1338 (about that ... I was too tired to keep counting) steps to the cave. The top of the hill had the most amazing views down. I actually didn't go down into the cave but some friends did and paid to have a blessing. No one was sacrificing chickens but apparently many do here.

We forked out big time for a private taxi from Samarkand to Bukhara - $100 to travel via Shakhrisabz. It was well worth the expense though as the drive over the mountain pass was truly breathtaking. The leaves were changing colour and it was a delight to be in small villages. There are many fruit stands at the top of the hill. The sellers offer slices off fruit for you sample before making your selection. Timur's Summer Palace in Shakhrisabz is an amazing site. It is huge. Behind it is a Ferris wheel which offers a great view of the Palace from above... or you can climb the steps to the top.

We spent 3 long days in Bukhara. I say long as neither of us were really interested in shopping and this is the shopping mecca of Uzbekistan. We stayed at the Salom Inn. I highly recommend this place and have stayed there a few times. They are a little more expensive at $45 a night for a double but their service is great, the rooms wonderful, they speak English, breakfast is pretty good and you can prebook services with them.

We asked around the shop owners for rides to Khiva and finally someone found a friend of a friend who gave us a ride for $100. The hotel had offered to set us up for $130 and most others wanted $150. It's a rip off and you can get cheaper shared rides but again time was of the essence. Last year the journey across the desert took 7hours but this year it only took 5! The driver was so fast but seemed relatively safe. I sprawled out on the backseat and slept the whole way.

I stay at the Hotel Shaherezada Khiva when I stay here. I had enjoyed it as it is just inside the old City (at the south gate) but this time found the place irritating as it is run by a 10 year old girl and communicating prices and confirming reservations and been annoying - even when my Uzbek friends had phoned ahead for me. I think next time I'll try somewhere else - perhaps the Mirzoboshi which looked really interesting when we walked around it.

We went to the tourist information center (at the west gate... opposite the Arc) and booked a driver around the fortresses of Elliq Qala. They offered 2 routes - a cheap one for $60 which took in the big 4 and then the expensive one for $80 which took in about 8. We took the more expensive and also paid an extra $40 each to sleep in a yurt at Ayaz-Qala for the night. We froze our arses off. Great night out though and the stars in the sky were amazing. There are no towns for 25km and the only people at the camp were the cook and her son, us and the driver. Brilliant! Lunch, dinner and breakfast were included in the price. We were back in Khiva by 11am the next day and dropped our packs at the Information Center and they looked after then for the day (they don't close until 7pm). We hung out in the old city, drank vodka (left over from the Yurt) and waited for our flight back to Tashkent.

It was a fabulous trip.

Cautions: make sure you have brand new $US. No marks, tears etc.

We didn't seem an ATM on the whole trip... not that we looked very hard.

Middle - end of Oct is chilly out West. Bring a coat, sleeping bag etc. Hotels may not have heating.

I'm Off Traveling Again!

2008-10-17T21:08:00.007+05:00

I have a British friend arriving at 4:30am tomorrow morning and we are off traveling for 9 days around Uzbekistan. It's the perfect time of year to get around as the day time temperatures hover around 22 degrees and overnight it dips into the teens. Last year when I followed the same itinerary, I found it got quite a bit colder as I moved westward. I've switched things up this time around though as we'll be traveling east to west and will be using cars most of the way and finishing with a domestic flight rather than an overnight train ride. It cost about double the price to fly but we save 26 hours of travel which means we can cram in a little bit more adventure!

This week the Tashkent International Photography Club met for their 3rd meeting and their first opportunity to share their efforts for the first project - Colours. Each member bought 10 photos to share and the members discussed the merits of each before deciding upon eachother's 'best' photograph. I found the project extremely difficult which surprised me as at first I though it would be so easy to just choose a colour and photograph it. It was a real challenge for me as I quickly found that simply photographing red objects was not rewarding and I didn't make an interesting image. By the end of the 4th week I ended up with an ecclectic collection of photos to share. I didn't ever manage to get a 'masterpiece' photo but I think the project forced me to better consider how I can represent the subject of a photo. Here are a few of my entries:

Trials and Tribulations

2008-09-19T07:27:00.002+05:00

I'm now into day 5 without any hot water in my apartment. The locals tell me that this is a regular event that happens for approximately 1 week every Autumn and then again in Spring. Hot water is pumped to Tashkent's apartment blocks via a city wide system of pipes (if you live in a house then you have your own boiler so aren't affected). Apparently the pipes are being flushed out in preparation for the winter when hot water is pumped to the apartments for heating systems. This story sounds rather odd though and I have yet to figure out why they would need to turn the hot water off again in the spring when I would think that flushing would not be required. Anyway, this year I came prepared for this senario and bought a camping solar shower with me. It means getting up a little earlier and boiling a jug of water, mixing it with cold water (I've still got plenty of this) and then hanging the system up over my bath tub. I know I am a whining/spoilt westerner but I really do love having a hot shower.

Vote for Obama

2008-09-16T18:46:00.000+05:00

Eve Ensler, the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist best known for "The Vagina Monologues", wrote the following about Sarah Palin.

Drill, Drill, Drill

I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.

I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.

But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.

I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.

Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."

Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.

She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.

Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States . She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.

Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.

Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.

I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S. , but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.

If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.

Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?

Eve Ensler

September 5, 2008

Australia beat Uzbekistan 1-0

2008-09-10T23:31:00.003+05:00

I just got back from the football match between Australia and Uzbekistan. Talk about a cultural experience! We had to go through no less than 5 layers of security. There were literally thousands of police in and around the stadium. Some were even in full riot gear. I give them credit though as although it was a lively crowd in a full stadium, no one really seemed aggressive and it was fun! I initially was sitting near the half way mark and then moved to be with others in the 'Australian' section (although I was most definitely cheering for Uzbekistan). There was only about 25 Australians there and although they were obviously having a great time, their cheers were drowned out by the Uzbek crowd. Although Uzbekistan seemed to have the initial advantage in the first half with what seemed like most of the possession, Australia scored the only goal of the match. Uzbekistan never really were able to match the Aussies whose defense was fantastic.

As I expected there were no woman in the crowd (correction - I saw one carrying a bunch of flowers) and it was a bit unnerving walking the streets after the game trying to find a taxi home. After about an hour of wandering I finally made it safe and sound back to my place.

I Have Ticket to the Australian vs Uzbekistan soccer game

2008-09-08T21:45:00.002+05:00

yippy, I have a ticket. It cost me a whopping 3,000 soum! That's the equivalent of 3 water melons, about 50 tomatoes, or one bottle of beer and some change (about $2.50). I'm not sure that there is anywhere else in the world that you could get a cheaper ticket to a World Cup qualifying game. I think that making the ticket, with its flashy hologram, probably cost more than the price they charged me for it. I don't know anything more about the event. I asked a local about what time I should turn up for the match (kick off is 8:30pm) and he said 8:30pm. I'm therefore not expecting any pre-match entertainment. Others have said that the crowd can be quite feisty. Should be a great night... or a cultural experience.

Awaiting the Arrival of the Aussie Soccer Fans

2008-09-07T19:48:00.002+05:00

This Wednesday Uzbekistan is hosting the Australian 'Soccerroos' in the 2010 Asian World Cup qualifiers. I heard a rumour that about 250 fans were making the trek to Tashkent. A bunch of us from work are hoping to make it to the game. Apparently you can't buy tickets before the game as they are worried about counterfeiting. We'll have to buy them at the gate on the night. Kick off is at 8:30pm. I'm hoping there is a friendly atmosphere. I have no idea which time I'll be supporting but usually I support two teams - New Zealand and anyone playing against Australia :-)

Update About Earthquake in Tashkent

2008-08-22T21:19:00.004+05:00

I wrote about the earthquake in my previous blog and wanted to update the news.
I arrived home to my apartment this evening and thankful there was no damage that I can tell of. There is quite a bit of dust and plaster in the the stair well. Books and ornaments had tipped off the shelf and my glass vase with sunflowers was on the floor. My picture frames are crooked. So it seems that we got away lucky... this time.
For those of you with family in Uzbekistan, my friend telephoned her mother in Samarkand to check on her and they had felt nothing there.
Links to other sites with more information/recounts:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ahamill/24/1219384800.html
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/lm548420-uzbekistan-quake/

EARTHQUAKE IN TASHKENT

2008-08-22T15:35:00.003+05:00

At 1:30 pm today we had what felt like to me a big earthquake here in Tashkent. Everything is ok here at schol but it sure did scare the crap out of me. It was the first ever earthquake that I have felt (I was in an earthquake in 1994 in Los Angeles, USA but didn't feel it as was having a pillow fight at the time). The local staff tell me that this was a really unusual earthquake as it was loud and exploded like a bomb. Apparently usually they build up intensity and feel like a wave - this one didn't.
My kids we at PE and I was sitting at my desk when I heard what I thought was a massive bomb explosion. Then the walls started moving and the ceiling made huge cracking sounds. It seemed to last for about 10 seconds. I sat here like a stunned mullet before getting over under the doorway. they evacuated the building in case there were aftershocks. there haven't been any more yet and we returned back to class about 20 minutes later. The kids said that the playing field felt like it was dancing. The weird thing is that although it seemed like everything was moving, there was no damage to the school.
Life here is certainly an adventure.I hope that there wasn't any damage at my apartment which is on the 3rd floor and certainly less well constructed.

The Day Before the Day...

2008-08-18T12:44:00.002+05:00

Today is the day before the day that the kids start back at school. I'm almost ready for them. My classroom environment looks clean and friendly. My planning is mostly done. I don't feel as refreshed as I would hope after 8 weeks of holiday but then again I did travel around a bit.
My weekend was relaxing with a great start with the first TGIF at a local restaurant. We enjoyed the usual menu of Sarbust Beer, bread, shashlik and a salad of tomatoes and onion. I went to the Irish Pub on Saturday to watch the All Blacks beat South Africa 19-0. It seems like little old New Zealand might just be back on their game. Also it was our most winningest day ever in Olympic history with 5 medals won.
I managed to get some more fresh fruit from the supermarket yesterday - the last of the raspberries and some nectarines, bananas (very expensive but I love them) and grapes. I cooked up some mini egg pies yesterday. They were supposed to be bacon and egg but we can't find bacon anywhere at the moment. I chopped a little ham into them instead.
In two weeks time it is a public holiday so a long weekend. I think it is Independence Day. I have no idea what I am going to do yet but hope to get in some travel.

Yippy for Watermelons!

2008-08-15T21:30:00.006+05:00

I survived what I think was my 20th winter in a row. My holiday breaks are always in the summer in the northern hemisphere which leaves me travelling back to the southern hemispheres to enjoy yet another winter. I've been back in Uzbekistan for 5 days now. Things have changed in the 8 weeks that I was gone. The little garden shed outside my apartment block that housed a shoe repair man has disappeared. I hope he pops up somewhere in the neighbourhood as he did a fantastic job of fixing my sandals for less than $1. I was also hoping that he'd redo the straps of my tired old backpack. The weather seems to be kinder in August than what I remember from June. The days are warm - about 34 degrees but the evenings are perfect with temps in the mid 20's. There are piles of watermelons being sold on most neighbourhood street corners. I picked up a rather large one for 500 soum yesterday (that's less than 50 cents USA). Hauling it up the 3 flights of steps to my apartment isn't much fun but I am rewarded with the sweetest, juiciest fruit. I think they're my favourite thing about living here.

Playing on my itouch iPod on a very rainy day in Delhi but can't figure out how to write..bugger. Anyway I am safe and sound!

2008-08-08T11:43:00.004+05:00

Oh Jeepers, now I'm getting nervous

2008-08-05T10:18:00.004+05:00

2 more sleeps until I'm outa here - the developed part of the world. I'm getting really kind of nervous. I keep thinking that this time next week I'll be at work. That bit doesn't make me nervous but the fact that it is back in Uzbekistan does. It's not that I don't like my job, I do, it's that well it's in Uzbekistan. Don't get me wrong, as you can tell from my wee archive of photos, it is a beautiful country. In fact I hope to be able to explore it some more in the next 10 months. I'm just not that keen on living there.
I found this hilarious article (I say hilarious as I can picture myself in all of the situations that the writer describes) today and it somewhat fills me with dread.
http://www.salon.com/april97/wanderlust/uzbekistan970429.html
Actually the article seems to have been written about 10 years ago. It's amazing that the situations and people sound the same as they are today in 2008 but the exchange rate is now more like 1380 soum to $1 USA as opposed to the 70 that he describes.
Maybe tomorrow I'll feel a little more brave.

p.s. I must pick up some more cipro while on my stopover in Delhi.

Look What I Caught!

2008-08-03T13:47:00.005+05:00

MY BIG CATCH!

I spent the weekend hanging out with my parents. Our original plans were to head down to New South Wales and stop off for a few nights in Byron Bay. They had travelled there before and really enjoyed it so we figured it would be a great place to celebrate my Mum's birthday. So after an early start of Friday morning we drove about 4 hours south only to find that there was a music festival being held in Byron and the place was crowded with drunk teenagers. The beach was beautiful but we wanted something more peaceful so headed south to Ballina. Ballina is a small town right on the river. It was lovely dinning right by the edge and seeing all the fish jumping. After a brief family conference we all decided to head back to Noosa... there is a lovely river and beach here! It sure was a long way to travel but a nice chance to spend some time together. So we got back in time to watch the All Blacks beat Australia in the rugby and then today we went fishing down the river. I was so proud when I caught a big... stick!

View down to Byron Bay, NSW, Australia

Lighthouse at Byron Bay -------------My parents under a tree at Ballina

The Countdown is On... 2 weeks to go!

2008-07-29T14:05:00.003+05:00

Oh gosh, I'm getting a little anxious about my impending return to Uzbekistan. I came away in June with a huge shopping list of essential items (yeah right... just stuff that will make living there a little nicer :-)that I wanted to take back with me. I'm almost through my list...

lots of skin moisturiser (the climate there is harsh on my skin)
a cheese grater
chapstick
hair product (yes they have this but I can't read what it is that I'm putting on my hair)
a new hairstyle :-)
gumboots (they'll be fab in the winter with all that melting snow outside my apartment)
2 x warm hats and gloves
itouch loaded with songs and tv programs (this will help with entertainment rather than BBC World News)
clothes, clothes, clothes
Maggi sachets of pretty much everything
4 ingredient cookbook (every recipe has just 4 ingredients! how cool is this. Should make shopping at the bazaar much easier)

All that's left now is to find a plug that will fit my sink (universal plugs are not universal) and to pick up some alcohol duty free on my way to India... oh and enjoy a few more seafood dishes before I return to Uzbekistan - one of only 2 countries in the world that are doubly landlocked.

Up to Noosa, Queensland, Australia

2008-07-16T12:43:00.004+05:00

I've spent 2 and half weeks traveling around the southern east coast of Australia, visiting with friends and seeing the sights. My previous post tells of my adventures in Sydney with my stepbrother and his family. Next, I caught the train to Goulburn, NSW and spent 3 nights with a friend who I had met on a tour of Ireland and Scotland in 2002. We had a fabulous time visiting her family farm. The sky was so huge out here and dark clouds loomed. Some of my favourite photos come from watching the landscape our here - beautiful rolling hills and trees with white trunks. We traveled down to Canberra and visited the many government sites. Canberra is an unusual city. It has many beautiful parks but is so spread out that it seems to be lacking soul. I think a cyclist would be in their element here as it was fairly flat and had great avenues to ride down. I flew to Melbourne and met with 2 friends, Chris and Walt. I taught with Chris in North Carolina and kept in touch when we both moved to Colorado. I was spoilt rotten and given a grand tour of the Great Ocean Road and marvelled at the 12 Apostles and the golden sand beaches. We also went east to Phillip Island and watched the Fairy Penguins come ashore after sunset. I am now 'home' at my parents house in Noosa, Queensland and am looking forward to 3 more weeks of adventure :-)

GIDDAY FROM SYDNEY!

2008-07-03T05:30:00.003+05:00

After a wonderful yet eventful 2 weeks in Auckland, I flew out to Sydney, Australia on the 1st July. My wee niece and her Mum met me at the airport with a flower and a colourful sign. I got lots of hugs and we spent the afternoon chatting away. I hadn't met them before but immediately felt like I was part of something - a family!
Yesterday my step-brother took the day off work and the 3 of us caught the ferry from Manly into Sydney. It was about a 30 minute journey up the harbour and it was so amazing to see the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. The wind blew so strong that the waves had white caps and the salty spray covered my glasses. I have missed the ocean so much living in Uzbekistan. I felt so alive with the wind blowing in my hair :-)
We walked around The Rocks to the Opera House steps and then up through the Botanical Gardens. Here there were thousands of Flying Foxes hanging from the trees. They looked rather spooky and was a little worried about poop falling on me! We went through the NSW Art Gallery and looked at the aboriginal art. We had a lovely lunch there on the balcony overlooking the harbour. Next we walked down Elizabeth Street and cut through the city to go down to China Town and Darling Harbour. I was so surprised with so many people around and how vibrant the downtown area was.

On the Up and Up

2008-06-26T03:16:00.003+05:00

I've been home a week now and am on the up and up. I'm feeling really good and am now just waiting on test results. Seems like I might have some kind of hernia.

While I was in hospital I had lots of dreams but still remember two very peaceful ones about a bicycle! I went to www.dreammoods.com to try and interpret what this meant and here's what the site said:

Bicycle: To dream that you are riding a bicycle, signifies your desires to attain a balance in your life. You need to balance work and pleasure in order to succeed in your current undertakings. If you have difficulties riding the bicycle, then it suggests that you are experiencing anxieties about making it on your own.
To see a? bicycle in your dream, indicates that you need to devote time to leisurely pursuits and recreation.

Haha. As I am now enjoying a break from work and just hanging out before backpacking in Australia, this interpretation is very accurate!

I'm really enjoying being back home. It is more multi-cultural here than ever. The range of fresh food is astounding. I've downloaded music - I can't wait to listen to Damien Rice and a David Gray one. Brilliant!

A Welcome Home!

2008-06-20T06:31:00.003+05:00

I finally made it home to New Zealand after 2 days of travel. I flew from Tashkent via Delhi, Singapore and then Auckland. I picked up the new 32g Ipod Touch on my way through Duty Free. Yippy. Now I'm rushing to fill it up as the internet is so slow in Tashkent that it is difficult to download much.
I wasn't even home 24 hours when I was throwing up blood. It freaked me out but not wanting to wake up my friends to take me to the doctors, I went to bed. Luckily I made it through the night ok and they took me to their doctors. He then put me in an ambulance and rushed me to hospital! I have to admit that at this point I was a little scared.
I was admitted into the emergency department and spent the night there. I was poked and prodded - hence the bruises all over my arm, and a million tests done on me. They put a camera down my throat into my stomach and also took a biopsy of my stomach. Unfortunately for me for some strange reason the sedation did not work one bit a all. I felt the whole procedure and was not in the least bit drowsy. It was awful. My stomach today aches a lot and feels like I am being pinched from the inside - which I guess I was. The results should come back soon I hope. The doctors said they were testing for all sorts of diseases - including liver, kidneys and other stuff. Oh what a welcome home!
So today instead of shopping or walking down the beach, I am at my friend's house relaxing, playing on the internet and watching tv. Not that much different to Tashkent really - oh except the tv has heaps of channels and am downloading music on the internet :-)

A Kiwi in Tashkent

2008-06-07T16:03:00.002+05:00

I hauled myself out of my comfy bed at about 9:30am this morning. It's 40+ degrees Celsius outside today and its so much nicer to relax in the comfort of my air conditioned apartment rather than brave the heat outside. I skipped the staff end of year BBQ and walked to the Irish Pub to watch my first rugby game of the year (I know, pathetic since it is already June!). I propped myself up at the bar and since it was by this time after mid day (its was 12:30pm), I ordered a glass of the local brew, Sarbust. I was the only customer. The bar lady managed to decipher my mangled request to turn the TV channel to the rugby. And there I sat wishing I was somewhere else. Home. It wasn't long before I was joined by another patron. He turned out to be a Kiwi too! So the two of us sat and cheered on the All Blacks as they, in an unconvincing performance, beat Ireland. I still find it strange that where ever I am in the world watching rugby, there will be some other Kiwi holding up the bar with me! I've watched games in Thailand, Vietnam, UK, Ireland, USA, Uzbekistan, Australia and probably a few more countries that I can't think of right now (because I started drinking at 12:30pm). Next week I'm off home at last. I am really looking forward to watching the Tests at home :-)

Update from Burma

2008-05-09T17:43:00.003+05:00

An email update from Burma was forwarded to me today. I have posted it below. Please feel free to link to it or forward it on to others. I am hoping that by reading this you will become more informed about the situation there and consider what you can do to help. There is a link to a website where you can make donations and suggestions for other organisations who are also accepting donations.

>
> Subject: update from Tegenfeldts - Thurs
> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 01:17:28 -0700
>
> We received a phone call from our staff in the field this morning. They we
> nt out to Bogalay Township and went to a village familiar to them which is
> south of the town of Bogalay.
>
> The situation was very grim. No food, no water, many people with diarrhoea
> , dead bodies, desperate marauding groups scavenging materials and creatin
> g violence with others. The lack of security is bad enough that these team
> s we've supported are coming back today and needing to regroup.
>
> Please see the attached typed by Carol this morning.
>
Our organization can be
> found at www.hope-international.com

> , should you or your contacts want to contribute funds. We are able to res
> ource local partners we work with who have direct access to these cyclone-
> affected areas.
>
> Thanks for your concern and support!
>
> David
>
>
>
> Subject: More from Yangon
> Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 07:59:59 +0630
>
>
> Dear all,
>
> Back again with another update... Water is on my mind, so I'll talk abou
> t that. I'm getting a crash course in the complexities of providing drink
> ing water, so I'm going to share what I'm learning. Please understand t
> his is all new to me and so I may not be exactly accurate, but I'm trying.
> Out in the worst hit areas of the delta, there is already a huge problem
> with a very severe diarrheal disease. There is no safe drinking water av
> ailable out there except for the minimal relief supplies that have been se
> nt out there by helicopter by the Myanmar government, a result of various
> regional governments sending in cargo planes of supplies. So establishin
> g a continuous supply of safe drinking water is an immediate critical ne
> ed. At a very minimum for survival, each person needs 2 liters of clean
> water a day. The more realistic amount is 10 liters a day per person.
> How can that be produced where it is needed? That is the question that i
> s confounding everyone. There are all sorts of barriers to helping that
> be available. Many of the drinking water sources were ponds that have no
> w become too salty because they were contaminated with sea water last week
> end and are now too salty to drink. Bodies, both human and animal, have
> contaminated many of the other water sources. People are dumping bodies
> in the rivers hoping that they will just go out to sea, but because many o
> f the river banks low on the delta are estuaries and filled with mangroves
> , the dead don't actually go out to sea, but get trapped in the mangrove r
> oots. Imagine a county in your home state losing 40000 people all at onc
> e, with more dying as a result of diarrhea, and trying to get rid of the b
> odies. Add to that the wild and domestic animals that have died and you
> start to understand why desperation would drive people to think of sending
> the bodies into the river and out to sea. Unfortunately, it is not worki
> ng and it adds to the contamination of the rivers, which aren't flowing li
> ke typical rivers by the time they get to this area anyway.
>
> So that's the contamination story - but there's more complexity to this wa
> ter issue. An organization called PSI has been producing something calle
> d WaterGard. It's a great product - chlorine that can be put into water
> supplies to make them safe. This stuff is available, but there are sever
> al problems. The use of WaterGard assumes that people have containers to
> put water in before it gets treated. It assumes that people have the abi
> lity to calculate the amount of WaterGard that is required to purify the a
> mount of water they can put in their container and it assumes they have so
> mething to measure out the right amount of WaterGard. Unfortunately, the
> se requirements aren't available. Next comes the issue of culture. Peo
> ple in Myanmar (much as people anywhere) think that dirty looking water is
> undrinkable. They also think that water that tastes like chemicals (chlo
> rine) is undrinkable. WaterGard makes the water safe to drink, but it do
> esn't make the water look clear or taste good. For this reason, people d
> on't want to use the WaterGard and prefer to use things like alum, which h
> elp make the water look clean by catching particles of sediment and making
> them heavier so they sink to the bottom and don't hang suspended in the wa
> ter, and make the water taste better. The bad news is that alum does not
> hing to reduce the contamination by disease-bearing elements. In order t
> o make the water look and actually BE safe, people have to use the WaterGa
> rd along with the alum. This is a hard thing to convince people who are
> used to trusting their eyes and noses and taste buds to determine whether
> water is 'sweet' or not.
>
> So what is being done? One answer, our particular albeit imperfect way o
> f helping to address this at least in the immediate term, is that we have
> encouraged another organization here, IDE, to give us four trial 'water ba
> skets.' These are plastic tarps that are molded and shaped to be a bit l
> ike a trough, a bit rigid and held together with a rudimentary frame, that
> can be quickly erected, filled with water, have a known volume and then c
> an be treated with WaterGard in a premeasured amount. We are going to se
> nd these out to the health team that left yesterday and see if they seem
> to hold up or are useful. If they are, IDE is going into production with
> many more water baskets and we will help resource another team of local pe
> ople to get out into areas and distribute and set up a supply chain where
> these products can be used. Each of these baskets can hold 810 liters of
> water, so enough to minimally supply 400 people for a single day. As lon
> g as there is a reasonable nearby source of water that isn't salt contamin
> ated, there would then be a hope of getting a temporary water supply answe
> r going until the ponds can be pumped out of their salt water, the rivers
> can be cleared, etc. Dave and I have never been in a relief situation li
> ke this one - it's a real education for us about all the things that keep
> responses from being immediate, practical, realistic, etc. We know you a
> re thinking about all the people here and wondering how you can help. Lo
> ts of organizations are here working - the big ones are CARE, World Vision
> , Save the Children, UN, etc., but there are plenty more - HOPE, PSI, IDE,
> PACT, MSF, World Concern, and a host of local informal groups who are all
> trying to help people who desperately need every basic thing we normally t
> ake for granted.
>
> I understand this email may be reaching more people than my originally int
> ended distribution list, so for those of you associated with ISY, it was h
> eartening for me to hear yesterday that school's closing for this year doe
> sn't mean everyone is heading out of the country. A number of our teache
> rs and administrators and staff are planning to be around and volunteer to
> help any way they can. Mr. Lon is coordinating those efforts. The stud
> ent council is also meeting and coming up with plans for volunteering serv
> ices and money. It's given me another reason to be proud of my associati
> on with ISY.
>
> Again, more later.
>
> Love, Carol

LETTERS FROM BURMA

2008-05-08T11:33:00.005+05:00

I have been forwarded a few emails coming out from people who are currently in Burma or who have contacts on the ground there currently. I have posted these below. They give a description of what is going on there and share their great concerns for the coming weeks as the government continues to refuse foreign aid. There are also several suggestions about how you can make a donation.

Dear All,
If you are interested in helping Burma, read below from someone we know on the ground in Burma. David Tegenfeldt was born in Burma to missionaries, he raised his family there, and has dedicated his life to working for the Burmese people. He suggests donating to HOPE international, and I feel confident this money will be used to help the people of Burma.
Julie

Hope International
From: DavidT@mail2Hope.comSubject: Re: Relief for Burmese PeopleDate: Wed, 7 May 2008 03:43:35 -0700
As we had feared, initial reports from the affected areas seem to be reporting deaths in the 10s of thousands. I wouldn't be surprised if the final death toll is in the 6 figures. The island of Pyinsalu alone lost about 90% of its 40,000 population. Severe diarrhea is being reported from two townships, with fears about cholera being present.
We just helped organize and resource a local partner with 50 staff going out as mobile medical teams to these areas. They are taking along chlorine concentrate for making safe drinking water, clothes, money to buy food, and medicines. They also have doctors (including surgeons) and nurses along for treating patients. They will be conducting assessments in areas they can access and determining how to best assist in the future. One of our HOP E staff - Nyaw Nyaw - is going with them and will be leading the assessments and helping think about future activities with these communities. They will report back in one week.
David>
<-----Original Message----->
Dear Friends, As you have heard on the news, the situation in Burma is getting worse each day following Cyclone Nargis. It is like a war zone there and the food supplies and fresh water are predicted to run out by the end of the week. The army troops that once surrounded the city during the protests last year are nowhere to be seen in most townships. Power will probably not be restored for 20 days- the storm hit most power and phone lines. Lucky people are relying on generators for power but the price of fuel has risen to $10 a gallon this morning. The price of food as well as supplies like candles are doubling and many are homeless. Families are living in monasteries and the International School Yangon where I once taught also has people living there that have lost homes. The U.S. and E.U. have pledged aide but the Burmese government has not officially accepted their offer. The best way to filter money into this country that has no banking system, no federal reserve, corrupt government officials and few foreign NGOs isthrough private individuals... My good friend XXX is the XXX at XXX and she has already started cashing personal checks with the XXX (which may be one of the few sources of hard currency in th e city right now) to buy supplies for people. Two years ago her father started a non-profit through his church in Minnesota in order for the faculty to support a Burmese student who we managed to get out of the country in order to attend college in Minnesota. Funds can be channeled through this non-profit. XXX will continue to use these funds to purchase food, water and fuel for those in need. You are assured that every penny will go to assist the Burmese people. His contact info. and address is highlighted below if you can encourage people to send checks from U.S. bank accounts in any amount. Please read the forwarded email below from a parent of a former student who is an aide worker in Yangon. The damage is terrifying and unlike anything that we will ever be able to imagine.
Please keep these devastated people in your prayers,Scott OskinsScott,Thanks for responding. It is most expedient to send contributionsto me:

Pastor Duane Semmler
786 S. Andrew Dr. NW
New London,
MN 56273
USA

and make the checks out to: Tripolis Lutheran Mission fund (memo - for Myanmar relief)

Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 12:42:55 +0630
Dear all,
We are safe here in Yangon, after the cyclone hit here overnight during May 2/3. We have no electricity, no phone (for the moment), etc, but we are healthy and still have most of our roof over our heads. We have had no news of what actually took place here in Myanmar in terms of Cyclone Nargis - only the evidence we can gather on our own - large portions of roofs taken off houses, huge trees uprooted, 10 of our windows blown out, one window ripped from its hinges and sent hurtling to the ground, and a piece of sheet metal roofing that came from a house 100 meters away that flew into XXX's bathroom window at one point in the storm. Judging by this, we assume that when the cyclone hit Yangon, it was at least level three-possibly level four category. Based on what appeared to be the main directions of the wind at various points during the storm, w e assume it passed to the south of us. If the devastation we see around us in our neighborhood is any indicator, we can only assume the very worst about the much less affluent and well-fortified communities along the cyclone's path from the Bay of Bengal and frankly, onward to the Thai border. Word of mouth indicates another storm is possibly on the way, but we don't know what type of storm, or if it is even true. Word of mouth also indicates the townships around the heart of Yangon have been flattened. We have no way to verify this at all, although the idea of townships being flattened seems very much in keeping with what we'd expect from what we personally experienced. Food prices have doubled in this area in the day since the storm and judging by the state of trees and plants around here, that's probably very warranted - it's hard to imagine many crops or animals in the vicinity surviving very well. We also anticipate that there will be a huge amount of burning starting up in the next day or so, as people clear the trees and debris from their neighborhoods and 'get rid of it' the way they know best. Several trees in the neighborhood went down on top of houses or across the road. All the power and phone lines are down. So what happens? The neighbors all get together with their machetes around the nearest downed tree and start hacking away to clear it. People get out and try to reconnect their own telephone lines. A sort of do-it-yourself FEMA. I can't imagine how people even begin to rebuild if everything around them has been flattened. I managed to get in some extra drinking water, rice, dog food, cooking fuel, candles, etc., before the storm, so we have some basics to tide us over- don't worry. Sorry about this group email. Only a few of our family and friends are receiving this, and then we're hoping you can pass along news to others who you notice haven't heard. Thanks. I am writing it on a laptop without a lot of battery left. Aung Kyaw, our gardener, is going to try to reconnect the phone line and we'll see if it works - if so we can try to se ndthis out to you, if there's internet. Lots of ifs.I'll send photos when I can. -Love, XXX

Hey Guys,
I only have a minute on a computer that actually has internet but I wanted to let you know that I am ok. It is pretty bad though. In a few days all the people will be out of water and food will follow shortly after. They are saying no electricity for maybe a month. I am still planning on coming home at the end of May. Until then, any prayers you can send our way would be great. My dad is also starting a mission effort through his church to get money to those who need food and water. Love you and can't wait to get home!XXXThis message is from XXX in Myanmar. Because of the category 4 hurricane that hit Yangon on May 3, we wanted to send a message to all of our family and friends to let you know that we are all safe. There have been no physical injuries to any of us but there is substantial structural damage to homes and to the school. The school is providing water, food and shelter to those of us who need it. The city of Yangon is trying to cope the best that it can. Phone and internet connections are very limited into and out of the country. This email has been generated and sent through the XXXX. Please do not reply to this email. We are accessing the situation at school and in our homes to formulate a plan for the next days and weeks. We will try to contact you as soon as we can but please know that it may be a very long time before internet connections are restored.You can help us by emailing and phoning anyone that may be wondering how we are as we are only able to send to a limited number of emails.
Again, PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL
We send our love,
XXX

Subject: More from XXX in Myanmar>
Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 07:16:41 +0630
Dear All,
Another opportunity to send an email to you from the XXX office in Yangontoday, so we're taking advantage. Don't know what you have started to hear by now. Update at UNDP yesterday had lots of very bad news. Because the cyclone went farther south than expected, it stayed over water and therefore maintained strength and hit several townships, including Mawlamyine, which was never predicted. On the way, it significantly destroyed 8 townships (think of them as large counties) where the loss of human life is currently estimated to be between 90-95%. Beyond the eight townships suffering the worst, the outlying town ships around metropolitan Yangon were also hard hit, with current estimates indicating at least 40-45% of the population is now homeless. The government is saying 958,000 homeless, 12,000 dead in two places alone. The government tends to understate these things, based on past history.The struggle for people in the rural townships is clean drinking water, shelter, food, medical attention, etc. The government is going to support UN and others to provide relief efforts, although not to Yangon - it isn't a priority. We expect local teams of aid workers to be able to be mobilized starting as early as today and definitely by tomorrow, heading as close to the hardest hit townships as possible and shuttling with smaller 4WD vehicles if possible. Having large trucks to transport supplies is one of the huge challenges. The Townships nearer around Yangon are already receiving some assistance, but not on the scale required. As for metropolitan Yangon, the big issue will be access to water - any water. The main pumping station for Yangon (and apparently a couple of the auxiliary stations) were severely damaged and there's no estimate yet of when that can be back up running. People are already removing water from the lakes, ponds and swimming pools. There is also no estimate when electricity will be restored to run the pumping stations once they are fixed. Naturally, this is quickly making for a potentially terrible disease situation in the urban and periurban areas. Telephone is also still out most people, although we have sporadic coverage on our cell phone. Most landlines are down. Places with generators can get CNN, but generators require fuel, and last night we drove past a line to the closest (rationed) petrol/diesel station and saw cars lines up for half a mile, camping overnight so they could be the first in line in the morning to get fuel... Markets are closed and shopkeepers who do have supplies are raising prices very high. There is rumor of looting that has begun, although that has to be confirmed today. What does this mean for us? We're without running water and power, just like most people, and we're now going to have to rely on rain to restock our water supply, since we don't have a well. We still have drinking water and so on, so we're fine that way. It is likely that the embassies will start allowing voluntary departure for dependents this week, at which time XXX’s school will be likely to close… Please pass this message along if you see someone missing on my small distribution list. Thanks a lot. We know you are thinking of us and of the people here. Love
XXX

Date: Wed, 7 May 2008 10:31:20 +0630
Dear All,
Today we are getting the details pulled together to help send out a team of 50 local medical volunteers to head to the worst hit townships and see what the needs are and try to take care of some of the worst injuries. This team will travel with portable surgery suites, generators, medicines, etc. that have been built into small buses. They will go with 4WD vehicles to scout the road ahead and also to carry people from remote areas to the buses. The initial time they will be gone will be 7 days according to the current plan. Then they will come back with the information gathered from the first trip, reprovision and head out again. We have huge concerns about this, even though obviously it needs to be done. We just heard this morning that the Pyinsalone area of Labutta township has (so far unofficial) counts of around 40,000 people dead - this info comes from the World Food Program team that has been operating in the area since the tsunami at the end of 2005. Bodies are floating in the mouths of the Ayewaddy River and are being picked up by steamers operating in the area. This poses a major public health crisis for the area, for the health team and for the rest of the country. We have learned from other situations how traumatized aid workers can become when they are confronted with death and destruction on this type of a scale. So naturally we are very concerned about the people we will be helping to send into this area, and have tried to prepare them for the effect this experience may have on them. We ourselves can't travel to these areas, primarily because our presence would draw off resources from others, and we'd just be there to understand the situation first hand, not to actually help with the medical care.
Personally, we continue to operate without any electricity since Friday night. We don't have running water, but we have two outside ground tanks that are fairly full, so we are rationing our water usage quite tightly so that we don't run into a crisis. We still have a couple weeks of drinking water if we ration that carefully as well. It is available, but very expensive. We've had trouble sleeping for most nights so far, but once we get tired enough, we'll be able to sleep regardless of heat, humidity or the buzz of a baby boom of mosquitoes. Braedan completed one of his advanced placement exams yesterday and has another one next Tuesday. He has tended to want to stay with friends who live in serviced apartments, because those places are still running the generators at night, making lights and fans available. Yesterday, he finally seemed to recognize on his own that he is going to wear out his welcome as the costs of those serviced apartments goes up and as the services they can provide drop. The school has planned for a hasty and less than impressive graduation ceremony to be held next Tuesday late afternoon at the school. The parents of seniors are trying to meet this afternoon to provide something else for the kids to make it a bit more memorable. This is the first class in the school's history that won't have a graduation, prom, etc., so the kids are feeling a bit down about that, despite also being very aware of the circumstances surrounding this turn of events.Gotta run. More later. Hope you are all doing well.Love,
XXX

Dear Comrades,

I just spoke with Dennis MacKinnon at International School of Yangon. He asked me to share the following with you. Yangon housing and infrastructure have been terribly damaged. For example, there is no water with concomitant concerns about typhus and other water born diseases. All students, staff, and family members survived although one staff spouse who was in the delta is not accounted for. The school has been damaged. No classes are being held and it is being turned into a community relief center. There will be brief closing ceremonies on Monday and Tuesday after which teachers and students will be leaving. Dennis is confident that school can reopen in August. I asked him what assistance ISB could offer. We discussed some possibilities and he will get back me.

Bill

Click Link to Donate to Cyclone Relief in Burma

2008-05-07T23:33:00.002+05:00

A colleague from work used to teach at the International School in Burma a few years ago. She has been able to make some contact with folks still there although the Internet is mostly down so messages are being relayed around the world. I asked her about how to make a donation and she immediately suggested World Vision. Apparently they've been working in Burma for years so already have people on the ground and in communities.
The link to the World Vision site to donate is:
http://donate.wvus.org/OA_HTML/xxwvibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?item=1712646&section=10025

It has been bought to my attention that there are another aspects to also consider, beyond the devastation and over 100,000 lives lost, such as this is also being a prime time for the Burmese government to make dissidents 'disappear'. I am astonished that the cyclone is already relegated to the 3rd for 4th news item on the BBC World News. I know its illegal for them to have reporters in the country but it is possible to continue to gather newsworthy facts and updates to keep this disaster and this tyrannical government at the forefront of peoples' minds.

Baby Albino Kangaroo at Tashkent Zoo

2008-04-28T12:22:00.004+05:00

On my second visit this week to Tashkent Zoo, I caught a glimpse of the baby albino kangaroo.

Hillary Clinton, the USA President Wanna Be 'Misspoke' Yet Again

2008-04-22T07:11:00.005+05:00

The New Zealand Herald has a report on Hillary Clinton and some joke that she made about our current prime minister Helen Clark...

Clinton jokes about 'former' PM Clark
8:49AM Tuesday April 22, 2008

The Labour Party will be hoping United States presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is not getting a little ahead of herself. In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Mrs Clinton has described Helen Clark as a "former" prime minister of New Zealand. The comment came during an interview with magazine when Mrs Clinton was asked to tell a joke. "Here's a good one," she said. "Helen Clark, former prime minister of New Zealand: her opponents have observed that in the event of a nuclear war, the two things that will emerge from the rubble are the cockroaches and Helen Clark." The Dominion Post reported today that Helen Clark found the anecdote amusing and suggested Mrs Clinton should talk to her husband, former US president Bill Clinton.
"As a current prime minister I spoke with him as a former US president in London only two weeks ago." Mrs Clinton once said her parents named her after Sir Edmund Hillary. Then it was pointed out to her that she was born more than five years before he climbed Mt Everest.
Mrs Clinton has a phrase for one of her gaffes, saying she "misspoke".
That was after she said she had flown in to Bosnia in 1996 under sniper fire, when she went there with her husband. She spoke about running from the plane to the waiting cars. But when CBS showed news footage of her arrival, there was no evidence of snipers - just pictures of Mrs Clinton strolling from the plane to be greeted in the usual arrival ceremony.
- NZPA

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10505484&ref=rss

An Eye Opening Trip to the Tashkent Zoo

2008-04-20T16:25:00.004+05:00

Today I went with friends to the Tashkent Zoo. I'm not usually one who enjoys zoos but as my class is studying the life cyle of organisms and how they change as they grow, I thought that I'd better let them actually observe some real live animals. So today's trip was just a pre-visit without the kids to figure out just what was there and how to organize everyone on the day. It was a real eye opening experience. I've come home a little shattered actually as the sight of a condor in a tiny cage, a camel chewing on a 7up bottle that someone had given it, a visitor throwing an orange at a bear and then her cub being used as a 'dancing' bear, was all too much for me. I am still going to take my class on the trip as I believe there is much that they can learn by observing the animals and talking about what they are seeing. The focus will be more on considering the habitats that the animals need to thrive and the ethics of keeping wild animals. I've taken quite a few photographs to share with the students before we go on the trip and have put them on this blog for others to see. I'm hoping that when you view them you will consider how your impact as a visitor/tourist can both positively and negatively reinforce beliefs and behaviours. I am guiltily wondering if my entrance fee to this zoo is funding further animal abuse?

There Are No Apache in New Zealand

2008-04-07T18:35:00.004+05:00

To get home from work I hitch hike a ride. It sounds scary and it would be in any other capital city but here in Tashkent it actually isn't that bad. There is a little bit of technique involved but basically if I stand out on the street and point my finger to the ground with my arm slightly raised, some random car will stop. Now begins the tricky part of trying to explain where exactly it is where I want go to. I am so disappointed in myself about my pathetic progress in learning Russian and even worse effort at attempting Uzbek. Basically the whole process would go much more smoothly if I could communicate more than a 2 year old. Most people here also don't know the street names - they say it is because they were all changed after Independence but then wouldn't you think that they would at least know the old name? No one, literally no one knows how to read a street map either. So the best way to get close to where I actually want to go is to name the nearest landmark that I can think of, generally this would be a restaurant, hotel or metro station. After having agreed with the driver on where he (it is very rare to see women driving) is taking me, now begins the negotiation of the price. When I first came to Tashkent I just jumped right in, enjoyed the ride then handed the driver a random amount of money. I like to think now that I am a little more savvy, but I'm not. Most of the time I think I mess up the whole process of getting a good deal because after I offer the price the driver replies with something I can't understand so I offer more. He's probably just agreeing with me! Anyway I usually pay about 1.500 soum ($1.20) for a ride home. Not so bad for a 10 minute taxi ride. You an get across the city for about 2,500-3,000 soum. There are electric buses, shared vans, and the metro which I could take to get around too. These are much cheaper but it seems a bit pointless really when the 'taxi' is so much more convenient.

At work it is a bit of routine to share stories of recent taxi experiences. Most stories sound like some kind warped version of the fisherman's tale of how big the fish was that he almost caught. Today though my ride really was truly funny. The car was some beat up, puke brown lada. It had the obligatory smashed windscreen, miniature Koran hanging from the rear vision mirror and no seat beats in the back. I always sit in the back. Something about feeling unrealistically safer. Anyway the driver is yapping away and I have absolutely no idea what he is asking except that it is probably "Are you American?", "Do you speak English?" and then a whole bunch of other stuff. Today though I think the guy was trying to ask me in Uzbengussia, (some mash of Uzbek, Russian and English) that if people in England are called English, and people in Uzbekistan are called Uzbek, and people from America are Americans, then what are people from New Zealand called? Unfortunately after a day of teaching 8 and 9 year olds, I didn't have some witty response (my dear Australia friends could surely come up with something quite crude) and went with the 'New Zealanders'. That apparently wasn't a satisfactory answer so the driver asked the question 10 more times. On the second attempt to answer the question I went with 'New Zealandans', then 'New Zealandishers'. Finally I came up with 'Kiwis'. I know, I'm slow on the uptake today. This didn't slow down my new friend though and the next question in faltering English was "Do you have Apache in New Zealand?" The funny look on my face caused the driver to restate the question as, "Do you have Apache Indians in New Zealand?" Um, ah no but if we did...

An Evening Walk in the Park

2008-04-05T23:33:00.008+05:00

I joined friends for an evening walk in Babor Park tonight. It is named after the Mughal Emperor who was born in Andijan in the Ferghana Valley of Uzbekistan (I hope to visit the valley some time in the autumn). The city of Tashkent has a lot of parks. Most of them have fountains and a man made pond that is used by the local men as a swimming pool in the summer. The fountains are fantastic when the heat is searing as they create a micro climate where the temperature is several degrees cooler if you stand in close proximity to them. Tonight though, it wasn't that hot as it is too early in the season. There were quite a few people out, mostly young couples on 'dates' as they try to find some privacy under trees and behind buildings. I guess because people live in homes with their very large extended family, as well as their cultural values, it is the only chance that teenagers actually get to spend any time alone together.

The park has lots of old carnival rides. They are actually kind of scary with obviously limited safety concerns in comparison to other countries! It is more like a graveyard for all the rides that have been decommissioned from the world's theme parks. In August last year I was actually brave/stupid enough to ride Ferris wheel and got a great view, over the tree tops, of Tashkent. Tonight though I was content to watch others get spun around, turned upside down and all shock up.

Assalom Navro'z! - the rest of the story about my Spring Break Adventure

2008-03-29T10:14:00.007+05:00

Last week, after the trip to the Aral Sea I headed east back to Tashkent via Samarkand. But before leaving Nukus I visited the famous Savitsky Art Museum (6000 soum, $5.00). This place houses art that was hidden out here in the desert, far from Moscow, during the Stalin era as it didn't conform to the decrees of the time. It is a huge collection, some of which I liked and quite a bit that I didn't (but then again I know next to nothing about art so perhaps I am just an ignoramus). I did very much enjoy the folk art and jewellery that has been amassed. I hired a guide for 1 1/2 hours (3000 soum, $2.50) who shared with me information about the symbolism of the form and who wore what. There was a even a traditional wedding dress, hundreds of years old, man from denim. They have a yurt set up inside and he also explained its different features. It was great to learn about the history and function of these different pieces as, especially in Bukhara, I've seen these for sale and often wondered about their origins.

NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ABOUT THE MUSEUM: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CE7DF1331F937A35752C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

After this flying visit to the museum, I walked the 1.5 km to the main bazaar and asked a few people for a taxi to Urgench (yeah right. I don't speak Uzbeki so just said, "Urgench?") and was pointed in the right direction. I was the last person to squeeze into a shared taxi that was leaving immediately (10,000 soum, $8). It was a 2 1/2 hour drive past barren fields flooded with water that someone told me was an attempt to desalinate the soil before planting began. Very strange to see these paddy fields since it is a desert region. I was dropped off at the vokzal (yes I learned a Russian world - train station) a little early and waited in the shade as the temperatures were in the high 20's. It was great to sit still and watch the world go by as people poured out of the arriving trains, laden down with boxes and bags of all descriptions. Actually it is humorous to see where the famous 'Aygen' bag turns up. This a ubiquitous blue plastic shopping bag, printed with some Italian label, that is carried by everyone here in Uzbekistan. They must be made here at some factory but it is weird because every shopkeeper uses them; hence everyone carries one.

About 20 minutes before the 3pm scheduled departure time I headed on board the train to claim my bunk bed, only to find the cubicle crowded by a family of 6. I waved my ticket and pointed at the bed number posted by the father's head. He politely shepherded his clan off the seat so that could stuff my backpack underneath, out site of the wandering eyes of hawkers that constantly roam the train selling their paraphernalia; bread, old chocolate bars, somsa, vodka and cigarettes. I sat on my bed, content to finally be still. The temperatures began to soar into the 30's (there is a built in thermometer in my alarm clock. I know it's geeky but I like it!) as the cabin became increasingly crowded as people without tickets were welcomed aboard by cabin attendants more than happy to accept a little cash as a bribe. Final count was 11 people in a cabin made for 6! The 'visitors' stayed all night, sitting upright on the beds, sharing with each other the ring tones on their mobile phones and staring at the crazy foreigner (that's me!) while I tried to sleep amongst the chaos. The train finally arrived at Samarkand at 4am. I phoned my work assistant who gave instructions to a taxi driver on how to get to her parent's house. It seemed the weirdest thing that the driver kept offering me candy, and remembering some warning that my Mum had told me way back when I was like 7 about accepting candy from strangers, I kept saying no (neit... see I know another word in Russian). He was strangely insistent that I accept one. Anyway, I finally arrived safe and sound at my destination and was offered a very comfy bed, in which I slumbered until almost midday.

In Uzbekistan, Navro'z was celebrated on 21st March. This is the first day of spring and family traditions and community events are quite elaborate. I actually didn't know anything about it until a few months before when my former host mother, Kathy (way back in 1994 I was a Rotary Exchange Student to the USA), who is currently working in Lankaran, Azerbaijan mentioned it. I asked the locals at work about it but no one could really tell me much. My assistant is of Armenian heritage so her family doesn't follow many of the Uzbek traditions and most of the other staff at work are of Russian descent.

(You can check out Kathy's blog at the following link. She has a great description of the different aspects of Navro'z where she lives http://www.kt-azerbaijan.blogspot.com/ )

Samarkand, the second largest city in Uzbekistan, is the location of the Registan. We headed here at about 11am and the place was swarming with a jubilant crowd. I had hoped to get there in time to see the dancing but we were a little lazy and had slept late. There were lots of displays by school groups and tables filled with food. I had sampled some rather interesting concoction earlier in the day that was apparently a combination of mutton, beef and wheat which had been boiled for 36 hours. It looked pretty bad but tasted delicious.

Photos from the events at the Registan:

Photos from the Aral Sea Region

2008-03-25T19:40:00.002+05:00

I've posted a slide show of a few of the photos that I took on my journey to the Aral Sea. It was truly an amazing sight to see this great expanse of water and yet wonder at what it must have been like before most of its water was drained out. The pictures of the ships in the desert are taken at Moynak - a town which was once a seaside resort. Now Moynak is more than 150 km from the shore line.

Fieldtrip to the Chirchik Mountains

2008-03-13T17:22:00.005+05:00

I took my class on a field trip to the Chirchik Mountains on Tuesday. The kids are studying about rivers and really wanted to see the source of the water that flows through the canals in Tashkent. We took 2 mini vans and drove approximately 1 and 1/2 hours north east of Tashkent to get to the major Chirchok River dam. The view over the reservoir was spectacular and the water was milky blue. I had expected the lake to be surrounded by forest but no, the land was quite barren with only smatterings of green grass covering the low lying hills. The mountain tops were still covered in snow and we could trace the ice melt down through the tributaries to the main river. We even managed to find a few places along the river where the kids could collect rocks, which we will later use in an experiment in our next Unit of Inquiry. One of the highlights of the day out was stopping to see cave drawings that date back over 2,000 years and the tour guide even showed us caves where people had once lived. I tell you, Uzbekistan is an amazingly beautiful country!

It's All On!

2008-03-10T18:46:00.003+05:00

I am so proud of myself as I managed to book tickets for my adventure next week across Uzbekistan. It probably doesn't sound like such a big deal but there are literally a million things that could have gone wrong. First off, I don't speak Uzbek or Russian so how the hell was I was supposed to tell people what I wanted to buy tickets for? Then, I didn't know what the schedule was for the trains for the week and I had left most of my money at home. Anyway I ended up being able show the ticket lady the chicken scratch itinerary that I had written for myself, the dates I planned mostly matched up with the train schedule (I do have to somehow figure out how to get from Nukus to Urgench as the train wasn't running until 3 days after I needed it), and I ended up having 500 soum (about 40 cents) left over after buying 3 tickets - enough to buy a loaf of local bread. I am so excited about this trip. This time next week I'll be camping by the Aral Sea :-)

http://enrin.grida.no/aral/aralsea/english/arsea/arsea.htm

the weekend

2008-03-07T22:18:00.002+05:00

Today is a national holiday in Uzbekistan. It is Women's Day tomorrow. A kid in my class bought be a box of chocolates yesterday and my assistant bought me some lovely moisturising lotion (which I desperately need as this dry climate is sucking my sky dry). Instead of having a day off work to relax, I just came through 2 full days of professional development. It was actually kind of interesting and the visiting guest was Virginia Rojos who certainly taught me a lot of new strategies for teaching EEL students. I am really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow though!

The week after next is spring break and I planned to head out west to the Aral Sea. Unfortunately it is turning out to be such a nightmare to organise transportation but more importantly the accommodation. The phone lines to Moynak haven't been reliable for at least a few weeks and so no one has been able to find out if anyone can host us if we were to actually make it there. I am may have to come up with a back up plan - probably heading to Samarakand instead. This would be OK as apparently there are big celebrations on the 21st of March here for the first day of Spring.

Finally I have internet!

2008-03-01T11:42:00.002+05:00

Yippy. I after 7 months of waiting, paying, visiting offices, signing multiple contracts etc, I have internet at home! I feel like I am emerging from a time warp. I can now surf the net and find out about the outside world (BBC news doesn't quite cut it) - music, pop culture etc. I can't wait to skype with friends as I have no international phoneline to do this. In the 7 months I've been here, I've only ever spoken on the phone to my mother! Yippy for me.

Weather update: The snow has melted. Spring is on its way. The sky is bright blue and the sun is shining. It's about 12 degrees out today :-)

Who Doesn't Love February?

2008-02-19T16:58:00.012+05:00

Snow covered tree outside my apartment ____________ -An electric bus coming up the street

The school yard ____________________ -Caught up in a snowball fight

It's the month after January, so your New Year's hangover should have worn off by now.
Valentine's Day is yet another excuse to accept candy from small children.
The weather in the Northern Hemisphere is supposed to warming up (yeah right... check out the latest photos of Tashkent).
Not only is it my brother's birthday this month, it is also his daughters. Yippy, I love celebrations (even if I live on the other side of the world).
The count down to St Patrick's Day officially begins :-)

So who doesn't love February?

Oops, I've done it again... this time I've fired my driver

2008-02-06T13:34:00.000+05:00

She was annoying me. Twice this week she was late. I was then late. Tomorrow I will have to hitch hike instead, amazingly more convenient and cheaper!
My credit card number has been stolen. Some prick racked up $147 on some courier fee in the UK. My credit card company was most helpful and told me to call back tomorrow... when the transaction had cleared! How crazy is that?
It snowed again last night. Everything looks pretty.
I still love my new house. I hopefully have friends coming over tonight to move furniture around and drink beer. I'll take them to dinner at the Irish Pub (yes, that is really it's name) as a reward.

Ouch

2008-02-01T15:41:00.001+05:00

I'm hurting a bit. Not sure what happened but I've been walking around almost normally for the past few days (although my teaching assistant said that I looked like a penguin) and then last night my ankle started aching again. The doctor came and dropped off some drugs to work so hopefully the pain will ease a little. I'm a little fearful that I my have redamaged my achilles heel.
However, not all is doom and gloom... some things are just plain crazy. I woke up this morning bursting with energy, rearing to go. For breakfast I heated up 2 toasted sandwiches that my new cook and made for me. I sat down at my new kitchen table and bit into my sandwich... it was pepperoni with peanut butter! What was she thinking? Oh gosh it was so groase.
I just re-read my wish list though and am happy to note that the peanut butter making man actually visited the staffroom today and I got a new jar from him. Also, the weather has heated up and the snow is melting! A Dutch teacher told me though that it was supposed to snow again tomorrow. You never can trust the Dutch though... right?

I've Got My Foot Back

2008-01-29T13:37:00.001+05:00

I just hobbled back to work from the doctor, free of the moon boot that I'd been wearing for the last 2 months. Yippy. I am excited to be back in the world of 2 footed people again. It feels a little odd and is a little sore but hopefully in the next 24 hours my brain will catch up with my new reality. I am under doctor's orders though not to hop and skip around like a child! Nor am I allowed to ski this session. I asked about doing cartwheels but apparently they are also on the naughty list.
I moved house last Friday. I tell you, things are looking up! The apartment is still undergoing some reconstruction so I have visitors for a couple of hours every evening working on the electricity, telephone, plumbing and installing cupboards. The doors to the kitchen arrive next week so I am waiting for them before I unpack boxes, as everything will just get dusty again (that's my excuse for procrastinating!). My new place has a spare bedroom... for guests! It also has excellent central heating, reliable water supply and even a spa bath. Come visit :-)

I'm moving house

2008-01-22T16:56:00.000+05:00

Oh the joys of winter in Tashkent. Although my house does have heating, it is not sufficient to actually heat the house (does that make sense?). This, together with being pissed off about having been given the run around for the past 5 months as I continue to try and get Internet an Internet connection at my house, has driven me to seek out new accommodation. The school basically pays for our accommodation and we can choose to spend it on what we please. I looked at 10 different places before deciding on a rather nice apartment. I'm really excited about moving... and having heat a home (I know I'll regret saying that when it's 40 degrees in June). I wanted a house but I guess it wasn't to be. I move next week. Should be fun moving house in a country without cardboard boxes, 2 feet of snow on the ground and my foot still in the moon boot from the torn Achilles heel. Things could be worse, right?

It's snowing!

2008-01-19T10:46:00.000+05:00

And the snow continues to fall. My boss told me yesterday that he read on the Internet that this is the coldest winter here since 1984. Just my luck. When the ground, trees and buildings are all covered in fresh snow the city does look like a wonderland. With the cars driving over it all the snow quickly turns to grey mush.
It's Saturday and I am at work with the intention of writing report cards. Currently I am updating by blog and checking emails! I'm procrastinating. This afternoon I hope to go and visit 2 more houses/apartments as I am determined to move house. I have seen 10 already and am really keen on 2 of these. I have a few decisions to make in the next few days.
I employed a new driver/cook/cleaner/shopper/ironing lady this week. So far, so good.

Photos of my trip to India

2008-01-16T14:17:00.000+05:00

These are a few of my favourite photos that I took on my winter trip to India.

January in Tashkentland

2008-01-15T22:54:00.000+05:00

oh gosh, I've become so self-absorbed in the past 10 days since I got back from India that I have barely kept in touch with anyone. I'm operating in survival mode. It's so bloody cold here. Down below -20 at night with over a foot of snow on the ground. It's driving me insane having to hop around in this moon boot thing until my Achilles injury heals (apparently 2 more weeks... that makes a total of 2 months!). The roads aren't cleared at all (except the route that the dear President drives along) so everything is icy and slippery. I feel like Rapunzel (except for the whole golden hair bit), trapped in my home by ice. A bit boring really without Internet, only CNN or BBC to watch (I'm pretty decent on current events now!) and living alone. I make do with books, DVDs I picked up in India and Spider Solitaire. I'm almost addicted to Spider Solitaire. Anyway life got worse last week when the gas in my house stopped and hence no heating. I borrowed an electric oil heater from work... that night the electricity went out too. Then I was cold and it was dark. No spider Solitaire! Last night my water stopped. It was my tipping point. I finally cried and then packed my bags and am staying at a friends house. I went new apartment hunting today. Hopefully I have found a place. More news about that another day as I don't want to jinx it. So I am at my friend Suzy's house. She was the lady I went travelling with back in October. Her son Alex is in my class. She made me mashed potatoes and sausages for dinner! I have no idea where she got the sausages from but they were great! She had tried to spoil me as I hadn't showered in 2 days so ran her spa bath and put candles around the edge. Dumb arse me bloody burned myself on the candles. How much more bad luck could I have? Stupid question to ask aye.

Stay tuned.

Almost Homeward Bound

2008-01-02T23:09:00.000+05:00

I am back, safe and sound in Delhi. I had an overnight train from Varanasi last night and actually had quite a nice nap! Today we went to the Chandi Chock (Now I know I definitely spelt that wrong) Market which was extremely crowded and not a pleasant experience at all. This afternoon I walked around Janpath Market and bought yet another bed cover, a t-shirt and found a supermarket so that I can stock up on Milo, curry powder and other essential items. Ha ha.

Happy New Year from Varanasi, India

2008-01-01T11:36:00.000+05:00

I welcomed in the new year last night in Varanasi. On the last day of 2007 we woke early and went on a sunrise boat cruise down the Ganges. We saw many the funeral pires, people bathing, swimming and praying. It was amazing to see the candles floating on their leaf boats. Later in the afternoon we returned to the Ganges for the evening prayers. We hired a boat and sitar player. Fantastic!
Our hotel organised a party to celebrate last night. We danced the night away in an empty swimming pool with hundreds of Indian tourists. There was plenty of vodka, fireworks and ended up with cake fight. Lots of fun and great to be with new friends.
Today I am about to catch a tuk tuk to Sarnath to see the site where Buddha made his first teaching. We then have an overnight train ride back to Delhi.