Day 4 – Walking and Legos

               When Liam first seriously considered coming to New Zealand with me, he had two very important questions he needed to have answered first.  “Are there toy stores there?”, and “Do they have Legos?”  A quick internet search revealed an affirmative answer to both questions, and he was satisfied.

               Legos continue to be an important subject of conversation here in NZ.  We have a ton of Legos in our room already.  Clemency’s boys let Liam borrow their entire collection, so our living space is packed.  Nevertheless, Liam has been carefully saving his money for months so that he’d have it here to buy something (namely, Legos). 

               Yesterday we took the bus again, headed back to the mall that we know, with the intention of shopping at K-mart (yes, it turns out there are K-marts in NZ) for Legos.  We actually found two shops!  K-mart sells Legos, and so does Farmer’s, a sort of JC Penny – like store.  Farmer’s had a Lego sale on, which was fortunate, as they are expensive here – roughly double the price that they are back in the states!  Actually, most everything is expensive here.  A 0.5L bottle of Coke in the gas station costs $3.50.  I have Coke-less for days.

               A discount was just what we needed, and Liam bought a Lego boat that really floats!  We raced home, he built it, and took it with him in the bath.  We’ll post pictures of the boat tomorrow.

Lots of Walking

               We walk a lot here – a necessary thing, I suppose, since we have no car.  Just getting Liam to school and back each day has me talking 4.4 km.  Add to that walking to teach my classes (usually in far away buildings), walking to the library, and to and from bus stops, and it adds up quickly.  Just today  Liam and I walked almost 2 km back from the bus stop to our room, plus walking around the mall while shopping!  I estimate I’m walking about 5 miles per day.  Together with the many stairs that seem to be in my life now (my office is on the seventh floor of the building, and everything else I need in the building is not), I suspect I may actually lose a few of the extra pounds I’ve put on lately!

How about a picture?

               I have no cute photos of Liam today (sorry!).  Instead I offer the view out of my seventh-story 

office window.  Given I've never before had a window, this is quite a step up!

Day 3 -- Hints of Normalcy

Wednesday, February 28

Today was the first day since last Wednesday when nothing incredibly exciting or unusual happened.  It was wonderful!

Liam’s second day at school

               Liam greeted me after school by telling me brightly “Today was worser – not better!”.  I had told him that the first day at school would be the hardest, and that later things would get easier.  This wasn’t true in his mind because he had fallen on the playground and badly skinned his knee.  Apparently there was quite a bit of blood.  He seemed proud that his second day was worse – and aside from this mishap, he seems to have had a good day.

Dominic’s second (and first!) day at school

               Today was the first day that I resumed teaching at Central Washington University.  For the next two weeks, I am teleconferencing with my calculus class so that I can finish the quarter.  I’m pleased to say that it went rather well.  It’s not as much fun as being in the classroom, but at least I can see and (mostly) hear my students, and they can still learn calculus.  It was also my second day with my history students here in Christchurch.  I was able to get and study a photo roster of my class, so many of them are now familiar to me.  Today’s class was a history of number theory from Euclid to Euler, so I had a lot of fun!

               Washing and Exploring

               We left home Thursday night, and hadn’t washed clothes since, so that the time had come.  We took our dirty clothes down to the motel laundry room, and got some help from the owner getting started.  I asked her if we should wait with the clothes, and she looked at me, rather surprised.  Apparently clothes theft is not particularly common here.  Given that most people leave their motel room doors open all day, and about a third of bikes are unlocked, perhaps this should not have surprised me.

               While the clothes were in, Liam wanted to explore the motel.  In particular, he wanted to explore it with the two-dollar buccaneer mask and rapier he bought the day before.  It’s a small motel, so this took about 5 minutes.  After that Liam led us down a road in a new direction, and then on to a new part of campus.  He seems to have a great sense of direction, for me took us right to a library I’d been looking for.  I checked out a few books, and when we went outside we found a large sprinkler watering a lawn.

               The sprinkler was just the sort of enemy our buccaneer had been looking for, and Liam spent a happy ten minutes attacking it with his sort, to the delight of myself, and everyone else who passed by!  Because I had planned to come straight back from the laundry room, we didn’t have a camera with us.  I’m hoping to go back today and capture the event.

               A friendly neighbor

               As we walked back to our room after washing clothes, Liam looked into the open door of one of our neighbor’s rooms, and saw a model ship on the table.  “Cool!”, he exclaimed.  The man inside heard him and came out to chat.  Eventually he invited us in for wine and candy.  He was an interesting guy: 77 years old (he looks 65), he’s a retired toymaker.  Apparently he was most famous for making custom rocking horses, and he once appeared on Good Morning America!  His home is a few blocks away, but he’s staying in the hotel for six weeks while his house is repaired after the earthquake.  Ross and I chatted, while Liam chatted a bit and colored on toy mock-ups of cats that Ross had made our of paper.  A good time, as they say, was had by all!

Day 2 -- Liam's first day of school

Day 2 – Liam’s First Day of School

Today, February 25, 2013, was a big day – it was our Liam’s first day of public school.  Not only that, but it was school in New Zealand.  This morning he was rather nervous, but he bravely walked with me the one kilometer or so to his school.
   

Liam looking smart in his new uniform

We dropped paperwork off at the office, and took him to his classroom.  I stuck around for a few minutes as he joined his friends on the carpet patch in front of this teacher.  The teacher, Mr. Oakley, told the students that Liam was joining them today, all the way from America.  He asked if any of them had ever been to America.

Liam's classroom

About five little hands shot up in the air.  Two of the New Zealander students, it turns out, had been born in America (one in Texas, the other was unsure where).  The teacher then said that “buddy reading” time would be next, and asked who wanted be Liam’s buddy for the day.  All the kids’ hands shot up in the air – everyone wanted to read with Liam.  He was pleased, and so was I, and I said good-bye, with a strong air of “I can’t believe my little boy is this big!”

Liam's Teacher, Mr. Oakley

At the end of the day, I was terribly eager to hear how the day had been.  The problem, of course, is that five-year-olds are not particularly good comprehensive and chronological reporters.  The first thing I heard from Liam after school was:

“The day was pretty good.  I got in big trouble, though.”

After some number of questions from me, it turned out that when the teacher stepped out of the room, all of his grade one students took it upon themselves to visit on the play equipment right outside their classroom.  The teacher, Mr. Oakley, was rather unhappy when he returned.  Liam himself didn’t get in trouble, as he was still learning the school rules.


After many small stories and snapshots, I think I’ve assembled at least a partial picture of his day.

Highlights include:
• He cried after I left, because he hadn’t given me “hugs and kisses” (our usual parting ritual).  A girl was really nice to him, however, and rubbed his back and helped him feel better.
• Another boy really helped him at lunch, saying “follow me”, and “sit by me”, and helping Liam know what to do.
• The whole class went for swimming lessons, but since we didn’t know this was happening, we didn’t have Liam’s swimsuit, so he couldn’t go in.  He got to watch and to put his feet in the water, though – and he’ll get to swim with his classmates on Thursday.
• Liam wrote two whole sentences in a workbook.
• Grade one is more boring than preschool, because there’s more work!

I’m  sad that there were so many small disappointments, but he seemed quite chipper about school, and is excited to go back.  Hopefully the next day will be better.

Dominic settling in, too

I spent much of the day doing the small things that one must always do when starts a new job.  I got my email address.  I got my desktop computer set up to print.  I got my laptop connected to the internet and set up to print.  I met many of the department at morning tea.  I tested the videoconference equipment with Debbie Thomas, the wonderful department administrator at CWU (I have to keep teaching classes while I’m here.)  I also got a security card / library card, learned about the departmental seminars and was put on the speaker’s list, and got a bus pass.

Bus passes

Bus passes, for some reason, are a really big deal here.  In order to get a reloadable card, you first must find the appropriate office.  There was only on within walking distance – in a hidden room down an unmarked corridor under the campus library.   (I am not kidding about this; even after being given directions, I had to pass the hallway three times before I noticed that it wasn’t just for maintenance.  When you get to the hidden room, you then fill out paperwork amounting to what I usually expect from a credit card application.  They wanted my contact information, address, email, next of kin, three character references, bank statements, and my CV.  (It may not have been so detailed – already my mind is hazy trying to remember!)  Finally, though, Liam and I succeeded in clearing all bus-related hurdles, and set off on our last adventure of the day; grocery shopping.

Food Shopping

Going grocery shopping is going to be non-trivial when we’re here.  There closest shop is a Whole Foods-like place over a kilometer away.  The closest large, not-overpriced shop is just over 2 kilometers away.  Walking that far with groceries is tough, so we really did need the bus.  Even so, we still have to walk about four blocks from the nearest bus stop to our motel home.

We got a grocery store recommendation from Clemency, who also told us which bus to take.  We got on at about 5:00 – we had spent the time between school and 5:00 talking to Allyson and Emery, and getting our bus pass.  I expected the busses would be quite crowded at rush hour, but only about half of the seats were filled – perhaps this is a good side benefit to making the process so onerous.

Our grocery store of (Clemency’s) choice was Pack ‘n Save.  Given that in New England we shopped at Pick & Save, and that in South Africa it was Pick & Pay, there seems very little hope of my getting the name right!  The store was connected to a shopping mall, so we poked around first.  Liam found and bought a toy pirate rapier for two dollars, and we sat down to eat pizza – we were quite hungry by this time.  By the time we finished the pizza, however, the mall had closed.  All the shops were shut down, and big gates cut off various hallways – including the one that led back to the grocery store!

We had to circle all the way around the mall, so I was tired and grumpy by the time we got back to Pack n’ Save – not the best mood for entering a new grocery store.  Still, we got through all right, and made it back home.  By this time it was quite late (especially since I was still jet lagged), so I quickly unpacked and gave Liam a bath, and then we both went right to sleep.

Day 1 -- arriving in NZ

               What a day!  We woke up over the Pacific Ocean.  Within the next 14 hours, we had finished one plane flight, been through immigration and customs, taken another plane flight, met our host Clemency, and had gotten cleaned up.  Furthermore, we had checked into our motel home, I had given a history of math lecture, Liam had gotten his school uniform, and we had registered him for classes and met his teacher!  We are excited, and very tired.

               The summary above should serve those of you with busy lives.  Because I’d like this blog to someday serve as a travelogue for our trip, I’m going to repeat all of the above in more detail below.

               The flight

               It seems unreasonable to expect a flight from Vancouver, Canada to Aukland, New Zealand to be pleasant.  Fourteen hours on an airplane is a lot.  Given this, however, the flight was as great as could be expected.  New Zealand air was wonderful – friendly service, good food, and a selection of 40 movies to choose from.  I watched Lincoln, and Liam watched Horton Hears a Who.

               Sitting next to us was an unaccompanied minor who went by the name of Fred.  Fred was 11 years old, very talkative, very bright, and very inquisitive.  He shared his favorite games, movies, tv shows, and recent presents.  He then asked us for our favorite games, movies, tv shows, and recent presents.  After a few hours, he repeated the exercise.  It was perhaps a bit much, but he was friendly, polite, and alone, and we were happy to chat.

               Liam slept about seven hours, and I slept about five.  Again, this is about as good as one can hope for a flight like this.  We woke up at about 5:00 Pacific Time (2:00 New Zealand time), and were soon served breakfast.  We then completed our immigration forms, and prepared to land.

               Arrival in NZ

               There are few things as thrilling as entering a new country for the first time.  Everything seems full of promise and mystery.  “Wow – look at what carpet is like in New Zealand!” “Neat – the trees are so different here!”  Liam seemed oblivious to most of this.  He’s operating on a whole different level of awareness than I am.  I look at people; he looks for toys.  I look at the buildings and plants; he gets excited by the contents to the gutters running along the side of the road.  I’m sure we each have something to learn from the other.

               One of the most striking features of the country when we first arrived was the number of long lines there were to wait in.  We waited for immigration.  We waited for customs.  We waited to have our bags x-rayed.  We waited for customer service to re-tag our bags for the flight to Christchurch.  Liam was a great sport through all of this, his excitement betrayed by constant bouncing.

               Supposedly one check re-check bags after customs without carrying them by hand somewhere else, but I failed to find this place, so we schlepped all of our things the 10-minute walk from the international terminal to the domestic.  There we rechecked our bags, found our gate, and had about 30 minutes before we took off again.

               Arrival in Christchurch

               The flight to Christchurch was short and smooth.  Thanks to the low cloud cover, we got a good look at the land and at Cook Straight as we flew.  Clemency Montelle, who was both our host and the person responsible for inviting me to this country, was waiting for us at the airport.  She took us to her car, which we found full of groceries, Legos, and Playmobil toys.  Liam and I were each quite thrilled.

Liam playing on toy kiwis, welcoming us to the 

Christchurch Airport

               Because it was only 9:30, we couldn’t yet check in to our hotel.  Clemency brought us back to her home to meet her husband and their baby.  Liam played while they let me take a quick shower, and then we were both offered tea.  By 11:30 our motel room was ready, so she dropped us off for 30 minutes’ worth of settling in before we left to walk to the math building.

               History of Math

               The primary reason we are here is for a course I’m teaching.  The University of Christchurch was 12-week semesters made up of two six-week terms.  I’m teaching a term of their history of mathematics class devoted to the mathematics of Leonhard Euler.  Just 3.5 hours after landing in town, I gave my first lecture.  I was tired, but the lecture went fine (or else I was too tired to notice that it didn’t), and the students seem great already! Clemency and Liam played with Legos (here simply called “Lego” – no “s”) while taught.  Liam and I then walked about a kilometer to buy his school uniform, and then a kilometer back to meet his new teacher.

               A Uniform, and Ilam School

               While we’re in New Zealand, Liam will be enrolling at the Ilam School (www.ilam.school.nz) in Christchurch, a primary school near the University of Canterbury.  In fact, the fact that he could do this was one of the deciding factors to our coming here.  Not only will Liam have care six hours per day, but he’ll have the experience of attending school in New Zealand.

               All students at Liam’s Ilam school (he was the first to notice that the school name “looks a lot like” his!) wear a uniform, so purchasing one was one of the first orders of business.  There are two shops in town which sell them, and only one of these in within walking distance, so we headed off to Postie Plus.  For a bit over $100, we got two short-sleeved shirts, two pairs of shorts, one long-sleeved shirt, and one sun hat. (Pictures tomorrow!)

               We then hurried from the uniform shop back to Ilam School, arriving just a few minutes after the school got our for the day.  We met the school secretary, a friendly woman named Liz with whom I’d been corresponding, and his teacher, Mr. Richard Oakly.  We saw Liam’s classroom, and heard a bit about the daily schedule.  Liam was eager to move on, however, since there was a playground outside which desperately needed to be played on!  The class looks great, and I’m excited for Liam to go there.  Liam is excited, too, as well as being rather nervous.

               The End of a Long Day

               We walked back to our motel – about 20 minute’s walk from Ilam School,  getting home around 4:00.  I was exhausted.  Liam seemed not to be.  He bounced and talked the whole way home, concocting games with sticks he found on the ground.  As soon as we got to our room, he launched into playing with some of the many toys that Clemency and her boys had left us.

               Best of all, though, was that we got to see Allyson and Emery on Skype!  It was wonderful to see and hear them from so many miles away.  We were so happy to share our news, and to be reminded that they really aren’t so far away after all.  We then played a bit with Legos, had a supper of bread and sausages (since they were the only supper-like food in the house), unpacked our suitcases, gave Liam a bath, and went to bed at 7:30.  It was very light outside, and we had trouble getting to sleep despite our fatigue.  By 8:30, though, Liam was asleep, and I followed soon after.

At the airport

    We checked out of  our hotel at noon, and we went to lunch at Qdoba.  Then Allyson and Emery and Liam and I all went to the airport.  We had to check in at Air Canada, which was the single farthest airline counter from our parking place without leaving the airport.  The airport is unsurprisingly non-busy today, though, so check-in was quick.

   The four of us explored the airport and sat down together, putting off the inevitable time of actual separation  Too soon, however, we had to say good-bye.  We had a round of hugs and kisses, and then (at Emery's insistence), a round of ring-around-the-rosy!  Then Liam and I went though security, waving good-bye.  We find ourselves with the sad fact that we won't see Allyson and Emery for 33 days.

    We are now at the Seattle gate (N13, for what it's worth), waiting for our plane.  We face one more tricky hurdle before we get on our long flight. We just learned that in Vancouver, we have to get our bags, go through Canadian customs, recheck our bags, find the Air New Zealand counter, and pick up boarding passes.  We have about an hour fifteen minutes from the time we land until we board the next flight.  It's going to tight!

     We'll be sure to post an update about the actual flight (14 hours in one plane with a five-year-old...) when we arrive in Christchurch.

Day 0 -- in Seattle

Welcome to Dominic and Liam's blog!

We plan to keep up a (mostly) daily blog for the next five weeks, documenting our trip to New Zealand.  Expect the first few days to be rocky, as we'll be 1) traveling, 2) tried, and 3) confused about how blogs work.

For now, I'll say that our bags are packed and we're ready to go!  Allyson and Emery will take us to the airport a bit before 2:00 today.  We'll fly out at 4:00 to Vancouver, then to Aukland, and then to Christchurch, arriving about 10:00 Monday morning (1:00 Sunday afternoon in Seattle.)