Yep, I actually got asked that, followed by Why do you have pink cheeks? What do you say to that?
At the time, I was lounging in the lagoon at Tisa's Barefoot Beach, the beach ex-pats go on Sundays. It's your beautiful tropical beach, with the best pina coladas in town. As I said to Matt, there's not too many places in NZ you can be sipping your cocktail on the sand, while the kids play in half a metre of water. Taine got adopted by Tisa's grandchildren and then we met some others there, including our neighbour two doors down and his wife, who'd only been on island for two days. It was nice to meet someone more shell-shocked than us!
On Saturday another Kiwi had brought his two kids (7 & 5) round for a swim and a play, so it's feeling like we're starting to get to know people. We've just got to keep making the effort to invite people round and take up any invitations on offer!
Last time I wrote, we were off to a function for the Asia-Pacific boss of ANZ. Well, he got diverted to Fiji on bank business, and he missed a great party. There was singing and dancing and awards and fabulous food. Of course, we got dragged up to dance, but luckily not to sing. Taine wasn't very brave, and burst into tears when anyone came near him. But once the food came out, there was no stopping him. He tried taro, baked papaya, fish in coconut cream (cooked in the umu in a half coconut shell. Absolutely delicious) and even some seaweed that neither of his parents would touch.
The rest of the week went by as usual: mah jong, breakfast, groceries and the library. Our internet's working properly, so I regularly check nzherald and listen to The Rock. The local radio station here has a playlist of about 20 songs, so you hear Taylor Swift, Britney, Christina, Pink and Beyonce 5 times a day.
Taine still seems to be going well at school. He has a lot of colouring in for homework and the maths seems pretty basic. He gets a report at the end of next week before spring break, so we'll see if my interpretations are in line with his teacher's!
Matt's working long hours, leaving at 7 and getting in after 7 most days. Today he was up cleaning the car before going to the airport to be part of the welcoming committee/driver for the Big Boss of ANZ who's here for six hours, to speak at the community college and meet with prominent local business people. Matt looked very smart in his tropical uniform shirt, which is about four sizes too big. He wouldn't let me take a photo this morning, but he has to wear it again on Friday, so I'll have the shot that so many of you were asking for!
This morning after dropping Taine at school, I went to the walking track. It's about 500 m (3 to a mile) but instead of your typical oval, it has extra curves and detours and a hill, and is the surface of a BMX track. It's also right next to Tafuna High School, so I watched the teenagers moseying in, in their own sweet time, chatting to their friends, playing basketball, and I felt right at home! 40 minutes of walking was enough to make me feel like I'd done enough for the day. It was bliss to then come home to find Mele our housekeeper already hard at work on our washing. I am very spoilt!
So now it's off to McDonalds for my morning coffee and I feel justified in trying the Cinnamon melts too. Then groceries and I've got The Other Boleyn Girl to watch on DVD. I've just finished the book and really enjoyed it (by Phillipa Gregory - she is obsessed with incest) so we'll see what the film is like. The food shopping is getting more manageable, although I went to about 5 shops trying to find something like a Maggi Beef Goulash packet. No luck, so it was a particularly revolting casserole last night.
I managed to not bring anyone's email addresses with me, so if you could please drop me an email at mshunt@clear.net.nz, I'll be able to contact you personally. That goes for family too please.
Love to all,
Sharyn
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The first week
Well, we made it through the first week, and it's still the enjoying/positive vibes stage.
Matt's week at work got a lot better after the intensity of the first day, and he got the chance to see how business here operates at an closing down of business auction on Thursday. Enough to say he came home shaking his head, and every so often throughout the evening, he'd burst out with "And then they ...". Learning curve. The big big boss is in town for one night only, so we have a reception and umu at the Tafuna branch tonight, which I think is a bit of a welcome for us too. Let's hope Taine behaves better than he has the last few times we've been out in public!
Taine seems to be settling into school; definitely a lot quicker than when he first started. He's started saying "recess"! The lunch menu has been the shock of the week. Seeing there's no cafeteria or tuck shop, they get food in from the local suppliers: McDonalds one day, KFC the next, Pizza Hut the next! I don't think so, somehow. Taine's class are going through the alphabet, one letter each week, just like Hillsborough, but I'm impressed they're also doing vowel sounds and end sounds at the same time. They got to play with bubbles on Friday (B week). Each child has to provide a box of tissues and a box of baby wipes (what are my/ANZ fees going on then?) and bring at least a litre of water each day to drink. They don't get reading books here, so luckily I enrolled at the library last week. yay Dr Seuss - he's everywhere.
The library was my sanity saver this week. After nothing to read but the local paper, half in Samoan, and two scrapbooking magazines, it was bliss to first, just sit and read a current magazine, then get out books. I've read two already (since Friday). I also discovered the local mall (6 shops, including a cafe with a broken espresso machine) and a department store. Think the size of the makeup counters at Farmers St Lukes. For all those concerned about my mental health, I've been going to the McCafe 5 minutes away after dropping Taine to school each morning (at 7.45). Coffees pretty good, but I made the mistake of ordering the largest size today and have felt my innards swimming all morning.
We didn't do much at the weekend. Family swims at our pool, playing with Taine's new transformers and building Autobot city out of the shopping boxes. We can't wait for our stuff to arrive. The house is still feeling very bare and empty.
I played mah jong this morning at the neighbours. Was not very successful, as I can't concentrate on playing and listening like they can. And they play very quickly! I've got the book of hands now to learn. My first game last week, I wowed them with a very flukey 10000 point hand (All Honours pairs?) but haven't come close to anything like that since.
Thank you for all your emails. For some reason I can't send responses, so will have to figure that out. Helen - yes you can open our mail. Glad to hear we're not criminals. Kyla - our postal address is c/- ANZ Amerika Samoa Bank, PO Box 3790, American Samoa 96799. And I've been told you get great views of our house on Google Earth. Type in Trade Winds Hotel, American Samoa, and we're over the road.
Matt's week at work got a lot better after the intensity of the first day, and he got the chance to see how business here operates at an closing down of business auction on Thursday. Enough to say he came home shaking his head, and every so often throughout the evening, he'd burst out with "And then they ...". Learning curve. The big big boss is in town for one night only, so we have a reception and umu at the Tafuna branch tonight, which I think is a bit of a welcome for us too. Let's hope Taine behaves better than he has the last few times we've been out in public!
Taine seems to be settling into school; definitely a lot quicker than when he first started. He's started saying "recess"! The lunch menu has been the shock of the week. Seeing there's no cafeteria or tuck shop, they get food in from the local suppliers: McDonalds one day, KFC the next, Pizza Hut the next! I don't think so, somehow. Taine's class are going through the alphabet, one letter each week, just like Hillsborough, but I'm impressed they're also doing vowel sounds and end sounds at the same time. They got to play with bubbles on Friday (B week). Each child has to provide a box of tissues and a box of baby wipes (what are my/ANZ fees going on then?) and bring at least a litre of water each day to drink. They don't get reading books here, so luckily I enrolled at the library last week. yay Dr Seuss - he's everywhere.
The library was my sanity saver this week. After nothing to read but the local paper, half in Samoan, and two scrapbooking magazines, it was bliss to first, just sit and read a current magazine, then get out books. I've read two already (since Friday). I also discovered the local mall (6 shops, including a cafe with a broken espresso machine) and a department store. Think the size of the makeup counters at Farmers St Lukes. For all those concerned about my mental health, I've been going to the McCafe 5 minutes away after dropping Taine to school each morning (at 7.45). Coffees pretty good, but I made the mistake of ordering the largest size today and have felt my innards swimming all morning.
We didn't do much at the weekend. Family swims at our pool, playing with Taine's new transformers and building Autobot city out of the shopping boxes. We can't wait for our stuff to arrive. The house is still feeling very bare and empty.
I played mah jong this morning at the neighbours. Was not very successful, as I can't concentrate on playing and listening like they can. And they play very quickly! I've got the book of hands now to learn. My first game last week, I wowed them with a very flukey 10000 point hand (All Honours pairs?) but haven't come close to anything like that since.
Thank you for all your emails. For some reason I can't send responses, so will have to figure that out. Helen - yes you can open our mail. Glad to hear we're not criminals. Kyla - our postal address is c/- ANZ Amerika Samoa Bank, PO Box 3790, American Samoa 96799. And I've been told you get great views of our house on Google Earth. Type in Trade Winds Hotel, American Samoa, and we're over the road.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Here we are
Hi everyone
Where to begin? I'll go chronologically to get my thoughts in order.
Saturday: left Auckland, gotta love the 767s with the individual consoles. Matt and I watched movies and Taine watched a movie and played games until 1.30am. We got to Samoa, and was a long wait to go through immigration, wait in the taxi and register at Aggie Greys. Looked like a lovely place, and we'll have to go back there soon (or in April if our residence permits don't come through).
The flight to Am Sam was cool. A very little plane flying so low you could see the golfers out on the courses. Took just over half an hour.
David (Matt's boss) and Sue, with Ken (Matt's predecessor back from Guam for a couple of weeks) were there to meet us, which was fantastic. They took us back to our place, which Sue had cleaned the day before. There were mouse droppings in the lounge which had been deposited within the last 24 hours, but we haven't seen any sight of the little, wee, insignificant creature that was there. It definitely wasn't big and scary!
I braved Cost U Less in the afternoon. That's been the most alien experience so far. Huge aisles, a mix of Pak and Save and The Warehouse with a lot of junk shop thrown in. Lots of American food (Oreos, Cheez Whiz, chopped onion in a jar) and everything in huge sizes. We had to get 8 tins of tomatoes and 32 bags of popcorn! That night we went out to a local Chinese restaurant with another family. Good food already.
The house is fabulous. It's big (4 bed, 2 bath, extra toilet, 2 lounges and another room that we just can't figure out what to do with). Can't decide which will be my scrapbooking empire. Might depend on which visitors we have (if they need their own suite or not!) Everything is very clean and beige. Will look much better once we get our own stuff in.
The pool and tennis court are just down the drive. The pool is fabulous but deep (9ft at the deep end) so Taine is happy poddling just at one end. Everytime we go to a shop we end up buying another pool toy! It's bath temperature so just lovely.
Sunday: We took a drive to Pago (the locals only say it once, more like Pungo) to see the bank. It looks like any bank branch in, say, Wanganui. Then it was lounging by the pool and watching bad cable. A recuperative day.
Monday: Ken picked us up about 10am to show us the sights. We did the loop road: The main roads are a loop with a stick. Like a fishing net? We're at the bottom of the net (Tafuna) and Pago is halfway round the stick, which goes east from us. Found ACE Hardware (a mini-mini-Bunnings). As we got to Pago, there were canoe races in the harbour which we watched, then had lunch at the yacht club. That wasn't at all what I was expecting/hoping. Basic is about it, but food was good (there's a theme going here). After lunch we went further round the stick, past the canneries to Tisa's Barefoot Bar. This is a beautiful little beach with a bar overlooking the sand. The currents can be dangerous but if you stayed near enough to the shore it's fine. Absolutely gorgeous. The water was warm and the sand big thick granules. Last stop was the island's best icecream store, then back to David and Sue's for a BBQ.
Tuesday: Matt's first day at work. He came home absolutely glazed. Lots to learn and do and he's feeling very overwhelmed. He'll be fine, but it will just take some time to get to grips with things. Long days: he left about 7:10 and didn't get home till nearly 7. Sounds like this will be pretty standard. It's a 30 - 45 minute drive to work. Slow driving and only one road, so not much traffic. Taine and I went to enrol at Pacific Horizons School. We went to see his class, who were all very friendly, and his very loud American teacher, who was lovely and welcoming. There looked about 8 K5 kids, but I think there were some first graders next door. Rest of the day was getting school supplies, including a 2 litre waterbottle.
Wednesday (today): Taine's first day at school. He was very hesitant, and it all seemed like a bit of a rush (the 7.45am start). He was a bit upset when I left, but I don't think me staying would have helped. There was a substitute teacher today, an Australian, who said "Do you want to go to breakfast with the girls?" and called out the door to some of the mums and I was off! 7 expat wives, couple of kids at the local diner. The standard Wednesday morning drill apparently. All very nice, kids seem a bit older than Taine. And one of them was our next door neighbour. Yay, there were waiting for me! All of them knew exactly who I was, where I was staying, what my phone number was, what car I'm driving ...
Now I'm round at Sue's, as our internet isn't working. Not sure when I'll get back or when I can write from home.
All is good. It's warm but not overwhelming (32-35 degrees outside, but you're not outside without a fan for very long), has only rained twice, everyone very welcoming.
We'd love to hear from you. Post comments on this site (but be aware everyone else will read them!) or our old email mshunt@clear.net.nz.
Where to begin? I'll go chronologically to get my thoughts in order.
Saturday: left Auckland, gotta love the 767s with the individual consoles. Matt and I watched movies and Taine watched a movie and played games until 1.30am. We got to Samoa, and was a long wait to go through immigration, wait in the taxi and register at Aggie Greys. Looked like a lovely place, and we'll have to go back there soon (or in April if our residence permits don't come through).
The flight to Am Sam was cool. A very little plane flying so low you could see the golfers out on the courses. Took just over half an hour.
David (Matt's boss) and Sue, with Ken (Matt's predecessor back from Guam for a couple of weeks) were there to meet us, which was fantastic. They took us back to our place, which Sue had cleaned the day before. There were mouse droppings in the lounge which had been deposited within the last 24 hours, but we haven't seen any sight of the little, wee, insignificant creature that was there. It definitely wasn't big and scary!
I braved Cost U Less in the afternoon. That's been the most alien experience so far. Huge aisles, a mix of Pak and Save and The Warehouse with a lot of junk shop thrown in. Lots of American food (Oreos, Cheez Whiz, chopped onion in a jar) and everything in huge sizes. We had to get 8 tins of tomatoes and 32 bags of popcorn! That night we went out to a local Chinese restaurant with another family. Good food already.
The house is fabulous. It's big (4 bed, 2 bath, extra toilet, 2 lounges and another room that we just can't figure out what to do with). Can't decide which will be my scrapbooking empire. Might depend on which visitors we have (if they need their own suite or not!) Everything is very clean and beige. Will look much better once we get our own stuff in.
The pool and tennis court are just down the drive. The pool is fabulous but deep (9ft at the deep end) so Taine is happy poddling just at one end. Everytime we go to a shop we end up buying another pool toy! It's bath temperature so just lovely.
Sunday: We took a drive to Pago (the locals only say it once, more like Pungo) to see the bank. It looks like any bank branch in, say, Wanganui. Then it was lounging by the pool and watching bad cable. A recuperative day.
Monday: Ken picked us up about 10am to show us the sights. We did the loop road: The main roads are a loop with a stick. Like a fishing net? We're at the bottom of the net (Tafuna) and Pago is halfway round the stick, which goes east from us. Found ACE Hardware (a mini-mini-Bunnings). As we got to Pago, there were canoe races in the harbour which we watched, then had lunch at the yacht club. That wasn't at all what I was expecting/hoping. Basic is about it, but food was good (there's a theme going here). After lunch we went further round the stick, past the canneries to Tisa's Barefoot Bar. This is a beautiful little beach with a bar overlooking the sand. The currents can be dangerous but if you stayed near enough to the shore it's fine. Absolutely gorgeous. The water was warm and the sand big thick granules. Last stop was the island's best icecream store, then back to David and Sue's for a BBQ.
Tuesday: Matt's first day at work. He came home absolutely glazed. Lots to learn and do and he's feeling very overwhelmed. He'll be fine, but it will just take some time to get to grips with things. Long days: he left about 7:10 and didn't get home till nearly 7. Sounds like this will be pretty standard. It's a 30 - 45 minute drive to work. Slow driving and only one road, so not much traffic. Taine and I went to enrol at Pacific Horizons School. We went to see his class, who were all very friendly, and his very loud American teacher, who was lovely and welcoming. There looked about 8 K5 kids, but I think there were some first graders next door. Rest of the day was getting school supplies, including a 2 litre waterbottle.
Wednesday (today): Taine's first day at school. He was very hesitant, and it all seemed like a bit of a rush (the 7.45am start). He was a bit upset when I left, but I don't think me staying would have helped. There was a substitute teacher today, an Australian, who said "Do you want to go to breakfast with the girls?" and called out the door to some of the mums and I was off! 7 expat wives, couple of kids at the local diner. The standard Wednesday morning drill apparently. All very nice, kids seem a bit older than Taine. And one of them was our next door neighbour. Yay, there were waiting for me! All of them knew exactly who I was, where I was staying, what my phone number was, what car I'm driving ...
Now I'm round at Sue's, as our internet isn't working. Not sure when I'll get back or when I can write from home.
All is good. It's warm but not overwhelming (32-35 degrees outside, but you're not outside without a fan for very long), has only rained twice, everyone very welcoming.
We'd love to hear from you. Post comments on this site (but be aware everyone else will read them!) or our old email mshunt@clear.net.nz.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Final Countdown
Cue loud guitars, fireworks and lots of head-banging!
We leave for American Samoa on 14 Feb, at the very uncivilized time of 11pm.
There's a few hours in Apia, then on to AmSam by lunchtime, also on 14 Feb. Luckily it's 24 hours difference so there should be no middle of the night phonecalls.
Photos will be posted soon, once we unpack the computer.
We'd love to hear your comments and news. Just be aware everyone else reading the blog can see them too. Otherwise our email address is the same: mshunt@clear.net.nz
We leave for American Samoa on 14 Feb, at the very uncivilized time of 11pm.
There's a few hours in Apia, then on to AmSam by lunchtime, also on 14 Feb. Luckily it's 24 hours difference so there should be no middle of the night phonecalls.
Photos will be posted soon, once we unpack the computer.
We'd love to hear your comments and news. Just be aware everyone else reading the blog can see them too. Otherwise our email address is the same: mshunt@clear.net.nz
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