Living in New Zealand | PulseonParenting

Ill in New Zealand: Six Months Later a Lot Has Happened

Sep 14 2023

Nearly six months ago my life was turned upside down by a health scare. I loathe the clickbait vibe of “health scare” but to be honest, that’s what it was. A health scare in a foreign country, with an unfamiliar medical system, and which began in a remote part of that country. I wrote about my healthcare experience in New Zealand, and what the national health system here was like from my American perspective. As promised, here is an update. Ill in New Zealand: Six Months Later a Lot Has Happened A Scary Visit to the ED Full disclosure: I…

Aug 17 2023

The email was clear and straightforward. But it seemed to be missing a critical detail. Scholarship applications for university* were due on this date. Resident hall applications were due on that date. But what about the applications to university itself? Did we miss an email? An important deadline? Did we completely screw this up with our American bias?!? (Insert mini freak-out here) The answer, thankfully, is no. The road to uni is different here and we had a lot to learn. New Zealand College Admissions: the Process is Surprising. University for all: all who make the cut, that is. Students…

Jul 20 2023

There were no fireworks or drone shows. No BBQs or red-, white- and blue-saturated parades. But Old Glory was flying full-mast from a post near the Curvey Basin ski lift, a nod to the 247th birthday of U.S. independence. It was a strange juxtaposition, being otherwise surrounded by a sun-drenched cold, skis scraping along on packed-down snow. But here we were, Yanks skiing on the Fourth of July: hitting the slopes, New Zealand style. Alpine skiing on the Fourth is considered a unique experience for Americans living in the southern hemisphere. However, due to epic snowfalls intrepid snow-lovers could shred…

Jun 01 2023

A nation of islands the size of Colorado in the South Pacific is pretty remote. In fact, New Zealand’s nearest serious landfall is more than 900 miles away (Tasmania). But Aotearoa is far from lost at sea. Being part of the Commonwealth, one may wonder if we’d be stuck with British cuisine, food that isn’t known for Michelin ratings. That answer is yes. But is New Zealand stuck in a rut with beans on toast and bangers and mash? Definitely not. Food is fresh, varied and sometimes surprising. From waffles to whitebait: New Zealand has the cravings covered. The numbers…

May 18 2023

I remember a sun-drenched living space and views of Ponderosa Pines from the large picture window. And the quiet. That deafening stillness between hurried bowls of cereal and the afternoon dump of shoes and backpacks on the mud room floor. I also remember sitting on the kid-tested couch, the same one I’m settled into as I type these words. A couch now with a subtle tear along a back seam and a few loose, straight threads emerging from the seat cushions, a bit worse for wear but as comfy as ever. Hello, World And I remember the open laptop screen,…

May 11 2023

We are small-town people. My husband and I grew up in a town of 2,500. Despite proximity to a larger city with restaurants, malls, and the Chicago Cubs farm team, our hometown felt eons away from all the hustle and bustle. There was (and still is) a grain elevator in sore need of a paint job, a quaint town “triangle” (I guess we didn’t qualify for a whole “square.”), and everyone knew everyone else. It was familiar, a bit shabby, and not-quite-with-it…like a favorite pair of old sweatpants. So we were more than pleased when we relocated, and got a…

Ill in New Zealand: What I Learned About National Healthcare.

Apr 20 2023

“We need to fly you to Christchurch this afternoon,” the doctor on the phone said. “Take some time to pack a bag and then come to the ED,” he continued. “The plane is on its way.” I was stunned. And felt fine…more than fine. I had done a 45-minute HIIT workout the day before. Plus, I was in the middle of making waffles for my kids. How dare anything interfere with waffles. I couldn’t reconcile my (apparent) fitness and need for breakfast pastry with having a serious medical problem. I numbly packed some necessities and reported to the emergency department….

Our labra-dork came to New Zealand with us.

Mar 21 2023

Store. Ship. Sell. Every item needed one of these three labels and handled accordingly. It was no small task. Hundreds of little choices cluttering the international moving process. Decisions about bowls and pillows and books were scattered amongst obtaining visas and work permits and airline tickets. Even so, there were plenty of items we couldn’t label store, ship or sell. There were the intangibles that elude decision and couldn’t be packed away in a box and saved for later. We all know the adage you can’t take it with you. But it turns out, you do take some things with…

Mar 02 2023

This week my twin boys turn 18. The good news: they get to register to vote in U.S. elections. The bad news: they have to sign up for the U.S. draft. And the interesting news: they can legally buy alcohol. In other words, turning 18 in New Zealand means the partying turns real. My generation of Americans and younger may find this to be crazy or cool, or somewhere in between. The minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) in the U.S. has teeter-tottered in the last 100 years: in the early part of the 20th century, it was 21. Then it…

New Zealand kids don't graduate. Here's what they do instead.

Feb 16 2023

I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. The quality, the vibe, that makes New Zealand different from the U.S. Then, on a car ride along the vibrant Tasman coast, my mother-in-law hit it on the head. Life is simpler. Not as a euphemism for backward, far from it. Simpler as in less burdensome, less effort to keep up with the Joneses. Things just are. In an authentic, take-it-or-leave-it manner. I wrote last week about my boys’ Last First Day of school. In less than a year, their senior year (or as it is called in New Zealand, Year 13)…

Category - Living in New Zealand

Ill in New Zealand: Six Months Later a Lot Has Happened

New Zealand College Admissions: the Process is Surprising

Hitting the Slopes, New Zealand Style

From Waffles to Whitebait: New Zealand Has the Cravings Covered

10 Popular Posts: Celebrating a Decade of PulseonParenting

Welcome Home to That Small-Town Vibe, New Zealand Style.

Ill in New Zealand: What I Learned About National Healthcare.

Turns Out, You Do Take Some Things With You. Now and Always.

Turning 18 in New Zealand: the Partying Turns Real

New Zealand Kids Don’t Graduate. Here’s What They Do Instead.