Siblings

Yay! Friday! All day yesterday I was CONVINCED it was Friday, so having to get up early today to get to work was quite harsh.

I had a really good evening yesterday though. Mixi turned 23, so we all went to Mum and Dad's place to celebrate her. 'All' being Mixi, mum and dad (obviously, Peter, Rebekka, Emil, Lars and I. We had a really cozy evening, and it was neat seeing Emil again. He's grown heaps in just the 10 days since I saw him last :)

Today Lars is going out with Peter for a beer-tasting thing Peter's work arranged (Peter took me to the wine-tasting and Lars to the beer-tasting... fine by me!) so I'm planing on hitting the gym on my way home as I've neglected that terribly lately. I really enjoy training once I'm there, it's just getting out that takes a bit of effort. Fortunately I've discovered that I can use the cross-trainer without problems, even with my leg - and the screen (showing effort level, time etc.) is a perfect 'stand' for whatever book I'm currently reading ;)

Tomorrow Henni is coming over so we can plan our trip to London in September (since Lars will be trainspotting most of the time anyway, all of us thought it a brilliant idea when Henni asked if she could come along, as I'd have company that way ;) ) - booking flights, hotel and picking out the musical we want to see. I love London, and it'll be great having Henni come along. Hopefully I'll also get to meet up with a dear friend from New Zealand while I'm there. I haven't seen her since 2004 and even then it was only for a brief hour or so. Can't WAIT!

Speaking of New Zealand, I wasted some time on facebook yesterday and found SO MANY of my classmates from 1996/1997. I have no clue why I didn't think of looking for them earlier, but think I found 10-15 people yesterday :) Of course I sent friend requests to all of them right away, and now just HOPE that they'll actually remember who I am ;)

Anyway, I know I'm jumping subjects, but spending yesterday together with two of my sisters and looking through our old baby-books got me thinking a bit about how alike and different we all are.

Nina was born in 1981 when I was 4 days shy of 1.5 so I don't remember a time when I didn't have her around. From memory we've always been very close, and best friends as well as sisters. Of course we didn't always agree, but as we're quite different in temperaments, our fights were never vicious nor lasting (again - as far as I remember ;) ) Nina was the one I could (and did) talk to about everything and up until the age of 14 we often slept in the same room. In high school Nina was just one class below me, and quickly became the "IB Little Sister" as she hung out with my class quite often.

Nina is the creative one out of the four of us. She write great stories, sews clothes for herself and her kids (and the rest of us once in awhile), is great at drawing and painting and and impressive dancer having taken lessons in ball-room dancing, tap-dance, jitterbug, and at least two others whose names have escaped me. She currently teaches dancing to young kids.

Nina is the home-maker. She's the one most like Mum, and the one who's followed most closely in her footsteps. She was the first of us to start a family, and is now very content being a SAHM taking care of her three kids and her husband.

Rebekka was born in 1983 so I vaguely remember her birth. Or rather, I have a memory of staying at Farmor and Farfar's place that may or may not have been from when she was born ;) Rebekka is probably the sister who resembles me the most in temperament, which was cause for some major fights when we were in our pre-/early teens. We consciously made up just before I went to New Zealand (as we were very aware that we loved each other even if we exasperated each other at times too) and have been mostly good friends ever since ;)

Rebekka was usually the one I'd share boy stories with as she had more experience there than Nina did (who married her first boyfriend). Rebekka is probably the rebel of the four of us, as I think her teenage years were 'wilder' than they were for the rest of us (at least Nina and I).

I think Rebekka is also the most ambitious of us. When she decides to do something, she throws herself into it heart and soul. I remember her having a talk with Mum and Dad because they thought she was spending too much time on her jui-jitsu classes, but that's really par for course for her. Anything worth doing is worth doing 110% seems to be her motto. The same has been the case for her medical studies, where I'm sure she'll do really well.

As the youngest, Michala was born in 1985. Her birth I remember very vividly, as I was 5.5 at this time. Despite us really not being all that far apart in ages, the fact that there were two other sisters between her and me made her seem younger than she is, and for a long time she was the 'baby' of the family... which probably also meant that she was more spoiled... or perhaps it just seemed that way at the time ;)

I think that it's occasionally been difficult for Mixi to be the youngest, and she's probably often felt left out as the rest of us got to do things earlier than she did (earlier in time, not earlier in age - it was probably quite the contrary there, actually), especially my last year of high school, as the three of us were all at the same high school and went to the same school parties that year. I know that's also the case now, where the rest of us have all gotten married, and she doesn't even have a boyfriend. Not that she's in any rush to get married (at least she says she isn't, and seems content with her life), but it frustrates her greatly when everybody asks "So, when are you getting married?" and that she no longer has an obvious room-mate when we go away on vacation together.

Though definitely book-smart as well, Michala's greatest asset is her street-smarts. She's had more jobs than the rest of us put together - not because she couldn't keep them, but because she started much earlier than the rest of us. She really likes working retail, loves the customers and her dream job is running a Danish version of Virgin Megastores.

It took some years before the age difference 'levelled out' in my head, but Mixi is now the sister I spend most time together with, and Lars' darling as well :) (not that he doesn't love Nina and Rebekka as well, but there's a special bond between him and Mixi). I also happen to think Mixi is the most beautiful of us all - which I've told her :)

Sinfest

Tegneserien Sinfest tager tykt grin på alt og alle. Den er sjælden særlig ærbødig, men ofte både sød, tankevækkende og underholdende.

Og ind i mellem rammer den bare plet. Som f.eks. her. (Hvis billedet ikke ser rigtigt ud, kan tegneserien findes her.)

Bøger læst i april

Hvordan kunne jeg dog glemme min bogliste?! Men her kommer den. Links går igen til Bogormen.

Auel, Jean M.: The Clan of the Cave Bears, 9/10

Auel, Jean M.: The Valley of Horses, 10/10

Bronte, Charlotte: Villette, 8/10

Cross, Donna W.: Pope Joan, 10/10

Månedens bog Dumas, Alexandre: The Three Musketeers, 8/10

Foster, Richard J.: Celebration of Discipline, 8/10

Freese, Mathias B.: Down to a Sunless Sea, 3/10

Holt, Victoria: Seven for a Secret, 7/10

Koller, Jackie French: The Primrose Way, 9/10

Picoult, Jodi: Change of Heart, 9/10

Pierce, Tamora: Briar's Book - The Healing in the Vine (Circle of Magic 4), 7/10

Pierce, Tamora: Daja's Book - The Fire in the Forging (Circle of Magic 3), 9/10

Pierce, Tamora: Sandry's Book - The Magic in the Weaving (Circle of Magic 1), 8/10

Pierce, Tamora: Tris' Book - The Power in the Storm (Circle of Magic 2), 7/10

Verne, Jules: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, 8/10

Wambaugh, Joseph: Hollywood Crows, 7/10

Top Hat

Man skal passe på med at prøve at genopleve 'barndommens glæder' hvis man ikke vil skuffes ;-)

Mandag opdagede jeg at min YNDLINGS-is fra jeg var barn var kommet tilbage - Tophat. Chokolade-kerne, vanilie is og så chocoladeovertræk med nougat. Når mine søstre og jeg måtte få en is efter at have været i svømmehallen var det så godt som altid den jeg valgte, og jeg savnede den flere år efter Frisko var holdt op med at lave den... så sent som tidligere i år snakkede jeg med Lars om den.

Som sagt, mandag ser jeg så en reklame for at "80'ernes is-hit er vendt tilbage!" På vejen hjem fra arbejde tog jeg forbi hver eneste kiosk for at finde den, men Nestle is er åbenbart en del mere populært end Frisko for hele vejen fra Friheden station og til os var der ikke en eneste kiosk der havde den - suk.

I dag fandt jeg den endelig og betalte straks de 14 kroner den nu koster, og æv - den var ikke NÆR så god som jeg huskede den. Nougaten i overtrækket gjorde den alt for sød (det havde været bedre med nødder i stedet) og chokoladen i midten var blødere end jeg forventede.

Så vidt jeg kan se er der tre muligheder: jeg blevet mere 'vant' til god is, isen var bedre dengang (eller jeg var uheldig med den ene jeg fik i dag) eller - hvad der er mest sandsynligt - isen var blevet meget bedre af at have stået i hukommelsens lyserøde skær så mange år.

Ak ja.

Men det skal dog også siges at isen var noget større end jeg huskede den. Forklar DET, hvem der kan.

Family weekend

I've had a GREAT weekend though. Saturday Nina, Miriam and Isabella held their joined "Princess Birthday Party" (Isabella's idea) and yesterday my cousin Jakob was confirmed. We had a great time at both parties. As always, it was wonderful to spend time with my sisters and nieces/nephew and the weather was just perfect. Lars had lots of fun playing with Isabella and Jordan on Jakob's tramp :-D The more I see that guy together with the three kids, the more I see what a great father he's going to be. Isabella hurt herself on the tramp, and he immediately cuddled and kissed her to make it better. SO SWEET!

Lars and I drove Isabella and Jordan from the church to the place of the reception (7 mins walk) on our bikes, and I think that must have been the highlight of the day for them, because for the rest of the day they talked about how "Unce Lars and Aunt 'Ia" (sic) had given them bike rides :-D


I also got the chance to have a long talk with all three sisters which was definitely the highlight of my day. It's so seldom we have time to talk all four of us and JUST the four of us (without husbands and kids to interrupt us), but every time we do get the chance to do so, I'm reminded why my sisters are also my best friends :)

Home again

Back home, and BOY it is good to be home! Lars surprised me by coming to pick me up at the airport last night. We went home and more or less straight to bed, and I slept for 10 hours straight. The bed at the hotel in Amsterdam was horrible so I was absolute knackered and glad to be back in my own bed with Lars lying next to me. All good :)

Wednesday I got the chance to have dinner with Paula who was also in Holland on business. Wonderful coincidence :-) Though we've known each other for about 10 years, we've only met once before, but I knew her to be of the race that knows Joseph and was really looking forward to seeing her again. With good reason :-) We met at 6:30pm found a nice Chinese restaurant nearby and proceeded to talk non-stop for the next 3 hours, making her miss her first train. Oops! Sorry about that, Paula.

I had a great time, and it was without a doubt the most comfortable and relaxing three hours of my entire stay :-)

But now I'm glad to be home, and hope to stay home for a couple of months.

Austria

Feeling more myself today after a nice long night's sleep and a day of doing absolutely nothing. I took today off work which was definitely the right thing to do.

I have very mixed feelings about the skiing trip this year. Parts of it were EXCELLENT - definitely the best yet - but then there were the hours I spent being miserable and sick which were probably the worst yet.

We arrived to hotel Sunny Sölden at 1am Friday morning and were immediately very impressed by the rooms. I shared a room with 3 others and had expected it to be a tad crowded, but the rooms were HUGE!

Two large bedrooms (larger than the one I have here), a living room, a walk-in closet, a toilet and a HUGE bathroom with two sinks, a shower and a jacuzzi! So first impression=definitely great.

The next morning as we went to rent skis, we discovered that the people arranging the trip had somehow gotten permission to hang the NC banner from the hotel flag pole! THAT I had not expected!


Unfortunately the weather on the slopes wasn't too great - foggy, snow falling and you couldn't really see more than 10-20 meters in front. A huge shame, as they were some of the best slopes I've ever tried. Next time I'm going on a skiing trip with Lars and Henni I'm going to suggest going to Sölden instead of Livigno, because even though the town isn't as cozy, the slopes are MUCH better.


After 5 hours on the slopes, my legs were wasted, so I went back to the hotel for a shower and to relax a bit before meeting the others for after-ski. Here came the second surprise - the after-ski place had a NC banner as well!!!


The after-ski went as it always does, with lots of egg-shells (snaps and mango liqueur) and Flügeln (red vodka and red bull)

as well as lots of dancing, fun and laughter.

At around 7pm we went back to the hotel to get changed for dinner. Austrian cuisine is one of the most boring I've experienced, but that doesn't matter much when the company is great :)



At 11pm some of the others went to a disco, but I was tired and wanted to be ready for a new day of skiing, so I decided to just go to bed. Unfortunately, that was not to be... well, I did go to bed, but after about an hour I got such a stomach ache that I couldn't sleep, and at about 2am it turned into horrible nausea instead :( I didn't sleep a wink all night, and felt like death warmed up the next morning, so instead of going back up on the mountain I felt I'd better stay in bed :( I felt so incredibly sorry for myself, I could just have cried. Lars had had a night shift, and was fast asleep, so I called my parents for some pity.

Around noon I felt better and went for a walk around town. I still didn't feel well enough to go to the slopes, as I felt like I might be sick at any moment and didn't want to risk it, but despite the nausea I was starving so I found a place that served soup for lunch. I felt no worse and no better after eating that, so apparently my upset stomach didn't mind what was in it, it was just gonna be upset no matter what? Weird!

Fortunately I finally managed to get some proper sleep in the afternoon and therefore felt well enough to join the others for dinner. I'm glad, because we had so much fun!!! The table next to mine kept performing "Bananaphone" (one had it on his cellphone and sent it to the others, so they'd all play it at the same time and sing along. Could have been really annoying, but it actually ended up being loads of fun!) and the table I sat at got into the weirdest inside jokes and just couldn't stop laughing. :-)


We went early'ish to bed as the bus was picking us up at 3:30am the following morning, and the trip home was utterly uneventful. I was feeling well again (but TIRED) and extremely annoyed that I'd been sick at all. So all in all, I think I'd have to say it was a good trip... at least, it had more good moments than bad :)

Tomorrow I'm heading off again - this time on a business trip to Holland. At least I get to meet two friends while I'm gone :)

1990 - Part 5: More school stuff

Typisk, den morgen jeg skal afsted på skiferie vågner jeg og er snot-forkølet. Am NOT impressed. Ah well...

Næste 'kapitel' i 1990 minderne.

P.E.
During the year we'd have different "Modules" in P.E.. I'm going to mention three of those here: Swimming, folk dancing and preparing for the gym competition.

* During the summer term we had P.E. classes in the school pool which was great when the weather approved, and really, really cold when it didn't ;) It was a rather shallow pool - no more than a meter deep I'd guess - so obviously no diving of any kind was allowed. Instead, for free play if we could get it organised we got everybody in class to stand in a long line and walk around the edge of the pool. With proper spacing we were enough to make a complete circle, and could really get a current flowing. Then at the appropriate time somebody (usually Mrs. Gilliland) would yell "Turn", and we'd all turn around and try walking the other way, against the current. Typically completely impossible and we'd fall and falter, all the while shrieking with laughter :)

* I don't even remember why we had a folk dancing module any longer, but it was lots of fun and ended with a performance for all our parents. We were taught several different dances, and practised them daily. Unfortunately I remember nothing of them any longer, but at the time I'd dance around to music in my head at any and all times :-) I was paired up with Daryl - one of the few Maori boys in class. While not Daniel, I liked him a lot and he was one of my good friends in class.

* About halfway through the year those of us who wanted to could sign up for a gym competition, with events on the bar, the mat, the 'horse' (okay, have no clue what that's called in English, it's a 'horse' in Danish), a balancing beam and jump rope. I did fairly well, but felt extremely cheated with the grade I was given on the mat. We'd been told it was a square mat, so that's what I had rehearsed my routine on. We came to the competition to discover it was a rectangular mat instead. I adjusted as well as I could, but was graded down because "I used too many superfluous steps". Yes, of course! I had to change the routine from a 5x5m mat to a 3x7m! Bah!

Where The Wild Things Are
About halfway through the year our class was visited by a student teacher. Ms. Saathof was studying to be a teacher, and as part of her training, she had to have some practical experience, so she helped teach us for about a month or so. As she was majoring in music and drama, her final project was to write and instruct a 'musical' with her class.

She decided to make a musical adaption of "Where The Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak, writing out lines and songs for us to learn by heart. Meanwhile we spent the art classes making costumes (brown bags and scary masks) and set. Everybody had at least one line (is it sad that I still remember my line? "Brain the size of a pea?!" if you were wondering... which you probably weren't ;-) ) ). I was a bit sad I only had one line as even then I loved acting, and the girl who had been chosen to play Max' mother wasn't too pleased that she'd been given a part with many lines, so we tried to convince our teachers to let us swap. They wouldn't :-( Instead I was chosen to lead the gnarling and slashing when the Wild Things tried to threaten Max, so it wasn't all bad ;-)

We had a blast! It was simple, it was fun and it was just perfect for the age group. We performed it twice for the rest of the students as well as family and friends (I later discovered that Michael had actually been to see it!!! It's a small world) and were sorry when it ended. Like I said, I still remember most of the lines and practically all the songs. Some of them had words I didn't understand at the time, but I just LOVED to say! Like this: "We're proud we're loud, untamable, exceptional, immutable. We're the wild ones, that's who. We've come to frighten you (BOO!)"

Fun times :-)

School camp
In November standard 3 and 4 of Winchester School went off on a school camp (I was std 4) for a week. We had a great time! Every evening we were told to spend some time writing a camp diary. Most people found this an awful chore, but even then I knew I'd love to have such a diary later in life, and spent a lot of time on it. I was right, and have kept it around ever since. Not that I read it often, but it's just nice to have available. I reread it last night, and realised two things: 1) My English (written at least) was definitely NOT as good as I remembered it ;) 2) Even though I remember myself much older, at 11 I was still a young kid.

Anyway, the camp was great fun. We stayed near Wanganui which apparently has the oldest brick house in NZ - oldest, being from 1870 or so. I remember the others being suitably impressed, and me trying my hardest not to laugh, as it seemed so young to me (our local church was from 1100).

Some of the best things about camp:
* A tree swing - not the ordinary kind though. Of course you could use it like an ordinary swing, but a ladder had been put next to the tree it was tied to, and by getting up on the branch it was tied to and getting somebody else to pass the tire to you, you could throw yourself out from the tree, and get really, really high. So much fun!! I almost fell off once, because the tire snagged on a twig, which scared me off it for a couple of days, but before camp was over I was right back on it.

* The last day we were told to make our own lunch over a camp fire we had to build ourselves. We were split into teams of 4 and each team was given branches (I think), matches, a billy casserole, a sausage, a carrot, some potatoes and some chicken-noodle soup. Thanks to Mum teaching me how to build a good fire (and a LOT of luck) we were the first to get our fire started, and actually managed to make a delicious casserole by cooking everything in the chicken-noodle soup, instead of attempting to cook the things separately.

* The last evening we had lots of entertainment to end the camp with a blast. Everybody who wanted to could put on a show of some kind. There were skits of all sorts, as well as songs, dances etc. I remember very few of the acts, but know that Katie, Sarah and probably Steph danced to "The Right Stuff" by New Kids On the Block, and another group put on an act to "Tonight", also by NKOTB. They were HUGE in my class that year! ;) Andrew G and some others put on quite a funny skit about "the ugliest creature in the world". We ended the evening by playing games and eating chocolate. It was fun!

* While we were gone, the rest of the school had painted a mural on one of the school walls of the Maori legend of how the Manawatu Gorge was created (unfortunately I can't find a link to the legend), and of course our class were to add to it the week after. The school wanted us 'visitors' to paint something typically Kiwi on the mural, so I got to paint a kiwi bird :)

The camp was also where I first learned how to play knucklebones, but I think I'll save that for another post.

Hyggedage

Det har været skønt med et par fridage! Det føles lidt som om jeg lige har haft en weekend, og nu får en til med det samme - just what the doctor ordered :-) Og dagene har været ren hygge og afslapning.

Torsdag aften havde vi Peter, Rebekker, Peter og Camilla på besøg til en Settlers aften. De kom dryssende mellem 4 og 5 og vi hyggede os med god mad og snak indtil bordet blev ryddet og der blev sat op til et 6-personers spil "Byer og Riddere". Camilla vandt, og vi er allerede helt på det rene med, at det er en tradition der skal gentages :)

Jeg nyder altså at familiemedlemmer ikke bare er familie, men også venner :-)

I går besluttede Lars sig for at tage mig på en sight-seeing tour. Han havde taget en sikkerhedsvest med hjem til mig, og så tog vi ellers toget til Svanemøllen station, og gik derefter langs banen (på et lukket spor, der kun bruges af arbejdskøretøjer) fra Svanemøllen til Østerport station. Altid sjovt at få en tur hvor 'almindelige dødelige' ikke må færdes. Og det var jo heldigvis dejligt vejr, så vi fik en rigtig hyggelig tur ud af det.

Vi skiltes på Østerport station, for jeg skulle videre ind på hovedkontoret på Grønningen, da der var arrangeret bordfodboldturnering den aften. Min makker og jeg vandt kun et enkelt spil og endte vist nok næst- eller tredjesidst. Men hvad - vi morede os gevaldigt alligevel.

I dag er planen så at tage hjem til Henriette og bruge en hyggelig aften sammen med hende, og så står i morgen endnu engang på ren afslapning.

Jo, det er skønt med sådan en forlænget weekend.

Bøger læst i marts

Yeah, pseudo-torsdag! Jeg har fri torsdag og fredag og GLÆDER mig allerede. Skiftet til sommertid tager hårdere på mig end jeg synes det plejer. Godt jeg har en sød mand til at forkæle mig ♥

En liste over bøger læst i marts. Linket går til min anmeldelse på Bogormen

Birchall, Diana: Mrs. Darcy's Dilemma, 7/10

Boom, Corrie ten: The Hiding Place, 9/10

Dahl, Roald: Matilda, 9/10

Diamant, Anita: The Red Tent, 7/10

Doyle, Laura: The Surrendered Wife, 8/10

Finch, Phillip: f2f, 7/10

Frank, Anne: Diary of a Young Girl, 8/10

Larsson, Stieg: Luftkastellet der blev sprængt, 10/10

Månedens bog Larsson, Stieg: Mænd der hader kvinder, 10/10

Larsson, Stieg: Pigen der legede med ilden, 10/10

Lindgren, Astrid: Kalle Blomkvist lever farligt, 8/10

Lundgren, Max: Drengen med guldbukserne, 5/10

MacDonald, George: The Princess and the Goblin, 7/10

O'Connell, Joe M.: Evacuation Plan, 6/10

Unknown: Robin Hood, 4/10

Tøndering, Claus: Helvedet - og en kærlig Gud, 10/10

Westerfeld, Scott: Specials, 8/10

Willett, Marcia: Looking Forward, 8/10

18 stk... omkring hvad jeg ville forvente en måned hvor jeg har ferie ;-)

TIRED!

Our turn to spring forward this weekend, so I'm TIRED! It's even worse for Lars, he forgot and didn't make it to bed until *much* too late - he got 4 hours of sleep. Silly man.

I wasn't planing on getting up this early, but Lars is going out to play soccer with some friends, and got me too awake to go back to sleep, so now I'm up... contemplating going to church. I wasn't expecting to, but now that I'm up anyway...

Henni came to visit yesterday - fun as always :-) We've decided to go to London the three of us this summer, so now we just need to get the last details sorted, but it'll be great. That way Lars can trainspot as much as he wants without me getting bored ;-) And I'll have somebody to go see a musical with.

As usual we played a lot of games - Settlers, Carcasonne, Munchkin, Murder etc. - and for once I actually won over Lars in a game of knowledge!!! That happens SO rarely that it's worth a mention :-D Bezzerwizzer is a Q/A game like Trivial Pursuit, but lots more fun (IMHO)

Request for review

Last night I received an email at my gmail account addressed to "Dear Editor". First I thought it was spam (either conscious or unconscious), but it turned out it was somebody who'd seen my "site" (not sure if it was bogormen or abookgeek, but assume the latter) who wants me to review his book! :-O It's happened once before, but still it amazes me to get letters like that!

I replied with the following:
I'd be interested in reviewing your book "Down to a Sunless Sea" on the following conditions:

1) You (or your publisher) send me a copy of your book free of charge. I write reviews as a volunteer and can therefore not have any expenses. Some publishers are not willing to ship abroad, so as I live in Denmark, this may be an issue.

2) I retain copyright of my review. However, you are free to publish or quote it, as long as my name is mentioned.

3) In return I commit myself to reading and reviewing your book within 4 weeks of receiving it.

If these terms are acceptable to you, let me know, and I will send you my address.

I was thinking about getting a PO Box if this continues, but then went to the webpage and discovered a box costs 1875DKK (~US$375) A YEAR! Never mind then.

Læseferie

Det har været en påskeferie af den helt skønne stil. Jeg har i gennemsnit læst en bog om dagen i 10 dage - ikke dårligt! :-D De to bedste bøger var afgjort "Mænd der hader kvinder" og "Pigen der legede med ilden" af Stieg Larsson. Jeg havde lånt dem af Henni og slugte dem på ingen tid. Især den sidste, som jeg fik fat i Påskesøndag, hvor Lars arbejdede fra 14-23, og eftersom jeg ingen andre planer havde, endte jeg med at sidde og læse fra kl 1300 hvor Lars tog afsted, til kl. 2100 hvor jeg lukkede bogen efter at have læst sidste side. Så koncentreret har jeg ikke læst siden Harry Potter 7!! Men jeg nød det - god bog og SKØNT at have tid :-)

Men æv - Henni havde ikke den sidste bog i serien, og på biblioteket var der 7-8 ugers ventetid. Hvad gør en klog huskat så?

Hun spørger rundt, og finder ud af at hendes kære tante heldigvis ejer hele serien! Heldigt sammentræf, og da der var menighedsrådsmøde i går aftes kunne jeg lige følges hjem med Morten og vupti! Endnu 600 herlige sider klar til at blive læst. Jeg nåede de første 40 inden jeg skulle på arbejde i morges, og da den starter lige hvor 2'eren slutter er jeg allerede helt grebet af den. Godt jeg ingen planer har i aften! :-)

Intro

Eftersom Nina er begyndt at blogge, tænkte jeg at jeg også ville. Det bliver nok mest ting kopieret fra emails etc. da jeg skriver det mere eller mindre dagligt alligevel, så størstedelen bliver på engelsk.

Jeg har også to andre blogs:
Kiwiria (opskrifter - opdateres kun sjældent, nu hvor jeg har lagt alle mine yndlingsopskrifter ind).
Bogormen (boganmeldelser - opdateres hver gang jeg bliver færdig med en ny bog... så alt mellem 1 og 7 gange om ugen ;) )

Velkommen til :-)

Facebook

I've decided to remove almost all applications from my Facebook profile. It's a decision that's been a long time coming, but today clinched it. First of all I don't agree with the chain-mail type structure of many of the applications ("Send this to 20 friends before you get to see your answer"). Secondly, I hate the popularity contest implied in many of the applications - and even more that I'm susceptible to it. Just today I was invited to join a "Circle of trust" application (you rate your Facebook friends by how much you trust them - rate each one individually I mean, not rank them) and discovered that although I had 10 votes, my average of how much people trusted me were just 2 stars out of 5. That upset and hurt me a lot more than it ought to have done, so I'm taking the consequence and throwing away all applications other than the ones I actually use. Probably won't be adding any more either.

Junior high was one long popularity contest, and I hated it. I'm too old to fall back into that trap now.

Easter Lunch - Aftermath

Yesterday was absolutely brilliant! Lars and I both agree that this was actually the best Easter lunch so far. Not that that's any of my doing, because what was great about it was the atmosphere. Everybody had a great time. Everybody laughed together, talked together, had fun together. It was just perfect.

Here are some of my favourite photos from the evening:
The "adult" or "high" table:


The "kiddie" or "low" table:


This photo is pretty representative for the entire evening. Silly jokes and lots of laughter.


Dennis wouldn't give Frode any crackers, so Frode started singing "I get no kiks [crackers] from champagne..." and Dennis just couldn't handle it.


This is just a really good photo :) I'm going to get it developed and framed


Why I love Henni: I tell her "Do something silly" while having a camera in my hand. She puts her hand up and starts waving behind her head.


"The gang". Heads from left to right: Dennis, Frode, Henrik, me, Lars, Henni, Rikke, Wendy


Watching Jeff Dunham - GREAT way to end the evening :) People LOVED Peanut - and Lars and I love sharing the fun!


Again, I just like this photo


We put the chair up to put the camera on for the group photos, and afterwards it became a symbol: The party doesn't end until the chair is taken down" - so it stayed up the rest of the evening :-D

Easter Lunch

It's the day of our annual Easter Lunch with Henni, Dennis, Henrik and the rest of the gang, so 2 hours from now our flat will be invaded by 6 happy people :-) I'm so glad I'm off work these days, so I can prepare calmly and actually not be stressed out by getting the flat ready for such a visit. I've been spending the past days cooking and cleaning and believe that if Lars keeps up his side of the bargain (which he has been doing so far) it'll all go off without a hitch :)

This is by far the biggest crowd we've had over for dinner so far and it'll be a bit tight, so we've put half around the dining table and half around the couch table. Not ideal, but it'll have to do in such a small flat as ours. I've gotten hold of all the traditional foods for Easter - smoked salmon, shrimps, herring, tenderloin, liver pâté, home-made meatballs etc. It's a lot of work, and the clean-up tomorrow will be even more work, but I'm really looking forward to this chance of being 'the hostess'. Besides, we always have a blast together, so the company will be great even without trying :-)

Palm Sunday

I just came home from church and from what I think was the most powerful Palm Sunday I've ever been to.

At our church the Palm Sunday service is always a children oriented service, so generally the sermon has been... less than inspiring. Not bad, just aimed at children. This year, however, Morten decided to skip the sermon altogether, and have a happening instead. He got the smallest child there (an adorable boy of about 2-3) to play Jesus, put him on top of a wagon dressed as a donkey and had the other kids pull/push him down through the middle of the church, as Jesus entering Jerusalem. Meanwhile instead of palm branches all adults had been given streamers to throw (think: the beginning of a football game where the audience cheers on the players - same kind of atmosphere) in order to celebrate Jesus' arrival.

I know it doesn't sound like much, but for the first time ever I was there. I was back in Jerusalem in the year 33AD, greeting Jesus and cheering his arrival. I've never experienced anything like it. I had goosebumps everywhere, chills running up and down my spine and a lump in my throat. It was amazing. So extremely powerful, and so extremely devastating because I know what happened next.

Jesus died for my sins... May I never forget it.

1990 - Part 4: Winchester School

This is far from an exhaustive list as it seems that everything I write down reminds me of 2 or 3 other events, but I want to get this posted now, and will just have to leave the rest of the memories for a later entry.

There's more than this, obviously, like the class play and the class camp, but I'll write about those later, as I felt this was long enough as it was ;)

Random memories from school
* The school had a wonderfully big playground as well as a HUGE grassy area for all sorts of ball games (and chasing butterflies in the summer - it was filled with white ones) and several paved courts for roller-skating, playing hopscotch, skipping etc. Among other things the playground had several bares at different heights. I learned how to swing myself up on one by standing on the ground, holding on with both hands, throwing myself around it legs first and ending up holding myself upright on top of it. An even greater trick (to me, at least) was learning how to sit on one, throwing myself backwards with enough momentum that I ended up right back where I started. I practised this for WEEKS on end in every recess, and could barely stand for pride when I finally succeeded :-) I also learned how to climb up a fireman's ladder and swing myself from bar to bar across the length of the playground. I was probably in better shape then than I've ever been before or after.

* We always had lots of fun playing at recess. One day some of my friends got the brilliant idea to spin around and around until we got too dizzy to walk straight. Against my better knowledge I played along, resulting in getting so motion sick I had to go home from school. I was too embarrassed to tell my teacher why I felt sick, but I'm pretty sure she had a good idea ;-) The principal met Mum and me as we left school, and told Mum I looked like I needed some TLC... that's just the kind of man he was :)

* Other games we'd play were clapping games of various sorts, so naturally Nina and I taught them some of the ones we knew from Denmark - the ones with no words or made up words so that the language barrier wouldn't be a problem. Nina's teacher was so impressed that she got a bunch of us to get up in front of the entire school to perform them at an assembly.

* Being taught in English when you only understand very few words is difficult! Maths was my best subject as I was already pretty good at that, and fortunately the language of maths is international. Most words kinda 'sneaked up' on me, and I managed with the help of a simple dictionary, but one day we were asked to draw an "ad" for something... I was completely lost as this word did not exist in my dictionary, so I had no clue at all what we were meant to do. Fortunately, this was during first few weeks where Mum would come pick us up after school and could talk to our teachers and translate the essentials, (after we moved to Pahiatua street school was only a 10 minute walk away, and we thought we were too old to be picked up by mum that way) so it all worked out. I never thought about it at the time, but it must have been a chore and a half for the teachers to teach kids who spoke as little English as we did. The first few months I didn't say much, then suddenly it all clicked and I wouldn't shut up ;-)

* Related to the above. Since Nina and I were old enough to *need* to know English in school (unlike Rebekka and Mixi who were in small enough classes that they learned English and reading at the same time - a picture of a house and the word "House" written underneath is almost as easy to understand as a picture of a house and the word "Hus" written underneath) we had a few extra English lessons each week. I remember absolutely nothing of these lessons except the very last one. The guys teaching us were room-mates and they were pet-sitting a friend's two rats - "Shy" and "Uhm". Thanks to them I've never been able to see rats as gross pests, because these two were adorable and gorgeous white creatures and incredibly affectionate :-)

* A couple of the boys in class (Germain and Andrew A. in particular) found it funny to pretend I was a dangerous "alien" and run away when I came near as if it were contagious. All these years later I don't understand why I wasn't deeply hurt by it, but there must have been something to tell me it was all in fun which I don't remember any longer. Whatever the case, I thought it was a great joke, and they kept it up until one day we had to find words starting with "anti" and Germain yelled out "anti-Maria". Again, I just laughed (and as far as I remember wasn't even hurt on the inside - oh, to have that kind of self confidence now!), but Mrs. Gilliland was pissed!

* During the year my class was taught various first aid modules: dry land rescuing (how to save somebody from drowning while not getting into the water yourself... yeah, not quite sure of how well that'd work either, but we were a group of 10 year olds, so I guess they thought us too young for anything else), basic resuscitation etc. I most vividly remember the basic resuscitation module - we had to learn how to give others mouth-to-mouth and mouth-to-nose. I think I've told this story before, but my teacher was very keen on always splitting us into boy/girl pairs, but this time she said that if anybody had preferences, she would listen to them. A bunch of the braver kids put up their hands. I didn't, because while I would have loved to be together with Daniel (whom I had a crush on at the time), I knew that I wasn't the only girl in class who liked him, and I didn't want to upset anybody. Daniel DID put up his hand though. I was fully expecting him to pick one of the more popular girls in class, that I almost missed it when he said my name. I must have looked completely shell-shocked, because my teacher looked at me, and asked if that was ok with me. Was it ever! :) To this day I'm glad that I know some basic first aid. I should probably take a refreshing course, but at least I remember a few basics.

* I was in the last year of primary school, and as a special privilege the smartest/most well-behaved children were allowed to get out of class one day a week, in order to go to the staff room and do their dishes (amazing what was considered a privilege at that time. Everybody wanted to do this! I guess getting out of class was more important than having to do dishes ;) ). Eventually it became my turn, and by some stroke of luck I was paired up with Daniel! This gave us the perfect opportunity to talk and get to know each other better, and I loved every minute of it. The very last time (I think we had a month or so) we got talking about people in class, who we liked and disliked. That's when Daniel made my year by saying: "I think you're the nicest girl in class." I walked with my head in the clouds the rest of the day :-)

* One last thing about Daniel, I think many girls had guessed. One day Monique (best friend to one of the other girls who had a crush on Daniel - he was one of the two most popular boys in class) came up to me and said, "Daniel likes you." I tried to play it casual and just replied, "Oh, what makes you think that?" "I asked him, and he didn't say no." Ah, the logic of 10-year-olds ;-) It was still A Big Deal to me though.

* Every day we'd have a "read aloud" session where Mrs. Gilliland would have us all sit on the mat and read to us from some book or the other - usually Roald Dahl if memory serves me right. This was actually a great way for me to learn how to read, as I'd make sure to take the same book out of the library and follow along in the book while she read. I blame my love for Roald Dahl and Margaret Mahy on these reading sessions :)

* Unfortunately, not everything was pleasant that year. I had a class mate, Jeremy, whose younger brother, Byron went to Nina's class. One day they didn't return to school after a vacation. A couple of days went by before our teacher told us that Jeremy's brother had been killed in a car accident during the vacation, and Jeremy was (understandably) staying at home until he felt up to coming back to school. I'd been good friends with both and was completely shocked. This was the first time I'd really understood that children could die too. A good lesson to learn as not long after another of Nina's classmates died (I forget her name - Monique I think). This death was more expected however, as she died of cancer and had been going through chemo (I never knew she was wearing a wig, but Nina told me she once took it off to show them), so their teacher had been able to prepare them.

1990 - Part 3: Getting settled in "our" house

In February we moved to our motel-house to the house we'd be renting for the rest of the year. This house was AMAZING! I wish I had more photos to show of it, because it was just perfect for us. Instead I'll try to take you on a verbal tour of it and the grounds.

Pahiatua Street is a residential road like most others. Villas on either side with green gardens. You arrive to where number 72 out to be and almost think you've missed it, as the numbers skip right from 70 to 74. You backtrack a bit and realise it's because number 72 cannot be seen from the road. Instead there is a LONG driveway taking you behind the other houses to the one you seek. I don't know exactly how long the driveway was, but at least a couple of hundred meters.

When finally reaching the house, the first thing you see is a huge garden. I'll take you through that later. First, we make our way underneath the grape-covered entrance way to the back door (no-one in their right minds uses the front door in New Zealand). You open the door and enter a small hallway. To the right you see a door leading into a small room (Nina's) with two beds, to the left, a door to a small combined scullery/bath with a sliding door to a toilet. This toilet's watertank would occasionally not fill up all the way, so we had to manually press down the leveller to force it to fill in more water. At the end of the hallway was the kitchen. The kitchen was actually split up into three parts. Right on the right-hand-side when you entered from the hallway you could see a pantry door (the only place I've ever lived in that had a REAL PANTRY!), right past that was what we called the "TV lounge". A small room with the TV, a couch, 2 chairs and a gas-heater. Turn the other way from the pantry door and you'd see first the 'normal' kitchen (looking as kitchens do most) and then the dinning room. The dinning room was really just a continuation of the kitchen, but the walls were painted differently, making it seem like a separate part. The parents in the family we'd rented the house from were very creative. The father did stained glassed windows and lamps, and the mother did murals. The dinning room had a lovely stained glass lamp hanging over the table, and a mural on the wall showing a branch with flowers (almost a vine I guess) and a nest with two birds!

From the dining room was a door that opened up into the living room. We actually didn't spend much time in the living room, especially in wintertime as it was too big, and too high to the ceiling to warm it up properly. The living room had another sofa group and a door leading out to the terrace, a dining table for fancy company and a piano :-D. But like I said, we didn't use it much, so let's go back to the kitchen.

If you turn your back on the hallway that leads out, you'll see another, longer hallway leading straight to the front door! Walk down it, and first you come to the big bathroom (on your right-hand-side) and then another large'ish room (mine) with two beds, two desks, a closet and actually not much else... Nina and I would share it when we were friends, and when we weren't, she'd move back to her own room. Continue further down the hallway and you'd reach my parent's room on the right and Rebekka and Mixi's on the left. The room Rebekka and Mixi shared had a huge blackboard on the wall, which we had great fun filling with various small-scale murals :-)

Some of my best memories of the house is sitting in the TV lounge with my entire family, watching "The Comedy Company" or something similar that we could all enjoy :)

Going back out the back door you see a pathway leading around the house, and another leading to the garages (yes, plural) These garages were SO much fun to roam around in, as they had all sorts of weird knick-knacks to look at, as well as a toolshed with real hammers and saws that we were allowed to play with! :) Right next to the garages was a big walnut tree with a real two-story treehouse in it!!! We'd always wanted a treehouse, but had no trees at home that were suitable for it, so this was a real treat! Next to the walnut tree were red-currant bushes and a large (but empty) greenhouse with two swings and bars for playing on right outside.

However, this is a dead-end, so we'll go back to the back door, and walk clockwise around the garden. The first thing you'll notice is the AMAZING number of fruit bushes and trees. In the garden we had lemons (mum made homemade lemon squash... she's done that in Denmark too, but it never tasted better than with homegrown lemons, freshly picked from the bush!), oranges, kiwifruit, fijoya (DELICIOUS fruit I've never seen outside NZ, and I miss it :( ), apples, pears, tomatoes, and of course the aforementioned walnuts, grapes and red currants. Along all the fences was a thick strip of was can best be defined as 'bush' - great for hiding and playing in. There were also two lawns for ball games and two GREAT climbing trees. One of them especially soon became my preferred reading spot in the summer.

1990 - Part 2: Staying at Awatea Park Motel

I can't remember if it were they or my dad's company who'd found us a place to live, but the family whose house we'd be renting weren't actually moving (they were going to Japan for a year) for another month, so the first month we stayed at a motel that had a separate house for rent as well. It wasn't big - only 4 rooms - but a gloriously large garden to roam around in, a trampoline in the back yard and the city's best ice cream place just cross the street! We got VERY fond of Blue Moon's orange-choc-chip ice cream :)

The first couple of weeks were spent getting settled. We visited the family whose house we'd be renting (friends of the Martises) and the two schools in the neighbourhood. One immediately appealed to us kids because of the huge pool and because the daughters of the Betteridge family went to that school. However, as Mum wisely pointed out to us, that would only be for a month, so it was a bad reason to base our school choice on. After we got to see the other school, we realized she was right. I can't explain it, but this one just had a friendlier atmosphere. One of the teachers took us three oldest girls for a swim in their pool (in NZ every respectable school has a pool apparently ;) ) while Mum and Dad talked to the principal. They were very taken in by him, as he was extremely friendly and open and caring. Michala (who's a bit shy and would rather sit on Mum's lap playing with her dolls than go swimming with the rest of us and an adult she didn't know) accidentally left one of her dolls behind in the principal's office, and we were in the car, just about to leave when he came running out to us, calling out that she'd forgotten her doll. I know it seems like a small thing, but it was just the kind of person he was. Extremely kind and generous with his time and affection. He ended up being Nina's teacher and took very good care of her :)

Anyway, my parents ended up deciding to send us to that school. A wonderful decision and I think it's probably the best school we'd ever been to. That's not to say it wasn't difficult at first - not knowing the language that well it was really only maths I stayed ahead in (thank goodness for maths being an international language!), but when forced to learn a different language, it's amazing how quickly you pick it up.

Random memories from the motel
It'll get too complicated trying to write these chronologically as my memory really isn't that great, but some of our experiences while living in the motel deserves to be written down:
* Right next to the trampoline was a tree wonderful for climbing... wonderful for climbing up anyway. You had to stand on the tramp to get to the lowest branches, but after that it was smooth climbing. One day I climbed almost to the top enjoying the view, but when I was about to climb back down again, I froze. I no longer remember what happened to make me freeze as I've never suffered from vertigo and would climb on just about anything as a kid. I called out to dad that I couldn't get down, and he had to stand underneath the tree and guide me, promising to catch me, should I fall. Of course I didn't, but that was the last time I ever climbed that tree.

* The tramp was lots of fun, and while I never became an expert, like my sisters I'd jump at any available minute. One time I almost jumped myself off the tramp, but caught on to a twig of the aforementioned tree at the last minute. It was enough to give me my balance back, but the twig broke off. I remember feeling absolutely terrible about 'hurting' the tree, after it had just saved my fall. I was a very weird child at times ;-)

* Like I said, my sisters loved the tramp as well. One day Rebekka and Mixi were jumping on it at the same time and Rebekka got too close to Mixi and accidentally bounced her off it. She felt awful about it. I remember Mum and Dad comforting Mixi and making sure she wasn't hurt, and I sat comforting Rebekka because she was crying harder than Mixi. After that Mum and Dad made the rule that only one person was allowed on the tramp at a time.

* The grounds of the motel were right next to a forest. Funnily enough I don't remember us spending too much time in that forest - probably because we only stayed there for a month - but one day Nina and I ventured out there and discovered that the grounds were COVERED with clover. They looked so soft and inviting that we rolled around in them and started talking about how neat it would be to sleep on a bed of clover. This was January and thus summer, so the nights were warm enough, and we soon received permission from our parents to pick clover and make a 'bed' with them in our garden. We got Rebekka and Mixi involved in the picking, and eventually got enough for a nice, soft mattress. However, either due to the excitement of sleeping outside, or simply because it got too hard after awhile, we never actually fell asleep, but moved back inside.

* One day we were playing outside, when suddenly we noticed that all the birds had gone strangely silent. We heard a rumble sounding as if it came from far away, slowly moving towards us, until the entire ground underneath us shook - very weird experience to see the car shake back and forth with nobody touching it. It was over too quickly for us to be scared by it, and Nina (who was running around in the forest, playing tag with Mixi) never even noticed it. I've experienced a few, smaller earthquakes, but this was the only really major one. It measured 6 or 7 on the Richter scale if I recall correctly.

* A less pleasant experience: it turned out that our living room had FLEAS (or something similar). Funnily enough only the living room - the rest of the house was clean - but obviously it was unacceptable, and we got some very itchy bites, so the motel-owners sent us away for the weekend and had exterminators over.

1990 - Part 1: The Journey to New Zealand

When I wrote about the year 1991 I realized I really wanted to write something similar for 1990 in order to keep hold of those memories I still have of that year. I know it's going to be LONG and therefore have split it up into several parts. I'm not quite done writing it, as I keep thinking of more details to put in, but I felt like posting part 1 today.

1990
In order to fully capture the 'spirit' of 1990 I need to start with a few events of 1989, and as I remember too little of that year to write about it in full, I hope you'll allow me this digression.

During 1989 my parents had talked to my sisters and me about the possibility that we might be moving to New Zealand for a year. My parents had friends there, and they'd always been fascinated with the country, so when the company my dad worked for were talking about starting a branch in NZ, and asked my dad if he'd go help them set up, he jumped at the chance. We spent most of the summer talking and praying and learning about the place, and one day in August dad called home from work. I was the one to pick up the phone, and still remember the conversation.
Dad: Hi Maria, do you still want to go to New Zealand.
Me: YES!!!!
Dad: Let's do it then!
Me: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Now followed 3 very busy months of packing everything together (we would be renting a furnished house, but would of course still need our own clothes and some playthings etc., besides, we were renting out our house while away, so everything valuable had to be packed up too), making practical arrangements and speed-learning English. Not that I knew much when we left, but I could at least say "I'm from Denmark, I don't speak English" ;) (funny to think of now - I have difficulties remembering a time I didn't feel fluent in English.

A couple of days before Christmas we'd packed up the entire house, and moved to my Mormor and Morfar's place to stay there the last few days and spend Christmas with them. I hardly remember any of those days, except that this was where Nina and I started calling each other Sigurd and Sigurt (don't ask me why, I honestly couldn't tell you), we slept in the same room and I scared her by telling her made-up ghost-stories and jumping on her when she least expected it.

On the 26th (we were to leave on the 27th) Morfar took us out for a long walks in the forest so we'd be properly tired out and be able to go to sleep early, and Mum and Dad allowed me my first (tiny!) glass of wine with dinner - also in an attempt to get me to sleep early. Of course it didn't work, I was FAR too excited.

We arrived at the airport very early on the morning of the 27th. I seem to recall our plane scheduled to leave at 6'ish or something like that. So imagine our surprise when we arrived and the airport was EMPTY! No check-ins open AT ALL. We were told to sit with Mormor and Morfar and then Mum and Dad went around, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Turned out that the flight we'd been placed on wasn't just cancelled - no, that'd be too easy - it was a flight that only left in the summer! Well done travel agency! Sheesh. Fortunately we had quite a few hours to spare in London, so Mum and Dad found a different flight we could get on, and even though we were 2 hours late leaving Copenhagen, we still caught our flight in London without (as far as I remember) any problems.

From London we flew to Miami, Florida. I honestly don't remember much of the place, as we were only there a week before flying on to Orlando. Here we spent three magical days in Disney World - two in the Magic Kingdom and one at the Epcot Center. Ever since then I've wanted to go back, because I think I missed out on SO MUCH by not being able to understand English at the Epcot Center. We celebrated New Years at Disney World... or rather, at our hotel just outside Disney World, as us girls couldn't stay awake until midnight (we were VERY jetlagged) so Mum and Dad toasted the New Year with Sprite in plastic cups ;)

While in Florida we also visited Cape Canaveral, which was absolutely fascinating, but again, I wish I'd actually understood English.

On January 3rd we left Florida to fly to Hawaii. This was truly amazing. I wasn't old enough to realize how touristy the place was, but definitely old enough to realize "I'M IN HAWAII!!!!" I don't know about other places, but in Denmark, at that time, Hawaii was the place to go.

And we had a great time too. We stayed at a hotel right by Waikiki Beach on Honolulu and played on the beach practically every day. Some people noticed us, and when they left, gave us their inflatable water mattress as they didn't want to be bothered with it on their flight home. Another couple taught us how to "look cool" and play with our sun-glasses. This couple also saved Michala when she almost drowned. We were at the hotel swimming pool/Jacuzzi and it had a 'bench' around the edge where you could sit and still have your head above water (which is why I think it must have been a Jacuzzi, even though I don't remember). This 'bench' was the perfect height for Michala to stand on and play with the rest of us. Of course the inevitable happened and she fell off the 'bench' into the deep water. The man was quick and immediately stretched out his arm and caught hold of her. She was never in any real danger, but naturally still got a huge fright.

Of course we also went sightseeing, got to experience a luau (where mum and dad were really impressed that it started by somebody saying grace - my sisters and I just got bored with the long prayer in a language we didn't understand ;) ), learned to dance hula, saw a dead volcano and lots more.

On January 10th we left Hawaii to finally fly the last stretch to New Zealand. As we'd be passing the date line, Rebekka had been very adamant that we didn't skip the 14th - she still wanted her birthday! We flew first to Auckland and then jumped directly on a 'pencil plane' to Palmerston North (how funny, I still remember the book I read on that leg of the flight! I didn't realize that until now!) where my parents' friends, the Martis family, waited to welcome us and get us settled.