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we did it!

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Auckland, New Zealand

It took us a week, but we got the garden weeded, composted and planted.

We also got the kitchen totally tidied and functioning – the rhythm of bread baking and yoghurt making is established, sprouting and fermenting are on the verge of happening, even the freezer is now stocked.
All the linen has a home – for a lot of it, that home is at the Sallies.
All the children’s toys are accessible – or at the Sallies.
All the “work boxes” (read: notebooks, journals, maths books etc) are ready-to-use.
All the sandals and gumboots are lined up in the garage (and new ones purchased for those who needed them – not from the Sallies).
The bathrooms are sparkling; the novelty of a clean shower has not worn off and willing workers keep it pristine.
Light fittings have been washed and moved (coz we had nothing else to do, y’know).
Musical instruments are available.
The computers are running and internet connected.
The garage is almost tidy.
A broken window repaired (Mr Repair Man arrived within half an hour of calling the insurance company – not bad, eh).
People have been dropping in (not that this is a job – it’s just time-consuming).
Rob spent the whole evening opening mail (that *was* a job, AND time-consuming)

There is just craft gear to sort and books to place on shelves. Possibly the two biggest jobs of them all 😉

We have lots of space that we didn’t used to have. There are empty drawers in the kitchen, empty shelves in the laundry, nothing under our bed, coathangers without a job to do in the wardrobe, big gaps on the floor.
We simply have less stuff. It’s gone to the Sallies.
But we’re still left with a lot.
When I start comparing our gear to the possessions of the family we stayed with in Mongolia or the ones living in bamboo huts in Thailand or Laos, it all seems so unfair.
What is the point of such comparison? Is anything to be gained? I could give all our stuff away, but how would that help those families? We could cut off our water and power, but what would that achieve? How would it help others?
In the midst of trying to settle into comfort, there are uncomfortable thoughts.

We might have planted the garden, but we haven’t answered the big questions.
In fact, we haven’t even asked some of them.

at the table (aka the good, the bad and the ugly)

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Auckland, New Zealand

As predicted, the trip’s influence is infiltrating our kitchen.

We bought oats, but have not yet made our traditional morning porridge. In the mornings we’ve been too busy banging boiled eggs together to find the winner with the unbroken egg as we learnt to do in Moscow….


(Moscow Memories)

we’ve been chopsticking our way through chicken soup with noodles….

we’ve been slurping sago cooked in coconut milk, and even proving television advertising is true: Kiwi-kids-are-Weetbix-kids (who knows if this ad, which used to run years ago, is still on…..can’t say we’ve bothered turning the tv on to find out).

And that’s just breakfast time.
At dinnertime we’ve been devouring salads and relishing lasagne, which reminded us of the one and only lasagne on the trip – a wonderful one we made whilst couchsurfing in Hanoi. We’ve had one of the kids’ favourites – nachos. Soon we’ll be tucking into a roast lamb with roast potatoes, pumpkin, kumara, carrots and some red cabbage (and we’ll remember how the Romanians also eat lamb, especially at Easter, and how they cannot get their heads around the idea of teaming it with mint jelly).

But the focus of mealtimes has not simply been the food.
You see, all the not-sitting-together-as-a-family-for-meals (whether because there were not tables big enough for us, or because we were sprawling round on the ground outside the motorhomes or for whatever other random but frequent reason) has meant that the concept of table manners has disappeared from our family identity.
Children need to be re-taught to stay at the table until everyone has finished eating, they need to be taught to leave their cutlery alone until it’s time to eat, they need to be taught that it’s rude for everyone to speak at once, they need to learn to listen, they need to be reminded that we are now in New Zealand – we are not in China and so we will not slurp our soup – we are not in Vietnam and therefore we will not be throwing our bones on the floor (Tgirl5 liked that cultural practice <wink>) – we are not in Mongolia and so we will not be licking our bowl clean – we are not in Poland and so we will not be having delicious desserts at every meal. Now that we are no longer sharing cutlery and glasses, they need to learn that we set the table with one of everything for each person – and that dinner plates and bread-n-butter plates have a purpose (no need to use only tin bowls for every meal) – and that when you’ve finished eating you don’t leave your knife looking like it’s about to invade the next country on your itinerary. Tablecloth and napkin etiquette is a long way off.

Guess what!

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
Auckland, New Zealand Another BBQ (you knew that). Same formula: meat on the grill, salad and bread on the table, something deliciously sweet for dessert, good friends, laughter, conversation. Forgotten again: the camera. All this socialising means we’re not making a lot of ... [Continue reading this entry]