Tuis
Wednesday, January 11th, 2006The tuis (TOO-ees) sing outside my office window and it's fantastic. Here are some pointers to tui sites: Kiwi Wildlife Tours audio of birdsongs, White Heron Tours tui sounds, Wikipedia entry on tuis.
Archive for the ‘New Zealand’ Category
The tuis (TOO-ees) sing outside my office window and it's fantastic. Here are some pointers to tui sites: Kiwi Wildlife Tours audio of birdsongs, White Heron Tours tui sounds, Wikipedia entry on tuis.
Te Reo and Kiwi Culture Links
Saturday, December 31st, 2005Some things I've found while surfing: Basics of Maori, Maori pronunciation, Interactive Maori conversations, Maori Language NZ Anthem, Background and recordings of the NZ anthems.
Weather, School, and Ditch-Digging
Tuesday, December 20th, 2005It's been an adventurous week, weather-wise. Being away for so long, I'd forgotten the misty mornings that are classic New Zealand fare. We had a front parked over us for four or five days, with what the weather forecasters discreetly refer to as "scattered showers" but which really ...
Boat and Land
Saturday, December 10th, 2005I'm reading Russell Brown's collection of other people's essays, Great New Zealand Argument, and at the same time I'm reading The Nationbuilders by Brian Easton. Both tackle the subject of what it means to be a New Zealander. I'm reading them in bite size pieces: Easton's in the bedroom and Brown's in ...
VCs and Contacts
Wednesday, December 7th, 2005Today I went to Auckland to meet Russell Brown of Public Address, to my uncle's work, then finally to meet with some VCs. Russell first. He's an interesting guy, very articulate (as befits a good on-air personality!) and full of background for all the things that are puzzling me about New Zealand: ...
Schools, Rats, and Parents
Monday, December 5th, 2005It's been hard to balance life and work here on the other side of the world. Some days the work consumes me and I ignore family (bad Dad!) and other days I'm burnt out and can't face the keyboard. I dug in a garden last weekend with my uncle Les and ...
Day 13: Love of a Small Country
Tuesday, November 29th, 2005Today I sent email to, and got replies from, the acting CEO of New Zealand On Air, and the general editor of Te Ara (the Encyclopedia of New Zealand). I love that these people are so accessible. Today's accomplishments: moved the dead cars out of our garage so the emptying of the house can ...
Day 12: Rural Schools
Monday, November 28th, 2005Today Jenine helped out at William's school, and we learned that there's quite the gulf between the grouchy old woman teaching his class and the sweet old woman who taught him in Colorado. This one is bullying, dismissive, and belittling. This puts us in the awkward position of being new to ...
Day 10: Rural Power
Saturday, November 26th, 2005I'd forgotten how amazing New Zealand's weather is. We're just a thin strip of island in a lot of water, close to Antarctica. The weather's always shifting: some good stuff, some crap, some good stuff, some crap. A strip of concentrated crap floated in last night and dumped a ton ...
Day 9: First Computer Conference
Friday, November 25th, 2005I think I'm probably doing it a favour calling it a conference: Convergence Oceania was a Wireless Forum sell shop, an expo hall with a room featuring the biggest exhibitors. Everyone's Powerpoint deck was focused to their own product story. Good thing it was free :-) The expo hall was interesting, ...