NZ Expanding Immigration
NZ Herald reports the government wants at least 47,000 skilled immigrants and will recognize skills in applicants from India and China for the first time. I love that the desired professions include …
Budget
Six months back in the country, I’ve formed some opinions about where NZ is lacking. I was interested to see how the budget would address what I’ve identified as the country’s …
School Update
In the past month or more I’ve been working hard on making sure William had a good experience at school. I talked to his teachers to make sure that they were keeping their eyes open for bullying …
NZ Internet Use
There were 1.24 million active internet subscribers in New Zealand between March and September 2005 (NZ pop = 4M, remember) 70%, or 869,300, were modem users Total residential internet penetration was …
What Makes a Good Day
Today was unsatisfactory. I worked a solid 8 hours, packed in the email, made a coworker laugh, and made significant progress towards a goal. So why, at the end, do I feel blah? I was so knackered …
Valentine's Day
We took William out of school for the day, drove down to Auckland, and went to Kelly Tarlton’s World (like the Monterey Aquarium) and then to a buffet for lunch. Very luxurious, but you have to …
Tuis
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 …
Looking Ahead to 2006
[I wrote up these thoughts for the NZ-2.0 list, but thought you might be interested] I’ve been thinking lately about Things To Do In 2006, and trying to figure out where technology will go in …
Te Reo and Kiwi Culture Links
Some 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
It’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 …