Keeping up with the Kiwis
In addition to a Thanksgiving feast, our family’s social calendar was chock full last weekend. Dad went off for a Guys’ Weekend to which he was invited before we even left the States. Seven men rented a house in Kurow as a home base for fishing, swimming, climbing and other expeditions.
On Saturday, Mom took the boys to a Christmas market and parade 30 minutes away in Temuka, followed by an off-roading “adventure” to the Temuka river to wade and skip stones (because it was hot, as it is in late November here.)
On Sunday morning, they had a go at archery. Coach John was wearing his World Master Archer 2017 shirt. Timaru is surprisingly blessed with many world class athletes-turned-coaches, from speed skating to archery to ballet. Mom’s favorite part was that they had to follow strict instructions about where to stand, when to move, and how to whisper.
Later that morning, we went to a potluck brunch with most of the moms left behind by the Guys’ Weekend as well as a few additional ladies and children. While some of it felt familiar, like women chatting around a table of food and intermittently attending to a child’s request, it also felt distinctly Kiwi in the way adults parented each others’ kids and the big kids tended to the littles. It felt casual, light, easy…
For our final engagement, Mom and Little Brother returned to the Temuka river, this time with friends. While the grade schoolers waded out to the middle of the river with their snacks, the parents sat on the shore and enjoyed the quiet. When Mom was called in unexpectedly to help with a double emergency at the hospital, the friends’ parents didn’t hesitate to offer to keep Little Brother and bring him home later so the kids could keep playing.
It’s a wee community here, but it is solid. We are glad to be a part of it.