Reconnecting

February 22, 2002-Farewelling Christchurch
(photos: Town Crier,
Christchurch)

Home at last! There was a message on the answering machine from Syd & Janet Bruce telling us they would be at the Thai restaurant for dinner tonight. We got to the apartment at 6PM & decided to join them there. We caught up on the last eleven days & the 3-hour time difference caught up to me. I began to fade at 9PM.

We had woken up in Christchurch & had a few hours to tour before our plane left. We went to the Arts Center & to the market at Cathedral Square to shop & to people watch. There’s an official town crier at the Square. He’s appointed each year & dresses in the traditional British red coat, wig, & ruffles. Sure enough at noon he belted out his news. We thought Christchurch was charming & compact for touring. All the historic buildings are along the tramline. If you follow the tracks on foot, it’s possible to do a walking tour of the city. One curious thing struck me as we left town. The map shows that the city is on the water, but we didn’t see a developed harbor-front. Maybe it’s all industrial. It wasn’t mentioned in the tour book either.

We drove through the newer suburbs on the way to the airport. There were pleasant homes with cheerful gardens lining the road. We had a few hours to kill before the plane, so we grabbed some lunch. By my calculations, we had four meals that day. We had eaten breakfast, had lunch at the airport, got a meager lunch on the plane, & had dinner with the Bruces. We noticed a man in the uniform of the U.S. Air Force & struck up a conversation. He was in the reserves & was mobilized after 9/11. He ended up in Christchurch with the U.S. support personnel who were helping the NZ workers in Antarctica move back to NZ for the winter. He said there were 800 of them who had just descended on the area. He had a week’s leave coming up & there were no rental cars to be had. In civilian life he was a computer programmer who was setting up a system for Baptist Hospital in Knoxville, Tenn. He found military life to be less stressful than his old job & was thinking of extending his tour. Of course, he was in NZ & not Afghanistan.

Our plane was Polynesian Air-Samoa, but the crew & coding was Qantas. We were surprised, but it got us back to Brisbane. We got to watch Hearts in Atlantis again. Never to miss an opportunity to promote a stereotype, there were sheep in a pasture next to the runway as the plane took off.

Our shuttle driver who met us in Brisbane may have summed it up well when he mentioned that he thought Kiwis were more serious than Aussies. He’s from the Netherlands & has lived here for twenty-five years, so he isn’t really biased. He said Kiwis don’t have much of a sense of humor. We did find that when we tried to joke with servers or hotel personnel they frequently just didn’t get it. Australians we’ve come into contact with in the same capacities here are quick to join in with the bantering. Maybe it’s the Maori influence.

I was happy to hear that not only has this email gone international with Ursula & Sven from Switzerland now receiving it, but it’s now being used by a 4th grade teacher in Akron. She’s using it in her classroom as an example of descriptive writing. The pressure is on now. I must keep coming up with those adjectives. I really miss my Thesaurus.

We got our final itinerary from home & will be back the evening of May 12th, Mother’s Day. How appropriate!

February 23, 2002-Long Gone

We watched the video of a play that Vikki & Alex were in last August. Karen & Ron brought it with them. It was about Jewish women who were heroic role models for today. It was quite an undertaking. Women from all three congregations were involved & only women were allowed to attend. Vikki & Alex were great. We enjoyed seeing them even though they weren't playing themselves. They both seemed very comfortable onstage. Vikki really nailed the line of Hebrew she had to say. We were really surprised at how many people we didn't recognize & how many we recognized but couldn't name. I think we've been away too long. A production like that couldn't happen in Australia. The orthodox & progressive movements wouldn’t cooperate long enough to get it done. The orthodox rabbi here was invited to do a program with David about the differences between orthodoxy & progressive Judaism. He refused because the organization of orthodox rabbis in Australia, New Zealand, & Asia has ruled that their members may not engage in an event of that nature.

We spoke to our family yesterday & everyone seems to be fine. Alex was filling us in on the Olympics. She’s a real fan. She gave us the rundown on the speed skating controversy & the play by play of the U.S. women’s hockey loss to Canada. Vikki sounded as if she was taking on the world with all her projects in the community & Daniel sounded content with work. Wendy & her paratner in Minneapolis were very upbeat about our visit Memorial Day weekend. Daniel, Vikki, & Alex may join us which will make it a total family affair. We’d really love that. Wendy & her partner are still busy working on their house & now are feeling the pressure of our visit. While on the phone with us, Wendy asked if the dog, Willie, had been fed that day. He hadn’t. I pointed out that they’d better feed him before he started eating the cats of which there are three. They have a real menagerie. I guess when you combine households there are multiples of many things.
February 24, 2002-Master Strokes

Our star-crossed lives continue. We were on our way to the Gold Coast Arts Centre to meet friends. We planned to eat dinner at the Centre & see the play, Master Class, about Maria Callas. About three blocks from the Centre, I saw smoke coming from under the hood of the car & the temperature gauge started to rise. We called RACQ (AAA) & they told us it wasn’t a hose that burst but a rusted pipe that had given way. The Goldzeigs offered to take us home after the play. David decided to leave the car in the lot for the night, take a bus to the temple in the morning, arrange for a rental car, & let the president deal with the wreck at the Centre. What actually happened was that Syd Bruce went to get the car, put water in the radiator, & it held. He drove the car around & it doesn’t seem to be leaking. Now they’re guessing it’s the water pump. David will have it checked tomorrow. So, we still have the old car.

Dinner before the play was somewhat of a washout since we got a late start. It was a fixed menu that offered David the choice of beef with mango (he’s allergic to mango) as an entrée (appetizer), & either salmon or chicken with bacon dressing as a main. Since he won’t eat salmon, we worked around the mango & bacon. The play, however, is one that I would recommend. We know nothing about opera, but thoroughly enjoyed the clever presentation of an infamous personality, her craft, & her inner feelings.

Toby