Back to the UK

After nearly 3.5 years away from my native shores, I recently returned for a 3.5 week trip. Everyone in a similar situation who I had spoken to before expressed their dislike of taking a trip back to the UK and the constant travelling round visiting family and friends, they related their blatant dislike of the country, its weather, big population, aspects of its culture and the places.

The media (doom-mongering muppets that they are) is constantly painting the UK in various shades of doom and gloom following Brexit, the various terrorist attrocities and the recent general election…so how did I find it?

Well, the following series of posts will delve in further detail but let me just say this, those of whom I spoke earlier must either visit bad places, have dubious friends and family, really dislike their homeland or just generally be miserable because I had a fantastic holiday! And as for the media…well as usual, if you look beneath the surface, you generally find that the truth is rather different.

Here is just one photograph to illustrate the delight of the UK…the history!

What Else is Out There?

I have been writing this blog now for around 3.5 years. When it began, my intention was to use it mainly as a way for friends and family to keep in touch and see what I’d been up to after moving to New Zealand from the UK.

I quickly realised – perhaps unsurprisingly – that not many people you know are actually that interested in what you are doing or saying (quite sad really as you might think that friends and family would be a main audience) but yet they are happy to share and read inane content on things like Facebook. Go figure. The flip side of this, however, is that I have been delighted to discover so many other blogs which are out there on WordPress and it has been fantastic to create new connections with people who have shared interests in many different parts of the world.

I thought I would therefore share just a few of these links with you in case you wish to explore them further yourself…

Nature Has No Boss – Mike Bizeau regularly posts some truly amazing landscape and wildlife photography from around the USA, often in wilderness areas like Yellowstone.

Uthamz – Utham captures some stunning images of big game animals in Africa, amazing to see.

Through Open Lens – Lucas Kondraciuk posts a good amount of excellent bird-based photography but with a twist – there is always a light-hearted joke to go with the facts in the post to brighten your day.

Nature’s Place – Mark posts truly incredible photos of insects. If macro photography and seeing the small residents of our planet is your thing, you will love this.

Travelling the World Solo – Ellen is from Australia and travels a lot, with a particular fondness for Greenland and Scandinavian countries. Some lovely photos and experiences are there to explore.

Stephen Liddell – Stephen has possibly the most fascinatingly researched blog that I follow, he regularly posts really interesting insights into the world and its history. He is an author with a varied portfolio too.

That will do for now – hope you enjoy exploring! I will share some more in future!

World Masters Games 2017

Hi Everyone.

This week I am volunteering as part of the World Masters Games 2017 here in Auckland. Many people will probably never have heard of this before so I thought I would do a little educating and promoting!

This is a four-yearly multi-event sporting occasion spread across 10 days with 28 sports and 25,000 competitors. In terms of numbers of entrants, this is 2.5x the size of the Olympics! And the best bit…you only need to satisfy a minimum age criteria to take part in each sport. It really is THAT inclusive. The oldest competitor is apparently 101 and is from India, she is competing in the athletics. Amazing!

Because of the age range, competitions are split into age categories and by gender also (where appropriate) so there are multiple winners for each sport potentially depending on your grouping.

So far, I have had the joy of meeting and helping people from Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, United States of America, South Africa, Brazil, Russia, New Zealand (of course) and more besides! It is even free to come along and spectate!

If you’d like to learn more, you can visit the website by clicking here www.worldmastersgames2017.co.nz.

Here I am outside the QBE Stadium (where there are six football pitches in use) clad in my bright green outfit ready for action in and around the football competition!

The only downside to all of this positivity is that my experience has been one of feeling rather under-utilised after the first day. Once people know their way around, I have felt rather like a spare part…appreciated, yes, needed, not quite so much. Have you done something like this before? How did you find it?

I have also been to watch Athletics, Volleyball; and am going to hopefully see Hockey and Softball too!

#wmg2017

Making Friends

It isn’t something I ever thought about until recently but when you move to a foreign country where you know very few people, it can be very isolating.

It had never entered my mind before that I didn’t have many friends here or that I would actually need to work on gaining new friends. I would choose quality over quantity any day too. It also makes you appreciate the value of those friendships you have had, and have maintained, over a long period of time (and over a long distance).

Over time friendships just happen in an organic way, but thrust yourself into a foreign land and you become aware of how there is almost a necessary ‘process’ involved.

Cultural differences even though you speak the same language of course play their part but it is important to focus on shared experiences, maybe similar personalities, and shared passions and keep an eye open for people who you get on well with…and if so, don’t be shy to suggest meeting up sometime in a more social setting. Not always easy to do especially if you are quite reserved. It is so important to say “YES” more as well. You have to put yourself out there into the ‘friendship market’!

Driving Crazy

Everyone learns to drive by different rules and regulations so when you move to a new country you expect differences. In NZ, where they drive on the left just like the UK, I was thinking about the cultural differences of the actual drivers themselves and how I might describe the drivers if I had just a few words…

For New Zealand, I thought of “relaxed but impatient risk-takers” because they generally drive like no-one else is on the road and just move around (they do generally indicate) into any space going but people seem so laid back about it all. They like to duck and dive and do u-turns. Very unpredictable. There is no point gesticulating to anyone because they don’t even know you are there. They do like to use their horn if you delay them for even a second.

For the UK, I thought of “aggressive but aware and polite” because there are so many cars on the roads that people generally have to be really switched on to what is around them but because of these volumes people are easily riled and like to gesticulate out of the window…which makes things worse because others see it. Use of car horn is considered impolite. People will generally flash you to let you in to traffic.

Aren’t people odd?

What summary would anyone suggest for their country or other places they have been?

Who Are Your True Friends?

I was thinking recently about the new perspective you get on life when you live elsewhere in the world.

It occurred to me that I could think of only around half a dozen friends who instigate contact with me (either by post, text or email) on a relatively regular basis – and two of these friends do not live in the UK either. I am not sure this was any different before I moved to NZ but in the UK I had regular meetings with people and was more immersed in shared experiences and life in general. The relationships were more organic. It might not seem much but when someone says “Hi, how are you?” once in a while, it can mean a lot. Everyone is busy just living their lives I guess and a one-size-fits-all approach with social media seems to be how people conduct ‘friendships’ these days which is pretty strange when you think about it.

It will be interesting to see how well I settle back in to these relationships when I return to the UK for a holiday this year. My life has changed quite a bit since I last saw these friends and perhaps theirs has not. I wonder whether a lack of interaction over time starts to render us strangers or if that just melts away naturally as some friendships are stronger than time and distance. I obviously hope that the latter is true. A lack of familiarity should make these new interactions more fulfilling and interesting though.

In some ways I think this stranger-element could also be true of family relationships but to a much lesser extent. It is interesting since being in NZ how little family seem to instigate FaceTime or similar regular interactions. I am not sure if the 11-13 hour time difference is just too tough to work out or if they think we are likely to be too busy off doing something – which is no different to living in a different place in the UK really – but you would think this would be a natural two-way street. Such is life I guess.

Does anyone have any similar experiences from extended time overseas and how have you found returning “home”?

Going Dutch

I am not entirely sure where the phrase “Going Dutch” comes from…perhaps the Dutch were famed at some point in history for sharing the cost of meals…or maybe you had to wear orange while eating?

Anyway, I must tell you that in New Zealand, paying for meals on a shared basis is a breeze. When everyone has finished eating, you don’t ask for the bill, instead you go to the till on your way out and everyone pays for what they had individually (and generally by Debit/Credit Card).

I have never seen this in the UK, where instead you end up with the utterly ridiculous scenario of people passing the bill around the table and putting down enough cash to cover their part of the bill (and of course many don’t have the right money and so need their own bit of change)…it takes ages and is crazy by comparison.

The only downside to the NZ way, however, is that if you are last to pay and have dined with less-than-honest folk, you might get stung with a larger bill than you expected…