Two years

A few days ago marked our two year anniversary in New Zealand. Two years! It's time we pause and reflect on our last year as immigrants.

This last year has brought huge changes for us - our newborn baby has grown into a toddler. We've lived through two major earthquakes and countless aftershocks (ok, someone is actually counting.) More recently, to make things more interesting, we got a puppy!



I think the biggest change between now and one year ago is our sense of being settled. We don't even feel like immigrants anymore - we are just people living here. Instead of being on the outside looking in, we're on the inside looking out. At least, that's the way it feels. I suppose it's possible the natives still consider us hopelessly foreign.

It's a bit strange to say it, but the September 4th and February 22nd earthquakes probably helped make us feel more Kiwi. We've shared in the tragedy and loss. We are Cantabrians! And like the rest of Canterbury, we have a story to tell about where we were when it happened. We are suffering the same PTSD symptoms every time a big truck drives by and rattles the windows. (It's horrible, really. We hope it ends soon.)

Having a baby probably also helped us settle in well. Just last month we had a group birthday party to celebrate the first birthdays of all the babies in our antenatal class. Thanks to this class, we met a fantastic group of mums and bubs (and dads!) and still see them regularly. If you're considering moving to New Zealand, we recommend getting knocked up shortly after you arrive. It will help.

Of course, people still ask where we're from nearly every time we open our mouths. Just this week I got, "Are you North American?" from someone who apparently did not want to make a call between American and Canadian. But more and more of the local vernacular is finding its way into our vocabulary. Gareth's standard greeting to passers-by is now "g'day". A big change for me over the last year is that I went from (1) typing "neighbor", to (2) typing "neighbor" and then backspacing to add a U, to (3) typing "neighbour" in the first instance. I know it's just one little letter, but it's symbolic of something bigger. What used to be foreign is now the default.

I used to read the New York Times online, but then they stared limiting the number of articles you can read for free (jerks.) I therefore switched to the Chicago Tribune, thinking it'd be good to read news from Chicago as I grew up in its suburbs. It turns out this was not such a great move. Do you know how many people get shot in Chicago? It seems every second story is about someone getting shot. Recently the Tribune reported that 13 people had been shot in one night. That's thirteen separate shootings in one night in one city. It's beyond depressing.

I mention this because it renewed my sense of happiness about living in a place with very few guns.

I also mention it because we are finding the longer we live here, the less we are reading news from "home". Gareth still reads the BBC (although mostly for the sport, I reckon), and as I say, I still browse the Chicago Tribune to find out who has been murdered. But these days, we get most of our information from stuff.co.nz and Radio New Zealand. International news reporting in this country does leave something to be desired though, so we will probably always have a need for BBC and the New York Times.

Last year I wrote about some things we missed from America and the UK. This year, there really isn't anything we miss. Of course, we miss our families, but no more than we did when we lived in Arizona. Our families have been far away from us for a very long time. I used to miss filter coffee a little bit, but now I am truly, madly, and deeply in love with New Zealand's cafe culture and the flat white. (I love you flat white, kiss kiss.)

I do admit, however, that if I were catapulted into an American mall, I would be dropping hundreds of dollars at J Crew and Ann Taylor with no regrets. Two years in and I still have no idea where to go to buy a good pair of jeans. The urge to shop is especially strong now as I have lost all of the baby weight and then some, leaving most of my pre-baby clothes a little too big (oh, if only all of my problems could be so awesome!). But while the often-poor quality of shopping in New Zealand can be annoying at times, it's also a blessing. Buying stuff shouldn't be a priority, and being forced to remember that at times is a good thing.

In short, we have made a family here, we three (plus Aynsley the pup). It's a beautiful thing. Happy two-year New Zealiversary to us!