Impromptu Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday. I love that it is about being together and eating delicious food, rather than about presents. I love getting together with the Verscheldens and spending days playing all kinds of games and catching up with everyone. Unfortunately, even if Thanksgiving was a holiday that is celebrated in NZ, which it's not, it wouldn't be the same to celebrate it without the big gathering with my family. It is not surprising, therefore, that neither J nor I noticed that Thanksgiving was coming this year. We have been (and this might sound familiar, but it continues to be true) very wrapped up in business and stress at our jobs, and it didn't even occur to us that it was going to be Thanksgiving, especially since it's just a normal Thursday at work for us here.

I was so utterly not aware that when a new parent at work asked what I was doing Thursday, I responded that I'd be doing all the normal things I always do. She then asked if I liked Thanksgiving, and I enthusiastically responded that I absolutely love it and it's my favourite holiday, then left plenty of space for a thoroughly awkward silence before capping off the embarrassment of the situation by exclaiming, with rapidly disintegrating enthusiasm, "Thursday! Thanksgiving! Yes! Thursday! No, I'm not doing anything at all." This kindhearted parent, who had lived in New York City for five years and fallen in love with Thanksgiving, seemed heartbroken that this poor, lost American who loved Thanksgiving hadn't managed to do anything about it. She generously invited me to the Thanksgiving dinner they were having at her work, which is a meteorology office. Apparently, they have about 10 Americans working there, which is crazy, because I haven't met that many in the whole time I've been here. Who knew that Americans were so into the weather? 

Anyway, I was actually at home feeling quite sick on Thursday, so I couldn't go to the lunch, but when I went back to work on Friday, she showed me pictures and told me all about it, and seemed genuinely upset at my total lack of Thanksgiving. I tried to tell her that while I miss getting together with my family, to me holidays are just another day, and I really wasn't upset about Thanksgiving in particular, but I don't think that she bought it. I think she thought I was trying to be brave, but that's only because she doesn't know me very well yet. She'll soon learn that I'm willing to bemoan my fate when necessary.

Despite my lack of trauma at missing Thanksgiving, I was actually touched by how kind and generous this mother was, especially when she insisted that we plan ahead next year and organize it so I can come to their celebration. This is a mother I've only known for a couple of weeks, and it is amazing how she is reaching out and trying to help.

With this in mind, I realized that it would probably make her happy to know that I did something for Thanksgiving, and decided to throw something together. I was still not feeling great, and have injured my neck (a bulging disc hitting a nerve) so I was not inclined to spend the day in the kitchen, but J and I decided to just have whatever Thanksgiving-y food we could get at the grocery store, and call it Thanksgiving dinner.

Our first Thanksgiving in NZ, we discovered that cranberry sauce doesn't exist in NZ, which is not too traumatic, as neither of us are huge fans, so we didn't even look this year. J sent me to the store with instructions to buy a box of pre-made stuffing, which he informed me was called dressing in NZ. After a fruitless search, I asked an employee, who showed me the salad dressings. When I explained what I wanted, he said, "Oh, you mean stuffing?" So much for our bilingualism. Unfortunately, even the "pre-made" stuffing required more work than I was willing to invest, but then I brilliantly found a rotisserie chicken that came with stuffing inside! J was not in the mood for mashed potatoes, so we went with corn, and so completed our meal. Not exactly the thanksgiving feast one would usually expect, but it was actually delicious, and I don't think I've ever eaten a rotisserie chicken in my life, so... now I have. And let me tell you, they are much more delicious than I thought! 

We even did the wishbone!

J won, as I believe he always does.

We have also discovered that pumpkin pies, or even the ingredients to make pumpkin pies, are not easily accessible in NZ. I looked for any kind of sweet pie at all (instead of the meat pies they have here), and turned up nothing, and so I got an assortment of pastries. Actually, the white ones had apple pie-like filling in them, so that kind of counts!

Following a lunch that turned out to be both delicious and entertaining, as we got quite a laugh out of our pretend Thanksgiving food, I Skyped with some friends and family, and then curled up on the couch with my neck propped up (to try to get pressure off the discs), and watched silly TV shows. Which, I think might actually be part of Thanksgiving as well. I know it wasn't American Football I was watching, but I still think it counts. And it was nice and relaxing, and I was thankful for the time to do it, so all of that counts, too. And J played video games, for which he is always truly thankful.

And the best part of the story is, I can go back to work tomorrow and tell that mother that I had a lovely, relaxing Thanksgiving with my husband. I'm hoping that will bring a smile to her face.

Natural Disaster Update and Botanic Gardens Pictures

You'd think that a severe earthquake and its many significant aftershocks, along with a tsunami warning, would be a quite sufficient serving of natural disasters for one week, but you'd be wrong. The tsunami threat passed, fortunately, but an intense storm moved in, pouring down so intensely that large areas of Wellington and the surrounding areas flooded. Most everything was closed on Monday, due to the need to asses earthquake damage, and then many places, including schools, that opened back up on Tuesday were promptly closed again due to flooding. Many people had to leave work early even if their jobs didn't close, because the roads were closing as the flood waters rose, and they needed to get home before they lost the ability to do so.

Fortunately for us, my work, although way further downhill than our house, is still up high enough not to have to deal with flooding, and since it is all uphill to our house from there, I had no problem getting to and from work. J's building was closed until Thursday, and by then the flooding was done. There are still people who haven't been able to return to their homes, either due to earthquake or flood damage. Notably, a tall building near parliament had a central structural beam shattered, and it is at high risk of collapsing onto neighbouring buildings, so everyone who lives or works nearby has to stay away. I am so thankful that we are lucky enough to continue to be largely unaffected.

In other news, I had parent-teacher conferences after work every day this week, a meeting after them on Thursday, and then a work event after them on Friday night. Everything went well, but it was a truly exhausting and emotionally draining week, even aside from dealing with natural disasters, which took their toll on everyone, whether we were directly affected or not.

In light of this, today's post will consist largely of the pictures from J's and my most recent stroll through the Botanic Gardens. You can admire them and appreciate them with little need for comment from me, which is perfect, as the commenting (read "thinking") areas of my brain are in need of rest.

Someone built a lovely little fort in the "fairy garden" section. I will have to take my children to visit it.

I always think of my dad, who love irises, when I pass this area.

Hard to tell, but these are actually different colours of poppies. I didn't even know they came in colours other than red.

I find trees with entirely horizontal branches fascinating.

New Zealand has some truly amazing vine arrangements going on.

The rose garden has yet to come into its full glory this spring, but I did love this yellow-peach blossom.

We're Safe after the Earthquake

Hey, some of you have been emailing or messaging asking if we're okay after the severe earthquakes around New Zealand in the middle of the night last night. Yes, we are fine. We're safe, and we clearly got off easy, as even people on our street had thing break as they were thrown off shelves, but we have no damage at all.

I was sleeping (like a normal person at midnight) and was shocked out of bed by a huge, bucking jolt, followed by J running in from his office (where he was unwisely staying up late) saying that it was an earthquake and trying to decide if we should drop, cover, and hold, or run outside. After a bit of indecision, another big jolt made us decide that our house, perched as it is on the side of a steep hill, was not the safest place, so we hurried outside. Just as we did, however, it started calming down. We probably should have stayed outside longer, but I went back to bed and fell asleep in about half a second. J said that the many aftershocks, some severe, throughout the rest of the night kept him up, but I slept straight through all the rest.

The earthquake originated on the South Island, and unfortunately did quite a lot of damage down there, including two deaths, which is horribly tragic. If you'd like to read more details of the national effects or see videos, click here for a live news feed.

Wellington, being quite close to the South Island, got quite a bit of damage as well. We were warned not to go anywhere near the central business district today, as there was a tsunami warning and quite a bit of damage to some buildings. I just read an update that parts of downtown are still blocked off.

Both J's and my jobs are closed today, as are many things in or near the central business district. We are now hearing that we will be having winds up to 140kph (87mph), which is "severe gale force" this evening and tomorrow morning, but Wellington is used to high winds, so I'm hoping that everything will withstand that just fine. (Side note, a rolling, wavy-type earthquake just rolled past us as I was typing this, but it was really kind of soothing, compared with the others. It was probably an geological apology of some sort).

In sum, I feel awful for the damage that has been done to many places, and the negative effects this will have on people's lives, but I am thankful that J and I, as well as our friends, are safe. Please don't worry about us, as we are fine.

Bhakti Lounge Festival of Sweet

A few weeks ago, our friend Harry invited J and I to go to Soul Feast, a Sunday night event at the Bhakti Lounge. They do yoga, then chanting meditation, then have a big meal. Harry has been going every week for a while, as he plays his violin with the musicians during the chanting meditation. They also have a lunch restaurant in the centre city where he's taken J for lunch, and J said that the food, which is all vegan, was delicious! I'll go anywhere for good food, and the singing sounded interesting, so off we went. (We didn't go for the yoga part, just to be clear).

The Bhakti Lounge is a Hindu establishment, and the chant that is repeated over and over is about Krishina and Rama, two very important deities. At first, the chanting was like in this picture - everyone sitting on cushions and singing a slow, melodic chant. One of the musicians would sing the chant through, and then we'd sing it back, and it was very soothing. Then there was a bit of a break for a speaker, then we did it again, and this time everyone stood up, and the chant started out slow, but got faster and faster, and eventually many people were swaying, clapping, dancing, and even jumping around to the music. I was delighted by the joy and positivity pouring out of everyone, and the music was very beautiful and energizing.

After the chanting, Harry, J, and I had dinner together.

All the food was organic and vegan, and it was delicious. I particularly liked the soup, which was smooth and very nutty, and the tea, which was both fruity and spiced. I had several cups!

A few weeks later, Harry told me that the Soul Feast was going to be extra special that week, because it was the Festival of Sweets. He said that people were going to work all week to make a hill of sweets, because the festival originated on a sacred hill in India.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was truly impressed at what I found. It's hard to tell in the picture, but this is one huge hill of sweets! We did the chanting and dancing around it, ending up in quite a swirling, twirling dance all around it, before we settled down to eating.

The base is green grated coconut, and on top is every kind of sweet! Cookies, sweet rice, shortbread, fudge, lassi, nut clusters, marzipan, cake, pastries, sweet muffins, caramel bars, and I don't even know what else! 

A friend of Harry's explained that the blue cookies are the face of Krishina.

I was particularly impressed by the large roses, which were made out of pastry and apple slices.

It was really lovely to experience this celebration with lots of nice people, and to share in Harry's enjoyment of this community that he's found. Also, I can't complain about the quantity of sweets I got to eat!

Te Tumu Herenga Waka Marae

After nearly a year working at Victoria University of Wellington, I finally managed to make it to the new staff Pōwhiri. They hold them a few times a year, but since my whole team basically started at the same time, and we can't all call in relievers and head off for a morning, we have had to take turns, and it was finally my turn last week. 

As part of of its commitment to ensuring that Māori students feel comfortable, connected, and supported, Victoria University has built its own marae and wharenui on the Kelburn campus. 

The open space in front of the building is the marae, where the initial introduction part of the pōwhiri takes place. Historically, pōwhiri often took place in a situation where it was not certain whether the manuhiri (guests) came in peace, or to challenge or fight the tāngata whenua (people of that tribe), and so the initial engagement happened outside, in the realm of Tūmatauenga (guardian of war). While pōwhiri are now exclusively peaceful welcoming ceremonies, they still begin outside, with statements of intention from both parties, before progressing inside the wharenui (carved house) where the rest of the ceremony and purpose of the meeting is conducted, in the realm of Rongomātāne (guardian of peace). 

In this particular case, all the new staff were the manuhiri, and the higher-up bosses, including the Vice Chancellor and all kinds of important people, were the tāngata whenua. This pōwhiri welcomed us onto the marae and made us a part of the tāngata whenua of Victoria University.

This is the peak of the roof of the entryway area, on which you can see the name of the marae: Te Tumu Herenga Waka Marae. This means "The Hitching Post for Canoes," which reflects the multi-tribal nature of this marae and wharenui. Typically, they are linked to one iwi (tribe), but this one represents all the faculty, staff, and students at the university, which is quite unique, in my experience. 

On the inside of the wharenui, you can see the continuation of the tahuhu down the peak, which represents the spine, and the painted roro coming down along the roof from it represent the ribs. All of this is to represent the body of a tipuna (ancestor), which would usually be an actual person from the iwi, but in this case is a mythical ancestor.

The walls of the wharenui are covered with poupou, which are carvings of people that tell the history of the iwi. The poupou in this marae tell lots of different stories, largely related to the value of education, which is appropriate. The designs on this face represent moko, which are traditional Māori tattoos. 

On either side of the poupou are tukutuku panels, which are woven patterns that can represent a wide variety of ideas, although I know next to nothing about how to understand what they mean.

This is another type of traditional carving, and I would say that this type is even more common in my experience. Interestingly, this one is holding a religious book with a cross on it. Many Māori were very interested in Christianity when the European settlers came, although I don't know what particular figure or story this poupou is representing. 

I have been to a couple wharenui, but it is always a special and meaningful experience, and this was no exception. I am glad to have made this connection to the community at Victoria University, and to have spent time in a building that is truly a work of art.