18 months and 18 reasons to love NZ

This time of year we have lots to celebrate. While our American friends are celebrating Memorial Day and enjoying a three-day weekend, this is just another normal weekend for NZ. But we’ll get you back next week when the Queen honours us with a day off work for her birthday.

And this week marked 18 months of living in New Zealand. Or as Jake would say, six fiscal quarters.

It may be the beginning of June, but it feels a lot like Thanksgiving to me. So let me fire up my pumpkin spice candles, make some hot chocolate and tell you some of the reasons we are thankful.

18 reasons we love living in New Zealand:

1. Pavlova -->
2. Pinot noir
3. Sauvignon blanc
(wait this is too easy… let me try a different approach)
4. No special occasion necessary to drink bubbles (champagne)
5. Most people are genuinely open and nice, including the folks at my bank and grocery store.
6. We’re surrounded by natural beauty and adventure.
7. All the hotels we’ve visited throughout the country have been clean, friendly and affordable.
8. Castlepoint (and congrats to Marc and Kat who just got engaged there.)
9. We’re so close enough to visit Southeast Asia and some Pacific Islands.
10. No tipping required
11. Sales tax is included in all price tags
12. Wellington’s public transportation is excellent -->
13. We have a great view of the harbour from our living room
14. We live in the future (but sorry Jeromy and Corey, we can’t tell you the sports scores)
15. Words like jandals, toilet, and wee squiz (there are so many new Kiwi words we’ve adopted that they call for a blog entry of their own. I’ll explain these and more soon.)
16. The café culture. I don’t think I can work a full day any more without my morning and afternoon coffee breaks.
17. Phones and Facebook keep us close to friends and family.
18. And probably my favourite: Having a good work/life balance isn’t just an HR catchphrase. People take it seriously here.