enigmatic's Xanga

Meri Kirihimite!

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:34:53 GMT

For all my Kiwi friends (and anyone else) spending the holidays away from home.

Vegas Is For The Goats

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:49:39 GMT

Turkey!

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 23:07:37 GMT

Just a quick Happy Thanksgiving message to all my friends and family here on Xanga.

I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to experience American culture and traditions and to share those with my husband, just a few days out from our 11th wedding anniversary.

What are you giving thanks for?

Language Barrier

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:44:29 GMT

When people find out that I'm from New Zealand, I generally get asked a few questions about the country and culture, and I love that. I'm immensely proud to be a Kiwi so telling people about where I come from is a favourite pastime.

Most questions are predictable, like the ones about Lord of the Rings (yes, I did know people involved in the trilogy) and Xena: Warrior Princess (yes, it really is as green as in the series), or the ones about the weather (yes, you should pack for all four seasons and expect them all to come at you in the same day regardless of the time of year). Some are a bit dafter, but still easy to handle (no, riding on whales isn't common but yes, I have been swimming with dolphins).

Today, I got one which absolutely took the cake ...

"Do you speak English?"

Ummm ... no. I don't.

You have a chip inserted in your brain which automagically translates everything I say in to a language you can understand. The guy next to you thinks I'm speaking in Ket.

Idiot.

American Girl

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:58:21 GMT

Hello everyone! It's time for my semi-decennial update.

As always, it's an emotional experience coming back here. It blows me away how the posts that are presently on my front page cover not only a few years, but some of the most painful experiences of my life. That will change though - I will be sticking around and I have the premium to prove it!

Quite a bit new with me. I'm all Americanized now. Well, not really, but I am a little Kiwi girl living in Sin (City). I've been here for just over a year, after waiting 20 months for immigration to approve me and the kids.

I'm enjoying it immensely but I have to admit that along with the culture shock, there are a few things about the US that manage to amaze and astound me. Politics is the big one. I do not understand how people get so nasty about it to the point where they passionately despise and can hurl rancid abuse at a complete stranger, just because of their political affiliation. Now, if this was Zimbabwe and one party took power through violence and bloodshed, I'd get it ... but it's far from that, and it's making it really hard to pick a side (I'm trying, in preparation for Citizenship. LOL). I don't think I fit in with either of the usual suspects. I'm too liberal to be a republican and too conservative to be a democrat.

It's not all bad though. I've gotten used to driving on the wrong side of the car (and road!) and even managed to not only get my driver's license, but drive, all by myself, down to LAX and back, then back to LA and around all the touristy spots!! It was a mean feat when you consider I did everything in my power to avoid the freeways in Vegas prior to that.

The thing I was most thrilled and surprised about is the fact that there are far less rude people than I expected. It won't be any surprise to most of my American readers, but y'know what us foreigners are like. LOL. Almost everyone I've met has been absolutely lovely, though I will admit that I have been told to "Go back to England" twice. I even like that though. It's an improvement on 11 years ago when I was constantly asked if I was Australian.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 12:23:55 GMT

Seriously. You've been gone a while, right?

Things are changing big time for us. That guy I married and I are hooked on WoW, so if you're ever on the Thrall server, look us up (my alts are too numerous to list, so just email me instead).

Oh, we're also headed to the US. He's already there, in fact. I haven't seen him for over 4 months. He's got some cushy job working at a big casino and I'm left to fix the house and wait like a good little wifey. Heh.

Anyway. I hope you're all doing great. It's nice to see your smiling faces after so long!!

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Wed, 17 Nov 2004 13:30:57 GMT

It's late, everyone else is in bed. The kid that lives with us is sick, so I don't have to get up early to ship him off to school, and for once I'm not fighting to be heard over the sounds of Halo 2. I'm drinking wine, listening to music. Life is good.

I hope it's as well for you.

Wednesday, February 04, 2004

Wed, 04 Feb 2004 11:52:54 GMT

Wow. This place has changed ...

I came over tonight to have a look at the old She Said He Said entries since I've started blogging some of those 'conversational snippets' elsewhere. But it turns out I've been here for quite some time going over not only those entries, but the ones here and on Jeremy's old blog

I've spent my time divided between laughing, shaking my head, and crying. We really had some very emotional experiences during our time here, both good and bad. Perhaps that's why I occasionally feel the need to wander over and say hello. Or perhaps it's just that we made some wonderful friends and it's because I miss you that I have to come. I know it's not very often that I do, but please know that I honestly do miss the cameraderie and the closeness I found here. I think I'll come back more often.

Friday, August 29, 2003

Fri, 29 Aug 2003 16:07:59 GMT

So, IVF sucked. Now it's onto the totsicles (read, frozen embryos). I'm bitchy and I'm really pissed. My brothers girlfriend (even though they've been ... errrm ... screwing ... for over 12 years, I still can't bring myself to call her my sister-in-law ... even 'my brothers girlfriend' is a stretch as I usually call her ... well ... we won't go there) is pregnant. She's due in October. And we found out on my birthday, four days after the negative IVF result. Bastards.

This looks really odd in Linux ...

Sunday, July 13, 2003

Sun, 13 Jul 2003 11:54:13 GMT

We've started our first IVF cycle. Daily jabs since Tuesday, and counting down til early August when our little embys are placed into their womb with a view ... Yay us!

Hope you're all well, btw ;)