7 Weeks in...

And 7 things we like about living in New Zealand:

• Being so close to so many beautiful places and with far less people enjoying them. We are 10 minutes from the beach, an hour and a half from the mountains, 10 minutes from a variety of scenic hikes and we have miles of bike trails at our disposal. In a few days, we are taking a trip down the east coast of the South Island to the Otago Peninsula where we plan to see yellow-eyed penguins and the only mainland Albatross colony in the world. How AWESOME is that? And to think that we have only touched the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned for many more adventures and discoveries to come.
  
• Slower pace of life. People aren't as rushed here. People seem happier here. The customer service pretty much anywhere you go is superb and friendly. People are just plain friendly here. And we like it.
  
• Having one parent work and the other stay home. This has been one of the biggest changes for our family and we are SO much happier with this arrangement. At least for the moment. Mike will be itching to get back into the studio soon and in time, I suspect he will miss his teaching but for now, we find it much more sane to have one of us at home and the other one bringing home the bacon. And we love, love, love BOTH being home in the evenings and having dinner as a family every night. Except for Mike's scrabble night. He still needs to feed his addiction....
  
• Living in the city but feeling like we are in the country. Our house backs up onto a pasture. And we have a view of the Southern Alps. And the Port Hills.
• Living more modestly. We are still working on our food expenses (which was a huge part of our budget in the states too) but for now, we have no TV, only the basics for furniture, one car (that we use A LOT less) and we live in a modest house. This is a nice change for us. Not that we lived extravagantly in Oregon but our life here is pared down. The way our life was structured in the US did not lend itself to living simply but here, it does.
• Working as a Nurse in a health care system that provides universal health care. Professionally, this is the place for me to be....no question. The system is not without its problems but I feel like I am able to provide much better care here than I did in the US. I find that there is a much more collegial work atmosphere. I find that there is much more adherence to the idea of "best practice" in health care rather than only lip service paid to this concept. Health care in the US is predominantly driven by fear of litigation and by the influences of big Pharma and health insurance interests. It is implemented in the confines of a short-term perspective (and profit oriented model) and places little value in the importance of preventative care. Since starting my job, my co-workers have asked me numerous times what I think about the NZ health care system compared with the US system and I can without a doubt say that NZ does things much, much better than the US. They are so surprised to hear me say this, given the American propensity for hubris ("we are the best!" "we are number one!"). Granted, I am working in a small area of the health care beast (maternity care) but from where I stand, the health care system here kicks ass. I will have to devote a few more blog entries to this subject but for now, this will have to be enough to pique your interest.
  
• Being residents in a country that provides universal health care. Since the moment we stepped into the country, our family has had full health care coverage. Mike and I both feel a sense of relief that our coverage is not tied to my employment in any way and that there is an expectation that all citizens (and residents) of NZ have health care.
  

So the consensus is that we kinda like it here a whole hell of a lot. We realize that we are in that "honeymoon" phase of the emigration process but really, we have settled in quite nicely here.