Shopping, crying over spilt hot chocolate and the kindness of Kiwis.....

Miss M and I headed out to the store to gather a few things for dinner as we are entertaining an American ex-pat this evening (Hi D!). As is often the case, I had to go on a bit of a wild goose chase to track down one of the ingredients for our salmon entree. You would think that with all of the Asian cuisine here that it would be easy to find some rice vinegar at the store. But alas, no. In the States, you would have your choice of 4 or more varieties of rice vinegar but here in New Zealand, you are lucky to get one option. There is just not the volume of people here to have a wide selection of goods like we do in the States. Of course, this is a good thing on many, many levels but I do get frustrated with the search I have to go on at times. We have a running list of essential items (real peanut butter without added oil or sugar, maple syrup, limes, jalapenos, corn meal, black and pinto beans, etc) and we know exactly what stores carry them and what stores don't (which is most!).

So, anyway, we stopped at another store to look for rice vinegar and voila! Success! Shopping done.....now time for a Starbucks fix (see previous post) at the mall. Crowded House was playing overhead (only in NZ!) while Miss M ordered a kid's hot chocolate with whipped cream and well, you know exactly what I ordered. Miss M and I had just said cheers when she knocked her full cup of hot chocolate down the front of her dress, down her leg, onto her shoes and everywhere else. Many tears and loud crying (shrieking) ensued. Many of the people around us assumed she was burned but it was sheer humiliation in those cries and tears. As I cleaned her up, a woman offered me her wet wipes, another came over and gave me a lolly to give to her, the baristas made a new hot chocolate for her without any prompting (and at no charge!) and a group of Japanese girls were ogling over her cuteness and trying to make her smile.

This incident is a reminder to me just how kid and family friendly this place is. When my kids lose it in public, I never get those nasty, disapproving stares that I used to get in the States. Instead I find people here to be all smiles when it comes to children. And it is very refreshing to experience that....