Searching for Kororā: Wellington’s Elusive Little Blue Penguin
I didn’t know there were penguins on the North Island. Turns out there are — and they’re the world’s smallest. I still can’t find them.
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Tipping
I moved to New Zealand a week before starting work. It was a flurry of activity in the first week – finding an apartment, picking up our belongings, unpacking, finding my new office building, etc. And one of those activities was getting my nails done. I found a nail salon near Sylvia Park and made…
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Everything is Upside Down: Life in New Zealand
I was ready for driving on the left, the metric system, and the roundabouts. Nobody warned me about the light switches.
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Apartment Living in Auckland
Apartment hunting in New Zealand is a group sport. You register for a viewing, show up at the designated time, and mill around the apartment with a bunch of strangers all pretending they’re not sizing each other up. It’s odd. It’s a little competitive. And somehow we found our favorite apartment yet after only looking at three places.
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Why Doesn’t Anyone in New Zealand Own a Clothes Dryer?
Two weeks in New Zealand and I’ve already identified the biggest cultural difference between here and America. It’s not the driving side, the accent, or the sheep. It’s the laundry.
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Barefoot in the Park (and just about everywhere else)
One week into life in Auckland and the thing I can’t stop noticing has nothing to do with the scenery or the food or the accent. It’s the feet. Bare feet. Everywhere. In the bank, in the grocery store, walking down city streets. The kids I understood — sort of. The adults took me longer. Turns out there’s actually a cultural reason for it, and honestly? I kind of get it now.
