Have you ever wondered if everything you were taught might be wrong? Sometimes I feel like that when I’m riding my bike looking at trees budding, birds nesting and daffodils blooming. I think….”Aahhhhh, Spring”, then think, “Wait…what month is it? SEPTEMBER. Huh?” Thanksgiving in spring and Christmas in summer, Easter in Fall and a normally sweaty Independence Day in winter. It’s one of the many things that make being Down Under confusing and in direct opposition of what I know to be true.
I’m slowly adapting to celsius, kilograms, grams, centimeters and kilometers. It makes baking painfully slow since I often have to convert cups to grams and weigh flour, sugar and butter. Then having to convert farenheit to celsius means getting something prepped and into the oven takes a lot longer than it used to. I’ve recently started looking to the right before crossing the street instead of left. I still find myself instinctively going to the right side of the car waiting for the passenger door to be opened. It continues to feel really wrong having the stick shift on my left.
Who knows how long it’ll take for these new rules to sink in, but in the meantime, I’m happy that it’s spring…even if it is September. The first of the lambs have been born and are getting bigger. They happily play together in the paddocks and in the vineyards.
The trees are flowering, like these Acacia baileyana or Cootamundra wattle.
We went to my favorite park for the first time since I’ve been back. Pollard park in Blenheim reminds me a lot of the San Antonio Riverwalk. Except nicer. The grounds boast an extensive rose garden, a golf course and a fruit, veggie and herb garden that you can actually ‘sample’ from. There are centuries old trees and a winding stone walled river running through it.
As my friends ease into Fall back in the States, I’ll begin thawing out and waiting patiently for some heat. This time from the sun instead of the fireplace!
What fun! And the best part is, when/if you return to the northern hemisphere, you’ll get to un-learn everything you learned down under.
Kia ora from the South Kaipara!
Nice post. Even 10 years after leaving the Northern Hemisphere (London in our case) and four after becoming NZ citizens, we still pinch ourselves and say ‘Can you believe we live here?’ We’re used to most things now but occasionally have to stop and think about things. Part of the theme of my podcast is about the difference between our inner city lives in London and the rural life we lead now.
Cheers
Thanks for your comment, Jon! I like the rural life even though I came from very large cities in the U.S. It’s a nice change of pace and I think I now prefer living in smaller communities and knowing who your neighbors are as opposed to bustling, busy cities and being complete strangers with your neighbors for years.