WHERE'S BEST TO LIVE IN NZ ETC PART 7 !!

[frikonastick]

Come oooonnnnnn MNHQ, where's our medal

Thanks penguin, that's great :)

Well luckily DD didn't seem at all perturbed and I could care less what a total stranger thinks, it was more the surreality of this angelic child popping over to say very matter of factly, that her daddy didn't like a 4 year old because she wasn't from New Zealand.

I would have made an issue of it if DD had been upset, but when I asked her how she felt, she just said its ok mommy I will play with (other child's name) and pootled off!

But, what's even worse, is today our neighbour on one side(who I think I've mentioned before being racist towards Maori) asked how DD was settling in with the other kids and I mentioned about the incident, and she IMMEDIATELY said oh well that's the bloody Maori for you isn't it! I was like and said, um actually the little girl is blonde as an angel (true!) and the nicest girl in DDs class is actually a Maori and she's been lovely to DD.

So it seems there is more racial tension than I had imagined, if I imagined it at all.

Sorry frick, I completely missed that somehow!
Wtf??
That's astounding..are you sure?!
I mean, I know your dds name, and I know kiwi kids with the same name!

My next door neighbours grand daughter has the same name, her Daddy is Samoan!
Also know of same name in each school my dd as even to in NZ!!

That's bizarre.

Oh, no ts nothing to do with her name, sorry I explained badly. It's to do with her not being from here, which the dad presumably knows because when DD started at kindy she was the only foreigner and much was made of it. Especially as she still speaks Arabic! And occasionally insists on wearing a headscarf........ So obviously the little girl had gone home and said, oh daddy there's a girl in my class and she isn't from here and her daddy said something along the lines. Oh well I don't like people who aren't from here, and little girl came to school and dutifully repeated that her daddy didn't like DD because she wasn't from here

Well, he sounds like a tool, I feel for his daughter.
I think I'd have to say something to him!

I'm not doubting you at all, but It's amazing that dd is the only foreign child!

There are so many English, South African, Chinese etc in NZ

Even here in an island...I'm amazed at how many British there are!!

Two German boys joined today! It's like the universe is throwing me a bone lol.

AB tauranga is very very parochial.

Not that I am complaining or anything, it's just finding ways around the stuff you don't like, and embracing the stuff you do. And listen, having lived in the ME for so long, I have deep tolerance levels for cultures other than my own and pretty much everything here seems so very socially educated in comparison.

And on that parochial bent, I have been entered by DD (!!!) in a fudge making competition at kindy, judging happens tomorrow at the family day at kindy. So now I need to WIIIIIIIINNNNNN, already attempted one batch, of which we will speak no more........ So I need your best fudge making tips ladies. I will crush them AAAALLLLLLLLL

All sorts of nationalities at our school too. Chinese, Indian, Japanese, S African, British etc etc etc.

Not a clue about fudge, sorry...

Lots of nationalities and levels of English at DD's school too - which is why I was so surprised something was said.

Teacher approached me this morning and asked if I'd discovered where DD "got the idea". I said I didn't know but that she was adamant it had happened, but I kind of shrugged it off a bit. She knows I'm on the look out now in any case

Frik - I've found from talking to various inlaws that there are certainly plenty of areas that don't have the cosmopolitan outlook of Auckland and even Auckland sometimes doesn't do itself many favours
Still, a horrible thing for your DD to hear.

Am afraid I am also of no use on the fudge front...

frik your last post made me snort out loud. afraid i too am hopeless on the fudge advice front, though every year on their birthdays, my kids' only stipulation as regards their birthday cake is that it be shop-bought

I see the govt are looking into taxing all overseas online purchases...

www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10896697

allrecipes.com/howto/perfect-fudge/

Try here frick...good luck with the fudge domination! :)

What is book depository?

We won for the fudge!!! I don't know what was funnier, DDs delight or my astonishment

All the countries I've lived in, none have implemented a way to tax online purchases. They ALL moan about it though, and threaten to do it. I think there is just no sustainable way to monitor it, or at leat the cost of monitoring and implementing is greater than the tax collected, which sort of negates the whole thing really. Here's hoping anyway!!

And here's the fudge recipe in case anyone ever needs one, it is a winner after all.......

www.food.com/recipe/south-african-nestles-fudge-361940

The Book Depository is the cheapest way to buy books in NZ - UK prices and free shipping.

www.bookdepository.co.uk/

They have a US site too, .com instead of co.uk.

Whatshesaid, I love you.

Aw shucks, it's nothing.

Bravo on the fudge Frik!

I try to ignore the existence of the book depository - or I'd max out the credit card in an instant! I'm lucky that the library is pretty good here though and we won't mention the fines for keeping books too long

I'm sure we've had this conversation before, but my brain is mush these days: has anyone looked into buying meat in bulk? I'm probably going to be doing bulk cooking over the next while anyway to help us get through the next few months of study chaos, and thought it might make sense to bulk buy the meat. Any thoughts? I've seen a few online places, but it's hard to know what's good quality/value etc without some experience.

Sorry, I know nothing bout bulk meat buying.

Did I tell you all about how we haven't got a New Zealand credit card? And can't get one unless we change banks, which we can't do right now for reasons I don't want to go into on the internets, but suffice to say MasterCard just turned us down for the second time, because we don't have any debt. That's right. Even though we sent them proof of our millions (joke!) in the bank, they were like, ummm computer says no. Apparently, we aren't a good bet because we always pay everything in full and so don't run up interest, which the woman said 'is the main point of having a credit card'. Yes yes, to make money for the bank. That's what they are for. Fuckers. So I am STILL NOT ABLE TO BUY ANY FUCKEN BOOK I WANT OFF THE BOOK DEPOSITORY.

Sorry for shouting. It's the addiction talking.

Can you get a Visa Debit card? Then it just uses money already in your account but can be used for online purchases.

Also, I have had a credit card with a bank other than my own. I had a Kiwibank c/c for years although all my banking is with a different bank.

I think the post office (Kiwi bank?) have those pre-paid credit cards. The ones that tend to get marketed to people who are nervous of using credit cards online. Might be an interim measure?

Also got turned down by visa.

But I didn't know about the prepaid credit card option! That sounds excellent, will investigate. Thanks vvv :-)