Moving

Well, we're off to our new spot in the country tomorrow - the phone company is due to connect us up on Monday, but I suspect we may disappear offline for a week or so while the broadband gets sorted out.

We're looking forward to it - ironically it's the first time we've paid movers to do the whole thing for us, and we've got less furniture and stuff now than we've ever had! It's pretty cheap to get removal dudes here as well - costing us about $170 ( 70ish quid) for 2 blokes and a van. Mind you, they may charge us extra when they realise they have to cart our bigger-than-the-door-frame-god-knows-how-we-got-it-in sofa down 5 flights of stairs :)

I've got parent's evenings next week - same old cobblers the world over no doubt, so I'm suitably fed up with work, although in reality it seems a) easier than teaching in the UK and b) better organised and resourced. Kids seem to lead a more "Enid Blyton" style of existence here - lashings of ginger beer and adventures. There seems to be less stress about them being abducted, having accidents, getting a degree by the time they're 10 etc, than in the UK - they are just allowed to be kids. I teach in the "rough" bit of AKL, where they have their fair share of gang & drug problems, but even here, the kids have a certain innocence and openess about them at age 12/13 which was lacking in some of the 9/10 year olds back in Burton. Anyway, got to pack.... actually I'm sneaking out to watch the Machinist with Gingacaz + hubby... packing can wait until 10 minutes before the removal van arrives. BTW Mark and Luke, if you're reading this, I could do with a hand shifting the telly downstairs ;)