Saturday, August 3, 2019

Starting A Life In NZ: New Friends Join Us At Fleur's

New friends, yes, but with a unbreakable bond to our longtime dear pal Carole in Mexico City. This is Patrick and his daughter Elle. Carole married Patrick's father back in the day and luckily got to know Patrick as part of the bargain.

Patrick's new job at the University of Otago in Dunedin brought him and his family from Berkley to NZ just three weeks ago. We hoped they might join us for lunch here, an hour north of Dunedin, and despite the myriad pressures of moving and settling in they did.

Art and I walked the Moeraki beach before our noon lunch

A man standing on the porch of this house said hi and pointed to some high rocks bordering the beach.

"She's been up there since last night," he said.





Here's Cory spooning broccoli-Parmesan soup, a delicious bowl at Fleur's. Cory wanted a change for their growing family. While Patrick's job at UC Berkeley was good, their life was becoming unsustainable. She researched the top countries for quality of life. Too cold in Denmark and Sweden. What about NZ, she asked Patrick?




He went online to research and almost immediately found the ideal position at the university.

Huston and his sister share some fish soup

Fleur's was rocking busy on this Saturday, but she always finds time to stop and say hello.

We had some marvelous conversation--from the details of their months-long prep for moving internationally to the vagaries of trying to buy appliances while awaiting a ship holding their household possessions (still a few weeks away). 

The kids love their new school, which emphasizes arts and music and has an enormous amount of outdoor space to roam and climb, and he his new job and the people he works with. She's happy too, making contacts and organizing the structure of their life.

We're delighted for them.

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