Opposites Attract!

Hi All

Thought it was about time I stopped by for a chat – so much for my plan to post weekly.

I was pleased to see that an Omani had visited the blog recently. And it’s a good opportunity to mention quickly that anything I write about here is either something we’ve observed, experienced or has been relayed to us. I am more than happy to be corrected on any points of fact. Phew, disclaimer complete!

We have finally conceded its HOT here!! Had promised each other that we would never complain about the heat after our winter in the UK – but this past week has been phenomenal. Yesterday the radio forecast 48 degrees, about 2pm I checked the thermometer and it had gone off the scale at 50!! The hardest part of the day is the school pick up, I join the ranks of melting mums in the playground (albeit shaded) and rush back to the car asap loaded up with school bags, kit bags and lunch boxes (more on school in another post) to swelter some more until the air conditioning kicks in.

Look at the size of those lunchboxes!

All here now settled into their routines (arrgh hate that word!) the kids love school, and Mark is up to his neck (in a good way!) at work. I’m filling my time nicely as a lady of leisure, although I did cringe when I had to list my occupation as ‘housewife’ recently.

We are still discovering lots of differences between our life in Oman and that in NZ (and UK) in some cases things are the complete opposite to what we are used to:

First, as already mentioned, they drive on the right hand side here, this is nearly automatic for me now, although I still occasionally get in the wrong side of the car, and get confused backing out of car parks at the supermarket!

Anyone for a lift?

Then, school finishes in 4 weeks. Everyone is leaving for their summer holidays, and there’s lots of talk of ‘end of year’. This seems so strange to us with no Christmas to look forward to and the fact that new year will commence in September! Did we miss January?

Also, our hot and cold taps have swapped. Water coming in through the cold tap is hot enough on its own to shower in and wash dishes with. So now we’ve turned off the hot water cyclinder and use it to store cool(er) water. This is apparently standard practice.

Finally, everyone I talk to is looking forward to the winter (when did you ever hear that in NZ or UK?) Being so housebound during the summer months, winter is the best time to take camping trips, picnics, hiking, and turtle watching expeditions. A friend recently bemoaned the fact that her lovely winter tan faded as the summer heat means she no longer spends time outdoors.

There’s an interesting situation here with electrical goods. Every domestic power point I’ve ever seen meets the UK standard, but hardly any appliances sold in the electrical stores come with plugs that fit?! We have adapters in just about every socket in the house, and a terrifying mix of electrical items with NZ, UK, European and Indian plugs, a sparky’s nightmare :-)

Yikes!

Mark’s proud purchase recently was a water cooler, it stands grandly in the kitchen and is complete with its own little built in fridge. I think that was its selling point actually, as Mark recently obtained his liquor permit (allows him to buy a set amount of alcohol monthly for the next two years) and felt he needed a beer fridge :-)

Dunno why Petra's smiling...

Next on the agenda is a vehicle. We currently have two rental cars, and must be the only people in the city without a 4WD. After several scouting trips we’re still trying to decide what we want, but given that Mark will soon have 7 weeks on his own, that can be his little project over the summer.

Mark dreaming...

...and Brannan dreaming!

Bran, Pet and I are counting down the sleeps, 29 to go. Hope to catch up with as many of you as possible during our time in NZ. And promise at least one more post before we fly.

Talk again soon!
Hayls