Cup Day

Well, I got my wee little fascinator pinned on and we were off to the races yesterday! Apparently the 2nd Tuesday of November is the New Zealand Trotting Cup day, as well as the kick off to the annual NZ Cup and Show week. So we were at more of an event than I realized.

After brunch with friends, we taxi'd over to Addington Raceway- where horse races and other large public events are held in Christchurch. Everyone looked like they were dressed for a British wedding, and lots of people seemed like they'd already drank all the champagne.

Addington Raceway on a warm race day (aka, not yesterday) Via

Welcome to the races (via)

After a quick peruse of the venue we decided to place some bets. $2 for the win (lower odds, better payout) or $2 for the place (better odds, lower payout). And with a lot of help from my co-workers, we learned a little about trotting. 

The horse is only allowed to "trot", not gallop or run. I guess this would be obvious to someone else, but I was seriously wondering why they looked to be going so slow. With trotting, the jockey sits in a sulky (which looks remarkably like a rickshaw to me- but don't tell them that) instead of on the horse. And that's all I learned. 

There are little books you can buy when you bet that give you the horse's recent statistics, its age, where its from, who trained it, etc. Someone much more interested educated than I could really formulate calculated bets with all of the info provided. I bet based 90% by horse name and jockey jersey, and 10% by past statistics. 

Two horses battling for the win- unfortunately I hadn't bet on either of them. (Via)

This was my first horse race, and I'm not really sure what to think of it. I could see how it would be fun if you really understood the statistics and the tactics. Scott's theory is that betting is encouraged so people will be interested in horse racing at all. By the end of the day we had spent $16 on betting and won $12 of it back. And we probably stayed an hour or two longer than we would have without betting- so there you go. Theory proven.

The flip side to the horse racing was the fashion. NZ Cup Week is considered to be the fashion event of the year, and as I mentioned before, ladies spend a ridiculous amount of time and money on their attire. This year's fashion winner said she found the fabric for her dress in March, and has been planning the outfit around it since then. She hired a dressmaker and style team. 

2013 Best Dressed man and woman (Via)

Unfortunately for all of us, the usually sunny Cup Week weather didn't come along. The high yesterday was apparently 15 (59 degrees F) but a wicked wind made it feel much cooler all day long. We kept warm huddled together drinking champagne, but I admit when I got home I was chilled to the bone.

Photos from our lawn (cheap) seats.

So now I've experienced the races. 

It was interesting… the fashion and the betting were entertaining for a few hours. But in a way it was like being at a really fancy fair. Until it was 4pm and the heels were off, the mascara was running, and the stumbling was in full effect. Of note: we were on the lawn- basically the kids' seats. I'm sure there was a much different picture in the big glass building with the high rollers and mezzanine seating…

But you just kind of sit around, and don't do anything. I've got jumpy legs today. I'm not much of a spectator. I'm not much of a competitor of anything either, but I'd just rather be doing something. Is that bad? Does that make me anti-social?

Anyways, fashion shots from our little group:

Trying not to look cold.

Matleena keeping warm

Ollie so should have won men's fashion.

My $5 fascinator in all her petite glory!

NZ advertisements that aren't the worst thing ever.

Advertisements are quite different in New Zealand than in the States. Sometimes they seem a lot more blunt. Frequently a bit sarcastic. They always seem a to have a lower budget (although I don't think this is a bad thing). Regardless, I've been meaning for months to snap some photos of the really Kiwi-esqe billboards around town. But it hasn't happened. And then tonight I saw this commercial, an anti-drug driving ad, and I just had to share. The message is the same as the commercials in the States: Don't drink/drug and drive. But it's pretty entertaining...

And another...

The billboards are also pretty good around here.

Hell Pizza ad. Wish I could've seen this one in the flesh...

Aw, poor Paris.

Tui, a completely shit beer, is only sort of redeemed by it's sarcastic yeah right tui bird ads. These billboards are all over town, and have a rotation of sarcastic sayings that change every month or so...

That's all I've got for now folks... I know not a real update- but hey at least its a little quirky Kiwi culture for you!

Eating Out in New Zealand: You're Not in America Anymore!

We like to go out to eat. A lot. I chalk it up to the freedom of not having children and being able to do what we want, when we want. I certainly don't think it has anything to do with my aversion to going to the grocery store, and absolutely has nothing to do with laziness. Anyhow, there are a surprising number of little differences between a Kiwi dining experience and eating out in the U.S. of A.

Bookings
They really like you to make bookings (reservations). Even when the restaurant isn't yet half full, you get a cocked eyebrow when you answer, "No, we don't have a booking". And then you might find yourself towards the back...

Anatomy of the Menu
The Appetizer is called the Entrée. The Entrées are called Mains. Bread is never complimentary. Beer and wine aren't hard to find, spirits can be.

Gor:lla. (nope, that's not a typo!) A little restaurant that prides itself on uniqueness, local and organic.
Image Via

Language of the Kiwi Restaurant
Bacon: usually called "Streaky Bacon" (no idea why, and I'm afraid to ask)
Biscuits: Cookies
Chips: French Fries
Gherkins: Pickles (sort of)
Kumara: Sweet Potato
Manuka: Honey (technically it's a type of honey)
Rocket: Arugula

Beverages
Frequently you must ask for water. They're happy to bring it to you, just ask. Good for the enviornment! Beer prices are (expensive... and) reflected by their percentage. 4% ABV beer is usually $1 cheaper than 5% and it seems to go up exponentially from there. Wine is similar, but priced a lot more similarly to wine the States. Oh, and everyone's got cider on the list.


What you WILL find
Lots of lamb, steak, chicken, salmon. Lots of smoked salmon. Tons of pies (think pot pie, not dessert pie). Plenty of quiches and fritatas. Breaded foods, deep fried foods. Ethnic foods. Surprisingly, lots of places that cater to gluten free eating.

What you WON'T find
French Toast without bananas and bacon on top. Nice Calfornia-esque green salads are hard to find. Chèvre. Taco trucks, or really any "normal" Mexican food (Scott and I agree to disagree on this issue). Zinfandel, or any California wines... which I know is to be expected but I still miss it.

The BEST place for brekkie.
Image Via

Ordering coffee
Oh man, this should be it's own blog post. So, don't bother trying to find drip coffee, it doesn't exist. Coffee is an espresso based experience in New Zealand, and they are proud of it. You will need an open mind and a translator to get a coffee similar to what you are looking for...

Flat White: Most similar to a latte, but with a slightly higher coffee to milk ratio
Short Black: Basic shot of espresso
Long Black: Similar to an americano, 2 shots of espresso poured over hot water. (I fear if one tried to order a "Long Black" in America, you run the risk of being slapped and/or arrested.)
Bongo: A double shot with hot milk in a small cup
Fluffy: Steamed milk (for kids)

Oh yeah, a French Press (the closest you're gonna get to that Peet's coffee that you actually want will require a French Press) is called a "Plunger". Appetizing, no?

Cafe Metro, my favorite little coffee place near our house.
Image Via

Gratuity
You may have noticed that your fancy dinner didn't come with complimentary bread, you had to ask for water, and your server dropped off your food and disappeared into a black hole. New Zealand is not a tipping country. Of course they won't turn down a little cash bonus upon your departure, but it is not expected. Ever. I felt guilty the first couple of times we left a restaurant... but now I relish in it. No one asks you 5 times in 20 minutes how your food is. I'm eating it, aren't I?! Sure if you need a new fork, you may have to catch someone as they walk by. I don't mind. The downside? When we return to the States, tipping is going to be so annoying.

Payment
No matter how fancy-smancy the restaurant is, you pay the cashier when you leave. No one brings the bill to your table. This left Scott and I sitting for a long time once or twice. But actually, it's kind of sweet. Don't you hate when the waiter brings your bill while you're still finishing your meal? Maybe you wanted another glass of wine? Or worse, when you need to get to the movie theater but your waitress vanished into that mysterious black hole of a kitchen again. No biggie; here in New Zealand, you always pay at the front.

The Coffee House Cafe & Bistro (pre-earthquake, the wall is gone now...). A favorite.
Image Via

The Cost of Things... and other odds and ends
At many restaurants there is a 15% surcharge on public holidays... which, if you'll recall, New Zealand has frequently.
Pizza is available at almost every restaurant, and is a nice choice for those on a budget.
Happy Hour is a fond but distant memory.
Eating out is pretty darn expensive compared to the US, although buying your food at the grocery store isn't too much pricier.
Napkins are sometimes called "serviettes", which I like because one time I taught myself French for 3 months... and now it's totally paid off.

Kiwi-isms

I know every culture, speaking every language, has it's own slang. But being that we've only been here 6+ weeks, we still find Kiwi slang funny, and sometimes confusing. For any of the rest of you who are curious, or who've been confounded by New Zealand words and phrases, I've compiled a little list of "Kiwi-isms". This is by no means a complete list.... there's so many that sometimes I think they just make words up. But the following are used frequently enough for me to understand and thus remember them:

All photos from last weekend in Nelson

Aye: Kind of like the Canadian "eh?". This is said at the end of almost every Kiwi sentence. It's kind of like they don't want to offend or be too blunt, so at the end of every sentence they throw an "aye" on at the end to see if you agree. (Pronounced like you say the letter "A")
Context: We should get a bottle of wine instead of beer, aye?

Bird: A hot girl.

Bloke: A guy, a dude, usually someone you don't know. Our friend told us a bloke is usually a bachelor type.
Context: She went on a date with some bloke who didn't even pay for her dinner.

Boy Racer: Teenagers and young men who drive super fast, have obnoxiously loud stereos and exhaust, and who are the culprits of doing street races and doughnuts in intersections.

Bush: The wilderness. (Not a presidential failure... here.)
Context: Sam and his family are on holiday at that house they have out in the bush.

Chemist: Pharmacy

Chilly Bin: A cooler (a great example of how Kiwis like to change an ordinary object's name into something cute.)

Chips: French Fries. (And "chips" as we know then in the US, would be "crisps".)

Cuppa: A cup of. Coffee or tea, specifically.
Context: I can't function in the morning without my cuppa.

Dairy: A convenience store or corner store that sells essential food items and lotto tickets, like a 7-11.

Dodgy: Bad or unreliable. Scott says he hears this one every 30 seconds.
Context: I wouldn't ride that bike, it looks dodgy to me.

Done and Dusted: All done. Finished. (This is one of my favorites, I don't know why. It's just fun to say!)
Context: I finished that report for you. Done and dusted.

Entree: NOT your dinner! In New Zealand, your entree is your appetizer!

Fit: to be attractive.
Context: Dude did you see that bird? She was sooo fit!

Gidday: Universal Kiwi greeting, ie: Hello!

Good as gold: Good to go.

Good on ya: Good job. Way to go.

Gumboots: Galoshes or rubber boots.

Heaps: Tons. And it doesn't have to be something that can physically be in a heap or a pile.
Context: Did you see all his tattoos? He had heaps.

Holiday: A vacation, anywhere from one day to months.
Context: Dr. Smith won't be here until March. He's on holiday.

Jandals: Flip flops/sandals

Jersey: Sweater or shirt.

Kia Ora: Hello in Maori language. The favorite word of New Zealand tourism adverts.

Knackered: Super tired. Also "buggered" and "stuffed". Every term cracks me up.
Context: After that bike race I could barely walk I was so knackered.

Long Drop: An outhouse. (HAHAHA)

Loo: the toilet. No one says "bathroom", and they all kind of look at you funny if you do. I personally can't bring myself to say "loo", so I just say "toilet".

Mad: Crazy. Nuts. Insane. (Used a lot in nursing. Nurses, just think about the 5150 and DT patients. They're all "mad".)
Context: That lady with all the cats is completely mad.

Mate: Friend. Scott says this all the time now, and it makes me giggle.
Context: Hey babe, I'm gonna go have a couple of beers with my mates. (I hope he continues this phase when we're back in the US. I want to see the look on his mate's faces... haha.)

Nappy: Diaper. So a diaper bag is a nappy sack. No one says diaper.

OTT: Spoken abbreviation for Over The Top. (Kind of like saying "TMI" instead of "Too Much Information.")
Context: That patient's stories are just OTT.

Oz: Australia

Partner: Boyfriend or Girlfriend, of the same or opposite sex. SO CONFUSING at first! I figured every person I met was gay... But unlike in the states, a person's life partner is not identified as male or female during your first conversation with someone, and thus their sexual identity is theirs to reveal when they so choose. They don't use the terms "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" here after high school age. The terms "husband" and "wife" are used the same as in the states.
Context: My partner and I bought our house when we graduated college.

Pie: A meat pie. Typically in a single serving size. They're cute. (This is a source of national pride, Kiwis are known for their pies. For me, it was source of personal frustration, because I'm known for loving fruit pies. Several disappointments happened before I learned. If it's an apple pie, they specify that it's a fruit pie.)

Plaster: A band-aid, but also a plaster cast. Must be discerned by context.
Context: Can you go plaster his broken arm please?
Context: Can you put a plaster on his IV site please?

Puffed: Short of breath.
Context: I was way too puffed to run all the way up the hill.

Rubber: an eraser! A co-worker of mine told me a funny memory from her study-abroad in Illinois when she asked her hot professor if he had a rubber she could borrow!

Singlet: A tank top/sleeveless shirt for men or women. Not just gym-rat (guys) wear tank tops here. Everyone does... but they're called singlets.

She'll be right: It's all good. Don't worry about a thing. Re: Good as gold.

Suss: to figure something out.
Context: I'm not sure if he's coming to work today, I'll suss that up and get back to you.

Sweet As: A term used by every Kiwi, young and old. It basically means "cool" or "sweet". Not to be confused with Sweet Ass... the Kiwis would never be so vulgar! It's confusing to us expats because we're thinking, Sweet as what? The funny thing about Sweet As, is the first word can be replaced with any word. Cold as. Expensive as. Lucky as. Basically any time Americans would say Such and such is soooooooo               .
Context: "That new bike is sweet as." or "It must be 40 degrees out! It's hot as!"

Tea: We are not talking about the beverage folks. For some reason "tea" is slang for dinner. And no, it's not because they drink tea with dinner. And it's not in the afternoon at what I would have called "tea-time".
Context: "Kristen, it's 9pm, why don't you take a break and have your tea?"

Tramping: Hiking

Uni: Short for University, which they say instead of "college".
Context: Uni starts up again next week, so this weekend we gotta get drunk as.

Ute: A truck.

Wee: Little. They say this as often as "aye", maybe more.
Context: We're off to get a wee cuppa and go for a wee walk down on that wee beach by the ocean.

Zed: "Z", as in the last letter of the alphabet.
Context: (a wee one learning the alphabet would say " X, Y, Zed...")

Funny Food Names:

Capsicum: Pepper
Courgette: Zucchini
Kumara: Sweet Potato
Porridge: Oatmeal

In addition to these terms, to fully understand Kiwi speak, you must understand 4-year old speak. Say what? Kiwi's have this habit, which I haven't decided if I like or not, of shortening every word and adding "ie" (or a "y") to the end. As a result, you have a nation full of folks talking like toddlers:

Breakfast = Brekkie
Cousin = Cuzzie
Christmas = Chrissy
Kindergarten = Kindie
Mosquito = Mozzie
Present = Prezzie
Sandwich = Sammie
Sunglassess = Sunnies
Wellington (the capital of NZ) = Welly

"I hope my cuzzy likes the sunnies I got for her as a prezzie for Chrissy."  If you didn't know better, you'd think this bloke was still in nappies!

Obligatory duck picture. They say there's more sheep than people in NZ... I reckon this also goes for ducks.

Nursing in New Zealand. Part 1.

Hi all!

I just went and made myself a large "cuppa", New Zealand speak for a cup of coffee or tea. Context: "Hey Deb, I'm running to the cafe, can I get you a cuppa?" At my work, this is usually followed up with a 5 minute conversation about how crappy the provided coffee is (their words, not mine), and "thank God there is a cafe with real coffee across the street". (A later post will be dedicated to Kiwis' version of "real coffee".) Anyways... I've got my cuppa (tea), and am ready to tackle the topic: Nursing in New Zealand. This will be a lengthy post, so I suggest you too go get yourself a cuppa.

"What is nursing in New Zealand like?" has to be the most common question I get, second to "Do the toilets really flush the other way around?" The latter has yet to be determined, as I need someone to confirm the direction of flush in the Northern Hemisphere first. Anyways...

I don't feel properly equipped to blog about nursing in New Zealand. First of all, I've only been here for 4 weeks (tomorrow), and at my job for 3 weeks. Secondly, I don't work in the hospital so I don't have side-by-side comparisons for my 3rd floor buddies.

So I've decided to give you a run down of what my work and typical workday are like, and hopefully within this, an idea of nursing in New Zealand. First, a picture.

From Scott's recent road ride to Diamond Harbour

I have an agreement with Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery to work .8 FTE. This translates 8 days per fortnight, or 4 8-hour days per week. Pretty sweet. In New Zealand, "24 Hour Surgery" does not correlate to a surgery center like in the United States. The name, misleading to expats, is commonly understood here: 24 Hour Surgery means 24 Hour Clinic. In nurse speak, it's basically a prompt care or urgent care center.

A bit more about Pegasus: the organization is actually owned, kind of like a co-op, by over 320 General Practitioners in the Canterbury area. (Canterbury is the county, if you will, that Christchurch is a part of.) So these 320 GPs use Pegasus as a sort of extension of their offices. When patients come in with infections, DVTs, fractures, etc. they can be sent to Pegasus for outpatient treatment that is much quicker and easier than going to hospital. (No, I did not forget the "the" before hospital. It's a British kind of thing I think, but they refer to the hospital as if it were a pronoun. Just, Hospital.)

A person does not have to be a patient of one of these GPs to use our services, they can also walk in off the street, be tourists, etc. These people will encounter a $50 charge (if its not a night/weekend/holiday- then its a few hundred) for our services. This $50 (or so) will cover all plastering of fractures, suturing of lacerations, visits by doctors, etc. Hello socialized medicine, call me a communist but I see your advantages. Moving on.

So Pegasus has a triage "ER" type facility and a fracture clinic downstairs, and upstairs they have an observation unit and the Community Care nursing team. I interviewed and was hired to be in triage, however, upon learning about my Public Health nursing degree and 6 months of experience as a student in the community, I was told that I would be "temporarily" placed in Community Care, as they are extremely short staffed.

More of Scott's road ride, I can't wait to retire from nursing and buy a farm.

Being that a) I can't exactly say "no" to the only employer I have in New Zealand and b) I had no idea how healthcare in New Zealand really operated, I took the opportunity in Community Care [Com Care] as a positive thing. Sure, I envisioned myself suturing up gnarly mountain bike lacerations on fellow adventurers, but how relaxing is it to kick back and shoot the breeze with one patient at a time!? No patient transfers, rare acute pain control, rare emergency situations. I recognize that I am at risk of losing my skills (outside of drug calculations and IV starts, which I do constantly), but for the moment, I am having a very relaxing introduction to nursing in New Zealand. It's quite refreshing, actually.

So here's my day: I arrive at work at either 7:30am or 3:00pm. There are no noc shifts in Com Care, just AMs or PMs, 8 hours either way. I get a list of my patients for the day, usually 4-6 names. We have handover (report). The patients either come into the clinic, or we go out to the home. We can go anywhere in Christchurch [Chch], as well as several surrounding communities. Up to about 50 minutes driving time one-way sometimes. This can make an 8 hour day go quickly, if you like beautiful scenery, ocean views, sheep, and inner-city post earthquake traffic. I'm in the honeymoon phase still, so I like it all. Anyhow...

The most common tasks of Com Care include:

IV antibiotic transfusions (90% Cephazolin, pronounced kef-zol-in in a charming accent)

SQ Clexane (Kiwi speak for Lovenox)

Lab draws 

ECGs

Wound dressing changes

Catheterizations

Patient Assessments (done at home only. After a patient has been discharged from hospital, the GP likes to follow up immediately. If it's a weekend or holiday, or the GP is on holiday, they contact Com Care to see the patient and make sure they are safe and happy at home. The patients are usually respiratory in nature.)

A photo from watching races at the Christchurch velodrome. Are you non-nurses bored yet?

So after I see patients in the clinic or at home, I write "notes" related to their care. We follow the SOAP (subjective, objective, action, plan) algorithm for your nurses out there. My notes range from 0.25-1.0 pages typed. That's it. That's all my charting. Wrap your brains around that.

There's a bit of written charting we keep in their file (calling it a chart would be laughable, it's 10-15 pages max) including vital signs, contact info, referral forms and usually a modest H&P. My responsibilities, besides typing my notes, also includes phoning GPs, hospital, clinics, etc. to arrange for my patient's appointments to ensure they have good continuing care. It's really quite a lovely service to be a part of. The nurses are (mostly) happy. The patients are happy. I have yet to be spoken to in an even slightly degrading manner by a patient. Or a doctor!

So as you Enloe readers can imagine, my job is so different from 3rd floor that it's barely comparable. I will be cross-training in triage at the end of summer (March), so perhaps that will lend itself to some more side-by-side analysis. Regardless, I'll try to summarize a few things that I find interesting about nursing in NZ. (But another picture beforehand, to keep everyone else awake...)

Public Seating in downtown Chch. A punting boat on the Avon river. A glimpse of earthquake rebuild behind the tree. 

Physicians

- Doctors are referred to by their first names, just like nurses. Can you imagine this in the states?

- Everyone shares the same staff room, from nurses' aides to doctors. And they all mingle.

- Docs frequently liaise with the nurse about how to improve the patient's care.

- At least at Pegasus, docs wear scrubs just like everyone else's. No fancy lab coats. No designer jeans.

Working Conditions

- Coffee, tea, milk, biscuits (cookies), crackers, and fruit are provided at all times for staff. Full meals are provided if you work weekends (sandwich/panini ingredients or frozen meals, usually.)

- If you must work a public holiday (NZ has 11 public holidays annually compared to 10 in the States), you receive 1.5x hourly pay and a "day in lieu" of PTO. This means you get a whole 8 hours of PTO to take whenever you want if you had to work a public holiday. Queens Birthday in June? Sign me up! This actually applies to all professions in New Zealand, but most places just close on public holidays.

- If you are sick, you may use your sick time. Why would you use your PTO???

- Weekend pay is time and a half. At hospital, it's double time. Weekends and holiday time (vacations) are precious to kiwis. A major catch phrase of the whole country is "the work-life balance".

General Nursing Comparisons

- Starting IVs (cannulation, if you astute readers remember) is a big deal here. You must take post-graduate classes and do continuing education to be certified to start IVs. Doctors frequently start IVs. (3rd floor: can you imagine it? Call CHG instead of VAD!)

- DVTs and asymptomatic PEs are managed in the community. Have a clot all the way from your ankle to your groin? No problem, we'll give you SC Clexane at home daily, and you'll be on warfarin. You'll come to clinic every 1-2 days for repeat INRs, and we'd prefer you don't go back to work. Bed rest shmedrest. Just take it easy please. 

- We send patients home with their peripheral IVs every single day. PICC lines are very rare. So is the incidence of patients using their peripheral line for IV drug abuse.

- I wear a funny uniform with a striped fitted button up blouse and black pants instead of scrubs. Apparently it's "more professional". New Zealand as a country is really into uniforms (bankers, cell phone retailers, cafe waitresses, etc. all wear matching uniforms, usually with blouses, skirts/slacks, and stripes involved.) I'll wear scrubs when I'm downstairs.

- Nurses in New Zealand are far more worldly. My colleagues have worked in hospitals and clinics in Saudi, Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Australia, India, Germany, Finland, and the UK. It's inspiring, although to them I think my "big adventure" is pretty tame.

Healthcare in New Zealand

- People can pay or have additional insurance policies that pay for care in a private hospital. This hospital stay will include a better nurse:patient ratio, and (seriously) gourmet food services. As previously mentioned, a stay in the public hospital is free.

- New Zealand covers the cost of accidents for everyone. If you American readers come visit me (hint, hint) and break your leg parasailing or forget which side of the road to drive on and crash your rental, your visit to the hospital, treatment, medications, and follow up care are free. Completely.

I think that sums it up for now. If you've not fallen asleep, congratulations! In the time it's taken me to compose this, the weather has gone from calm and cloudy, to windy and stormy, to sprinkling rain, now to sunny and windy. This, I understand, is what Christchurch is known for. I'm going to get out and enjoy the sun while it lasts. 

A last photo, one of great importance:

Look what I got! Look what I got! Thank you, mom!!!

4

Yesterday I learned that university tuition in New Zealand costs just under $6,000/year. We're talking $3-$4K cheaper than in-state tuition in the states, and a ridiculous $24,000 cheaper than out of state American tuition. New Zealand isn't broken up into states. They have regions (ours will be Canterbury) but not in the sense that it costs more to go to school in your own country in a different region. Where I'm going with this though, is I just learned that the student loans are subsidized by the government and have a 0% interest rate. Are you kidding me?

There's a catch. The 0% interest rate is good as long as the graduate continues to live and work in New Zealand. If the graduate looks for greener pastures elsewhere (well, they wont find greener pastures, but maybe more green in their wallets...) a 6.6% interest rate is slapped onto the debt.

(Disclaimer: I'm discussing a topic from a fellow blogger's post at www.furtherthanyouthink.com. She has no clue who I am or that I exist, but I found this topic so interesting, that I'm blatantly plagiarizing her idea. My version is of course much simpler and probably inadequately explained, but you're stuck with me.)

Anyways, once a young buck graduates with his degree and secures a job, he's expected to pay back his loan. Instead of allowing the nonsense of itty bity payments, or defaulted loan payments, the government will just automatically take $0.10 for each $1.00 he earns before taxes. (This only happens if he's making $19K+/year... if you're not, I believe you can defer.) Some may find this whole system socialist, because it kind of is, but I think it's brilliant. It's forced responsibility, really.

But here's the most fantastic/baffling part: If you pay back more than $500/year in addition to the automatic deduction, the government rewards you by chipping in 10%. $50 to your $500. So in theory, you'd actually be better off financially to take out a loan and pay it all off in one lump sum, than to just pay for college up front. Essentially with this system, the NZ government will pay 1/11 of your tuition. A country that is actually helpful in gaining higher education. What a concept.

In addition to this, I learned that car insurance is ridiculously cheap ($11/month), that GMOs are illegal to grow in NZ, and that kids are basically mandated to play organized sports in middle school. Again, a lot of people may find the latter fact to be inappropriate, but I love it. Forced team work, forced exercise. Lots of lessons about winning, losing, and working together. Cool. Oh, and genetically modified food that can give you cancer and disease? Kiwis just aren't super into that.

I guess I'm wrapping up a bit of a pointless post. Some (GMO free) food for thought, and that's about it.

On a funny side note, I told Scott that we should get an iPad in addition to the MacBook so that we wouldn't have to squabble over who got access to the internet once we move. He gave me a smug lecture on the superiority of living more simply and moving to a place where we wouldn't need such unnecessary toys and conveniences. I wore him down after we had the MacBook for a week however (Apple envy), and the iPad Mini was sent to my folk's house for safe keeping during our move.

He unwrapped it when we got to the bay area about 72 hours ago, and has seriously been tapping and swiping and clicking and watching non-stop.

I would tell him "I told you so..." but I'm just thankful we'll be living simply with two computers.