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Our Christmas as Immigrants
It’s 9:40AM on Christmas Eve here in Hamilton. We are seated in the surprisingly spacious waiting room of the Hillcrest Medical Centre. It’s a relatively small operation boasting some eleven doctors and two grumpy receptionists. The room is far from full so Gwyn is feeding Clark a banana. Despite the inauspicious locale, all is well…
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Language, Identity and Culture
We had a farewell morning tea for a colleague earlier today. My friend is a lovely woman of British extract who will be moving away to start life anew with her ‘partner’. The use of the term partner as a synonym for all manner of couplings is something I’ve found strange here in New Zealand.…
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A Prayer on a Rainy Day
A prayer/poem I wrote while enjoying the rains here in the Waikato. Dear God – Today, I’m thankful for rain. For cool summer showers and lawns that resemble seas of green. For lunches shared with ducks and for countries where a beer for lunch isn’t terribly scandalous. My heart is also thankful for technology and…
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Life: Standard or Fast?
I mailed a letter to a friend Friend back home the other day. When I looked at the New Zealand Post mailbox outside our student centre, I reveled in the appropriateness of their signage. Over the past year, my life has been lived on the ‘fast’ side of life’s mailbox. Looking back over my 31st…
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What’s in a Name? The Redskins Mascot Controversy
I’ve resisted weighing in on the latest round of the Native American/American Indian mascots controversy. When such debates rear their heads, the conversation is rarely constructive. For example, of late, Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder has been called both a racist and a bigot – and these were just letters from family. (I kid. I kid.) The…
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