Blairs Boys

Monday, August 21, 2006

I'm home!!

And it is so good to be home. There is NO PLACE LIKE IT.
Every time I go away, coming home just reminds me how much I love NZ, my neighbourhood, my house.


My plane arrived at 6.40am yesterday (Sunday) and I have to say that walking through that arrivals gate and seeing my boys waiting for me was the BEST feeling in the world. I was so excited to see them, and they were just as excited to see me. And considering Rob had woken the boys up at 6am and taken them from their nice warm beds into the cold morning air, followed by a 45 min drive to the airport, they looked good! I could tell they were still a bit sleepy though :-)

My trip home was loooong. I arrived at Toronto airport 4 hours before my flight was scheduled to leave. This was "just in case" it took a really long time to get through security and US customs. Which it did. Then I had a 5 hour flight to LA, another 8 hours at LA airport waiting for my 12 hour flight home. 30 hours without deoderant, toothpaste, lip gloss and moisturiser. Boy, was that tough!! Needless to say, I chewed a LOT of gum and the first thing I did when I got my bags in Auckland (before going through to arrivals) was crack open my deoderant. LOL. But I wanted to smell nice for my honey! And he noticed :-)

I had a really great time in Canada. I loved Toronto, and I'd love to go back someday. I especially enjoyed meeting Jenn, Chris, Duncan, Matthew and Joey. What a neat family! I'm so blessed to call Jenn my friend, and even more blessed to have met her in real life.
I have to say that I liked Canada a lot more than the US. People were friendlier and it seemed more like home. A Canadian guy I talked to on the plane home said that NZ is often likened to Canada, while Australia is likened to the US. And there is that rivalry between the countries just like between NZ and Aussie. That was interesting to me.


There were lots of things I really loved about Canada.
1. Quizno's. I had it twice and both times I was sad when my food was gone. I really wish I could have taken a Quizno sub home for my sister who is a huge Subway fan, just to prove that it is yummier!
2. The accent. I really like it!!
3. Wal-Mart and Sears. Great stores! I went a bit crazy in both of them, buying clothes for the boys. I got some cute stuff for them!!
4. Maple syrup. I'm glad we have it here, too.
5. Chocolate (oops, I mean candy) bar selection. I tried a few different ones, most of them got The Big Tick of Approval from this chocoholic!


There were some things I didn't like about Canada though.
1. Not enough fruit & vegetables! I was going through veggie withdrawal when I got home and last night Rob cooked a whole lot of broccolli and peas for dinner and they tasted so good! And I didn't eat any fruit while I was there. I couldn't find any!
2. The volume level in conversations. I didn't notice it at all with Jenn's family, but most other people I talked to spoke so loudly all the time!! My uncle (who passed away last year) was a Kiwi who lived in Canada for most of his adult life. And every time he came to visit I would be scared of him because of his bellowing voice! I noticed lots of people over there talk really, really loudly. Why?
3. The crowds. I'm just not used to them. I'm not used to jostling people as I walk down the road or through the mall. I definitely could have lived without that.


I missed certain things about home. Just to name a few: Weetbix, Vegemite, Coke Zero (couldn't find it anywhere!), my TV shows (I didn't find much worth watching over there, even with 58 channels to choose from) and most of all HUGS! I can totally understand those studies that have shown people who don't receive any physcial affection can actually die. I went for over a week without any physical contact with other people (apart from being pushed and shoved while queuing up for things). After I left Jenn's place, I didn't hug another person until I saw my family. You just don't think about those kind of things, but it really affected me! I hugged everybody lots more yesterday :-)

Ah, home. I love it. And I'm not in a hurry to go anywhere else.

15 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great to have you back. You're on nappy duty for the next 12 days ok?! xx

1:21 pm  
Blogger Hannah said...

Hehehe, I'm happy to do that, honey! I changed 2 dirty nappies yesterday and wet PJs this morning :-)

1:23 pm  
Blogger Jenn said...

Welcome Home Hannah. I am glad you enjoyed your trip, but you are so right there is no place like home.

4:25 pm  
Blogger Rachel said...

Welcome back, Hannah! There's nothing like leaving home to make you appreciate what you have waiting for you when you get back. Glad you enjoyed Canada. I have cousie-bros over there, too (in Calgary), and I haven't seem them for absolutely ages.

5:31 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Hannah;

So happy to hear you have arrived home safely. I would have loved to have seen the happy reunion with your boys. God bless you.
Jenn's Mom

1:15 am  
Blogger Jenn said...

Yay - you are home safe and it sounds like the reunion with your family was the BEST feeling EVER!
Long trip - I can't believe you had to wait ANOTHER 8 hours in LA - ICK. Anyway, Home Sweet Home is the best, I'll agree. Someday when I make my way over to NZ I want to try this Vegemite ;)
Love ya
jenn

3:51 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Glad you made it home safely!

To counteract the things you didn't like, you need to remember that Toronto is a LARGE city. Most of us live in smaller centres. And in addition to the Canada/US rivalry, there's the Eastern Canada vs. Western Canada rivalry...

We out west think Ontario is a little American...I think that's where the loud voices came from. :)

Oh, I eat LOTS of veggies, and tonnes of fresh fruit, and we do have Coke Zero (though I still prefer Diet Coke)

:)

What IS vegemite, btw?

7:45 am  
Blogger Hannah said...

Angella-
I didn't realise there was East vs West rivalry!
I know Toronto is a HUGE city and of course there are much smaller cities and towns that I would dearly love to visit. Summerland being one of them! And I have family in Calgary, so we have plans to visit someday.
I'm sure most Canadians DO eat plenty of fruit & veggies, but they were next to impossible to find in the hotel restaurant and the convention centre!

Vegemite is a dark brown yeast spread, we eat it on toast and sandwiches. Actually, most non-Kiwis think it is disgusting! But we love it :-)

7:49 am  
Blogger Christi said...

Yes, I have to pipe in here, vegemite is an acquired taste lol. I think if you have grown up on it and with it then that is completely different to someone like me having it lol. I prefer Marmite (tastes a bit sweeter to me) and that's what they use on the cheesymites at Bakers' Delight, I asked ;)

Living in the States I never felt the rivalry between Canada and America. Maybe I just wasn't close enough to the border. I think it's rather silly though. We are all people, who cares where you bloody come from! I'm probably a loud American but then I find it majorly difficult to understand most kiwis as they mumble. Maybe we have hearing problems ;)

Isn't Quizno's here, Hannah? I know there is a new one here just can't remember the name? Glad you're back and we can catch up on Saturday ;)

10:19 am  
Blogger Hannah said...

Christi - YES, I totally agree with you about mumbling Kiwis!!! We are SO bad at that!

I do like Marmite as well, it just depends on my mood!

Quizno's is here??!!! What?! I must find out more information!

10:32 am  
Blogger Lisa said...

Welcome Back!!!

I was wondering about the Canada/US rivalry because I live in Michigan and we consider Canada just really an extension to us....especially when we are 19 and can't drink legally at home :)

But I guess there is a difference from big city to rural Canada :)

I'm glad you are home safe and sound and getting all the hugs you want!

1:15 pm  
Blogger Lisa said...

Oh and btw, I've actually had vegemite before and it's not horrible. Not something I would eat every day I don't think...but we have a VERY good friend who is Australian and he introduces us to these things ;)

1:17 pm  
Blogger Michelle said...

Hi Hannah,

Glad you had a good trip! Quizno's is great eh? It was my favorite sub shop. It was founded in my homestate, Colorado. Love them, miss them!
In 2002, Wendy's Supa Sundaes acquired the rights to the brand for franchises in Australia (and later, New Zealand). http://www.quiznos.com.au/index.shtml They are in OZ but it might be a bit until they cross the ditch. Here's hoping they don't take too long! :-)

2:26 pm  
Blogger D said...

What? We have an accent? JK.

Like Ang, I also eat tons of fruit and veggies. You're right, there's nothing on t.v.

-and I've tried vegemite. It's disgusting!

3:02 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm Angella's sister, and my friend and I are coming down to New Zealand in October for a couple months! I just wanted to say that I'm very happy that you guys have maple syrup down there, and Coke...I need my coke :)
I'm also looking forward to the similaries and differences of our country!

11:38 am  

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