Northern California Nesties
katrina_pharmd
member
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
ohhh! I'm in...ask away :)
Good idea 
Re: ohhh! I'm in...ask away :)
What is your favorite flower (if you have one)?
Favorite animal?
Where would you take a friend who had never been to NZ if they visited you?
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Did you have a cultural shock when you settled down in NZ? Was there anything (not necessarily cultural) that surprised you?
Have you gotten used to spending Christmas time in a summer weather?
Have you traveled around your area but outside NZ since you moved there?
What do you miss the most from the US?
How is motherhood these days?
Have you gone back to work and if so was it hard?
What would you recommend as the best time of year to visit NZ?
What does your DH do for a living?
Do you make more, less, or about the same amount of money as a pharmacist in NZ vs. the U.S?
What's your funniest experience as an immigrant to NZ?
What is your favorite flower (if you have one)? calla lillies
Favorite animal? hmm, hard to say. I like fuzzy baby animals of all sorts.
Where would you take a friend who had never been to NZ if they visited you? For sure the south island. Probably the Golden Bay region, or a secluded beach on the Farewell Spit. Amazing. Besides that, a geothermal spa day would be in the cards and all my favorite cafes in Wellington.Did you have a cultural shock when you settled down in NZ? Was there anything (not necessarily cultural) that surprised you? Not really. It was easy for me to adjust here. I think mostly that is b/c I got a job pretty quickly. I love my job and my work mates and it really helped me assimilate well. The hardest part about Wellington: the weather. I am usually cold all the time, even in our summers.
Have you gotten used to spending Christmas time in a summer weather? Nope. It's still weird to have Christmas in the summertime, but then again, I grew up in Southern California, where it's warmer in the winter there than our summers here. Totally weird to see the Christmas Starbucks cups in the summer here.
Have you traveled around your area but outside NZ since you moved there? Not really. We have been to Australia and Fiji. I would love to get to Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands in the not so distant future. Good thing that those islands are usually baby friendly
What do you miss the most from the US? Mexican food, and the relative ease of getting things. ie-things aren't open as late here, there is no Target, things are really expensive here.
How is motherhood these days? AWESOME!! Better than I could have ever imagined it to be. Thanks for asking.
Have you gone back to work and if so was it hard? No, not yet. We get a year off for maternity leave here. I will go back to work in January, and I know it will be hard for me. However, my work has a daycare, so he will literally be across the parking lot from me.
What would you recommend as the best time of year to visit NZ? The tourist high season is usually November-January b/c that's our summer and it falls in line with school/summer holidays. But, the best time to come is February/March b/c the weather is more predictable and it's cheaper for accommodations. That being said, if you only have one opportunity to come to NZ, you should do it b/c it's amazing in any kind of weather!
What does your DH do for a living? He is a Chief Analyst Developer for iphone applications at a bank. Fancy title for computer guy
Do you make more, less, or about the same amount of money as a pharmacist in NZ vs. the U.S? Oh my goodness, much much much less. That's b/c I work at a hospital, which is publicly funded. We have socialized medicine, which I absolutely love, but it means I work for the government. Even as a community pharmacist the annual income is much less compared to the US.
What's your funniest experience as an immigrant to NZ? How serious kiwis are about their tea breaks!Probably the weather. But other things: driving on the other side of the road, not being able to find things that I know would be so easy to get at Target or Costco or something, local sayings/slang, listening to different accents
I'm so late in responding to your answers, but wanted to say that I'm glad you're enjoying motherhood so much. I lurk on the baby board occasionally and I think you were having a hard time with BFing in the beginning, which is why I asked. Glad you're doing so much better
How awesome that you have daycare so close to work! And a year's maternity leave...that's awesome, too!