So here is the plan: We are moving back to NZ in 4 weeks time!!! I know that is awfully soon, but we really only made the decision in the last 3 weeks and it has been a bit hectic since then as you may be able to imagine. More specifically we are moving back to Snells Beach where we have family and accommodation readily available. Snells Beach is a typical, idyllic seaside NZ town about an hour north of Auckland. It's not going to be terribly painful to be based here for a wee while especially as we will be leaving mid european winter to mid NZ summer.
Hubby will be working in Australia for a few weeks once we move back before taking some "holiday" time off and then seeing what the options are after that. One of which is another move back to Brisbane for some ambitious career opportunities for both of us around mid year.
The next few weeks (few being the key word here!) will be rather busy organising packing up an entire house (again), and trying to make arrangements in NZ for the the kids and me. As well as trying to squeeze in as much as we can in the time we have left in Brussels.
Some definite regrets about leaving... We have truly had a fantastic time in Brussels. I know it may not compare to the splendid glamour of Paris but Brussels as a city, is one of stunning sites in its own right. After a year here, we have not got bored of this city and leave it with much of it still unexplored and under-appreciated. The kids have had an amazing cultural and language experience that few get the chance to have. Another 6 to 12 months would have been perfect to really cement their language acquisition. But I could not be prouder of them all for integrating into their french schools so quickly and easily (even if little D has refused to speak to his teacher since this school year started in September!). And how can we not be a teeny tiny bit sad about leaving this majestic continent with all it has to offer in sightseeing, culture and history? As for me, my hopes of fluency in french have not come to pass. It is much better than when I arrived and my everyday dealings are 100% in french. We have had the benefit of living in a low expat (zero english speaking) area, so even if it is pretty darn obvious that my french requires work, I have really appreciated that they don't tend to automatically convert to english (since they speak none in general).
At the same time, we have many many things to look forward to by leaving. Family, friends, friends and friends, coffee, food, beaches, coffee, sun, a system that we know and that isn't unnecessarily complicated, coffee. And have I mentioned how much we are looking forward to decent coffee? This may have been heightened since our home machine started breaking down recently. It is now almost passable after hubby spent 2 to 3 days performing micro-surgical repairs on it - desperate times, desperate measures!
So as we get ready to leave, there are things that will be highlights and lowlights. Oh my, we are getting to experience a european christmas. Now that is one thing to be thoroughly thankful for. The decorations, lights, festivals and markets are just amazing. I will write more on this with photos once its a bit closer to the day. IF we are extremely lucky we will get some snow and have a white christmas.
Lowlights are of course the beaurocratic system which is still as painful as ever, but not as much of a shock this time round. Our ID cards expired at the end of November. I had hoped that we could get some sort of letter of extension as we will be leaving only a month later, but obviously that is far too logical and simple a solution for this country. So without a word of complaint (I am used to this place now), I went about collecting the 6 different bits of documentation that were required to apply for new cards. One of these, was a letter from the Social Services department to say that we had not received any benefits. The mind boggles as to why this sort of thing is not on a computerised system with centralisation in the 21st century, but it pays not to question such things.... Anyway, the process to collect this piece of paper to say I did not receive benefits involved me visiting an office which was only open between 9-11am. Then being told, I was in the wrong place, and I had to go to another office by way of small unsigned pebble path round the side of an old folks rest home (who would have thought?!). Arriving there, I was again told I was in the wrong place and had to go to the office across the street. Once there, I was finally in the correct place and they helpfully wrote my details down to order the documentation for 3 days time. Dutifully, 3 days later, I turn up at the place where I had ordered the document from. How silly of me?! Of course this was not the correct place to go! I had to go across the road to building number 2. Once here, they told me they hadn't recorded my ID number and therefore had not produced the document for me. Thank goodness and contrary to all previous belgian experiences, the lady offered to do it then and there. 5 minutes later, I had it in my hand and was told I had to return to building number 3 to get it signed. Crossing the road again, the powers that be in building 3 informed me that no, in fact the people in building 2 were responsible for signing this piece of paper. Crossing the road for the 4th time I finally achieved success. So, all it took was visits to 7 offices to get a piece of paper that says I have never received social security benefits in this country..... nothing like a bit of efficiency ;). This sort of thing may have driven me slightly mad at the beginning of the year, but now I am just resigned to expecting things to be as complicated as they can possibly make them. Now the big question of course, is how difficult will it be to actually leave the country?!
So as to other life events... It turns out that my efforts at gardening and growing stuff here have been an abysmal failure:
But it appears that I have been rather successful in cultivating a wee brussel sprout. Of course anyone would be excused in suspecting that the recent weight gain may be entirely due to my excessive chocolate consumption (now at levels never previously seen), but the evidence suggests other reasons...
And low and behold there is a wee sprout in there... (sorry for the poor image quality)
Baby ponky #5 will be arriving shortly after we get back to NZ... and hence our main reason for returning sooner than anticipated :).
Of course, hubby helpfully pointed out that this will be the 3rd of 5 pregnancies that we have made major national or international moves during. We have already done an international move during 1st trimestre, a long distance national move during 2nd trimestre and this will be our first international move during 3rd trimestre pregnancy. It seems an appropriate way to complete a pattern. This time at least we are moving all together. The previous two pregnancy moves I packed up the house and moved with babies while pregnant alone after hubby had already gone on ahead for work purposes.
So we are quietly ecstatic about coming home and for the first time having a baby surrounded by family. It helps that the kids are excited on both counts and as far as this year has been.... Its been a wonderful and worthwhile experience that we will forever treasure.
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