On a Whim Wm's world travels

A long time ago (or maybe it just seems like a long time ago), when I started this weblog, I said I would answer the question “why are we doing this”. Someone reminded me the other day that I hadn’t yet answered this question. I guess the answer is not all that simple, but I’ll try.

Yes, some of it is because of the current political mess in the USA. I am worried that the US is going downhill. It isn’t just the insane deficit spending. We aren’t spending money on those things that will keep the US strong, like good education and research. Remember the days when lots of big companies had research labs — Xerox PARC being the primary example, but there were many other places (like the Tektronix Research Labs where I worked for a while). Those were the places that came up with the insanely great ideas that led to the computer boom, but most companies have closed down their research labs. And the US has stopped building infrastructure. Remember when the US decided to build a national interstate highway system? Or provide universal telephone service? Other countries have invested in broadband networks to provide cheap Internet access, but not us. I’m not sure what our economy is going to be based on in the future — overpriced medical care for our aging population?

Meanwhile, the economy in places like New Zealand is booming. And Cindy and my trip to China a year ago was eye opening. I give it 10 years max before the economy of China completely overpowers that of the US. Most people in the US still are laboring under the delusion that we are the world’s only superpower — are we blind? It is sobering to realize that there are more English speakers in China than in the rest of the world put together. They are investing in infrastructure like crazy. And unlike Japan, they know how to write software, so there goes that edge. China is a dictatorship with global ambitions. I expect that the Beijing Olympics in 2008 will be pivotal, when China publically flexes their muscle for all to see.

The other advantage of the US is cultural, but countries like New Zealand and China have demonstrated that they know how to make movies. I’m not sure if the US can hold onto their cultural dominance for that much longer.

So, do I want to live in a country whose economy is sinking in a sea of deficits and crumbling infrastructure? Where people are dying because of a lack of public health care and overpriced prescription drugs? Where the major political discourse is about discriminating against gays? Where pollution is on the increase? Where the government purposely distracts the population by starting unnecessary wars? Where people give up their basic freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism and the military tortures innocent people? Not really.

So it seemed like a good time to pop my head up and look around (before the proverbial shit hits the fan). I’ve lived in Canada and England in the past. Living abroad has always been a challenging experience for me, in the good sense of that word. You learn about yourself when you are in a different situation. You can get some of this from travel, but only so much since as a tourist you are isolated from daily life, and your experience is temporary.

So when Cindy and I started talking to people about potential places to live, New Zealand kept popping up. And many of our recent trips have been to Asia, which we have enjoyed, so we thought it would be good to be closer to those places. Originally, we were going to do a visit here first, but most people we talked to who had lived here said to not bother — that we should just move here for a year to try it out. Which is what we did.

The other reason for me is that I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, and time is running out! Living in Canada and England always helped me figure out what I wanted to do next, and I’m hoping the same thing will happen here in New Zealand.

So how is it working out?

I have to say that of course there are good and bad things about any country, and New Zealand is no different. Some things are rediculously expensive here, petrol (gasoline) as expected, but also phone service and broadband internet. Computers and other electronics are overpriced. And even though New Zealand has a deserved reputation for being ecologically sensitive, they have their share of ecological disasters. I’ve also noticed that many Kiwis seem to have something of a national inferiority complex, perhaps from being overshadowed by Australia and other places for so long. They don’t seem to think they can compete in the world, so they often don’t try. Maybe this will change with sucesses like “The Lord of the Rings”.

In general, however, we love it here. The people are very friendly. The country is beautiful. The food is great. There are lots of cultural events, festivals, and other things to do.

The big issue for us is the distance. We have family and friends back in the US whom we miss terribly. If you’ve been reading this blog you know that Cindy’s son was going to move here with us and go to school, but he didn’t. The Vonage internet phone has helped (now that we have a reliable internet connection to use it on) since it allows us to call anyone as if we are in the US. But the distance is still there. So we aren’t sure if we want to live here permanently. We’ll see. And if it doesn’t work out, then at least we will have had a great year in a beautiful and friendly place.