Miss and Won't Miss (Written in July of 2012)

Now that the end of our stay in New Zealand is drawing near, we think more and more about what we will miss about living here.  And what we won't!  Sometimes it helps to put some mental distance between yourself and something you love when you know you have to leave it behind.  So my list of what I won't miss is first:

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• Squeegeeing the floor of the shower every time we use it - the pan doesn't drain properly so 2-3 minutes of using the squeegee to get all the water down the drain is required
• Electric range - this is a lame glass/ceramic one that won't simmer
• Windows that don’t open - in our large 2 storey apartment we have no windows in our downstairs (bedrooms and main bath) that open.  It's either open the french doors all the way (due to wind they have to be secured open) or nothing. 
• No everyday organic options except milk
• Lack of variety in stuff
• Having the same line at the movie theater for tickets and concessions - this is our ha ha beef, but it is annoying
• Coffee prices and routinely paying 50 cents extra to have decaf, which I normally drink
• Lame chocolate chips - I can't explain this, but there is no semi-sweet chocolate, or bittersweet.  The dark chocolate found in the chocolate chips is really bland. 
• Lame Mexican food. Lack of salsa.
• Wind
• Red wine we like for under $10 - even at NZD prices we should be able to find stuff under $15, but so far, only a couple of Spanish ones do the trick.  For all the wine here, we have not found much NZ red that we like, and what we do like is all more than $25/bottle
• Internet service - oi it is slow!  and expensive!  You actually have to keep track of how much you download. 
• Paying 15% tax on all our food (on everything) - hey, we are all for the benefits of taxes.  But GST on fresh food is so regressive.  
• Having a glass dining table.  It is never clean.  
• Paying $90+ to fill up the car with petrol.  Hey, I think gas should be this expensive at home.  But I'm not going to miss it!  
• Everyone wearing the same black Kathmandu down jacket (this goes along with lack of variety)
• Kiwi accents (hmm, should I publish this one?)

 What I will miss: 

• Lack of variety in stuff - the same thing that is irritating is also kind of nice.  When you only have one option, things are easy. 
• Electric blankets - I don't know if we will bring ourselves to buy these at home.  But maybe we will.  The trick for doing it with our central heating in Seattle is to turn down the heat for the whole house and get into bed earlier with the electric blanket.  Not sure that is really doable. 
• Vogel’s bread - this is the best store-bought sandwich bread ever.  Ever! 
• Electric kettle - again, I don't know if we'll do this at home.  But they are so nice.  And fast. 
• Abundant art festivals
• Free museums
• fantastic coffee (that is something, coming from a Seattleite)
• Eggs
• Not working
• Sav we like
• Having books available at the library and movies and CDs
• Having tax and “tip” included in dining out bills
• Everyone wearing the same black Kathmandu down jacket
• A compact city where we can walk to everything easily
• amazing air quality
• Maori Kiwi accents
• Afternoons with Jim Morra on Radio NZ National