There is definitely a tie that binds for me. I've been living in NZ coming on 3 years, but now as the Olympics play out in Vancouver and I can't watch them, I feel I'm missing something. I grew up with one TV channel - CBC- and I really looked forward to watching the Olympics every 4- and then every 2 years. Winter sports were definitely my favourite...
(As an aside, as a correction to a prior post, I found out there is local free coverage in NZ, however it exists on "Prime"- and despite shelling out for 3 ever more expensive TV antennas, I seem stuck with only TV 2. )
One of the things I really appreciated about the Olympics was watching athletes I'd never heard of before- and cheering for them- cheering for our own. Canadians may not always be overbearing folk who shout out who we are and what we're proud of- but I think we have a quiet pride that bubbles below the surface. Perhaps we sometimes feel the need to express or at least show how we feel- and we can do that in simple moments- like cheering at the TV when someone we'd never heard of before did better than expected and won a medal.
Sports I particularly wish I could have watched: 1) Hockey- for me this goes without saying. 2) Curling (I'm from Saskatchewan- enough said.) 3) Figure skating- (thank Kurt Browning for that).
I sort of feel like I'm missing that chance I would have to express my patriotism in a quiet way, in my own living room. Instead, I'll blog about Canada from afar. Go Canada!
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And on another matter, a few political issues that have come up in NZ of late are:
1) Whether the legal driving age should be raised. There seems to be public support for going as high as 18. Stay tuned
2) What political system should be in place. Currently NZ uses a type of proportional representation called MMP (which in broad view means every voter gets 2 votes- a party vote, and a local electorate vote. In Nelson- we have an MP who won the electorate who is National, and one who is Labour who is a list MP. The party vote % determines the approximate breakdown in the House of members). Polls seem slightly in favour of MMP. Once again- stay tuned.
This Saturday’s Recipes by The Pioneer Woman
3 years ago
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The Olympics were absolutely FABULOUS! What amazing coverage this year! IT was definitely super exciting to watch the games this year while they took place on home turf. CTV did a great job covering it!
That's pretty interesting that they are talking about upping the driving age in NZ. It's about time! I heard that it was so low due to historical reasons (kids needed to have a way to leave their rural homes to drive to work or other functions) but I really do think that 15 is just FAR too young to be driving. It's especially scary when you teach kids that age and you know just how immature they are and how even scarier it is thinking about them behind the wheel!
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