So, Thursday was Thanksgiving. But wait, Thursday here is Wednesday back in the States. So, Friday is Thanksgiving. And Thanksgiving is not a holiday down here, so I was at work both Thursday and Friday (being Wednesday and Thursday back in the States – got that?). So, I left work just after “beer-o’clock” (more on _that_ another time!), and got home so I could phone my brother’s house (where everyone was gathered) to say “Happy Thanksgiving” before it got too late in the evening (you see, because it’s 3 hours later there – Pacific time zone, that is, but a day earlier. Are you following me now? It gets better with different daylight savings time changes between here and there, such that it could be up to 5 hours later back in the States, but still a day earlier…)
Kim and Michelle had a house-full, including my Mom and Sarah, so I got a chance to say “hi” to them. Thank goodness for 10-cents per minute international rates!
New Zealand doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving (being a US holiday, of course), but they do have some other delightful holidays including the Queen’s Birthday, Boxing Day (the day after Christmas), the day after New Years, and each Province’s Anniversary. Others that are different include ANZAC day (which is New Zealand’s Memorial Day, honouring the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) and Waitangi Day (which celebrates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the Maori chiefs and the Crown in 1840, which is New Zealand’s founding government document… which is controversial to this day for it’s interpretation and implementation, though the government is working to redress Maori claims).