| my life so far |
| new zealand Yes, in late 1982, the family moved to Wellington, New Zealand (my Dad, who's a gifted civil engineer, had been offered a job there) and our new life began. I was excited about the move - while I had gained a lot from my three-and-a-half years at Bradford Grammar, I was eager to try my hand at a school that was a little more informal in its approach... and had perhaps slightly more girls. Ironically, I ended up at Wellington Boys' College, an excellent institution, but probably the closest thing you can get to an English public school without actually being in England or shelling out great fat wads of cash for the privilege. At first, I didn't quite fit in. Some of the kids laughed at my English accent. My response, which initially was along the lines of ("actually, I'm not the one with the accent problem - in fact, I'm just here to teach you colonials how to talk properly") didn't seem to go down very well. Unless, that is, you like getting the crap kicked out of you. But after a while I learned to adjust, and began to be accepted by the other boys. New Zealand in the 1980s was a fascinating place to be. It suddenly lurched from being a heavily state-centric Albanian style economy (high taxes, protected industries, compulsory unionism, and an abundance of Morris Minors) to being the most open, free market country on earth (yuppies galore, big shoulder pads, and Gloss, New Zealand's answer to that mega-trashy American show, Dynasty). Of course, I was a little too young to really appreciate all of this at the time. What I did appreciate, though, was the amazing natural beauty of this far away place, and the relaxed, easy going nature of its people. Five years rushed by at Wellington College. I made some friends that I'm happy to have still (Daniel and Blair), met (and was rapidly dumped by) my first girlfriend, and continued getting what I believe was a pretty good education. But then, before you could say "antidisestablishmentariasm on toast", it was time to enter a new chapter in my life. University beckoned. (So what happened next? To find out, read on..) |
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| everything you wanted to know about me - and much, much more |