In the two years I've been out of New Zealand, there are 'things New Zealand' that I've missed, but accepted as lost while I wander. Haghia Sophia and the Blue Mosque went some way to filling the void, and living in Istanbul created its own excitements and challenges. And even now, relocated in Belgium, I can live without regrets for things lost ... Vegemite, pineapple chunks and proper chocolate,with fillings like peppermint and caramello (writes the woman who lives in the land of the supremely made chocolate but, just sometimes, I do long for what I know), and oddly enough, battered fish from a good fish and chip shop (rarely had while home, often craved for here).
But more to the point, Kim Hill was the goddess of Radio New Zealand when I left, and she was perhaps the most difficult NZ media presenter to live without ... her interviewing technique, humour and knowledge saved me in many of my smalltown New Zealand locations over the years.
Today, Corryl sent me a link to Radio NZ on the internet, and as I write this, I'm listening to RNZ archives, and Kim is interviewing Hector O'hEochagai, a foreign correspondent in Galway. It's bliss!!
News on the diet front ... it's off. I've chosen happiness in these days of struggling as a poor lonely writer in her cold attic garret. (Well, Gert's at work all day, and the apartment is on the top floor ... and it is cold if I turn the heating off, I'm writing - there are elements of truth in this if you search for them.)
No comments:
Post a Comment