Family Reunions…
This past weekend was the family reunion for my dad’s dad’s side. There were 150 people there, and that was not even all that were invited. If we were to count everyone, there would be 250 or more of us. And that is just my dad’s dad’s side of the family. (Next year, we have Mom’s mom’s side of the family, as well as dad’s mom’s side of the family. Each will be between 50-150 people.) The reunion was hosted by my immediate family, one cousin, and a few aunts and uncles. We organized the invitations, the food, the location, and the entertainment. I think it went pretty smoothly. Relatives from all over the US came to visit, though as always happens at these things, most stayed in their own family groups. It was like we were at a great clan gathering from somewhere back in hunter-gatherer mobile tribe history…and yet not. For one thing, I am pretty certain those hunter-gatherer ancestors didn’t have water balloon toss contests, or eat brats and potato salad, or bring a dish to pass. I’m fairly certain they didn’t have the convenience of indoor toilets either.
Still, some things don’t change. There were the usual stories, some of which I had never heard, and some about ‘cousin so-and-so’ that were traditional favorites. There were the littles running around with their newly discovered cousins, ignoring parents well intended advice, and generally tiring themselves out and getting dirty. There was the typical one side/group/person blatantly or covertly snubbing another side/group/person. There was that feeling that no matter how much you mingled, you just didn’t have enough time to talk to everyone, or you talked to too many people and didn’t really talk with anybody.
Our family reunion was set to start Saturday at 2PM until whenever. Of course, in typical clan fashion, we started a few days before and went a few days after the official reunion within my aunts and uncles, and those cousins we are particularly close to. The Montana cousins are some of these; they arrived Tuesday or Wednesday and the partying went on until Sunday or Monday (depending on the person and when they were leaving). As usual, most of this partying involved copious amounts of food. I think I probably gained 10 pounds this weekend eating cheese curds and brats and lasagna and artichoke dip with French bread and potato salad and vegetable salads and puddings and cakes and bars (I’m beginning to sound like a hobbit I think).
I had to leave Sunday afternoon after a rousing game of mini-putt with my younger cousins, and I was sad to go. As tiresome and complicated as having such a large family can be, I really do love having them. I almost feel sorry for those who don’t know the joys and pains of having such a clan. Still, I do feel for those who marry into the family, or those (like my brother’s girlfriend) who were experiencing us in full force for the first time this weekend. I admire them too; I think we’re probably pretty overwhelming to the uninitiated. And I wonder, when I do find someone whom I care about to be introduced to my entire family…will they stick around or run screaming? I had better add fortitude and strength of will to my list of qualifications…
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Where Have I Been? There and Back Again.
I’m back. I’ve actually been back since last Wednesday, but it’s been a crazy time since then. I still don’t feel oriented back into “States life”. When I returned I had work, and then a bridal shower/bachelorette party, and I tried to organize my stuff, do my laundry, and catch up on sleep from the trip. Monday was work again, and also the start of summer classes (online). Hence, the not quite real feelings of being back.
The Trip
If I wrote down everything about my trip, I would be writing a novel. Rachel and I had more than our share of Adventures on this particular adventure. Somehow, we always manage to do that, even if it’s just camping at the property. I had my share of Adventure too, even before I got to New Zealand…
California: I had a great time there. The conference was overwhelming, huge and too much to choose from. I did manage to see a few presentations, walk the expo for a few days, and have a fairly extensive look at the posters – both professional and graduate. I saw most of the people from the U of M there, though I never did make it to lunch with them. I met a bunch of other students from UBC and UW (Washington, not Wisconsin) and chilled with them at night. I did manage to make it to the beach and the Aquarium at Long Beach one day, and to Disneyland another day…so the trip wasn’t all work and no fun. I also managed to get a bit of a tan, and almost avoided the strap-lines. The first night I was there Sabrina, Tim, and myself also enjoyed the pleasures of ‘drunken skeeball’. (In parenthesis because I wasn’t drunk, but it was amusing to drink alcohol whilst enjoying a game.)
NZ: I left for Auckland at 11:30 Wednesday night, and arrived Friday morning, their time. I would say I lost Thursday completely, but my blog has a post that day saying I arrived…so obviously that was a trick. Auckland played home base, but we spent as little time there as we could. We started out by going south on the train to National Park – base camp for excellent trekking. Unfortunately, this time of year, the excellent days for trekking are few and far between, and we couldn’t get up high enough (because of gale force winds) to climb Mt. Doom. We still did some excellent treks, through the rain, but had a great time. We left there in a snowstorm to head to Rotorua. Rotorua has thermal stuff, along with spas, Maori cultural stuff, Kiwi birds, and rugby (or at least it did whilst we were there). It was also our jump-off point for going to Hobbiton. Since we didn’t get to go climb Mt. Doom, we went there instead, and it was a great tour. I’ll have to talk more about it when I download my pictures. From Rotorua we went to Waitomo Caves, and went abseiling (rapelling), caving, blackwater rafting (tubing in a cave), and climbing. After that it was back to Auckland for a brief stopover to check email, see the war memorial museum, and get rained on some more before heading to the Cormandel Peninsula. There we went Sea Kayaking, Biking (and they get to be capitalized because they were Adventures), and walking on the beach. We also went to Hot Water Beach, a place where you can dig your own spa. After that it was back to Auckland again for some souvenir shopping and to catch a plane. Catching my ride home was also an Adventure, but I made it back on time, and here I am in the states, taking classes, working, and playing softball. Oh, and joining a rugby team…I think.
I’m back. I’ve actually been back since last Wednesday, but it’s been a crazy time since then. I still don’t feel oriented back into “States life”. When I returned I had work, and then a bridal shower/bachelorette party, and I tried to organize my stuff, do my laundry, and catch up on sleep from the trip. Monday was work again, and also the start of summer classes (online). Hence, the not quite real feelings of being back.
The Trip
If I wrote down everything about my trip, I would be writing a novel. Rachel and I had more than our share of Adventures on this particular adventure. Somehow, we always manage to do that, even if it’s just camping at the property. I had my share of Adventure too, even before I got to New Zealand…
California: I had a great time there. The conference was overwhelming, huge and too much to choose from. I did manage to see a few presentations, walk the expo for a few days, and have a fairly extensive look at the posters – both professional and graduate. I saw most of the people from the U of M there, though I never did make it to lunch with them. I met a bunch of other students from UBC and UW (Washington, not Wisconsin) and chilled with them at night. I did manage to make it to the beach and the Aquarium at Long Beach one day, and to Disneyland another day…so the trip wasn’t all work and no fun. I also managed to get a bit of a tan, and almost avoided the strap-lines. The first night I was there Sabrina, Tim, and myself also enjoyed the pleasures of ‘drunken skeeball’. (In parenthesis because I wasn’t drunk, but it was amusing to drink alcohol whilst enjoying a game.)
NZ: I left for Auckland at 11:30 Wednesday night, and arrived Friday morning, their time. I would say I lost Thursday completely, but my blog has a post that day saying I arrived…so obviously that was a trick. Auckland played home base, but we spent as little time there as we could. We started out by going south on the train to National Park – base camp for excellent trekking. Unfortunately, this time of year, the excellent days for trekking are few and far between, and we couldn’t get up high enough (because of gale force winds) to climb Mt. Doom. We still did some excellent treks, through the rain, but had a great time. We left there in a snowstorm to head to Rotorua. Rotorua has thermal stuff, along with spas, Maori cultural stuff, Kiwi birds, and rugby (or at least it did whilst we were there). It was also our jump-off point for going to Hobbiton. Since we didn’t get to go climb Mt. Doom, we went there instead, and it was a great tour. I’ll have to talk more about it when I download my pictures. From Rotorua we went to Waitomo Caves, and went abseiling (rapelling), caving, blackwater rafting (tubing in a cave), and climbing. After that it was back to Auckland for a brief stopover to check email, see the war memorial museum, and get rained on some more before heading to the Cormandel Peninsula. There we went Sea Kayaking, Biking (and they get to be capitalized because they were Adventures), and walking on the beach. We also went to Hot Water Beach, a place where you can dig your own spa. After that it was back to Auckland again for some souvenir shopping and to catch a plane. Catching my ride home was also an Adventure, but I made it back on time, and here I am in the states, taking classes, working, and playing softball. Oh, and joining a rugby team…I think.
