As many of you know right now, I'm travelling in New Zealand, the landscape of the 'Lord of the Rings' movie. A small country consisting of two islands, each the size of Taiwan or a large Canadian lake. While the sheep population of 18 million out numbers the tiny amount of humans (the 4 millionth baby was born not too long ago) by about four to one, this small population density and the warm Kiwi nature gives it a strikingly Canadian similarity. I can easyily see how everyone here seems to be a tri-athlete with the convenience of beautiful hiking (tramping), fishing, diving and kayaking amongst gorgeous scenery. Apparently, lots of stars like Tom Cruise and Shania Twain are buying large ranches here, hell, I'd do it if I could. There really aren't any decent cities here though, maybe Aukland which I haven't been to yet.

Tree planting was a real eye-opener for me. It's certainly changed my view of the world. I'd never realized how large the forestry industry is. I found out that in most countries around the world including Canada, much of the uninhabited areas are large tree farms, I mean HUGE. I'm guessing about 20% of New Zealand is tree farms and most of them, are owned buy the largest tree farm company in the world, the McDonald's of trees with outlets in every country pumping out new trees every 30 years is Warehouser. Most Kiwis seem to have a great deal of knowledge about the multi-national companies present in their country. Sheep, fish, wine , apples and trees seems to be what this economy is all about.

It's about time I returned to an English speaking country. My English has been so noticably affected by my various attempts to learn different languages and the length of time I've spent with my non to poor English speaking friends that my 'unsual' accent is noticed by N. Americans and I'm often complimented by non-English speaking travellers at how easily understood my speech is.

For the first few weeks, I was absolutely giddy about speaking English with people again. I would ask for directions and then walk away with a smile remarking on how simple it had been to get a correct description form the person. I've already noticed my fluency improving but it doesn't appear that I'll develop a bit of the Kiwi accent like I'd hoped. It's a bit more subtle than the harsh Auzzie drawl and I've met a few Canadians who've lived here for many years already with only a slight change in their speech.

One of the most frequent questions asked of me is,'Which country do you like the most?' Cherishing the unique beauty of every country or having a general malaise about life, I respond that I enjoy each country and their freedoms. Every person's freedom is the pleasure of life. Just as people have different ideas of what rights anyone has, are entitled to, or are dilluding themselves in having, so do all these cultures have freedoms to match these views... and some zany views at that. Whether it be riding on the top of the bus in Indonesia, living indefinitely in Thailand or cruising through the Taiwanese streets at 80 kph on a scooter freedom, the various acts that I can 'get away with' constitute a large part of a cultures personality and how I appreciate it. To date, though, the most comfortable living situation was my cozy life in southern Thailand in Hatyai, a boarder city. As small as it was it had everything I needed to keep me happy. As I often do whenever I go to a new place I surround myslef by a myriad of daily rituals and preferences that I beleive I could never do without, that is until I leave and settle again.