New Zealand 3

 Yesterday the US election was called in favor of Joe Biden. I didn't feel like I could believe it. I know that there will be challenges, and more hateful rhetoric surrounding the election. I decided that this is the perfect chance to talk about the government of New Zealand. Since they were a British colony, they have a parliamentary form of government based on the British model. Their parliament members are elected every 3 years. The leader of the majority party is prime minister, and  the parliament is responsible for voting on, and passing decisions made by the cabinet. The British monarch is the formal head of state, and they are represented by an appointee of the monarch. 

The thing that really jumped out at me is that New Zealand has one of the oldest social security systems in the world! They started theirs in 1898 starting with pensions for widows and miners. That sounds nice. I keep paying into social security knowing that I will not see any of that money when I am retirement age... It looks like their housing market is heading the same direction as things here, prices are going up, and people can't afford to buy a home. 

As for tea, today we are having black tea. It seems that Zealong has a great fascination with pouring tea. While they have contests to see who can pour the fastest without spilling, they also use passive methods to drain tea brewing vessels. 


They have nice, matching white porcelain pieces to do this, but I find that using the glass measuring cup is neat because you can see how the pot sits. Chinese teapots are generally designed to be held vertically to allow for the fastest pour. You can see that my Chinese teapot is well balanced for a vertical pour. 

Here's hoping that the next week goes well, and we have a peaceful transition of power. 

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