Building Bridges Between Japan & New ZealandMarja Burton - van Lienen-Feilding
| My name is Marja Burton - van Lienen and I am 52 years old. Most of my life has been lived in Feilding, New Zealand although I was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
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| Left: Marja Burton - van Lienen |
Tammi is a registered nurse and works at the Palmerston North Hospital, and James is a manager at a local quarry. Both son-in-laws' own sea-going fishing boats and spend many a weekend out fishing on them. |
| Side view of the House |
| I also love relaxing with a good book or a movie, jigsaw puzzles, or have friends and family around for dinner or a BBQ, and walks along the beach/river, and bush walks. I must admit that I'm too much of a land lover to go out on the boys' boats!
Bryan's parents and I have been friends since I was 17 years old and it was through this association that I welcomed my first Japanese Homestay student in October 2004. This is has become a most wonderful experience and we all consider her as part of our family now. |
| Homestay Experience |
There were the initial teething problems such as remembering to put subtitles on when viewing the television or a DVD and setting up my computer for multi-lingual users. And the language barrier was not too difficult as Nana had brought an electronic Japanese/English dictionary with her. If the word was not in the d ictionary, we would draw pictures - that always had us both laughing!
I was a bit worried prior to her arrival regarding meals but have found that she has loved experiencing all types of new food, and is now learning how to make some of the recipes to take back to Japan with her. However, she did breath a sigh of relief on her first day here when she saw the McDonalds and KFC signs! |
| Nana-Japanese Homestay girl |
| I found myself pleasantly enjoying all the wonders of New Zealand through Nana's eyes on our many day trips to different places, and more so when I took her on a 8 day sight-seeing trip around the lower North Island. This has been my first experience as a Homestay and I am enjoying it immensely. I have a large, five bedroom home and would like the opportunity to share it with anyone else who would like to come and experience all that New Zealand has to offer.
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I have two wonderful daughters, Tammi and Sasha, and equally wonderful son-in-laws, James and Aaron. At present they all live in Feilding, although Sasha did worked in Auckland as a Chef for three years. She and Aaron have just bought their first home in Palmerston North (17k from Feilding). Aaron has just finished 8 years in the NZ Army and now works for a local plumber.