I might not be the first Yank to live in this bach.

After the child was born, we moved to a village up the coast from Wellington. During WWII, American marines were stationed near this village. And it's possible that our house was an American officer’s house.

It’s definitely a bach (Kiwi for holiday home).

I used to think bach was pronounced like the composer (instead of like "batch"). And my husband never lets me forget it.

Please don’t get him started on how I used to say Dunedin (“Dune-din”).

My husband has painted three sides of our house. The fourth side is not being painted. And no, these windows are not double-glazed. Our landlords totally have a cash flow problem.