More New Zealand Tidbits from Laura

1. “Ta” means thanks (they’re just too lazy to pronounce ’long’ words I guess)
2. Bitter and better often sound the same (I use context clues to not get confused ;) ) Eh, Nick?
3. Jandals are sandals, togs are bathing suits, and sandals are flip flops.
4. They sell fake snow covered Christmas trees, though they have a warm Christmas here. I guess it’s for all those northern hemisphereans longing for a cold, snowy Christmas. (yes, hemisphereans is a word, at least in my head).
5. Kiwis use automatic transfers from the checking(cheque) account for everything from church offerings to house mortgages. I couldn’t believe it when we were in church, they were taking up an offering for an upcoming event and said the debit machine was set up outside if they wanted to give. People use cash here less than in the States and no one uses checks, or cheques (English/Kiwi spelling)
6. Kiwis are New Zealanders, kiwis are little, nocturnal birds and kiwifruit is a kiwi. And they eat it with the skin on (or at least Nick does).
7. New Zealand peppers are jalepenos and cost $40/kilo, goodbye hot salsa!
8. Tea is dinner
9. Many Kiwis barbeque on the beach for Christmas tea (refer to #8)
10. Be prepared to be mocked if you buy Starbucks coffee or any other chain store item, unless it’s a Kiwi chain store. It’s all done in good humor.
11. Bush is a bad word, Clinton‘s not so bad( I don’t make the rules, sorry Bush-lovers)
12. In order to speak Kiwi style, don’t pronounce any ‘t’s unless it starts with a ’t’, every now and then throw in a soft ‘r’ sound like at the end of the word ‘idea‘, roll up your lip slightly(Elvis style) and you got it made!
13. Most assume I’m Canadian, not because of the accent, but because they don’t want to insult me by calling me American. You just have to laugh!
14. Kiwis have told us Australia would be awesome if it weren’t full of Australians. Same love-hate relationship we have with Canada, better yet, Canada has with us.
15. A chemist is a pharmacy. (the only place you can buy contact solution-$30 for a bottle of Alcon labs stuff)
16. Cheddar cheese is white, actually, all the cheeses here are white. I guess we color it in the US to make shopping quicker or less challenging?
17. Kiwis seem to have a lot of meat flavored potato chips and Mac N Cheese, like lamb and mint potato chips and chicken flavored, too. Ewe!
18. Making new acquaintances is good at first, but is hard to extend beyond that.
19. To guarantee a job, you generally must sign a contract with the employer after a trial period.
20. 25 Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) feels like 100 degrees in the sun, due to the ozone being the weakest in this hemisphere. (Wear sunblock!)
21. Synonyms for ‘cool’ : sweet as, choice, mint
22. Oh, btw, mint is commonly used as an herb to flavor lamb. Sounds disgusting, but it’s Daniel-approved!