I haven’t yet mastered the accent, nor even come close really (just can’t figure out how to say their “o”!), but I’ve had to learn some new words since moving here.
Kiwi English/US English
biscuit: cookie **
boot: trunk
brilliant: awesome
capsicum: green pepper
chilly bin: cooler
chips: french fries
chippies: chips
choice: awesome
coriander: cilantro
dairy: convenience store
dodgy: sketchy
drinks: happy hour
entrée: appetizer
flash: fancy, ritzy
flat out: busy, crushed
full on: intense, all out
half 9: 9:30
heaps: lots, a bunch
jam: jelly
jandals: flip-flops
jelly: jello***
lift: elevator
lollies: candy****
main: entrée
pavement: sidewalk
panel beater: auto body shop
pissed: drunk
pissed: angry
pissed: peed
serviette: napkin (fabric)
tea: dinner
morning tea: morning snack
sorted: organized
sultana bran: raisin bran
tea: tea
tomato sauce: ketchup
tramping: hiking
tyre: tire
windscreen: windshield
what’s on: what’s happening
**Although Kiwis also use the word “cookie”, they do not have a term for buttermilk biscuits, as they do not exist here.
***Imagine my confusion when I saw “jelly wrestling” outside of a stripper club!
****except for chocolate, which is referred to as “chocolate bars”
And some phrases:
When Kiwis tease someone, they “take the piss out of” them. They say “good on ya”, instead of “good for you”. I always pause a bit too long when someone asks “how you going?”, as I’m expecting either “how’s it going?”, or “how you doing?”.
One of the funniest terms/phrases to me, though, is when someone asks me to “flick” an email. It just reminds me of flicking a booger! (I guess that’s what happens when you have three brothers….)
Another funny one to me is that people are taken to hospital. Not THE hospital, just hospital, as if it’s a city.
I think I have mentioned the phrase “sweet as” before. Kiwis say the phrase, but never finish it – it’s for the listener to fill in, I suppose. I’ve noticed lately, though, that Kiwis like to add “as” on to other words without finishing the sentence: “crazy as” , “mad as” etc.
Kiwis love the word “aye”. It’s often at the end of the sentence, but not quite how the Canadians use it. It’s more of an affirmation, as in “I saw a movie, and it was excellent aye.” I’ve also heard people say “aye” instead of “what” if they didn’t hear what someone said.
Instead of counting down days, I often hear people saying “three sleeps to go!” I’ve heard this in other parts of the world, though, so not quite certain it’s exclusive to NZ.
And the thing that bugs me the most: zed. It is the pronunciation of the letter “z”. I understand every country outside of the USA that speaks English probably said Zed, but I just can’t. It’s an entire word for one letter! I did look up the etymology, and I learned that “zed” comes from the Greek alphabet letter /zd/. As that is two letters, and not the one “z” we have now, I ask that English speakers stop saying “zed”. Cool? Thanks. =)
The Kiwis also LOVE to abbreviate!
Wellington = Welly
Presents = Pressies
Mosquitos = Mozzys
“www” = dub dub dub
Sunglasses = sunnies
Breakfast = brekkie
Biscuit(cookie) = bikkie
Cardigan = cardi
And finally, some pronunciations:
Filet, as in ‘filet of fish’ is pronounced ‘fill-it’ here. Of course, I’ve seen it spelled fillet too, so maybe that’s why?
A garage is pronounced ‘gARE-ege’ (rhyming with carriage, which I guess makes sense, but I still can’t bring myself to say it.)
I’m still trying to get the hang of how ‘i’ and ‘e’ are pronounced. More on that later!
I’ll add to this list as I learn more words and phrases.
March 29, 2007
March 18, 2007
We have wireless broadband!!
Just a little excitement here in the Dsquared household - we finally signed on with Orcon, and bought Airport Express again (this time with a NZ plug). We are all wired up and surfing from anywhere in the house again! WOO HOO! =)
So, then, this means we have signed up for Skype. Any of you with a high-speed connection and a computer with a video camera can call us for free over the internet. Just download the free software, set up a free account and email us for our accout name. Then we'll just have to set a time.
As I mentioned in the "Time" post below, we are now only 16 hours ahead (or 8 hours behind) you guys on the East Coast. It makes conversation times a bit tricky, but I'm sure we can figure it out!
So, then, this means we have signed up for Skype. Any of you with a high-speed connection and a computer with a video camera can call us for free over the internet. Just download the free software, set up a free account and email us for our accout name. Then we'll just have to set a time.
As I mentioned in the "Time" post below, we are now only 16 hours ahead (or 8 hours behind) you guys on the East Coast. It makes conversation times a bit tricky, but I'm sure we can figure it out!
March 14, 2007
Catching up...
I don't want you guys to think we haven't been having adventures - we have! I've just been a wee bit busy lately. Yep, tax season is finally here, although it's NOTHING like in the US!
This post is about the Fringe Festival and our adventures on the weekend of February 24th:
The summer is turning out to be quite nice! As promised, February has been warm and sunny almost every day, which explains why February is also the month of the Fringe Festival. Being the center of Arts and Entertainment, Wellington is home to many a theatre, as well as the ballet and symphony. Lots of artistic types here!
We hadn’t had a chance to see any plays or performances until this past weekend, but both plays we saw were excellent. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I saw a play (or if I’ve even gone to one in the past!) Friday night, we went to a play called “Lovers of Central Park”.
My good friend and co-worker Karen was in the play, so we mainly went to support her. There was little need for that, though, as the play consistently sold out throughout the three week run! And for good reason – the play was very well written and acted, and was set in a lovely park in Wellington. The play had several vignettes of couples in various stages of love – from first meeting through break-up or death and everything in between. We were with a group of about 45 people, and as we walked through the park with our “guides” (also characters in the play), we saw the various couples through time. We went over a bridge, up steep stairs, down through a grassy valley and up a hill while holding onto a rope.
The night we went was overcast and misting. The play was almost canceled, but as it was one of the last performances they decided to go ahead. Darren and I thought the mist and darkness added to the feel of the play, and gave more weight to the sad and shocking scenes, as well as the rock circle at the end. The play was two hours long, but was riveting the entire time. The vignettes included a group of teenagers from the 1980s, two couples from current times, a Maori couple (who spoke in Maori that was not translated – just beautiful!) from the 1800s, a gay couple from the 1990s, an older couple from the future, and a gentleman and his maid from the early 1900s.
It is incredibly difficult to do the play justice in this short of a space. Suffice it to say it was an amazing experience that we are still talking about! [note: even though this was written right after that weekend, we are actually still talking about that play!]
On Saturday, we attempted to go to the Cuba Street Carnival. Apparently the Carnival is only held every other year, and includes several music stages throughout downtown as well as booths and street performers. We wandered into downtown in the late morning and immediately discovered it was very very crowded. I’m not a big fan of being jostled or pushed, which is part of the reason we moved to an uncrowded country!
It was all a bit too much for us, so we went home to relax instead and came back later in the evening for the Night Parade. Once again, there were incredible crowds, but more manageable as they were standing still. The Parade was very good in parts, and really weird in others. The most disturbing part was seeing so many pre-pubescent girls gyrating and dancing suggestively while wearing next to nothing. Both Darren and our friend William commented that they felt “dirty” just watching them! I could only think “where are their parents?!”
Sunday was another beautiful day, so after getting some fruit and vegetables at the market, we headed out to the zoo. As with most major attractions here in Wellington, the zoo was a primary stop on a bus route. The zoo is celebrating it’s 100 year ‘birthday’, and so is undergoing a lot of renovation.
The zoo was quite small compared to others I’ve been to, but has changed many of its habitats into more natural ones without bars/cages. The giraffe area had to be the coolest, as you can stand on a very high platform and watch a giraffe eat a couple feet below you.
This post is about the Fringe Festival and our adventures on the weekend of February 24th:
The summer is turning out to be quite nice! As promised, February has been warm and sunny almost every day, which explains why February is also the month of the Fringe Festival. Being the center of Arts and Entertainment, Wellington is home to many a theatre, as well as the ballet and symphony. Lots of artistic types here!
We hadn’t had a chance to see any plays or performances until this past weekend, but both plays we saw were excellent. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I saw a play (or if I’ve even gone to one in the past!) Friday night, we went to a play called “Lovers of Central Park”.
My good friend and co-worker Karen was in the play, so we mainly went to support her. There was little need for that, though, as the play consistently sold out throughout the three week run! And for good reason – the play was very well written and acted, and was set in a lovely park in Wellington. The play had several vignettes of couples in various stages of love – from first meeting through break-up or death and everything in between. We were with a group of about 45 people, and as we walked through the park with our “guides” (also characters in the play), we saw the various couples through time. We went over a bridge, up steep stairs, down through a grassy valley and up a hill while holding onto a rope.
The night we went was overcast and misting. The play was almost canceled, but as it was one of the last performances they decided to go ahead. Darren and I thought the mist and darkness added to the feel of the play, and gave more weight to the sad and shocking scenes, as well as the rock circle at the end. The play was two hours long, but was riveting the entire time. The vignettes included a group of teenagers from the 1980s, two couples from current times, a Maori couple (who spoke in Maori that was not translated – just beautiful!) from the 1800s, a gay couple from the 1990s, an older couple from the future, and a gentleman and his maid from the early 1900s.
It is incredibly difficult to do the play justice in this short of a space. Suffice it to say it was an amazing experience that we are still talking about! [note: even though this was written right after that weekend, we are actually still talking about that play!]
On Saturday, we attempted to go to the Cuba Street Carnival. Apparently the Carnival is only held every other year, and includes several music stages throughout downtown as well as booths and street performers. We wandered into downtown in the late morning and immediately discovered it was very very crowded. I’m not a big fan of being jostled or pushed, which is part of the reason we moved to an uncrowded country!
It was all a bit too much for us, so we went home to relax instead and came back later in the evening for the Night Parade. Once again, there were incredible crowds, but more manageable as they were standing still. The Parade was very good in parts, and really weird in others. The most disturbing part was seeing so many pre-pubescent girls gyrating and dancing suggestively while wearing next to nothing. Both Darren and our friend William commented that they felt “dirty” just watching them! I could only think “where are their parents?!” 
Sunday was another beautiful day, so after getting some fruit and vegetables at the market, we headed out to the zoo. As with most major attractions here in Wellington, the zoo was a primary stop on a bus route. The zoo is celebrating it’s 100 year ‘birthday’, and so is undergoing a lot of renovation. 
The zoo was quite small compared to others I’ve been to, but has changed many of its habitats into more natural ones without bars/cages. The giraffe area had to be the coolest, as you can stand on a very high platform and watch a giraffe eat a couple feet below you.
We also had fun watching the red pandas, the meercats, and the otters. 
We even got to see a real Kiwi up close! (Since they are nocturnal birds, we didn’t take any pictures of him, but here is a dramatization of what would have happened if we had seen one in the day, and if Darren was a beetle.)
Darren loved the signs at the zoo that warned kids (and adults too, I guess) about various things:
I love how they show what will happen to you! There were also signs warning against feeding various animals - and the third panel showed the animal dead!!
Once we were done there, we got back on the bus and headed to what we thought was Lyall Bay. 
However, since we had forgotten to get a bus map/schedule for that particular bus number AND the bus driver was new, we ended up going to Island Bay (the next Bay over) instead, with breathtaking views along the way. Island Bay is beautiful, but we had been there before and Darren was keen on seeing the waves at Lyall Bay. Oh, well! We’ll get there eventually…
We walked around Island Bay for a bit, dipped our feet in the very cold water and walked on the sand. =) We headed back in time to catch another play at Bats, a theatre very close to our house. The play is called “Brain Power”, and we had first heard of it at Karen and her flat-mate Jaimie’s houseparty. Jaimie was also in the play, so of course we had to be there! Again, we are very glad we went, as the concept was brilliant and very well carried out. 
The play is set inside a man’s brain - there are 18 characters, including: Concept of Justice, Big Scary Monster, Pissed Off, Embarrassed, Concept of God, Concept of Cleanliness (she was the new one - appeared when he started dating some girl), Concept of Ruthless Ambition, Scared/Sad, and Concept of Violence. The play is a comedy, but we found it was also very clever and had some dramatic moments. [Note: I understand they rewrote a bit of it, and it's back in the theatre this weekend.
Whew! What a full, diverse weekend we had!
March 08, 2007
It’s about time
This blog entry, that is. 
On the 11th (this coming Sunday), you guys in the USA will start Daylight Savings Time, and so will move your clocks one hour forward. For the next week, then, we will only be 17 hours ahead of you, instead of 18 (or one day ahead, 7 hours behind).
However, as we are entering Autumn here, we will be moving our clocks back an hour starting March 18th. At that point, we will be a mere 16 hours ahead of the US (one day ahead, 8 hours behind). It will stay this way until the end of the US Daylight Savings Time, and the beginning of ours.
What does this mean? Only that it will be more difficult to find times that overlap when I am starting my day at work (and on-line), and US people are still at work at the end of the day.
If you are confused, just check the clocks to the left <-- , they should continue to show the correct time.
March 05, 2007
We are officially Permanent Residents
Even though the stamp we received in our passports from NZ Immigration on our arrival state “Holder may remain indefinitely”, it was subject to the conditions of our Visas. The primary condition being “holder must take up offer of employment within 3 months of the grant of the first residence permit and remain in that employment for a period of at least 3 months.”
That day is today!
Three months. It truly feels so much longer – perhaps because it is summer and the days are so long (although rapidly getting shorter as Fall approaches!), or perhaps because we just feel so solid and settled here.
And some more good news – we should have broadband internet in the next couple of weeks, and soon will sign up for a “Skype” account. This means any of you who also have a fast connection and a video camera attached to your computer can video-talk to us for free! =)
That day is today!
Three months. It truly feels so much longer – perhaps because it is summer and the days are so long (although rapidly getting shorter as Fall approaches!), or perhaps because we just feel so solid and settled here.
And some more good news – we should have broadband internet in the next couple of weeks, and soon will sign up for a “Skype” account. This means any of you who also have a fast connection and a video camera attached to your computer can video-talk to us for free! =)
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