Kiwi Word of the Week

Since the purpose of these posts is to educate you all about the authentic Kiwi culture I am experienceing, I want to choose slang that Kiwis actually say. I've been a bit disapointed I haven't heard some of the more colorful "Kiwi" slang I read about on the internet. For example, so far I haven't heard anyone described as "two sammies short of a picnic" which I suppose is a good thing. So, while the terms on this blog might not be terribly exciting, I'll make sure they're actually used. This week's definitely fits the bill. I've heard teachers, students, clerks at clothing stores and my flatmates use it:

"flash"

Flash has two meanings. It can mean that something is sensational or superior. My only Kiwi professor told the class during the first lecture we could color-code our notes "if you're feeling really flash." I was talking to a New Zealander about Peter Jackson's films and I asked him if Braindead was any good. His very Kiwi reply: "I reckon it's not as flash as his other ones 'cause it was his first."
Similarly, flash can also mean something looks good/cool. I bought coat in Auckland which the sales clerk told me was "flash." I know it's her job to try to make me buy things but it made me feel urban-kiwi-chic. When used in this sense, the term is usually phrased, "That's flash." as in:

"Giz a squiz those gummies over there. They're sweet-as!

"That's flash."

Auckland Trip: Part Duex

I know I'm very late posting about this and I do apologize but the honest truth is that my trip was not terribly interesting. In case you don't know, I went back to Auckland last Saturday/Sunday with Lisa, Sanna, and a Chinese girl named Joanna. The purpose of our trip was to find dresses and shoes for the ball this weekend. To that end, we spent most of the the trip shopping. This was exciting for me, but probably not exciting to read about. I bought some clothes and I promise to upload pictures when I get around to taking them. Probably the most noteworthy event was a sales clerk telling me I should have been cast as Hermoine in Harry Potter. I think that's the fourth time I've been told that since I got here in New Zealand. I'm not too upset though because I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last week and I thought Hermione's hair looked pretty damn awesome. I've been trying with various levels of success to recreate her hair. I think I end up looking more like a Colorado City bride or the crazy cat lady but I just go with it. Also awesome: Luna's tights at Slughorn's Christmas party. I want a pair so badly it makes my heart hurt. In fact, I thought her whole outfit was pretty cool even though she's obviously meant to be an object of ridicule.
But I digress... Wye stayed overnight in a charming bed and breakfast. I was wary about staying in a hostile so I was shocked when I saw how nice the place was. It really was a bed and breakfast. I had a hard time understanding why it was cheap until night came. It was like sleeping in a freezer.

We spent the second day sightseeing...sort of. Joanna had to be back in Hamilton by five and she didn't want to take the two-hour bus ride back alone so I agreed to go with her. This meant we only had time for a ferry to Devonport which is across the W? Bay, instead of one the offshore islands which are supposed to be quite beautiful. Devonport reminded me of towns along the California coast: small art galleries and unaffordable restaurants. Still, it was nice to walk around. There is a hill which allows for incredible views of Auckland:

Kate Bush

After Devonport we went back to the Asian food court one..last...time. I had five dollar sushi. It was seriously delicious. Then Joanna and I had to leave. I wasn't too sorry though because I had a terrible cold and was getting quite grumpy. I tried to be chipper but I think I failed, as evidenced by this picture:

The angry ferry ride to Devonport

Overall, it was a nice trip. Auckland is pretty much like any other big city except perhaps a little more relaxed. And it has things like these:

I think you're a nice...modern gentleman.

Lately I've been getting these urgent impulses to cut my hair really, really short again- a la Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby. Since I know I would terribly regret following through with that impulse, I've had to placate myself by doing Mod make-up and dressing as close to Mod as I can.

In other words, I wore my very impractical miniskirt (despite the freezing cold) and a ton of eyeliner and mascara. I imagine I looked ridiculous (pale lips and "twiggies" aren't really in vogue in New Zealand or probably anywhere) but I felt rather sexy in the weirdly androgyny, Twiggy-like way. To top it off, it started to rain as I was walking into town and I happened to have my very Mod polka-dot umbrella. As I was walking through town in the rain, twirling my umbrella Attempt at Mod Makeup. Smiling is very un-Mod I felt so terribly Mod I considered buying gum (which I've sworn off) when I remembered that it was the 29th back in the ol' un-mod US of A. As in the day Carolyn gets to meet her own personal Jesus, Jarivs Cocker. Carolyn, I'm very sorry I forgot because I really am very excited for you. I prayed to my Boosh Shrine that you'd get a good view of him.

So really this post is an apology to you and excuse to show off my new photo editing program. It's called Paint.net and it's free and amazing. The pictures in this post took a really long time so appreciate them. In fact, you might get a surprise if you click on them...

I've had dresses with higher IQ's than you!

I realize my last post was entirely self-serving so this one will be for your benefit. Not really, actually, but I'm asking for your personal input so I hope that gratifies some of you.

Next week the halls of residence are having a masquerade ball. I realized too late that this will involve dancing (and thus touching and other awkward social situations) so I agreed to go with my flatmates. However, it does rationalize me buying an unnecessary black shift dress and the shoes I'm going to buy to match. I am damn sad I didn't bring my metallic mauve peeptoe pumps with me now but hopefully I can find some outrageously tacky heels when I go dress shopping with Lisa and Sanna in Auckland Saturday.
Moving on: POLL TIME! The dress is a little too boring (and probably informal) for a ball so I thought I'd liven it up by layering. Here are the contenders:
And there's also this, which I'm not so keen on:
I think it's too stuffy for a ball and I'll likely end up earing to class (belted with broches and hose, of course). Although, I'd wear any of these to class so I guess I'm damned anyway. I should probably add that I'm also going to wear a broche, belt/ribbon and hose to the ball as well but I can't decide which ones just yet. Or probably ever.

There's going to be an ongoing dinner and live bands as well as an afterparty- how sophisticated! I'm very much hoping the ball will be inside because it will be absolutely freezing if it's not and what I'm wearing will be irrelavant since I won't be able to take me coat off.
Anyhow, I'm trying not to think too much about the ball but I would appreciate your thoughts so let me hear them.

Kiwi Food of the Week

I had another Food of the Week Post started already but in light of recent events, I think an emergency re-ordering is necessary. So this week's Food of the Week is...

The Mighty Satsuma!

As you probably don't know if you're not Carolyn or me the three seasons of The Mighty Boosh were released on DVD for the first time in North American yesterday. And today I found out that they are actually coming to California to publicize the release. They're going to be on Jimmy Fallon and Chelsea Lately and they're doing discussion panels and book signings which Carolyn could totally go to if she wanted to. I was so filled with geeky glee when I heard this I ran down to the produce store to buy a bag full of Mandarin satsumas (I'd been holding off for a special occasion). Carolyn can imagine my delight when a walked past...

A mandarin satsuma and his friend Mr. Jazz Apple.

Jazz Apples

I'm not exaggerating when I say the jazz apple was the best apple I've ever had. I really love apples and I've always thought Mac's were my favorite but these are better. The flavor is too complex to describe but it's sweet with notes of honey. The satsuma was rather flavorless but I imagine it's just luck of the draw like regular Mandarin oranges.

The satsuma is naked, just like I'll never see Noel Fielding.

If you don't understand what satsumas and jazz apples have to do with The Mighty Boosh for god's sake please watch these clips:

Satsumas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU7b0sSx7FU

Jazz Trance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKwQ_zeRwEs

Auckland Trip

High-tech panoramic view of Auckland and Waitemata Harbour

Every year the Uuniversity organizes a trip for the international students. This year's trip was a bus tour through Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city, given by some of the university's international coordinators. Auckland has a population about about 1.2 million people meaning roughly a quarter of the entire population of New Zealand. It's a proper city with restaurants, shopping centers and tall buildings. In fact, Auckland is home to SkyCity, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. I did not get to see it though, or much of anything else in Auckland since we were too late getting started to do any of the things planned for our tour . Well, not any of it. We did complete the first item on our itinerary, which was a trip up Mount Eden, Auckland's highest extinct volcano. I hate to be an ethnocentrist but in America we would call it a hill. With lots of sheep on it. To be fair, it was high enough to be windy on top. unbelievably windy, in fact. I had a hard time keeping balance so I apologize for the poor quality of my pictures. The nice ones are probably my flatmate Lisa's.

There is a lovely monument on top of the volcano/mountain/hill but I can't tell you what it's about because it was too windy for me to read the plaque. Here are some pictures to prove how windy it was:

Perhaps even more exciting that the volcano was my first up close and personal interaction with sheep. And there were a crapload of them. My general impression of them is still that they're cute, but self-aware and very angry, like the one on the left. He baahed at me and strutted away rather pissily after I took that picture.

After Mount Eden the bus dropped us off in the center of the city. Joanna (Chinese girl in the top right windy photo) has lived in New Zealand for a year so she enthusiastically offered to give several of us a tour and take us to a "real" Chinese restaurant. I was quite excited to see what Marge Simpson would describe as sleeping, upside-down, inside-out ducks in the restaurant window because I've always wanted to try duck. Turns out it's almost exactly like the dark meat of turkey except greasier. Not bad, but I wish I'd been more adventurous and ordered the Eggplant with Salted Fish. Guess there's next time. I'd like to mention here that I did a respectable job eating with chopsticks.

Shredded duck, Pork Soup, Jasmine Tea and somewhat successfully using chopsticks

After we finished eating Joanna took us to the harbor. Once we got there we had to promptly leave in order to catch the bus back. This post isn't finished but I'm posting it anyway because I figure I owe you guys something. I have to go to class now.

Kiwi Food of the Week

Again I would like to start with a cautionary note: these foods aren't necessarily endemic to New Zealand but are widely available here and new to me. Just like this week's food:



Tamarillos

Tamarillos are native to the South American Andes but they're grown commercially here in New Zealand for international export. The flesh is very soft like a melon and the flavor is a cross between a mango, cantaloupe and kiwi. The flavor is mild but slightly sour so it's best cut in half and sprinkled with sugar- like a grapefruit.

The wrong way to eat a tamarillo. Normally they are cut in half and the flesh is scooped out with a spoon. The skin is terribly bitter and inedible. I've read Kiwi kids repeatedly smash the fruit and squeeze the pulp right into their mouths. Comparison with a tomato. Purple or red tamarillos look much more like kiwis inside while the yellow look almost exactly like tomatoes.

I've read that tamarillos are delicious in compotes or smoothies and I hope to try these out. They're supposedly available in the United States so perhaps you can try them today!

Kiwi Word of the Week

I'd like to have a feature introducing a new Kiwi slang word each week. But before I get too ambitious I should probably caution that this may not happen every week. New Zealand is an exciting place and there are certainly plenty of things to do that don't involve documenting slang. However, since my love of learning regional English slang is partially responsible for cultivating my interest in New Zealand, I will try my best. With that introduction, this week's word is:

"sweet as!"

I have come to regard this as the quintessential New Zealand phrase - the Kiwi equivalent of the American South's "ya'll". For one, it seems to be distinctly Kiwi unlike much of their other slang which New Zealanders share with Australia and Britain. And because I hear it all the time. It seems to primarily be used by the young folks, but not exclusively. An appropriate American equivalent is probably "cool". It's a polite way of acknowledging that something is good. Unofficial sources state the phrase is a shortening of an earlier saying "sweet as pie".
The first time it was spoken to me was when my RA let me into my room.
"How was your trip?"
-Good
"Sweet as!"
... or something along those lines. I already knew that term and I'm glad I did because I might have been confused otherwise. To my American ears, it sounds just like "sweet ass" which would have been confusing on context. Apparently this is a fairly common misunderstanding among American visitors.
The phrase itself does a fairly good job of embodying the characteristics of it's speakers: it's friendly, enthusiastic and informal. This is perhaps why "Kiwi As" is the name of a very popular snack food brand.

Flavoring potato chips with ketchup and mince meat also seems to be endemic to New Zealand

It's also the name of a documentary I saw the beginning of during the orientation for international students. I quite enjoyed it and thanks to my thoughtfulness you can enjoy the first five minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phQkcQLilH8
Variations:

• mean as
• good as

Sorry's not good enough, Little Man!

Kia ora,
Okay, okay I'm sorry. I know I've been fairly terrible about this blog and I do apologize. But I'd also like to remind anyone who's complaining that I just moved away from home for the first time to a foreign country and until very recently was in very real danger of dying of hypothermia at any moment. I hope I didn't give anyone impression that I was upset or didn't like it here. New Zealand is astoundingly beautiful almost everywhere you look and the people are genuinely friendly. I am extremely glad I decided to come here. But I was definitely unprepared for the winter. However, now that I have my lovely heater my life has dramatically improved and I feel like my old self again. That is, I'm daydreaming about baking, clothes, The Mighty Boosh and back to drinking diet coke.
I suppose I should talk about my classes now. I am taking:
~Women in Society: Representations and Realities
~Health and the Body in Cross-Cultural Perspective
~Cognitive Psychology
~Introduction of Human Development
I'm particularly excited about the Health and Body class and the Psych class. The professor of my psych class is an American (New Mexico) and he seemed funny so I think the class will be fun. As part of the class we have labs where we duplicate computerized versions of classic experiments. I'm not sure if that'll be fun or just annoying but I guess I'll find out next week.

I'm less excited about the Human Development class. It's 100 level and I think I'd prefer something more advanced but I'm practicing making reasonable decisions and I decided sticking with it was the reasonable thing to do. Plus we watched this old science video from the BBC that used Pulp's Babies as background music. lPretty cool.

I think that's about all I have to say about the classes themselves so far. Each class has a lecture twice a week in addition to a tutorial or laboratory. I haven't had any of those this week so my schedule's been light but I'll be in class about 11 hours each week from now on. That's rather nice, especially since I don't have class on Friday. So there's all the mundane details of my schedule. Hopefully I can now post about more interesting things.

Cheers,

Rachel

Hello Libbie, family!
I don’t know when I’ll get to talk to you, so I guess I’ll just write about my trip so far instead. Well, I made it and am here Hamilton, New Zelaland
My trip went very well, for the most part. I got aisle seats both flights! On the flight from Phoenix to L.A. I sat next to a soldier on his way to see his wife and kids for the first time in two years and a married mother of two. Actually, I should clarify that the soldier and his wife were separated (she was seeing someone else) but they stayed married for the extra money the military gives spouses. I know this because they were extremely friendly with each other and spent most of the flight talking. They spent the rest of the flight making out. It was dark, mid you, but they were also partially in my seat. Very discourteous. I’m glad the flight was only an hour.

The flight from L.A. to Auckland was comparatively awesome. No one sat in the center seat and the many sitting in the window seat didn’t try any funny business. entertainment options were more than I could have asked for. I got to watch four (second season!) episodes of Flight of the Conchords. That was very appropriate because there’s not way I would’ve been on that plane if it weren’t for them. It was also very calming to hear something that was both familiar and Kiwi. I could’ve also watched a ton of great movies too but instead I watched two episodes of The IT Crowd. Even though Noel Fielding wasn’t in any of the episodes, I still felt like someone was watching over me. Plus when Moss gets angry, you can close your eyes and pretends it’s Saboo.

These guys helped me through some dark times.

Kind of rocked. And it made it easy to find my way back to my seat in the dark because I was the only person watching The IT Crowd.

And of course they served Diet Coke so really the only Rachel thing that flight was missing was Simon Pegg and an SRP commercial featuring Steve Nash. Even the food wasn’t bad. I thought the chicken dinner was pretty good until I got horribly ill. But that didn’t last long. .

The airline also gave us a candybag but I was too sick to eat it on the plane and I had to throw out any food I brought with me because of the New Zealand quarantine. It was probably good I got sick though because it made me tired and I spent a good deal of the flight sleeping. I haven’t had any problems with jetlag.
We landed about 7:30 NZ time and I didn’t have any problems getting trough customs or finding the shuttle bus driver. When I finally got to the university n