I'm getting used to the New Zealand accents here. It still sounds quite musical though, especially the females. The other day I was at the mall in the Roxy store when a girl popped up beside me and said "What did you get up to today?" in her singsongy voice. And me being a bit lost said "What??" She responded to my dumbfounded face, "A bit of shopping, aye?" with a smile on her face. I nodded and turned back to the shirt I was holding in front of me. Everyone is quite friendly here. When you go into places people greet you with an informal "hey!" as if you are mates already.
There seems to be some large numbers of other nationalities aside from the majority of European and native Maori people here. There is a strong Asian population in NZ as well as Indian population. The indians have kept their own accent, but most of the asians seem to have assimilated and speak like other Kiwis. These indians and asians own quite a few of the fish and chip shops.. not necessarily the best ones but they get buy with what they sell.
Speaking of fish and chips.. I've been able to try a few shops the past few days and am pretty happy with what I've tasted. Moist fresh fish wrapped in fluffy fried batter that melts in your mouth. If it's really tasty you don't even need a sauce to go with it. But tartare is usually a safe bet. The regular chips are good as well, but I'm partial to the Kumara chips. Kumara chips are a bit sweeter as they are in the sweet potato family. They have a yellow flesh and make a sweet and salty chip. The very best way to eat them is with garlic aioli. I have found maple syrup is a pretty good second choice.
I have a few other favorites so far..
A favorite buttercup field; right down the road from where we are staying.. It's about one acre by one acre.. surrounded my a wooden fence and trees.. In sunlight the buttercups burn brightly, a perfect compliment to the blue sky above.
A favorite pasture animal: Deer! You would probably guess sheep since they are all over here but I've been fascinated by the deer herds here. I haven't seen so many in one place together. When you drive past you see a juxtaposition of heads in all different directions watching warily like they are in the wild not a fenced lot.
A favorite game: Rummikub, you can play with as little as two people so it's perfect for my kiwi and I. It's similar to scrabble but all numbers and no board. The goal is to get rid of all your tiles by making a series of color runs or numerical matches.
A favorite biscuit (cookie); A chocolate cookie with mint fluff on top and wrapped in molten chocolate. mmm.
A favorite mid day munch: chunks of crystallized ginger rolled in sugar. A bit of heat and a bit of sweet.
A favorite juice box drink: Black currant; sweet almost like cotton candy with out the tartness of grape juice.
I'm familiarizing myself with the food here, and haven't been to sick to my stomach. We drink A LOT of juice here but that's also because it's so delicious. Mango and orange is popular and raspberry lemonade. We just drink it straight from the carton. Drinks at food shops are quite dear (in kiwi terms) around $2 for a can of soda and $3 and up for anything else. Your best bet is to buy large drinks at the grocery store for the same price and more volume. I'm off to try some valencia orange juice now. ciao.
3 comments:
Frivolity caught my eye. Sounds interesting I never knew the costs of things there were that high. I connected to you through another blog. Visit my blog and see what you think.
You are helping me decipher my work emails! I just got one today from an Australia co-worker who said a labor rate we had sent was "dear" and I had no idea what he meant or if he had made a typo, now I know :)
That's funny, we have deer all over the campus where I work. They will literally be 2 feet away from you.
Next time we see you, you'll have picked up a faint kiwi accent :o)
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