For my schedule and detail oriented friends that want to know EVERYTHING I am doing (Suzanne and Sarah), here is my life the past couple of days:
Tuesday (after my last post about what I am doing)- I went and worked on the farm with Aaron all afternoon which was surprisingly entertaining because I was learning lots of new things (though I doubt I could do it many more times and be entertained). That night Harry, a guy in the youth group at New Life, asked Aaron and I if we wanted to go to a seminar on "global technology." Although it didn't sound like something we would generally do in the States, we were in New Zealand and asked to do something so we said sure. It ended up being a sales pitch for ASN (a video phone company). We were wearing nice shirts and jeans and walked in late to find everyone in suits. AND I'm pretty sure we were supposed to sign up and pay to get in on the meeting but walked right past the lady on accident. Oops. Oh well. If I had to pay I would have sat outside anyways. Then we went to a coffee shop across from the mall in Christchurch and got some tasty drinks (Aaron and I shared an AMAZING vanilla chai tea). After the whole ASN sales pitch we had a good time at the coffee shop and goofing around in the closed mall.
Wednesday- For some reason my stomach decided it hated me this day. I had plans to bike around town and get out and do something, but my stomach decided I should just stay inside and do nothing all day. So I obeyed it and did just that. I started reading Wicked, posted my blog about Kiwi language, and did random things. That night Aaron and I went to a bible study with the New Life uni students. It was good to be back in a community of believers. We talked about backsliding in your faith and making sure to shine your light. I am sure this will surprise most of you (especially those that were in my community group), but I had a lot of troubles not being the leader of the conversation. I'm just SO used to being the leader in those situations. It also quite made me miss all the girls that I had a Wednesday night bible study with last year. :( They didn't laugh and make fun of each other quite as much as we did. :D Really, though, it was awesome to be a part of that.
Thursday- I spent all day over at Tim and Julie's (the owners of the sheep farm). I was supposed to help Julie's mom prepare things for some catering she had to do this weekend, but there was a breach in communication somewhere and we ended up not even seeing or talking to her. When we went to the place she works, however, they told us she wasn't catering until next weekend. So we don't know if schedules just got messed up or what... Instead I hung out and talked with Biddie, their daughter. We had funny conversations about the Kiwi and American differences. She asked a few times if we really did something in America that she had seen on TV shows. One of my favorite parts is when she asked if we can buy cookie dough in the store and I explained to her that many of my friends and I just keep it in the fridge for those occasions that we need it. She thought it was awesome we could buy it and keep it for that long- they have to make it each time they want some cookie dough. It made me feel bad for Kiwi girls' nights. I guess lawyers here also don't get their first degree and then go to law school. They start law school right after high school. That explains why so many of the uni students at New Life were confused when I told them I just graduated university and will now be going to law school. We also went to the beach to walk their three house dogs. Last night Barry and I also had a fun conversation. He asked what a fraternity was and then we had a LONG explanation about them all. Yet another thing Kiwis have really only heard about because of TV and are often confused about.
Also, it occurred to me on Wednesday night (when listening to some of the uni students talk) that I forgot to include some of my FAVORITE Kiwi sayings that is really quite confusing when you are first here. First, let me explain my first encounter with these sayings.
One day, I was talking to someone here about the fact that I had just graduated from Purdue with a double major and would be going to law school soon. We then got on the conversation of Indiana and why I would choose them despite the fact that they were Purdue's rivals. After I had explained that they are actually ranked pretty high, they have in state tuition, and they offered me a scholarship they looked at me and said, "Far out! You must be smart az." When they said this I didn't know what to say. Were they making fun of me or trying to compliment me?
For a while I continued to hear Kiwis says "cool az" or "bored az" or many other sayings that ended with what sounded like another word for a donkey. For a long time I thought they simply all had an obsession with the word and it must not be profane for them. Later on, however, I finally realized that they say similes without finishing the sentence all the time. They were really saying "cool as (a cucumber)" or "smart as (Einstein)." They simply just shorten the similes so they don't have to come up with something clever at the end. Really, it makes talking to someone so much quicker. It's just confusing to us Americans that don't always know what they are saying. ha ha
That's it for today.
I hope things are going well for all of you.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
What was that again?
When I spoke with my family the other day, one of the first things my brother Matt asked was, "Do the people there sound like the gecko off of the Geico commercials?" For simplicity, my answer was "yes" but in reality the gecko is MUCH easier to understand than the Kiwi's here. This thought inspired me to make an entry about the Kiwi language.
It is true that Kiwis speak English, but it is not true that they are always easy to understand. A New Zealand accent sounds much like a Australian accent to those that have not heard both at the same time (I am still inclined to think they sound similiar but have been told by many Kiwis they DO NOT). They don't pronounce their 'r's, cut words off, switch there 'i's with 'u's, and then mumble them all together. The key for speaking like a Kiwi is to say 5 words in about the time we might say 2.
They also are very good at cutting off half of the word and adding 'ie' or 'y' to the end. Words like breakfast, cardigan, and sunglasses will be said as brekkie, cardy, and sunnies. Sometimes I catch myself thinking it's a game to make everything they say sound cutesy, but as soon as I hear a grown man say it I am thrown off. It's not cutesy for them, it is really what they call it.
In addition to these differences, they also have a different vocabulary. Here are some that I have picked up on so far:
(States- New Zealand)
field- paddock
trash- rubbish
swimsuit-togs (this one REALLY confused me when someone said to bring our togs)
rain boots- gummies
cookie- biscuit (this always makes me think of dog biscuits...)
car trunk- boot
french fries- chips
carbonation- fizzy
apartment- flat
hiking- tramping
flip flop- jandal
push-up- press-up
gravel- shingles
middle of nowhere- wop wops
dinner- tea
night snacks- supper
snack between morning and lunch- morning tea
snack between lunch and dinner- afternoon tea
(In summary of these last few: morning tea and afternoon tea are snacks, whereas tea is dinner and supper is a night snack... this confused me for quite some time)
In order to sound like a Kiwi, here are some other tips:
When saying yes in response say "ya" preferably 4 or 5 times.
Use "heaps" and "wee bit" to replace "a lot" or "a little."
Call everyone bro or mate. Also, end most sentences with bro.
End all other sentences with "eh."
Refer to girls as "sheilas."
When you are excited or think something is cool say "far out."
End sentences with a question mark?
To say goodbye use "cheers."
Finally, the last bit of differences in the Kiwi language cannot be heard but is noticed when reading newspapers or magazines (I naturally notice these because I like checking for spelling errors and grammatical errors when I am reading things). Sometimes you know the word is immediately different (like tyre for tire) while others can make you question if that is not how we spell it in the States. Here are some general Kiwi spelling rules:
Most things that end with -er are changed to -re like: metre and centre
Replace 'z's in the middle of words with an 's' like: realisation and organise
Randomly add 'u's to words like: colour and flavour
Another less consistent rule is to remove double consonants. This would be like the word enrolment.
The last wee bit of info for today is that "kiwi" refers to 3 things:
1. New Zealand people
2. The bird
3. The fruit
Cheers!
(To hear some of these for yourself click here)
It is true that Kiwis speak English, but it is not true that they are always easy to understand. A New Zealand accent sounds much like a Australian accent to those that have not heard both at the same time (I am still inclined to think they sound similiar but have been told by many Kiwis they DO NOT). They don't pronounce their 'r's, cut words off, switch there 'i's with 'u's, and then mumble them all together. The key for speaking like a Kiwi is to say 5 words in about the time we might say 2.
They also are very good at cutting off half of the word and adding 'ie' or 'y' to the end. Words like breakfast, cardigan, and sunglasses will be said as brekkie, cardy, and sunnies. Sometimes I catch myself thinking it's a game to make everything they say sound cutesy, but as soon as I hear a grown man say it I am thrown off. It's not cutesy for them, it is really what they call it.
In addition to these differences, they also have a different vocabulary. Here are some that I have picked up on so far:
(States- New Zealand)
field- paddock
trash- rubbish
swimsuit-togs (this one REALLY confused me when someone said to bring our togs)
rain boots- gummies
cookie- biscuit (this always makes me think of dog biscuits...)
car trunk- boot
french fries- chips
carbonation- fizzy
apartment- flat
hiking- tramping
flip flop- jandal
push-up- press-up
gravel- shingles
middle of nowhere- wop wops
dinner- tea
night snacks- supper
snack between morning and lunch- morning tea
snack between lunch and dinner- afternoon tea
(In summary of these last few: morning tea and afternoon tea are snacks, whereas tea is dinner and supper is a night snack... this confused me for quite some time)
In order to sound like a Kiwi, here are some other tips:
When saying yes in response say "ya" preferably 4 or 5 times.
Use "heaps" and "wee bit" to replace "a lot" or "a little."
Call everyone bro or mate. Also, end most sentences with bro.
End all other sentences with "eh."
Refer to girls as "sheilas."
When you are excited or think something is cool say "far out."
End sentences with a question mark?
To say goodbye use "cheers."
Finally, the last bit of differences in the Kiwi language cannot be heard but is noticed when reading newspapers or magazines (I naturally notice these because I like checking for spelling errors and grammatical errors when I am reading things). Sometimes you know the word is immediately different (like tyre for tire) while others can make you question if that is not how we spell it in the States. Here are some general Kiwi spelling rules:
Most things that end with -er are changed to -re like: metre and centre
Replace 'z's in the middle of words with an 's' like: realisation and organise
Randomly add 'u's to words like: colour and flavour
Another less consistent rule is to remove double consonants. This would be like the word enrolment.
The last wee bit of info for today is that "kiwi" refers to 3 things:
1. New Zealand people
2. The bird
3. The fruit
Cheers!
(To hear some of these for yourself click here)
How I Spend My Time
By the end of today, I will have been in New Zealand for 6 days. Crazy. Here is a brief summary on my life here so far:
Where I am living: I am still living in the room next to Aaron's at the ex-honey farmer Barry's house. For breakfast I choose from his 12 (I think it is 12...) different types of honey. (Laur, I know you would LOVE that) He makes us both dinner each night. It isn't bad food, but it isn't really good either. Generally it involves some kind of meat, potato, and vegetable. So far I have two offers of some where else to stay. The first one is with a girl named Dani, a university student that goes to the church Aaron has been attending. Her flatmates are on holiday. The second is with James', Dani's boyfriend's, grandparents. Dani lives further away from town which would mean I would have to find rides constantly, whereas James' grandparents live in town. Living with Dani does sound more exciting though. We will see.
What I am doing: Well, that really does depend on the day.
Day 1- Aaron and I got something to eat at the takeaway here in Leeston (a burger with chips- as a side note, they put beets on their burgers), walked through the small town of Leeston some, went to the sheep farm he works at, and then Tim (the sheep farmer) took us on a scenic tour. We hiked some around a lake and went to their very rocky beach.
Day 2- I was VERY tired and so slept in; Aaron picked me up at lunch and took me to the sheep farm; I ran errands with Julie, Tim's wife, throughout Leeston and the surrounding small towns; I visited the library (and was super excited about it!) with Julie; had an afternoon T (I am not sure if it is a T or tea or tee... I will ask about that) with a little chocolate piece of goodness; and made up a list of places Aaron and I should visit in New Zealand.
Day 3- I decided to go to the farm with Aaron bright and early. We went to tend to the cattle (they have beef cows along with the sheep) where I at first helped Aaron and then got rather bored and read the Wildlife in New Zealand book that I got at the library (I figured I should get some New Zealand reading material while I was there). I then went back to Tim and Julie's house where I embarked on the mission of making a Coconut Feijoa Cake (Feijoa's are a little green fruit that kind of remind me of kiwis, but they are more tart). This took quite some time- a couple of hours just to make the batter. The recipe told me to beat the egg whites until stiff, something I had never done before. Unfortunately, they only had one of the antique hand mixers that you cannot plug in (like one that we played with and wondered who would use it at the kitchen supplies store Laur) and it took AGES to make the egg whites stiff. I know it took me over forty-five minutes. Ridiculous. After that, Julie and I took a bike ride (to get my butt used to riding on a bike so Aaron I can do one of the Kiwis favorite things- mountain bike). After burning off enough calories, we then ate some cake (which was quite tasty) and I spent the last hour Aaron was working reading a book by a Kiwi author (which really isn't that good...). That night we attended a quiz night that was held as a fundraiser for two girls that will be working at an orphanage in Africa during their holiday. We were on a team with four of the guys from the church Aaron has been attending and were named "Team America." Although some of the questions I had no idea about (there were many about the All Blacks their rugby team), New Zealand trivia is similiar to American trivia because they often watch the same movies and things we do.
Day 4- Aaron and I went to the church that he has been attending while he was here. It's a small church, with lots of youth. It's weird being known as "Aaron's girlfriend" not because I am not used to being associated with him (4 and 1/2 years makes that easy...), but because I am not used to people knowing Aaron before me. Pretty much everyone knew who I was and my name before I talked to them. The sermon was very good, and then the youth (including the University, or Uni, students) went to the warehouse across the street that the church just purchased to hang out. After getting lunch at the grocery store, we then went to the warehouse that is full of game tables and hung out. Later on that night, we went to one of the girls house and watched a news special (which everyone was quite into) and then played a game that I have played before with lots of Texas people... I think we called it fish bowl? Overall, it was fun hanging out with everyone, but it was VERY weird to be the outsider.
Day 5- I didn't want to continue impeding upon Tim and Julie's hospitality so decided to stay at Barry's house while Aaron went to work. I slept in; checked my facebook and e-mail; talked to my family; thought about taking a walk outside, but changed my mind when I stepped out the door and it was freezing; read; decided to make a blog; and basically sat around and did nothing.
Day 6- Today! Well, the beginning of the day has started off much like yesterday, but I am hoping Aaron will be picking me up soon and taking me to the farm. There I don't know what adventures will be awaiting me...
As for a job update, there is a lead with a kindergarten that I might be able to volunteer at. Unfortunately, the lady that said I could work there is gone on vacation right now so I am playing a waiting game on that one. I have also recently been debating on seeing if people around me could use somebody to help them around the house for a couple of days. We will see what happens with all of that. I am praying for direction.
Where I am living: I am still living in the room next to Aaron's at the ex-honey farmer Barry's house. For breakfast I choose from his 12 (I think it is 12...) different types of honey. (Laur, I know you would LOVE that) He makes us both dinner each night. It isn't bad food, but it isn't really good either. Generally it involves some kind of meat, potato, and vegetable. So far I have two offers of some where else to stay. The first one is with a girl named Dani, a university student that goes to the church Aaron has been attending. Her flatmates are on holiday. The second is with James', Dani's boyfriend's, grandparents. Dani lives further away from town which would mean I would have to find rides constantly, whereas James' grandparents live in town. Living with Dani does sound more exciting though. We will see.
What I am doing: Well, that really does depend on the day.
Day 1- Aaron and I got something to eat at the takeaway here in Leeston (a burger with chips- as a side note, they put beets on their burgers), walked through the small town of Leeston some, went to the sheep farm he works at, and then Tim (the sheep farmer) took us on a scenic tour. We hiked some around a lake and went to their very rocky beach.
Day 2- I was VERY tired and so slept in; Aaron picked me up at lunch and took me to the sheep farm; I ran errands with Julie, Tim's wife, throughout Leeston and the surrounding small towns; I visited the library (and was super excited about it!) with Julie; had an afternoon T (I am not sure if it is a T or tea or tee... I will ask about that) with a little chocolate piece of goodness; and made up a list of places Aaron and I should visit in New Zealand.
Day 3- I decided to go to the farm with Aaron bright and early. We went to tend to the cattle (they have beef cows along with the sheep) where I at first helped Aaron and then got rather bored and read the Wildlife in New Zealand book that I got at the library (I figured I should get some New Zealand reading material while I was there). I then went back to Tim and Julie's house where I embarked on the mission of making a Coconut Feijoa Cake (Feijoa's are a little green fruit that kind of remind me of kiwis, but they are more tart). This took quite some time- a couple of hours just to make the batter. The recipe told me to beat the egg whites until stiff, something I had never done before. Unfortunately, they only had one of the antique hand mixers that you cannot plug in (like one that we played with and wondered who would use it at the kitchen supplies store Laur) and it took AGES to make the egg whites stiff. I know it took me over forty-five minutes. Ridiculous. After that, Julie and I took a bike ride (to get my butt used to riding on a bike so Aaron I can do one of the Kiwis favorite things- mountain bike). After burning off enough calories, we then ate some cake (which was quite tasty) and I spent the last hour Aaron was working reading a book by a Kiwi author (which really isn't that good...). That night we attended a quiz night that was held as a fundraiser for two girls that will be working at an orphanage in Africa during their holiday. We were on a team with four of the guys from the church Aaron has been attending and were named "Team America." Although some of the questions I had no idea about (there were many about the All Blacks their rugby team), New Zealand trivia is similiar to American trivia because they often watch the same movies and things we do.
Day 4- Aaron and I went to the church that he has been attending while he was here. It's a small church, with lots of youth. It's weird being known as "Aaron's girlfriend" not because I am not used to being associated with him (4 and 1/2 years makes that easy...), but because I am not used to people knowing Aaron before me. Pretty much everyone knew who I was and my name before I talked to them. The sermon was very good, and then the youth (including the University, or Uni, students) went to the warehouse across the street that the church just purchased to hang out. After getting lunch at the grocery store, we then went to the warehouse that is full of game tables and hung out. Later on that night, we went to one of the girls house and watched a news special (which everyone was quite into) and then played a game that I have played before with lots of Texas people... I think we called it fish bowl? Overall, it was fun hanging out with everyone, but it was VERY weird to be the outsider.
Day 5- I didn't want to continue impeding upon Tim and Julie's hospitality so decided to stay at Barry's house while Aaron went to work. I slept in; checked my facebook and e-mail; talked to my family; thought about taking a walk outside, but changed my mind when I stepped out the door and it was freezing; read; decided to make a blog; and basically sat around and did nothing.
Day 6- Today! Well, the beginning of the day has started off much like yesterday, but I am hoping Aaron will be picking me up soon and taking me to the farm. There I don't know what adventures will be awaiting me...
As for a job update, there is a lead with a kindergarten that I might be able to volunteer at. Unfortunately, the lady that said I could work there is gone on vacation right now so I am playing a waiting game on that one. I have also recently been debating on seeing if people around me could use somebody to help them around the house for a couple of days. We will see what happens with all of that. I am praying for direction.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Leading up to New Zealand
Last summer I made a decision to do something awesome with my "last summer of freedom" (aka the last summer where I don't have to participate in a grown-up job). Although there were many contenders, my main aspiration was to live abroad. This was for multiple reasons, the main ones being: 1) I love learning new cultures, 2) I feel like living abroad is the ultimate way to step out of your comfort zone and see new ways God can work through you, 3) when else will I be able to live abroad without any good reason?. When I shared this dream with Aaron, he surprised me by saying he would love to do the same thing.
After making a few big decision to step out in faith (thanks to a good friend Matt Stine's last minute calls), Aaron decided he would follow through with this idea. This began the craziness of deciding where I wanted to go (there is, after all, a whole world out there to explore!) and if it could be the same place as Aaron. Because of obligations I had at the beginning of the summer I knew that I wouldn't be able to live in a different country quite as long as Aaron. This also meant that finding a job online was virtually impossible for me. Because of that, we decided it would be best for Aaron to find a job and I would try to follow him where ever he went.
Although this seemed reasonable, it wasn't always easy to follow through with waiting for Aaron to figure out where he was going. Aaron did not find out where he would be until about a month before leaving (Aprilish). It seemed like my whole future was up in the air at the time (I was still trying to figure out law school things) and it would have been nice to know what I would be doing during the summer. Even though I much more welcoming to adventures and change than Aaron, I too had a few steps in faith to make before coming.
My main concern about living abroad was getting the money. God quickly alleviated that worry, however. Soon after telling people I wanted to live abroad people began offering to let me borrow money until I can take out a loan (without interest) for law school. I needed enough money for $1400 plane tickets and living expenses and through many awesome people that money was provided. God made it obvious that He would take care of me in New Zealand.
After figuring out the money and knowing God wants me in New Zealand, the main two things to figure out were what I would be doing and where I would be staying. For a while, I spent a lot of time finding jobs in New Zealand online, but none of them were close enough to where Aaron would be (they were like 8 or more hours away). Although I wanted to live abroad anyways, the reason I chose New Zealand was to be close to Aaron. A job that far away would nullify my efforts to go to New Zealand in the first place. Because of that and Aaron insisting that he had many job offers, I decided that I did not need to find a job before leaving. Finding a place to stay kind of went the same way. I started looking things up, but in the end Aaron said he could find some place for me to stay. We came to the agreement that I could stay in the house Aaron was staying in for a limited amount of time (Aaron rented the four bedrooms of the upstairs of a house), but thought it would be best to soon find somewhere else to stay.
On June 15th I left for the airport with two suitcases full of warm, winter clothes and without a real knowledge of what I would be doing while I was in New Zealand. The only things that I really did know is that I had a long 27 hours ahead of me and would be picked up by Aaron on June 17th (there is an 16 hour time difference from Indiana) in Christchurch, New Zealand.
After making a few big decision to step out in faith (thanks to a good friend Matt Stine's last minute calls), Aaron decided he would follow through with this idea. This began the craziness of deciding where I wanted to go (there is, after all, a whole world out there to explore!) and if it could be the same place as Aaron. Because of obligations I had at the beginning of the summer I knew that I wouldn't be able to live in a different country quite as long as Aaron. This also meant that finding a job online was virtually impossible for me. Because of that, we decided it would be best for Aaron to find a job and I would try to follow him where ever he went.
Although this seemed reasonable, it wasn't always easy to follow through with waiting for Aaron to figure out where he was going. Aaron did not find out where he would be until about a month before leaving (Aprilish). It seemed like my whole future was up in the air at the time (I was still trying to figure out law school things) and it would have been nice to know what I would be doing during the summer. Even though I much more welcoming to adventures and change than Aaron, I too had a few steps in faith to make before coming.
My main concern about living abroad was getting the money. God quickly alleviated that worry, however. Soon after telling people I wanted to live abroad people began offering to let me borrow money until I can take out a loan (without interest) for law school. I needed enough money for $1400 plane tickets and living expenses and through many awesome people that money was provided. God made it obvious that He would take care of me in New Zealand.
After figuring out the money and knowing God wants me in New Zealand, the main two things to figure out were what I would be doing and where I would be staying. For a while, I spent a lot of time finding jobs in New Zealand online, but none of them were close enough to where Aaron would be (they were like 8 or more hours away). Although I wanted to live abroad anyways, the reason I chose New Zealand was to be close to Aaron. A job that far away would nullify my efforts to go to New Zealand in the first place. Because of that and Aaron insisting that he had many job offers, I decided that I did not need to find a job before leaving. Finding a place to stay kind of went the same way. I started looking things up, but in the end Aaron said he could find some place for me to stay. We came to the agreement that I could stay in the house Aaron was staying in for a limited amount of time (Aaron rented the four bedrooms of the upstairs of a house), but thought it would be best to soon find somewhere else to stay.
On June 15th I left for the airport with two suitcases full of warm, winter clothes and without a real knowledge of what I would be doing while I was in New Zealand. The only things that I really did know is that I had a long 27 hours ahead of me and would be picked up by Aaron on June 17th (there is an 16 hour time difference from Indiana) in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Acting Upon a Realization
It's officially day 5 of being among the Kiwis and the one startling realization that I have come to is that if I don't make a place that I can write what is going on to everyone, then I will continue to type the same things over and over again. Although I really don't have anything much better to do at the moment, I am hoping that won't be true too much longer. Because of that, I have started a blog (which I assume you already knew since you are reading this). It was a thought that occurred to me only minutes before acting upon it, but I guess that kind of depicts my life in New Zealand so far.
The one thing that upsets me about writing to everyone at once is that I can't personalize things as much. Because of that, there will probably be random shout outs to people that might appreciate something in particular. Let me know if you are keeping up on this blog so that I can make sure to say something to you. :D
The one thing that upsets me about writing to everyone at once is that I can't personalize things as much. Because of that, there will probably be random shout outs to people that might appreciate something in particular. Let me know if you are keeping up on this blog so that I can make sure to say something to you. :D
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