The Bone People

If you need a new book to read, check out The Bone People, which won the Booker Prize in 1985. Author Keri Hulme is one of New Zealand's celebrated authors.

This is one of my favorite books of all time. It is an incredibly powerful, emotional, and sometimes disturbing experience. The Bone People centers on three broken souls who come together in a story of family, love, violence, death, culture, and redemption. These 3 characters are: Simon, a mysterious, abused orphan; Joe, a Maori man embittered by the loss of his wife and son; and Kerewin, a strong and compassionate part-Maori woman estranged from her family. These three characters slowly weave themselves together, experiencing pain, loss, and eventually, healing.

Hulme shifts narrative voice through out the story, includes Maori language and mythology, and uses an unconventional style of writing that may not be for everyone, it takes some getting used to. But I highly recommend The Bone People. The story will pull you in and the characters will stick with you long after you've closed the book.

Check it out!

In Brief

Kiwis love to shorten words. Many everyday words have been trimmed of excess letters and syllables in order to.......? I'm not sure, but shortening words seems to be a national pastime. The shortened words often end in -y or -ie, creating a somewhat "cute" version of the word. Although, I'm not sure if the electricians I know in the States would think it's cute to be referred to as Sparkie.

Here are some cute Kiwi words:

Batch=Bachelor house, usually by the seaside
Bickie=Biscuit (Cookie)
Brekkie=Breakfast
Brickie=Bricklayer
Cardy=Cardigan
Chippy=Carpenter, Builder
Chrissy=Christmas
Cuz=Cousin
Fizzy=Soda
Greasies=Fish n'Chips
Gummies or Wellies=Gumboots (Rainboots)
Hottie=Hot Water Bottle
Nappy=Diaper
Prezzy=Present, as in gift
Rellies=Relatives
Sarnie=Sandwich
Sickie=A sick day from work
Sparkie=Electrician
Sunnies=Sunglasses
Ta=Thank You
Togs=Bathing suit

Who Wears Short Shorts?

Kiwi men do! I have never seen so many upper (and inner) thighs of men as I have here in New Zealand. Apparently these incredibly short shorts are called 'stubbies' and have been around for a while. Think 1970s corduroy OPs or UPS Man, and then go shorter. Kiwi men who wear short shorts include the mail carrier, road workers, truck drivers, farmers, construction workers and rugby players. At least, as athletes, the rugby players usually have shapely legs, but still...

This You Tube video showcases 'stubbies' in an add for L&P, a popular soft-drink here in New Zealand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSFCvG6curE

Starring America

I haven’t owned a TV in years and I find very few merits in watching television. Call me a TV snob but I’d rather read. Besides, cable is expensive, I loathe commercials, I watch movies on my laptop, and most of the HBO, Discovery or History channel shows that I like can be found on DVD. But now that I’m millions of miles from home and am the proud owner of a TV, I can’t help but feel nostalgic for some good ol’American entertainment. Even if this means watching shows that I would never watch back home (or at least admit to watching). There’s something about hearing the American accent, seeing American cities and landscapes, laughing along to American humor, laughing at American stupidity….It’s like going home without the plan ticket!

Our huge Soviet-era TV only gets 6 to 8 channels, depending on the angle of the rusty wire antenna, but many American TV shows are popular here, especially reality shows. Apparently Beauty and the Geek was a huge hit, as is The Girls Next Door (c’mon, it’s Playboy). Other shows that we’ve seen include Extreme Home Makeover, Fear Factor, America’s Next Top Model, Survivor, and My Super Sweet Sixteen (seriously, where do they find those kids? Oh yeah, America…). Other shows that are popular with Kiwis are Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Scrubs and Seinfeld.

It’s quite unsettling to watch these shows and think, “Wow! This is how Americans are represented to those living outside the U.S. No wonder everyone thinks we’re crazy!” We come across as spoiled, immoral, greedy, un-educated, un-healthy, plastic surgery-obsessed, and aggressive. Ouch. But it’s entertainment and for 30 minutes I can lose myself in the silliness of American life.

Once in a while we even catch a movie on the basic channels. Most of these films don’t improve our image much but they sure are fun. We’ve seen some real gems of American cinema. These include:

The Day After Tomorrow-Might have been good on the big screen with all the special effects. Although, any movie that combines the science of climate change, rabid wolves, and Dennis Quaid is skating on thin ice.

Alien vs. Predator-This one has it all: big guns, the brave female, the complicated foreigner, the amnesiac old man, ancient mythology, shamefully bad dialogue, and dripping slime. We miss you Sigourney and Arnold!

Failure to Launch-Two words: Matthew McConaughey. Three words: Straight to video.

P.S. Kiwi shows aren't any better, but I'll save that for another day.

Uncle Bob's Birthday

Robert Burns, widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, turns 250 this year. Also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's Favorite Son, or simply The Bard, Robert Burns is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death, became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism.

A cultural icon in Scotland, Burns is also celebrated by the Scottish diaspora around the world. Dunedin (Scottish Gaelic for Edinburgh) was founded by Scottish settlers, including the nephew of Robert Burns, and continues to maintain a strong Scottish heritage. A bronze statue of Burns, usually topped with seagulls, sits in the city's central Octagon. This week, Dunedin celebrates Burns' birthday with song, dance, poetry readings, and even a haggis feast. Oh boy, sheep heart, liver and lungs boiled in sheep stomach!

Perhaps Burns' most well known poem/song is Auld Lang Syne, which is sung during New Years Eve celebrations (you know, that song no one seems to know the words to). Another famous poem/song is A Red, Red Rose, which has always been a favorite of mine. Here are the lyrics:

My love is like a red red rose That’s newly sprung in June; My love is like the melodie That’s sweetly play’d in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in love am I; And I will love thee still, my dear, Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi’ the sun: And I will love thee still, my dear, While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only love And fare thee weel, a while! And I will come again, my love, Tho’ it were ten thousand mile.

So put on that kilt, pull up those socks, break out the bagpipes, and toast Uncle Bob's birthday with a wee dram of whiskey! Slainte!

Your Maori Lesson for the Day

Maori, also referred to as te reo (the language), is one of New Zealand's three official languages (along with English and NZ Sign Language) and is commonly spoken by people of Maori descent. It is considered an East Polynesian language and is closely related to Tahitian. Many of New Zealand's place names are of Maori origin and describe the physical geography of the environment.

Like many native languages under Western colonization, Maori has had many ups and downs over the past 200 years. At the beginning of the 19th century Maori was the predominant language spoken in New Zealand. As more white English speakers arrived on the islands, the Maori language was increasingly confined to small, Maori-only communities. By the mid-20th century there were concerns that the language was dying out. Major initiatives in the 1980s were launched to bring about a revival of Maori.

Today, most government departments have bilingual names, and many schools, museums, and libraries have bilingual signs. There are currently 2 Maori language TV stations and a Maori radio station. Parents have the option of sending their children to Maori-immersion kindergarten and more families are choosing to raise bilingual children. Recent polls show that over 130,000 people of Maori ethnicity now speak and understand Maori.

With few Maori living on the South Island, we rarely get the chance to hear Maori spoken, although we do listen to the Maori radio station sometimes. It's a beautiful language and I can't wait to hear more of it when we travel to the North Island.

If you're interested in learning more about the Maori language, check out the New Zealand government's Maori Language Commission website at:
http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/

If you want to look up a word in Maori, go to the online Maori Dictionary:
http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/

Here is a sample of common Maori words.

ao = cloud
aotearoa = Land of the Long White Cloud (one of several translations)
aroha = love and affection
awa = river, valley
haere mai = welcome
haera ra = farewell
haka = a dance and chants performed by the men
hangi = a Maori feast where the food is cooked/steamed in an earth oven
hau = wind
Hawaiiki = legendary homeland of the Maori
ka pai = good; well done
kai = food
kia ora = hello, good bye, good luck
mana = prestige, power, control
manu = bird
maunga = mountain
moana = sea or lake
moko = tattoo
motu = island, or anything that is isolated
pakeha = foreigner, white person, European
po = night
puna = spring of water
rangi= sky
roto = lake
tapu = sacred
wai = water
wairua = spirit
whanga = bay, stretch of water, inlet
whare = house
whenua = land

Hi, I'm a Lint Ball: Life Without a Dryer

We don't have a clothes dryer here. Electricity is very expensive in New Zealand so we try to save as much as possible on our energy bill. Which means we dry our laundry on the clothes line out in the backyard or on 2 large drying racks we keep in the living room. It's not uncommon to walk by a house and see knickers drying in the window. This works out great on warm, sunny days, but drying can take 3 days or more when it's cold and wet out. You also have to be careful on extremely sunny days: The sun is so intense that it doesn't take very long to sun-bleach colorful laundry.

I don't mind hanging clothes out to dry. I brought only cotton, wool, and linen clothes with me so drying is easy and I don't have to deal with dry cleaning. Although, I do miss the shrinking effects of the dryer's heat on my jeans and t-shirts. Some of my shirts are so stretched out from the washer's turbo spin cycle that sometimes I think they are my boyfriend's shirts.

And now I understand the vital importance of a lint screen. Without a dryer, all the lint clings to my clothing and I look like a walking ball of lint. Where does that stuff come from? No amount of sticky lint rollers or tape can combat the army of lint that accumulates on my clothes. Oh well, we save energy without a dryer and that means I can run the heat pump in the cold winter months.....at least I'll be a warm lint ball!

Out of the Woodwork

It's finally summer here, and I love the hot, sunny weather. Apparently, so do the insects and spiders.

In the last few weeks we have had lots of little black beetles emerge from the wood trim in our house. One day, we suddenly noticed lots of these little guys crawling out from perfectly round holes they chewed in the wood. They crawl around on the walls for days, sometimes taking a short flight, until they mate, lay eggs back into the wood and die. Our white bathroom walls are now polka-dot!

We've also had a few (too many) spiders find their way inside the house. Now, I grew up in a house with hairy wolf spiders in my bed and black widows under my bed, but I hate spiders! And these ones are HUGE! The other night there was a spider crawling on the wall that was so big, he barely fit through the opening of the mason jar my boyfriend insisted on catching him in. Yes, he catches all the spiders and releases them outside! I swear it's the same one that insists on crawling back inside the house though the open window in our bedroom.

Before I went to Australia, everyone always said "Ooo, I hear they have big spiders there!" When I mentioned that I was moving to New Zealand, no one, not one person ever said "Ooo, watch out for the spiders in New Zealand." In fact, there are spiders here. Big, hairy ones. Fortunately there is only one poisonous spider here, the Katipo, which is some sort of cousin to the black widow. It's usually found in coastal habitat and bites are rare. But still......

Now, I know arachnophobia is totally irrational and silly, but I just don't like spiders. They give me the goosebumps! Their legs are creepy-crawly and their mass of black beady eyes watch me watching them. I just know they wait for me to fall asleep so they can skitter across the bed comforter, into my shoes, and through my closet. I swear. Next time I find a spider, I think I may introduce it to the bottom of my shoe. Actually, forget that, I'll use my boyfriend's shoe.

Extra, Extra! Read All About It!

Just for fun, here is a sampling of recent New Zealand headlines:

Winning Cherry Pip Spitter Reveals his Secrets
(Finally! I've been trying to figure out his secrets for years!)

Frog Ambassador Pays Visit
(From the country of Frog?)

Crowds Turn Out to See Damn Spills
(They do say three's a crowd)

Idea of a Pet Cemetery is Being Considered
(NIMBY)

School Garden Now Bunny-Proof
(Phew! I was getting so worried)

Girl Wins Model Aircraft Hat Trick
(Darn, I was perfecting my model submarine toe-flip kick)

Success for 71-year old Power Lifter
(You think Viagara had anything to do with it?)

Ban on Israelis Opposed
(Extreme Protest-the newest extreme sport to be introduced in the adventure capitol of the world)

Nerds Come to the Rescue
(What exactly were they rescuing...lost pocket protectors?)

Woman Catches Neighbor Going Through Underwear
(A knicker snatcher!)

Qualified Embalmer Back in Business
(You mean there was an un-qualified embalmer doing business at some point?)

Gifted Shooter Wins NZ Deerstalking Association Award
(Apparently it was a slow day in the newsroom...)

Department Of Conservation Arms Bats Against Rats
(What, with teeny tiny snap traps and cans of poison?)

Lego Olympics Spawn Lego Fever in NZ
(On your mark, get set, LEGO!)

French Horn Fun for Family
(This one time, at Band Camp....)

Cash for Bald Head Billboards
(No joke, Air New Zealand wanted to temporarily tattoo heads for new advertisements)

Lizards Not at Risk From Wind Farms
(Referring to those lizards flying in V-formation?)

Skater Boobs on Ice
(Video included!)

Goodbye Bush
(A new add for Veet hair removal product. BRILLIANT!)

New Zealanders Apply to Test Condoms
(Crickey Dick!)

President Obamer

President Bar-ack O-bam-er. That's how our new President's name sounds with the Kiwi accent.

I really wanted to be back in the States yesterday, even if only to listen to NPR. The election of Barak Obama as the leader of our country is, of course, historic. As an insider watching from the outside, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic for America and have a cheesy proud-to-be-an-American moment. Reading the newspapers, looking at photos online, and listening to President Obama’s speech gave me goosebumps and teary eyes.

It's quite ironic, actually. When GW first took office 8 year ago, like many other people, I wanted to move out of the country. 4 years later I swore that I would move to New Zealand if Bush was re-elected…Well, here I am, in New Zealand, just in time for a new President. Go figure.

Here is an article from the New York Times about the inauguration response abroad:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/world/europe/21reax.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Maggots

Everyone knows New Zealand is known for sheep. But did you know that from far away, sheep look like maggots on the hillside? Well, at least that's what I think. When the sheep follow each other in a long line, I call it March of the Maggots! I think sheep are ridiculously cute and I never get enough of them. When I first flew in to Dunedin I could see hundreds of small white fluff balls dotting the green fields below (or maybe that was the snow from the day before). Lambing season had just finished so there were so many wee little lambs running about, I kept looking out the window on our drive into Dunedin exclaiming "Ohhh, how CUTE! Look at the lambs!!"

The main sheep breed here in New Zealand are Romney, an English breed. They are dual purpose wool and meat sheep. Their wool is very course and is used in carpets, blankets, and heavy clothing. In Central Otago I discovered (much to my delight, of course) the big and burly Merino sheep with curling horns. Merino sheep are the oldest and most numerous sheep in the world. It is thought that they orginated in Spain or North Africa. They are very hardy and can survive in the high rugged mountain country of Central Otago. Their wool is so think and wavy that some of the sheep look like giant Shar-Pei dogs! Merino wool is used in clothing and even billiard/pool table cloth!

Sheep are everywhere! Recent estimates put the number of sheep at 43.1 million, that's 12 sheep per every person living in New Zealand!! Driving around Otago provides panoramic vistas of sheep-covered hillsides. Hikes come with a soundtrack of bahhhing and we often encounter sheep on trails because most trails travel through or along farms at some point. Consequently, these trails are closed during lambing season in September and October.

And of course, I'm always Ooing and Ahing over the lambs. I even like the Big Mamma sheep (see photo above) that look like a giant pile of dirty cotton when they lay down. Although, now some of the sheep are naked because they've been sheared. Talk about pathetic, some of them even look embarrassed and I feel sorry for them (as I wear my wool pullover....)!

Funny thing, sheep. The are so skittish. When we walk by them they get nervous and jump away, causing all the sheep in the immediate vacinity to jump away as well. Even if we are 50 feet away behind a fence. Maybe they think we are coming to strip them of their wool coats. We also see many sheep who get "trapped" in the wedge behind an open gate. They endlessly Bahhh to the sheep on the other side, not realizing they just need to walk around the gate in order to reunite with the other sheep Bahhhhing back.

And then of course, there are the sheep's dags (mentioned in yesterday's posting). Dags are the poop-filled wool that hang off the back of the sheep. Longer wool=longer, dirtier dags. My boyfriend and I kept seeing sheep with dirty butts and I proclaimed that if I owned a sheep I would wash its butt wool. A friend of ours explained the term "rattle your dags" and now I find sheep even more hilarious.

Well, now the lambs are growing up and beginning to be hauled off in double trailer trucks to become dinner. These huge trucks speed through Dunedin, leaving the most intense trail of stench in their wake. It makes me want to give up eating meat all together. Almost.

So now you know more than you probably ever wanted to know about sheep. For all your New Zealand sheep needs, check out these websites:

The New Zealand Sheepbreeders Association:
http://www.nzsheep.co.nz/index.html

The Colored Sheep of New Zealand (No joke, that's really what they call them here):
http://www.colouredsheep.org.nz/
I actually find this website quite interesting and like the idea of using naturally colored wool in my knitting projects.

Rare breed information (including other rare livestock):
http://www.rarebreeds.co.nz/

Long Blacks & Flat Whites

No, this isn't a racial thing, I'm ordering coffee! If you thought Starbucks was confusing, try getting a regular coffee in New Zealand. I first encountered this system in Australia a few years ago, but it didn't matter since I wasn't much of a coffee drinker then. Now, I like to have a nice cuppa' every now a then (and the coffee here is really good), but the menu needs decoding first. I did a little research and here's what I found:

Espresso: a 30 ml shot of black coffee produced from 7 grams of ground beans

Long Black: 2 shots of espresso added to twice as much hot water

Flat White: 1/3 espresso (2 shots) and 2/3 steamed milk

Cappuccino: 1/3 espresso (2 shots), 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 foam

Latte: 1/3 espresso (2 shots), 2/3 steamed milk, a little foam

Macchiato: 2 shots of espresso, 5 ml milk on top, a bit of foam

Mochaccino: 2 shots of espresso, 1 teaspoon drinking chocolate, steamed milk

Right now I'm drinking cappuccino (thanks to my trip to Italy last summer) but I mix it up with a Latte or Hot Chocolate-with a chocolate fish of course (see Adventures in Food:Part 1)!

Git Yer Dags Rattlin'

Oh my, how creative these Kiwis are with the English language! I have had so much fun learning new words and phrases. Here are a few of my favorites that I'll be sure to use in the future:

Rattle your dags=hurry up, get a move on. From the mucky sheep's "dags" which describe the dried poop hanging from the sheep's butt wool. Gross. Try using "Oi, get your dags rattling, we're going to be late!"

Mooch Around=explore, investigate. As in "We had a mooch around the beach yesterday"

Knickers=underwear. I just love the word. Say it out loud.

Colly Wobbles=a feeling of nausea usually associated with nervousness. "Before my job interview I had the colly wobbles"

Flash=sensational, really cool, super. "That's a flash new car"

Throw a Wobbly=to become angry, get snotty, throw a fit. As in "geez, don't throw a wobbly over that, it's no big deal"

Crikey Dick=Gosh! Wow! Crazy!

Sprog=a child. "That woman has 4 wee sprogs!"

Dodgy=bad, unreliable, spoiled. "That fish looks a bit dodgy, I wouldn't buy it"

Knackered=extremely tired, worn out, finished, stuffed. "We were knackered after our 10 hour hike in the rain and wind"

Sweet As=a term people say instead of "cool" or "awesome"

Sparrow Fart=very early in the morning, the crack of dawn. As in "My boyfriend wakes me up at the sparrow's fart for Farmer's Market on Saturdays"

Always Look Right

One of the new (and sometimes dangerous) experiences of living in New Zealand is driving on the left-hand side of the road. For an American, this is a fun novelty that quickly wears off after you find yourself in a roundabout and invoke the road-rage of the Kiwi driver tailgating behind you. Despite this, I like driving our little Subaru (pronounced Sue-bar-roo) Justy around the South Island, even if it feels like the wind will blow us off the road sometimes. We just got our NZ driver's licenses so I thought I would include some driving related topics that often come up when on the road:

Blinkers, Windshield Wipers and Gear Sticks
Not only do you drive on the opposite side of the road, but all the car features are opposite as well. The steering wheel is on the right, so are the blinkers, which means I regularly clean my windshield instead of signalling a turn. This is super frustrating when I have a car immediately behind me (see below). And of course the gear stick is on the right so I constantly reach for thin air by the car door when I need to change gears.

Turning Left
OK, this may get confusing for you right-side drivers back home, but bare with me.
First of all, you can NEVER turn left on a red light. And on a green light you must WAIT FOR THE ONCOMING CARS TO TURN RIGHT FIRST (unless of course there are cars going straight in the lane next to you and they act as a 'block' for you to turn left). This is the most confusing rule in New Zealand driving and I have to mentally prepare myself before entering the intersection for a turn. Apparently NZ is the only country to still impose this rule, although the government plans to review this law later this year.

Tailgating & Passing
Tailgating seems to be a right here in New Zealand. Every time we are in the car we can expect to have a car immediately behind us. Often, they are so close you can see their blood pressure rise in your rear view mirror! In our teeny-tiny car I sometimes feel like they are along for the ride in the back seat. When I drive I turn the mirror down so I can't see them behind me. It's just makes me nervous and I still need to focus on driving and following the New Zealand driving rules. Driving back from Queenstown over the holidays we were tailgated by a double fuel tanker truck who eventually passed on on a blind curve. He was closely followed by a driver who didn't want to miss the action should the tanker crash and have fiery explosion. Sadly there are very few passing lanes or turnouts where slower drivers can let cars pass.

Speed Limits
This one surprised me a lot. The general speed limit in New Zealand is 100 kph/62.1 mph, although many people drive much faster. As a Californian, I'm used to high speed driving on freeways where people regularly drive over 128 kph/80 mph. For some reason I didn't expect Kiwi drivers to drive so fast, especially on dangerous roads. The very narrow road along Otago Harbor on the Peninsula is full of twists and turns without shoulders, turnouts or guardrails, but people insist on driving it like they are racing in the Formula 1. During the Winter months cars regularly skid on ice and end up in the harbor. Our small 3-cylinder car (you can laugh now) can barely sustain 100 kph, although we get fantastic gas mileage, errr, petrol kilometerage....

Roundabouts & Yields
Oh, the dreaded roundabout. Finding a roundabout in California is about as rare as spotting a kiwi bird in the wild. I think the town I grew up in had just one and I think it had stop signs. The roundabout is supposed to keep traffic flowing smoothly. Why stop if no one is coming, right? Well, Kiwis seem to have made an art out of never stopping their car and roundabouts & yields help facilitate this quite nicely. Drivers enter roundabouts as if there were no other cars on the road so you better know what you're doing and where your exiting before you enter one. Most residential or small town intersections only have Yield signs each way, which drivers may or may not heed. There is one particular intersection in Dunedin that I avoid like the plague, ebola and bird flu combined: 5 roads converge with Yields in all directions, if you ever figure out how to navigate this one, please let me know. I don't even try to cross it on foot.

Pedestrians
It took me a few weeks to get in the habit of looking right before crossing the road, and to remember that pedestrians rarely have the right away here. Only at certain crosswalks market with large orange lamps that look like balloons can a pedestrian cross the street with the comforting knowledge that oncoming traffic will stop. We regularly wave pedestrians across, only to receive a few honks from cars behind us.

Get Your Kiwi Junk Food!

There are so many new snack foods to try here that I thought I would share the wealth. To check out (or even order) some of the great Kiwi junk food, go to
http://productsfromnz.com/browse_1027_152
You can even peruse other categories of Kiwi products, like music, art, cosmetics, and sheep skins! Have fun!!

The Otago Peninsula

We live across the Otago Harbor from Dunedin, on a long finger of land called the Otago Peninsula. We have spent some weekends exploring the peninsula, enjoying the plants and flowers, looking for quirky New Zealand birds and doing a little beach combing.

The beaches around the peninsula are beautiful! Aqua blue water rolls onto long, white crescents that stretch for miles. The sand is very fine, almost powdery in some places, and provides a microdermabrasion service when it's windy! The water is cold and often dangerous so I haven't been swimming in the ocean yet. Some beaches are scattered with pearly mussel, limpet and paua (abalone) shells, ocean-smoothed stones, brittle crab shells, thick & spongy kelp fronds, and sun-bleached driftwood. I even found a lump of coal washed ashore one day, it promptly went into my boyfriend's Christmas stocking!

Through the Spring, and now into Summer, the peninsula is covered in flowers. Many of the blossoms smell amazing and attract the most enormous bumble bees I've ever seen. Sometimes these furry guys are so loaded down with pollen that they can hardly fly straight! The New Zealand Flax is in bloom with long red or yellow flowers filled with sweet nectar. These blossoms attract beautiful green-yellow bellbirds with a clear bell-like song. The incredibly invasive and pervasive Scotch Broom is electric yellow, as is the Yellow Lupine, which smells incredible, like honey and apricots!

We have ventured out to some beaches with Yellow Eyed Penguin colonies, but didn't manage to see any until we stopped looking for them! One afternoon, a solitary penguin washed in on his belly, waddled around the beach a bit, and returned back to the ocean. Later that day, at Victory Beach, we observed a few pairs of Hoiho (the Maori name for Yellow Eyed) body surf in, preen themselves for what seemed like ages, and then slowly made their way across the beach, over the sand dunes, and into the Lupine where they nest. We crouched down by some driftwood so we didn't frighten them and quietly observed these cute, silly birds. We even spotted one spying on us from its lupine hideout along the trail, he was a lot bigger than I imagined. I never dreamed I would see a penguin in the wild.....

We were also fortunate to see the Royal Albatross colony at Taiaroa Head. These birds are HUGE with a 9ft wingspan!! They look like pterodactyls flying among the tiny seagulls and the chicks look like giant cotton balls with eyes and beaks. The center at Taiaroa Head offers great information, pictures, specimens and stores about the colony. Read more about this unique colony-the only mainland nesting site-at the official website
http://www.albatross.org.nz/

In the marshy areas of the peninsula we have see many Pukeko birds mooching (foraging) along the roads. These chicken-size birds are black with bright blue chest feathers and deep red-orange beaks. Their long legs end in long toes used to grasp food. We came across a family with little baby chicks that quickly ran into a clump of grass when we stopped the car. I'm a sucker for cute baby animals.

The peninsula is also populated with Black Swans. I've never seen so many swans! Black Swans were introduced from Australia as game birds but have become so numerous that they sometimes need to be culled. I think they are graceful and beautiful birds, they look like black question marks bobbing in the inlet waters.

Adventures in Food: Part 2

So with the good food inevitably comes the bad. Here is my list of bad:

1. Whitebait Fritters
Oh boy. These "omelettes" contain small fish larvae that resembles slimy, translucent worms. Call me crazy and unadventurous, but I'm not eating anything that resembles a slimy, translucent worm.

2. Chicken Flavored Chips
It's gets worse: There's Lamb flavored too.

3. Beets on Hamburgers
Not really that bad, but beets just don't belong there. Just ask McDonald's.

4. Vegemite & Marmite
Ugghh. What ever you do, don't spread this stuff like peanut butter.

5. Fish & Chips
Fish & Chips are good when done right. Fish & Chips purchased from underneath the heat lamps at the corner dairy is not done right.

6. Kiwi Pizza
My Italian friends here never stop going on about this one, and I agree. Apricots, mince lamb, guacamole, cranberry sauce, brie cheese, venison, and honey should never be in the vicinity of a pizza. EVER.  Check out this menu to see what I mean.

Are we having fun yet?

7. Mystery Meat Pies
I've heard these referred to as 'maggot bags.' Would you eat something with than name? Be sure to stick to the quality pies in bakeries.

8. Flavored Milk
Colorful flavored milks fill the dairy cooler at the supermarket. I can understand the chocolate flavor, and maybe even strawberry (remember Strawberry Nestle Quick?), but lime, banana, mango, and root beer? I can't imagine this milk doing your body any good.

9. Lolly Cakes
Ingredients:
melted butter
colored fruit puffs (related to marshmallows)
condensed milk
crushed cookies
dessicated coconut

Directions:
Mix everything into the butter
Shape into a log and cover in coconut
Refrigerate for 2 hours
Throw into the rubbish bin

10. Milo
Made by Nestle and advertised as a nutritious energy drink, Milo looks like a powdered chocolate drink but in fact, tastes like wet cardboard. After my first tasteless attempt making Milo, I added more powder. I ended up with more wet cardboard.

Adventures in Food: Part 1

Hailing from the Bay Area in California, I am used to having access to many different kinds of foods. In San Francisco I could find anything from Syrian dried-apricot candy and Ethiopian flat bread, to Sardinian bottarga pasta and El Salvadorian pupusas. You would think that I might have been exposed to some of the foods popular in New Zealand. But one step into New World City Center introduces me to a whole "new world" of food.

Some recent discoveries:

1. Chocolate Fish
Believe me, this is not what you think. Chocolate fish are chocolate covered marshmallows in the shape of a fish that are often served with hot chocolate. I'm not sure how this one developed but they're good.

2. Roasted Chickpeas
Just that, roasted garbanzo beans. These yummy little crunchy salty nuggets are addicting! We keep them around to satisfy our salty-tooth. They're good in salads too!

3. Fruit Juice Concentrate
Known in our household as "juice ooze." Kiwis enjoy a huge range of fruit juice concentrate to mix with water. We are obsessed with passionfruit mango. These are great for cocktails too! Unfortunately, they are filled with sugar....

4. Feijoa
This delicious fruit is related to the guava and is originally from South America. It has juicy sweet pulp and slightly gritty flesh nearer the skin. I grew up eating feijoas that grew at a relative's house in Bonny Doon and was so excited to re-discover them here. For some reason feijoa has become popular in New Zealand and they use it to flavor yogurts, ice cream, smoothies, jam, juice, and candy. I haven't seen the fresh fruit yet, but I'm hoping that feijoa season is coming soon!

5. Kumara
The kumura is a sweet potato brought to New Zealand by early Maori. It is a staple in the Maori diet and there are numerous uses for the kumara. We like it roasted with herbs, creamed in soup, and even had kumara pie for Thanksgiving.

6. Crumpets
I used to get crumpets at Trader Joe's but they were nothing compared to the crumpets here. NZ crumpets are super moist and full of holes. I have to toast them 3 times to get them a bit crispy enough to hold any sort of jam or Nutella.

7. Cheese
With all the dairy farming here it would seem that NZ would produce excellent cheeses. And there are some good cheeses to be had, just not as many as I expected. Most cheese is very expensive, and you can forget any imported cheeses. My boyfriend buys a huge block of cheese called "Tasty" for his daily cheese sandwiches. It's white, but it's not Monterey Jack and definitely not a white cheddar. I like a cheese called "Vintage" that is an aged cheddar with a hard, crumbly texture.

8. Tim Tams
I discovered these amazingly sinful cookies when I was in Australia and managed to bring a few packages home. A Tim Tam is composed of two layers of chocolate cookie with a chocolate cream filling and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate. YUM. There is a whole line of Tim Tams with double filling and various fillings such as caramel, mint, raspberry, orange, mocha....Maybe I should import them to the U.S., I know my mom would be my first customer!

9. Lollies and Sucks
AKA Candy and Suckers. The candy, er lollie, aisle in the market is filled with all sorts of new things, and of course I need to try them all! Marshmallow bananas, hokey pokey (toffee-like), gummy feijoas, peanut slab, smokers, jaffas, licorice, milk bottles......I feel like I'm in a Harry Potter book.

10. Lamb
OK, I couldn't leave this one out. Lamb is to New Zealand what apple pie is to the U.S. The meat counter at the market contains cuts of lamb I've never heard of. You can find lamb in everything: burgers, pies, curries, stews, even lamb flavored chips (more on this later). We are eating more and more of it and I try not to make the connection from the cute lambs on the hillsides to the meat on my plate.

Where the Streets are Made of Glass

Ever since I arrived here in Dunedin, I've noticed a very strange phenomenon: Dunedin is covered in broken glass. Brown, green, blue, clear....shiny, sharp confetti collecting in the gutters. Car parks shimmer with a sea of glass shards and jagged bottles lie scattered in the weedy empty lots. You could make a mosaic of ancient Roman proportions with all the glass in the streets and on the sidewalks. It seems that young (and perhaps older) Dunners find much satisfaction in breaking glass bottles after emptying them. It's possible that allowing drinking on the streets, combined with the lack of adequate rubbish bins (forget recycling!), contributes to the abundance of broken bottle glass that litters the town. Glass from vandalized storefront windows also accumulates on sidewalks, turning a shopping trip downtown into a hazardous hopscotch.

And here's another strange thing: many Dunners walk barefoot. Now I understand wanting to be barefoot in the park, at the beach or in the botanical gardens, especially on the few precious hot days here, but walking barefoot on the glass-strewn streets of Dunedin just seems plain stupid. One wrong step and you have just landed yourself in the Dunedin hospital for a tetanus shot. Not to mention the possibility of toe amputation from the hypothermia-inducing icy winds that regularly blow through town. OK, a bit far-fetched, I know.....but those who walk barefoot in Dunedin have rocks in their heads. And glass shards in the soles of their feet.

A Few Random Observations....

1. Every electrical outlet has an on/off switch in order to conserve energy which is a GREAT idea that should be introduced back in the States.

2. You can experience all 4 seasons in 1 day: You must be prepared for ALL types of weather every day, this includes a 30 degree F variation with rain.

3. Kiwi-grown produce is often more expensive than imports because most of the good produce is sent abroad. But kiwi fruit is imported from Italy.

4. Dinner parties include discussions about heat pumps.

5. Eggs are not refrigerated and can be found on shelves within an aisle at the supermarket.

6. Shopping carts are called "trundlers" and have their own "trundler park"

7. Guns & Roses, AC/DC, and Rod Stewart are extremely popular here.

8. Ballet performances include concessions and alcohol that are allowed inside the theatre.

9. Tea time is taken very seriously and Kiwi employers must supply their employees with tea, coffee, milk and sugar.

10. Some foods are perplexingly expensive, such as soy sauce, coconut milk, rice vinegar, lemons, cilantro. Strange, since we are so close to SE Asia and the cuisine from these countries is popular here.

11. Sliced bread comes in 2 thicknesses: sandwich and toast.

12. Mullet and tail hairstyles are incredibly popular among teenagers and Uni students.

Layering

The weather here has also been a huge surprise for me. Somehow New Zealand has managed to convince the rest of the world that Kiwis live in a tropical paradise. This may well be true in some places on the North Island, but one look at a world map will show you how far south the country really is. In fact, the only other landmass as far south as we are in Dunedin is the south tip of South America, where snowy Patagonia is located.

Take another look at that world map and notice how close New Zealand is to Antarctica. With no other landmass between New Zealand and the South Pole, Antarctica’s icy cold winds blow straight up to New Zealand, often bringing snow in the middle of the summer. That being said, the ozone “hole” resides over New Zealand, making the sunshine extremely intense. In fact, New Zealand has the highest skin cancer rates per capita in the world. Whatever you do, don’t leave the house without a raincoat and sunscreen (the strong winds render umbrellas pretty useless).

New Zealand weather brings me to topic: Kiwi houses. For living in such a cold climate, houses here in Dunedin are generally not well insulated, if they are insulated at all, and have poor heating. Furthermore, the single pane windows let every single gust of icy wind inside, our curtains are constantly moving. In the winter (or anytime a southerly change blows up from Antarctica) olive oil becomes SOLID, bedroom temperatures drop into the 40s (although I've already experienced that as we head into "summer"), and the refrigerator is often warmer than the house. I'm not kidding. 

Call it Kiwi heartiness, or lack of quality resources, or denial, or plain stupidity, but living in a freezing home, in my mind at least, is not an adventure and does not build character. Just how many wool layers can you put on and still function properly to cook dinner?

Land of the Long List of Opposites & Contradictions

Life in New Zealand consists of a long list of opposites (for those of us from the northern hemisphere) and contradictions. Among others, these include driving on the left hand side of the road, light switches where the down position is on, cold weather from the south direction, Christmas in the Summer, icy winds and burning sunshine, sheep pastures and tropical flowers, abundant local fresh fruit and vegetables that are shipped overseas, beautiful white sand beaches along freeing cold ocean, water shortages but no home water meters, flightless nocturnal parrots…..

Over the course of the next year I hope to expand on many of these topics.

Kia Hari Te Tau Hou: January 5 2009

Happy New Years e-mail: January 5 2009

Kia Hari Te Tau Hou!

I hope everyone is happy, healthy and relaxing after the holidays.

Christmas here in New Zealand was very mellow. Without the family and friends it really didn't seem like the holidays this year. We spent Christmas Eve at home watching American movies on TV and Christmas Day enjoying the Summer sunshine that has finally appeared. We decided not to exchange gifts and save our money for road trips instead, although I did cook a yummy dinner for us.

Almost the whole of New Zealand goes on holiday for at least 2 weeks during Christmas (and it is "Christmas" here, none of that PC American lingo for the Kiwis). With the Dunners (those that live in Dunedin) away and the students still out on Summer break, Dunedin has been sooooo quiet. Only cruise ship tourists during the day and no one is out after 5 pm, the city feels like a ghost town!

We did some curling at the ice rink here in Dunedin earlier in the week. Curling is an ancient Scottish sport that involves sliding granite "curls" across the ice in order to get it in the center of a bulls-eye down on the other side of the court. You sweep the ice with brushes in order to speed up the curl to get it closer to the center or slide your opponents out of the center. It's kind of like the Italian bocce on ice. It was actually a lot more fun that I thought and if any of you come visit us, we are definitely going curling! We also did a little night hike to see glow worms in a canyon just NE of town. It was amazing! They looked like constellations on the canyon walls!

With the University closed for 2 weeks and my boyfriend unable to work, we decided to take a day trip on NYE to an area on the South coast called "The Catlins." It's a beautiful, rugged coastline about 1.5 hours drive south of us. There is lots of native forest, waterfalls, dramatic sea caves, and quirky Kiwi settlements (not big enough to really call a town). Since we are getting 16 hours of daylight right now you can really pack in a lot in one day. We did some great hikes in the podocarp forests - a very old family of trees that exists from Gondwanaland. We even had a crazy run-in with little fan tail birds that decided to put on a show for us, they were hilarious!

After a day to re-group and pack lunches we were on the road again. This time we headed inland to Central Otago, which is gold mining country turned wine country. And in fact, it looks a lot like the Sierra foothills in CA, although there are some amazing rock formations and scenery that was used in filming Lord of the Rings. We continued on up to Queenstown, adrenaline capitol of the world where you can find all sorts of death-defying activities to empty your wallet. We did a beautiful hike in high alpine beech forest on lake Wakatipu. There were amazing lichens, mosses, and ferns, and the waterfalls were roaring because it had been raining earlier in the day. After dinner in a very crowded Queenstown, we drove back to Central Otago and stayed in a B&B in Alexandra. The next day we spent wine tasting (where I learned the true meaning of 'minerality'), picking cherries at a small pick-your-own farm, and enjoying the small towns in gold country.

Our road trips were so fun and it allowed us to finally see the New Zealand that everyone raves about. Although, we did have to deal with the Kiwi drivers.....many of the roads are narrow and/or winding but we consistently had cars tail-gating so close we could see the driver's blood pressure rising. We were even passed by a double fuel tanker on a blind curve! Even so, I can't wait to explore more!

Homesick Rant: December 12 2008

This is the edited version of a Homesick Rant moment from December 12 2008:

So Im a bit homesick and need to rant about NZ a bit...

I'm homesick! But it's strange, it's not just home I miss, more like American culture in general, which scares me a bit....Oh well, I guess that's just part of living in another country and getting used to the different ways things are done here. When your in a new place, everything different about it gets on your nerves if there is nothing good to balance it out (ie: things I like about it). For me it's the driving. Kiwis are the most aggressive drivers ever! They tailgate so bad ALL THE TIME. Not sure where that laid back kiwi attitude goes when they get on the road. Honestly, when I drive I turn our rear view mirror down so I can't see behind me (our car is so small it doesn't really matter anyway). There's no point, I know that there is someone behind me.

But there are lots of things in NZ that have been surprises actually. It's very beautiful, but our location looks a lot like Northern CA. Everyone raves about the natural beauty but we don't find it all that exciting or particularly special yet. I do like all the flowers and weird birds though! And of course, the weather! I knew that my boyfriend had a freezing winter but I figured summer would be somewhat decent. Summers in Dunedin=RAIN! Booooo. I live in wool sweaters and we are heading into Summer.....I can't imagine what Winter will be like, maybe I'll just hibernate or spin a cocoon!

I've come to realize something very fundamental about myself: I need culture in my life, I should have known.....art, architecture, music, opera, food, nightlife....there is really nothing of the sort here in Dunedin so I have nothing to balance out the nature. I like nature and outdoorsy things, but people come to the South Island really only for outdoor adventures, most of which I'm not really interested in. Although I do want to go river-rafting and glow-worm caving. And maybe zorbing (you know, the plastic hamster ball thing?)....but I really don't want to go for 5 day tramps in the rain. Ick!

I really want to learn more about Maori and South Pacific culture but unfortunately few Maori live this far south. Most live on the North Island...maybe the weather has something to do with it. I guess for now I'll just have to drink all the new wines I'm discovering.

Update: November 19 2008

An update from November 19, 2008:

Well, I'm a bit more settled in here now and my boyfriend and I are exploring our new home together. The weather is warming up with Spring, although we still get schizophrenic weather changes daily! 2 weeks ago we had snow and 40 degree temp - in the house! I have yet to hear a good explanation as to why Kiwi homes are so poorly made and not insulated, I don't care what anyone says, shivering in wool clothes under 5 wool blankets is not an adventure and does not build character!

We have explored the Otago peninsula we live on and caught sight of the royal albatross colony, the birds have a 9ft wingspan!! They look like pterodactyls flying among the seagulls! No penguins yet, we have to time it right since they leave for the ocean at sunrise and only return at sunset, which is 9:30 these days. So many flowers are in bloom right now, they smell so good and attract the most enormous bumble bees I've ever seen! We also recently visited the Otago Museum which is a wonderful natural history museum filled with specimens and collections. There is even an ancient Mediterranean collection! It is a great place to learn about Maori and New Zealand history, and about the crazy plants and animals that are here, although many endemic species are on the brink of extinction. Even after leaving the Cal Academy of Sciences in SF, I am very impressed by the museum!

We have discovered some great restaurants and new foods in the grocery stores, like roasted chickpeas, feijeoa juice, passionfruit jam, fig & kiwi ice cream, crispy coconut cookies, and venison! I've also been sampling the many NZ white wines, although I must admit that I'm still partial to reds. The wine aisle is very overwhelming and I have no idea where to begin sometimes. The whites are very green and herbaceous (that's the Kiwi description). I do enjoy the many Rieslings though....

We haven't decided what we will do for Christmas yet, most Kiwis head to the beaches for a 2-3 week holiday, so maybe we will venture out too. I started driving our teeny-tiny car last week and have to remind myself to stay to the left, especially on the roundabouts. It can be kind of scary sometimes! We did find a very nice bike for me so I will be able to ride into town, although drivers are very unaware and unfriendly to bicyclists, so I'll stick to the sidewalks.

Now that my thesis is done, I've been able to focus on looking for work. Keep your fingers crossed!

My boyfriend has made a small group of friends here and we have dinners, movie nights, and outdoor adventures with them. It is really interesting how Dunedin is such an international city. Last weekend we went to a dinner party with an Italian, 3 French, 1 Hungarian and a Malaysian! It's so fun to learn about other cultures, hear new languages, and share what each of us miss from our homes.

We miss NPR, cheap fruits and veggies, predictable weather, a variety of cheeses, unlimited Internet access, fresh herbs, pounds, ounces, Fahrenheits and miles, and the general silliness of American life. Although New Zealand has enough of its own idiosyncrasies that we are learning to live by. Some of these include: not keeping eggs refrigerated, calling shopping carts "trundlers," pronouncing the letter z as "zed," giving the weather forecast for the entire country on the radio, "tramping" instead of hiking, adding an "r" at the end of a word that ends with a vowel, discussing heat pumps and coal burning stoves at dinner parties, calling bell peppers "capsicums," sleeping with a hot water bottle, enjoying the coffee, tea, milk and sugar that NZ employers legally have to supply to their employees, and being prepared for all types of weather everyday.

An Outside Perspective on the U.S. Presidential Election: November 5 2008

This was written on November 5, 2008, just after the U.S. Presidential Election:

Hope everyone is basking in the glory of our new President, we certainly are here, along with the rest of New Zealand and probably the rest of the world (although homophobic Californian voters get a thumbs down, as in the ancient Roman throw-them-to-the-lions-in-the-Colosseum thumbs down)!!

Anyway, here is a great article looking at the world's perspective on the U.S. election. It's been interesting living here during such an important election, you really see how the rest of the world wearily looks to us a the most powerful country in the world....even when they make fun of our rednecks and religious conservatives! Unfortunately these are the types of people they tend to interview on the radio so no wonder why they think Americans are uneducated bible-thumping hicks who don't care for the environment. Awesome.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/us/politics/05global.html?pagewanted=1&em

First Impressions: October 28 2008

Excerpts from This my first e-mail home, sent the day I arrived (very jet-lagged) on October 28, 2008

"Well, New Zealand is beautiful, of course!! Flying in was amazing: Green, green, green!!! And patches of fluffy white sheep (and snow). In fact, it's lambing season so there are lots of wee little ones running around, they are so cute, I want one for our backyard! Dunedin is a cute college town (just over 100,000 people) filled with little cafes, shops and markets. It's surrounded by hills and actually has the steepest street in the world. I can't wait to explore the Otago Peninsula and look for the penguins on the beach!

Yesterday (Monday) was Labor Day holiday and it was very warm so we walked around the Botanical Gardens. Since it's spring here, everything is in bloom and smells wonderful. It's strange, I feel like I am in a cross of England with all the organized fields, old brick buildings and Victorian architecture, and Hawaii with the tropical plants, fruit, and strange birds. The grocery store is filled with lots of different foods I can't wait to try!

Our house is so cute with AMAZING views of the ocean and harbor. Although, it's big and we don't have much furniture to fill it yet. We are up on a hill so we do get some wind, which can be biting cold when it blows from the south (meaning Antarctica). The weather changes so quickly here, you always have to be prepared for everything, sort of like SF, but with intense burning sun and snow thrown into the days mix. When the sun does shine, it's FIERCE! Not sure where the ozone went, but sunscreen is a must when you leave the house.

I am settling in nicely, getting a tax number (needed to work here) and bank account. I'll be looking for work soon as I am finishing up my thesis. I will also be driving our tiny 3 cylinder car soon so I need to get used to being on the left side of the road! I keep walking to the wrong side of the car to get in as a passenger. I have to remember to look right when crossing the road!"

The Begining...

So here I am, living in New Zealand. After sending long, detailed e-mails to friends and family back home and journal writing about the idiosyncrasies of Kiwi life, I have decided to start a Blog about my life here. To begin with, I will post some entries from the past 3 months with their original date. Enjoy.....

So how the hell did I get here? Well, my boyfriend, accepted an offer to work at the University of Otago in Dunedin. He arrived in March, 2008, while I stayed on in Berkeley and San Francisco to work on my thesis and continue my museum job. After a long summer of travel, weddings, organizing, and packing, I arrived in the Land of the Long White Cloud at the end of October.

The decision to move was a tough one, as it means living half a world away from family and friends. But we thought that it would give us an amazing opportunity to live and work in another country. So far, the experience has been a lesson in adjusting one's expectations (more on this later). Most information I heard or read before moving applied to traveling around the country, not necessarily living here. Big difference! But I'm slowly settling in, making a life here, and learning a lot about myself in the process.