Hither and Yon: Life and Times in New Zealand

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Things Wellingtonians Never Say....

After living in Wellington for 18 months we've come to feel like locals most of time. There are some gems in this montage. My favorite is: "I don't mind that uni [University] is up the hill, it gives me an excuse to exercise". It may be my least favorite thing about Wellington - that the walk to campus from where we live is up a huge hill that isn't just a hill; it's a combination of alternating hills and sets of steps when the incline is too steep to have a regular footpath. Oh, Wellington.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udGgFUKxokg

Burrito....

So Tim and I are getting very excited as our trip to Europe approaches. I cannot believe that we will be flying to Sydney next Friday - that's just ten days from today. :) With the day almost upon us we've been reading about the various destinations and are tying up last minute loose ends. So one thing we've been focusing on it how much we expect to spend for food and entertainment in each locale. And, you're going to laugh, but we're very excited to get to visit a Chipotle when we are in London! I looked up the menu to get an idea of the prices and learned that a burrito costs about 7 GBP (Great British Pounds - about 13.5 NZD which is about 10.80 USD). Last night when I was putting a DVD in my computer I saw my notes about our time in London and that a Chipotle burrito will cost 7 GBP. I mentioned this to Timmy who was in the kitchen preparing supper but he didn't quite hear me. I said "oh yeah, a burrito is seven pounds" (meaning 7 GBP) but he heard 'seven pounds' (as in a seven pound burrito - a burrito weighing seven pounds/lbs). So he replied, "Where can you get a 7 lb burrito?". And I said, "Chipotle, you can get a burrito for 7 GBP". To which he laughed and said, "I didn't know why you wanted a 7 lb burrito or where we'd find one". Gotta watch out for those sneaky currency/weight mix ups. :)

"Would you like to pay?"......

The other day I was walking home after running errands downtown when I passed one of the many dingy cafes along Cuba Mall - this portion of Cuba is closed to traffic and is therefore deemed a "mall". I saw two women leaving this little cafe when all of a sudden am employee bursts through the door, catches up with the women and sheepishly says, "I'm sorry, um, uh, would you like to pay?'. Turns out those ladies had a nice lunch or coffee and then got up to leave without paying but not realizing it until they were accosted on the sidewalk by the cafe employee. I couldn't help but giggle as I strode past. In NZ we've had to learn how restaurants work and it was a bit challenging at first. I remember the first day we were in Wellington. After leaving our bags where we were going to stay we were dropped off downtown so we could have a look around. Yeah, we were both bleary eyed and overwhelmed after the flight but managed to make a decision to have a bite to eat at a cafe in the CBD (central business district). We wandered in off the sidewalk and weren't sure if we were supposed to seat ourselves or wait to be seated. After an awkward exchange with someone behind the counter we found a table and collapsed into the chairs. We ordered eggs, bacon and toast and had our first encounter with what NZ considers 'bacon'. Just be warned, if it says bacon, it's probably not what you think of when you envision bacon. Yeah, bacon here it some sort of middle or back bacon that shouldn't be prepared for human consumption. Yes, I know I'm a bacon snob. So we finish up and then wonder what do because no one is coming with the check. After a good twenty minutes of whispering, "What should we do?" and other such phrases we went up to the counter and within seconds we were paying for our food. A few days and few meals out later we realized that every place keeps track of what your eating and connects that to your table. Nevertheless when you're used to paying at the table this type of system is strange.

I really enjoyed the employee's question: "Would you like to pay?". Kiwis are all about not offending or stepping on toes and, like in this situation, where they should be more aggressive, they apologize and ask their patrons to pay for what they ordered. Things are different in NZ. :) So many things.

Book love....

A Clockwork Orange. I rarely reread books but a friend was reading this and then lent it to me. Surprisingly, I remembered little from the first time around but found it to be a thought provoking, albeit terribly sad, story. I love the fact that Anthony Burgess writes in a different language with words like bezoomy (crazy) slovo (word) and starry (old) and yet you can pretty easily understand it as the context carries the content.