The little things we think & discover along the way.
*These may not all apply to everywhere in NZ, but it's what we've seen so far*
- I know it's English, but.... what did he just say?
- Choc = chocolate ie. choc chip cookie and choc drops
- Good on ya = good for you
- Everyone says "see ya" for goodbye
- Rotaries = round abouts They are EVERYWHERE. We literally ran into one in the middle of the motorway/freeway
- There are few stop signs mostly "give way"
- Take away = take out food it's usually cheaper
- The lowest bill is $5- there are $2 and $1 coins (there's change in coins too)
- There is a tiny on/off switch for each individual outlet
- Gridiron- American football (a weak man's sport)
- Rolls are meant to be buttered regardless of what they are going to be- a PBJ sandwich, ham & cheese...
- Sweet as - sweet- you can put 'as' behind any adjective and that's what it is : cool as, dumb as, tired as...
- Most toilets have half and full flush
- It's 'toilet' not restroom/loo/bathroom- "Mrs. Curry, I'm going to the toilet"
- Drive on the left for goodness sake
- When talking about the hospital, there is no 'the' in front- "We had to go to hospital this morning" "Be careful or you'll be going to hospital"
- Because change only goes down to 5cents, prices are just rounded at the cash register
- No one uses a dryer for the clothes unless it's been raining for over a week
- No tipping
- "That's alright" is used a little differently, more like 'It's cool'. "Thanks for moving the car" "That's alright"
- No one has central heating- which is silly because it is not a particularly warm country
- Standard paper size is A4 not 8.5" x 11"
- Waitresses do not bring you the check, you go up when your done and they find your ticket
- Roads (mostly on the lesser populated south island) are narrow, windy, and often succumb to landslides
- There is nothing big and scary out in the woods to eat/maul you- just a whole lot of birds and opossums
- New Zealanders HATE opossums, while Aussies have them in zoos they like them so much
- They also hate wild rabbits
- There are no snakes in the entire country
- They are just 'going digital' with television
- There are no screens in house windows or doors
- car park = parking lot
- wind screen = wind shield
Congrats on the blog and the safe travels!!
ReplyDeleteGood on Ya!