Greetings From a Southern Subcontinent

Let me be completely honest here...I would never call any week that I spend here "boring" but all of you will probably think this last week was. Our flat is literally an infirmary. Jardon and Caitlin have had the worst of it. They've been sick for about 2 weeks now, and it's been a really bad cold flu. Hopefully, they are officially on the mend. The rest of us have either had a cough, runny nose, sneezes, or all of the above. It was probably a good thing that we were all on the DL (down low) this week. On Monday, I finished all of my schoolwork for the week and hung around the house. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday consisted of the regular class, guitar lessons, and the occasional nap or two. On Thursday night, we had a social at our flat before we headed into town for the night. On Friday, Caitlin's parents came to visit and took us out for tea (supper). Jardon, Caitlin, her parents, and I headed to the Octagon to find some food. We settled on a place called The Terrace...I highly recommend it. I ordered beef and lamb with a side of salad and fries. They bring you your meal on a sizzling hot plate and you get to cook your meat yourself. Such a great idea so you could have your meat done exactly the way you want it. On Saturday morning, Karla, Caitlin, and I went with her parents to the farmer's market. I got a wonderfully delicious loaf of ciabatta bread, a crepe, and then we headed to Governor's Cafe for coffee and my very first cheese roll. A cheese roll is a slightly altered version of a rolled up grilled cheese. Very good! Karla, Caitlin, and I hung out at the flat after that which rolled into a quiet night around the complex! Today, I plan to get some schoolwork done and finish planning the Queenstown trip for Justyce and me! She'll be here in just 12 short days. Also, since I never got to it this past week (I must've been too busy) here's a list of some of the things they say differently here:

-First of all, when they say anything with a "th" in it, it turns into an "f". So "their" sounds like "fief".

-They call fries chips sometimes, but they also call regular chips, chips. Super confusing when anyone says "chips".

-Speed bumps are judder bars

-This one I absolutely cannot get over...they call "Sprite" lemonade. They just don't have actual lemon squeezed lemonade. Not ok. 

-All pop or soda (wherever you are when reading this) is called fizzy drinks

-When their phone is dead they say "my phone is flat"

-An apartment is a flat 

-They usually call cookies "biscuits"

-They've never heard of scotcheroos (but neither have any other Americans in the flat) 

-Sweet potatoes are kumura. And kumura is everywhere. They have kumura chips in fast food places and any other restaurant you walk into.

-When they say aluminum they say Al-oo-miny-um

-Everything is "sweet as". Not sweet as anything but just "sweet as"

-They laugh at me when I say flip flops...they're jandals. I got told that flip flops sounds like something a five year old would say. Haha!

-Most sweatshirts or sweaters are called a "jersey" or "jumper" 

-When talking about chugging a drink (water, of course) they say "skull it"

-Everyone is a "mate". I don't know if I've ever heard anyone say "friend".

-Hiking is tramping

-A flashlight is a torch

--All bell peppers are "capsicums"

-They say "keen" a lot. "You keen to go out tonight?" "Yeah, I'm keen."

-"That'd be mint." As in that'd be good or fun.

-All types of candies are "Lollies" even chocolate.

-Gasoline is petrol

-The grocery store is always the supermarket

-The sidewalk is pavement

-Mom is Mum

-Garbage/trash is rubbish

-Tire is tyre. Why? I have no idea

-The last letter of the alphabet, Z, is pronounced zed.

For the most part, I find a lot of things similar to proper English slang, like what I heard around Ireland. There are a lot of things that come from the Maori language as well.

I do have everyone in the flat saying "Ohhh yeah" "You betchya" "yeah Suurre" in the most North Dakotan/Minnesotan/Canadian way possible. 

Also, it snowed here this morning! It didn't stick to the ground or anything, but there were real white flakes coming down outside the window. I've heard that it is "hotter than the devil's living room" at home. Sorry, Mom, you should've come to visit sooner. :) 

Have a great week everyone! 

My meal at The Terrace

Our newly arranged furniture that is called the "Cuddle Puddle"

My apologies for the lack of pictures this week. I'm sure I will make up for it at some point.