Differences in New Zealand

Downtown Auckland on New Years
Dan has pictures of the beautiful fireworks http://www.flickr.com/photos/eggenschwiler

TOMORROW's BLOG: kiwi videos, my thoughts, and update
In the matter of a day you notice endless things that stand out about New Zealand so here is a list from the first few days:

FIrst. there holiday season lasts through Jan 2 and some businesses are closed down for the rest of the week. So Dan and i have not been able to really take care of logistics until today. We have been spending time mainly with our host family and just getting settled in. I will talk more about the church and opportunities tomorrow

The pohutukawa is the New Zealand Christmas tree because it turns red right at Christmas


THey have a Half flush and full flush on their toilet


You Drive on the left side of the road. The same is done in australia.


They have Mission bay here in Auckland too like in San Diego! .... but not!


Sports:
Rugby is the main sport
All Blacks is the main New Zealand team and the haka dance is their trademark
Netball- like basketball but not- you can't dribble
Cricket-
Other sports: field hockey, soccer, basketball, American football, surf, etc.
Strong rivalry between NZ and Australia

Living:
The Drinking age is 18
Houses don’t have screens and windows
There is a HIGH Asian population in Auckland
There is No central heat or air conditioning in the homes

Nature:
Its very green. This is the host home's back yard
Hedgehogs are native to NZ (we saw one curled up in the backyard)
There is a saying "4 seasons in a day" Jane(host mom) explained it as "it rains on and off [pause & looks outside]… all year!"

Sayings:
"good on ya" means good for you
"she’ll be right" it's alright
Kiwis are lovers of chocolates- squiggles & timtams are aMAZing deserts

Accent and Words
Resume=cv
flip flops= jandals
Mom=mum
Trash/junk/garbage= rubbish
Trunk of a car= a boot
NZ= (N-Zed) they pronounce z’s like zed
They say beer, bare, and bear the same
swimsuit= bathas(Aus) and tawgs(NZ) pronunciation not spelling
netball- nitbul(Aus) and nehtbol(NZ) pronunciation not spelling

Talking to Tom(Mike Yates 13 yr. old son)
This is approximate- A census taken recently said that 30% or so were Christian but not counting Catholic or Anglican took it to about 13% or so.

They have a mirror attached to the back window to see your back bumper for parking and reverse