Rugby is not for sissies!

I went to my first rugby game a couple of weeks ago and what an experience. It was New Zealands equivalent to the Super Bowl. It was the Tri Nations, a series of test matches between Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. The All Blacks (NZ) played the Wallabies (AUS) here in Wellington. The city was buzzing with excitement and was in full support for their team. They even had kangaroo mascots walking around the city all week that you could put these black stickers on them to "Black Out The Wallabies." It was rather cute.

The week of the game the All Blacks team came into the gym I train at to do their workouts. It was interesting because first of all, I didn't even know who they were and they are pretty famous in this country. Although, not coined "famous" like we have in the states. They are still treated like everyone else and there is not such thing as "posse, entourage, or paparazzi." After some of the other trainers let me know who was in the building, I started to notice who was an All Black player because they all pretty much had cauliflower ear. I was amazed to see how different they looked compared to our American football players. Most of our football players have to pack on the pounds and are HUGE! These rugby guys are some of the leanest athletes I have seen who engage in such high speed physical contact with no padding once so ever. You have to literally be a John Deer Tractor to get the ball down the field. This is no sissy sport.

My first rugby experience was a fantastic one. The All Blacks won which means bragging rights for New Zealand over Australia, and I got to see a hakka for myself in real life. This is a sort of pregame dance/cheer that The All Blacks do before each game while facing their opponent who sits there and what I like to say, just takes it. It is truly intimidating and if this does not get you pumped up, I don't know what will. Check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4LNjNXt1yM

Are we speaking the same language?

I have recently felt frustrated communicating with New Zealanders. They all agree and own up to the fact they mumble. You truly cannot hear what they are saying most of the time. I even come from a family of mumblers, my dad being the inventor of the "mumble dialect." So, even with my vast experience of translating mumble to English, I found myself just nodding to people yesterday and saying "hmmm, uh huh, wow!, that's funny," and all of the other great filler words of the English language. I just couldn't bare to ask one more time, "what did you say?" I have never felt like a "loud, obnoxious American" but I am talking a bit louder these days in hopes that Kiwi's will mirror in conversation with a louder tone of voice. No such luck yet. I am now officially loud.

Another questions I quite often ask is "how do you spell that?" There some slang terms here that the Kiwi's use that are a bit different and with their accent sounds like cuss words. But as I have learned, Kiwi's are not only layed back in their way of life but also in their slang. For example, I have referred to the term "sweet as" in a previous blog. I even named my blog after it. When I first heard it, I thought people where saying "sweet *ss." My initial reaction was "thank you." Ha ha, just kidding. But I did think "who has a sweet *ss and wow, they sure are bold Kiwi's to just put that out there." Needless to say, thanks to help of a 14 year old local, I found out they were saying "sweet as."

So, here I am still wondering, sweet as what???? Sweet as pie? Sweet as candy? Sweet as the fruit mentos I eat on a daily basis? This is where the kiwi life style crosses over into language. I am learning that there are other slang terms that end with "as", such as "cool as" and "easy as." Again, what follows this "as". It's not a complete sentence!!! And even more terms are shortened, a term like, Cheers! It is shortened to, Chur! And the word "whatever" is now "whatevs" (I must say that is my favorite one and I choose to adopt it into my daily language). They even add random "ies'" to words such as cool, which is now "coolies."

I am left wondering on certain days, "are we even speaking the same language?" I am still pondering...., what is cool as.....? What is easy as....? And what is sweet as....? I guess that is what I get for my mom being an English teacher. But as long as I live here and try to learn from the locals, some things will stick and some will not. Until next time, as I ponder, think about the following comparisons I have come up with.....

Sweet as Clemson Football

Cool as Duke Basketball

Easy as listening to Bon Jovi

Sweet as cupcakes from Cupcake in Charleston, SC

Easy as looking at Johnny Depp

Any thoughts?

Cheers or Chur! Whichevs you like.....

9/11 in Another Country

My Friday started out like any other day. Sometimes on Fridays I will go to the Film Archive for the Friday Soup and a Seat. For $8 you get soup, which I love, and a viewing of a New Zealand documentary. I have learned that Wellington is also referred to as Welly-Wood and is the hub for the New Zealand film industry. Thus, they created the Film Archive which houses every film ever produced by a New Zealander or in New Zealand itself. It is a great place. Yesterday, the featured lunch time film was Flight of the Concords, A Texan Odyssey. This was my first encounter with FLOC, as they call it. Flight of the Concords are 2 guys, Brett McKenzie and Jemaine Clement from New Zealand who are considered "New Zealand's 4th Most Popular Fold Parody Duo." They are absolutely hilarious. I knew they had a series on HBO but I never watched it. I won't go too much further into this show but I do recommend you either watch the series on HBO or rent the DVD's. I have season one for this weekend.

As I was on a FLOC high with tears in my eyes from all the laughter, I noticed the date, 9/11. I just stopped for second and couldn't believe it was 1:00 in the afternoon and I didn't realize what day it was. My mood completely shifted. I hadn't seen any reminders of that day, no yellow ribbons, no American flags, and no moments of silence. It was odd to me because if I were in America, I would be completely immersed in reliving that day via TV, Internet, and Radio. I was even talking to someone about America and the war on terror earlier in the day and neither of us noticed. Now, I am not saying that they do not recognize what day it is. Garnett heard some stuff on the radio and the movie Flight 93 played at some point this week. But being in another country on this day was different. There wasn't something reminding me everywhere I turned.

So, I did some conversational investigation. I went back to work and began to ask how Kiwi's viewed 9/11. I was amazed to see how much it impacted the world. I knew where I was on that day but didn't realized that people in other parts of the world would look at it the same way. Each person I talked to remembered exactly where they were and commented on how frightened they were to fly post 9/11. And this was not just Kiwi's but people from the UK and other parts of the world. It opened my eyes to see for myself the global impact that day actually had on people. Even though that day happened in America it was still felt all across the globe. This is something you can't get from watching CNN or Fox News.

On this day, let us reflect on those whose lives were touched in some way by that day. And no matter what differences America has let us be thankful that we are Americans and for all the blessings and opportunities that brings.

No Shirt, No Shoes....No Problem???

I don't know about you but there are few places outside of my house I would go barefoot, especially in a city. I first noticed something with "no shoes " at the gym. Now, a gym is full of germs from other people's sweat. That is one place I would not go barefoot. So of course I took a second look when no one would wear "shower shoes" at the gym. I am the weird girl who does. I let that one slide. But then as I rode the bus I noticed people on the street, in the city mind you, wearing no shoes or socks. And these are normally dressed people, not homeless or indigent people. And the weird thing is, I see this more and more out shopping or even just walking around. What has happened to "no shirt, no shoes, no service?" Even Garnett has had patients come into the dental office with no shoes on. I am now claiming all businesses in New Zealand can put the sign up...

"No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem"