Monday, April 2, 2012

Spanish subway

We traveled to Madrid; the country's capital for vacation. In the capital, few locals speak English. Compared to the surrounding cities, more English was spoken in Madrid than other nearby cities.

 When we traveled, only our dad understood Spanish so he spoke to the locals for us to get directions, ordered our food, and allowed us to enjoy our trip to Spain without consulting a Spanish to English dictionary.

Although the rest of our family did not speak Spanish very well, Annie attempted to speak with the locals. Normally Annie attempted to speak Spanish on the subway.

One of the only phrases she knew in Spanish was "Habla Ingles?" (Do you speak English?) On the subway, Annie would ask locals if they spoke English. The most common response was no. On other occasions, old ladies would look at Annie and dig in her pocket for a caramel. The ladies normally took two caramels out of their pocket; one for me and one for Annie. Once Annie learned that the older citizens had candy in their pockets, she knew her target. When we rode the subway, Annie asked older citizens if they spoke English and they gave her candy. Since we only rode the subway 3 or 4 times throughout the trip, we recieved 6-8 pieces of caramel.




Sunday, April 1, 2012

pusheen the cat

We love pusheen the cat! Here are a few of our favorite pictures of pusheen:

















Friday, March 30, 2012

New Zealand terms

These terms are used on a daily basis in New Zealand. Some of these terms are also British:

  • flip flops- jandals                                 
  • crosswalk- zebra crossing                 
  • counter- bench        
  • middle school- intermediate school
  • ketchup- tomato sauce
  • blanket- rug
  • sausage- bangers
  • soda- fizzy drink
  • sneakers- sand shoes
  • remote- flicker
  • candy- lollies
  • saran wrap- glad wrap
  • bathroom- toilet
  • window shopping- mooching
  • trash- rubbish
  • fries- chips
  • cookie- biscuit
  • silverware- cutlery
  • grill- BBQ
  • stove- grill/hob
  • seed- pip/stone
  • doesn't worry me- skin off my nose
  • close pins- pegs
  • pepper (the fruit)- capsicum
  • eggplant- aueergene (pronounced a-bear-gene)
  • igloo- chilly bin
  • trunk- boot
  • aluminum- alumenium
  • bag/ back pack- ruck sack
  • wrench- spanner
  • gas- petral
  •   mailbox- letter box
  • flashlight- torch
  • eraser- rubber
  • ruined- stuffed
  • stuffed animal- soft toy
  • windshield- wind screen
  •  sunglasses- sunnies
  • sidewalk- foot path
  • white out- twink
  • sweater- jumper
  • swimsuit- togs
  • truck- lorri/ ute
  • popsicle- ice block
  • wheelie bin- recycling bin
  • cafeteria- tuck shop/canteen
  • oatmeal- porridge
  • purse- handbag
  • hungry- peckish
  • blinker- indicator
  • little- wee
  • friend- mate
  • morning/ afternoon break- morning/ afternoon "t"
  • cinnamon bun- Chelsea bun
  • vacation- holiday
  • thank you- cheers
  • stroller- pram
  • apartment- flat
  • roommate- flat mate

Sunday, March 25, 2012

New Zealand Pictures

When Annie and I (Katie), traveled to New Zealand in February, we took several pictures. Here are a few of our favorite snapshots:





Ellis Island

I went on a trip for school last year to Ellis Island. My class visited the Ellis Island museum and were strictly told not to get off the ferry when it arrived at the Statue of Liberty. We explored the museum for three hours. After that, we exited the museum, checked to see that everyone was accounted for, and headed back on the ferry.

Once we were back on the bus, we were already far behind our schedule because once we got off the ferry, the buses did not show up for half an hour and the buses were scheduled to be in the parking lot at Ellis Island when my grade got off the ferry. Once  the grade was in the buses, I had no way to contact my dad to tell him the buses were running late.

Once we were back at school after school hours, my dad went over to me and showed me where he was.We strolled over to the car, entered, buckled our seat belts, and my dad started the engine. When the engine did not turn on the first time, we did not panic; my sister and I panicked by the third time the engine would not start.

Annie and our dad explained that they were waiting in the parking lot for an hour with the car running because the buses were scheduled to come at that time. I explained that the buses were late and I could not call home because I forgot to bring my phone. By that point, all of my classmates had departed with their parents to return home. The three of us exited the car and entered the school. We entered the office conveniently to the left of the entrance and called someone to tow our car.

We returned to the car and waited in the parking lot for two hours. Every fifteen minutes, our dad would exit the car and check the time by looking through a glass window in a nearby classroom. After two long hours of silence and frustration, we decided to check the upper parking lot to see if the car towers were up there. We discovered they had not come at all even though we stated our location and it had been two hours since we called.

At this point, it was around seven in the evening and the buses arrived at five in the afternoon. I gazed over at the elementary school next door and noticed a blue Subaru pulling into the school parking lot. I shared the news with Annie and our dad and we strolled over to the school. We found the front entrance and entered. The lights in the school were on and we made our way to the main office. While our dad called our mom to come get us (she had just come home from work), Annie and I dashed to the bathrooms down the hall.

After our dad made the phone call, our mom arrived in the parking lot ten minutes later.

The next day, our dad's car was still in the parking lot. He had to call someone to tow his car to our house. This time, they showed up and brought the car to the driveway.


Saturday, March 24, 2012

Keep Calm and Carry On

Annie received a notebook for her birthday this year that said "Keep Calm, and Have a Cupcake". Ever since then, we had been repeating this saying throughout the day. At random moments throughout the day, we would say: "Keep calm and have a cupcake".

When Annie got the notebook, she believed that if she wanted to be calm, she could convince our parents to let her have a cupcake so she could calm down. Our parents never agreed to let Annie or me, Katie, to eat a cupcake to calm down.

While in New Zealand, we discovered a new version of "Keep calm and have a cupcake":


Although we love the saying "keep calm and carry on", we will always love "keep calm and have a cupcake".

Friday, March 23, 2012

Little things

My sister and I are obsessed with little things. We eat with "little spoons" that can hold about one pea at once. I suppose it's simply one of our quirks. Every time we spot a "little thing", we point it out to the other and we chat about how much we adore the object. All it takes is one little dachshund to stroll by for the two of us to drop what we're doing and chat about the little creature.

While we were in New Zealand, we discovered that they had a mandarin tree in their backyard. When we wandered over to the tree, we discovered the treasure trove of "little mandarins" along with other assorted "little fruits"

No matter where we travel, we will always look for items that make us smile (such as "little fruit").