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

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:

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".

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").

Goldie

Goldie is the cat we met at our aunt's house in New Zealand. Ever since our first day, Goldie resented us. If he so much as saw us in the room or caught our glance, he dashed from the room out to the patio or through the cat door in the back. This type of behavior continued through our two weeks there.

Once or twice one of our cousins would pick Goldie up and bring him over to my sister and I. When he was carried over to us, he glanced once in our direction then tried to wiggle out of their strong grasp. Once he started squirming, both of us realized this was too much to ask for from a tabby cat so we told our cousin to put Goldie down.

The only reason why Annie and I cared about why Goldie disliked us was we loved Goldie. We could not remember the last time we pet any animal so we decided on the first day that it should be Goldie. Although we never felt his fur, we assumed that it was very soft.