So much to do, so little time

So...I may have dyed my hair red last night. It was an act performed in complete sobriety, I swear!
It really just looks like reddish brown, not a big deal. Tried dying it blonde last week, clearly a fail. Next best thing! And according to my flattie, Rich, red hair brings out my eyes :)

Just taking the piss, Rich! That's a kiwi saying that I've had some trouble incorporating into my vocab properly. It's very easy to muck up. It's used when making fun of something. Wouldn't want to tell someone that I'm taking A piss or who knows what else. Another kiwi saying is "mean" used like sick or awesome, and is always a good thing except when saying that someone is mean. Last week I made red velvet cupcakes to bring in because they don't have red velvet in New Zealand and my supervisor told me "That cupcake left a mean feeling in my stomach." I was really worried that he was telling me that it made him feel sick and that I'd made all my friends sick with the cupcakes. Not the case though, no worries! So I really came to NZ on a religious mission to spread red velvets. Mission accomplished.

Speaking of religion, I met Kiwi Jews last Friday! To be perfectly honest a lot of them were American expats, some Israeli, and some English, but there were definitely a few real Kiwi Jews there! Less than .1% of New Zealand's population is Jewish and the small handful in the Waikato Region form the Waikato Jewish Association. It was a very nice casual Shabbos meal, and we were lucky to hear the heartbreaking Holocaust stories of two community members. The group was friendly and adorable as Jews tend to be. I knew I could find the Jews in NZ! They are few, but fabulous.

As for Kiwi adventures, gotta do some mad catching up! Been continuing to go to Karapiro with the boys, which has been super cool! Though last week there was fog so thick I could only see 5 meters in front of me so was pretty much waiting to crash. It was scary, but managed not to crash the boat.

Family photo!

My flat is pretty great to say the least. I live with Jodie, Rich, and Greg, and Jazz the kitten. This is a pic from our 4th of July BBQ, which was a great time. I introduced the Kiwis to pigs in blankets  and we had what they call "american hotdogs" which specifically refers to eating hotdogs in hotdog buns. When they say just "hotdog" it's a sausage on a stick with pastry-looking stuff around it, kinda seems like a corndog to me, but they don't have corndogs here, they don't even have cornbread!

Delicious.

Also, they call yellow mustard "American Mustard" even says it on the label, though I've never thought of yellow mustard as an American thing.

I might have to be a photographer when I grow up.

 Check out some of our sweet decorations! This might be my favorite photo from the BBQ between Greg's hair and Rich's expression. The only time you can buy fireworks in New Zealand is the week before Guy Fawkes Day, so our fireworks were the cool party poppers that explode the stringy stuff that's on Greg's head.

 I've gotten to see some pretty cool stuff here in NZ. This is a photo from the top of Mt. Maunganui, which they call The Mount, next to a city (or town?) called Tauranga, which is not easy to pronounce correctly. It was a nice hike up the mountain, and I couldn't believe the view. Too bad it's not beach weather as it's winter here :( Though there were a few dedicated ones in the water.

Daisy claimed she didn't wear her L&P hoodie on purpose.

A very Kiwi drink is L&P (Lemon and Paeroa), and on the way to The Mount we stopped in Paeroa. I had my very first L&P that day, and it's delicious :) (thanks Daisy!) Tastes just like lemon sorbet in a bottle. . .with Paeroa's water in it of course. On the way home we went to hot pools that are heated from a spring. Hot pools and geothermal stuff is really common here because the country is on tectonic plate boundaries.   

Pukeko!

This is a pukeko, which unfortunately is considered a pest in New Zealand. However I think they're awesome and I wish we had them in the States. Their feathers are very pretty, but their feet are far too large for their bodies so the way they run is hilarious! Apparently their meat tastes awful, even dogs won't eat it, so they're really just good for laughing at.

Learning the language

In my flat with my flatcat.

It's Sunday morning here in Kiwiland and I'm chillin with Jazz watching the quality soap operas that are common here.

Yesterday was gorgeous and I was lucky to be able to go rowing on Lake Karapiro with my flatmate Rich who's on the Waikato Rowing Club team, it was awesome! Lake Karapiro is where the world championship was last year, and they practice here each Saturday, no big deal. Last week I got to go on the Waikato River with my friend Stephanie from work who coxes for Hamilton Rowing Club,  but sorry Steph, Karapiro is just too cool to pass up! I mean. . .I was looking at this from the front of my boat...

SO COOL, RIGHT???

I didn't take that pic, but it was basically like that. Never a good idea to take a camera on the water. It was so pretty that it distracted me a little from the steering, but it's hard to get lost on a lake so whatever. Besides, the rowers were so psyched to have me instead of their moody teenaged coxswain that they didn't notice. I don't know who taught that guy how to cox, but the first thing that the rowers said when we stepped out of the boat and onto the dock was in bright and cheery voices "I can't believe you didn't call us 'fucking cunts' once!" Poor guys. Now they're planning my marriage to Rich so I can stay...Mom, what do you think? Just kidding.

It's a bit confusing that some of the rowing commands and terms are different here than in the States. Instead of saying way 'nuff to stop, here they say 'easy' which makes more sense, and port side is stroke side and starboard is bow side here. That one definitely gets me. Last week on the river with Hamilton Rowing Club I was in a boat with rowers who were pretty fresh to the sport and the current almost pushed us all the way to the side because they had absolutely no idea what I was saying.

Speaking of not understanding...I have had many moments where I just cannot understand people's accents, pretty embarrassing, but here are some Kiwi phrases:

• sweet as - as in 'I'll be at the pub later, see you there' 'sweet as.'
• heaps - as in Kiwis drink heaps
• dodgy - as in my skills at driving a manual on the left side of the road are dodgy
• lollies - candy. pineapple lumps are a delicious lolly