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