Top 10 Lessons Learned continued…

In my previous post “Top 10 Lessons Learned from Ex-Pats in New Zealand” I summed up just 5 lessons hubby and I have learned in just four months of living in New Zealand. Here’s a quick rundown:

1. Live downtown for the first 2 weeks.

2. DON’T TRY TO BUY A CAR in the first 3 days of being in New Zealand.

3. The spirit of the El Camino still lives.

4. Bring your jorts (jeans shorts).

5. Apply for your physio license 1 year in advance.

So today I bring you the next 5 lessons.

6. Learn to drink your tea with milk. In fact, learn to enjoy your tea with milk. If you ask for “regular tea”, you’ll most likely get English tea with milk. If you ask for decaf tea, people will look at you like you’re from Pluto. If you ask for herbal tea people will laugh at you (because you have to pronounce the H when you say herbal).

7. Don’t panic, you will understand the accent with time! When we first got here I only understood about 50%  of the ENGLISH language. It wasn’t because I am an ESL (English as a second language) girl either. And it wasn’t because I struggle with idioms. The kiwi accent is just a wee bit difficult to understand at first. In the accent, there are no syllables. The words just run together. Here’s a short 3 minute video explaining the Kiwi accent:

Also, here are 10 common NZ words/phrases and their meanings:

1. Sweet as, bro!
That’s great. You’re likely to hear this one many times because, as far as my experience can tell, everything is always “sweet as” for kiwis.

2. Good on ya, mate!
Congratulations, well done or good for you.

3. Bugger all
Very little. E.g. I bought this book for bugger all.

4. Heaps
A lot. E.g. They say “sweet as” heaps of times.

5. Jandals
– flip-flops. A ubiquitous Kiwi fashion choice.

6. Kia ora
Maori for hello.

7. She’ll be right
It will be ok. The “she” here refers to no female in particular – just things in general.

8. Bob’s your uncle!
There you go! E.g. Click this button and bob’s your uncle.

9. Knackered
Very tired.

10. Togs
– swimsuit

8. Be prepared to pay AT LEAST 50% more for everything from food to clothing to jandals (sandals in Kiwi) and even restaurants. We’ve observed that gas is about 4x more, some kitchen appliances are 4x more, etc. Be ready to adjusts those budgets people.

9. Discover Trademe.co.nz. That’s where we buy cheap (affordable) stuff. It’s kind of like a NZ Craigslist.

10. Make friends and be really outgoing at church, work, and your neighborhood. We brought cookies over to our neighbors as soon as we moved into our house. We have met so many amazing friends through church. We’ve had people over for dinner, we’ve been invited over for holidays, and we’ve done lots of outings with friends so far. We trully are grateful for the relationships we’ve established in just four months!