Becoming Kiwi

The other day I found myself saying, “Oh yeah, it’s easy as!” Now, if this doesn’t sound odd to you, it should. “Easy as PIE” – now that’s more of the norm to the American ear, but easy as??? That’s a total Kiwi term. Easy as, sweet as, cold as… I stood there kinda shocked after I heard those two little words pop out of my mouth. It just…happened. Apparently after living in New Zealand for nearly 4 months, the Kiwi phraseology has worn off on me a bit. Funny how that happens. My sister Cate seems to think that my accent sounds different too, but I’m not convinced. I can only imagine what another 8 months will do…!

I had my very last day of cleaning at Blackcurrant Backpackers yesterday morning. Yes!! After two and a half hours of cleaning every morning for the past 5 weeks, I am an expert in:

1.) Cleaning shower drains.
2.) Stripping beds in the “special way” to check for those nasty bedbugs.
(Nothing found yet! Knock on wood…)
3.) Disinfecting sinks and toilets.
4.) Not spraying myself while cleaning IN the shower.

And, lastly…

5.) Bed making. (Big shout out to Mom and Great-Grandma Pierzina for passing down the skills of hospital-corner tucks for top sheets! Beth from Blackcurrant would like me to give you a BIG hug :-) *HUG!*)

So, on Monday, I begin my position as Assistant Manager and, as Beth my boss says, I mostly just have to talk to the newcomers and hangout around the hostel when I’m on duty. Basically, getting paid to do what I do anyways around Blackcurrant! And, like I mentioned in my last post, I get my own room (which has an electric blanket!!) so I am pretty darn happy about that :-D

I’ve been getting some good use out of my gym membership this week too. Went to the group fitness class “BodyCOMBAT” with this crazy, hyper-intense instructor. Holy cow! I was jumping and kicking and punching and sweating. It was awesome! A killer workout. My favorite part of the class was at the end when we were stretching out to “Du Hasst* Mich” (a song from Rammstein, a German band, that means “You Hate Me”), which just happened to be quite fitting as the whole group of women stretched and glared at the instructor for wringing every last ounce of water out of our poor, wretched bodies. I’ll definitely be back :-)

I went to my first cinema in NZ this past week as well! My new friends, Gavin the Irishman and Frake the “Flying” Dutchman asked if I was interested in seeing the movie, “Boy” - a story about an 11 year old Maori boy who has to take on a lot of responsibility for his younger brother and cousins when his Grandmother (who they all live with) goes to attend a funeral for a week and leaves them all at home. The movie is both side-stitchingly funny and also heartrending. Overall, I really enjoyed it! And, the pre-scooped ice cream cones from the concessions were just icing on the cake :-D

I’ve really enjoyed watching New Zealand made films since I’ve arrive here. I’m not sure how many of them are actually available in the states, but there hasn’t been one that I haven’t enjoyed. If you are looking for a good movie, check one of these out:

Sione’s Wedding
Meet best friends Michael, Albert, Stanley and Sefa; the ladies' man, the good boy, the weird one and the party boy. They're staring down the barrel of their thirtieth birthdays, but still act as if they're sixteen; they get drunk, they chase the wrong women and they have a remarkable record of misbehaving and causing chaos at every wedding they attend. But now Michael's younger brother Sione is getting married, and everything is about to change. Sione is their boy, the kid they used to look after, who grew up while they were still partying. And to ensure his big day isn't spoiled by his boys and their idiot antics, Sione has issued an ultimatum; the guys all have to bring dates to the wedding. And not just any dates; real girlfriends, someone they've made a commitment to. They have one month. So just how hard can it be to get a date for your best boy's wedding?

Once Were Warriors
Set in urban Auckland (New Zealand) this movie tells the story of the Heke family. Jake Heke is a violent man who beats his wife frequently when drunk, and yet obviously loves both her and his family. The movie follows a period of several weeks in the family's life showing Jake's frequent outburst of violence and the effect that this has on his family.

*Very graphic movie, but extremely powerful! Highly recommended but only for mature audiences.*

Eagle vs. Shark
Lily, a lonely oddball and fast-food waitress, and her crush, Jarrod, another lonely oddball and video game clerk who has spent the last decade plotting ultimate vengeance on a bully from his high school past, connect at a "dress as your favorite animal" party. She comes as an anemic Shark and he's a fluffy-headed Eagle. It's a match that seems made in outcast heaven, but when Lily decides to risk everything for love, her hopes are nearly dashed.

After a brief fling, Jarrod dumps Lily because he's too busy "training" for his all-important payback mission. But neither of them can anticipate just what kind of grit the steadfastly optimistic Lily will show in her heartbreak. As Jarrod's day of reckoning arrives, and everything hits the fan, Jarrod and Lily will find something that goes beyond romantic fantasies and revenge -- faith in who they are.

Whale Rider
On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.

And, of course, the infamous Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Watch. All. Three.

Dear Gabi,
Thanks for the correction on "hast" and "hasst" - my German is definitely rusty!