Catch-Up Follow-Up

Welcome back everyone.  It’s catch-up time.  September has come to a close, and for me, it was a pretty chill month.  I did some cool stuff though.  I’ll definitely keep this post short.  Here’s an overview:  Adventure Weekend, Nothingness, WOW, and we’ll finish up with some fun Kiwi phrases.

The IFSA-Butler Adventure Weekend happened just a few days after I returned from the south island, from the 5th-7th of September.  We bussed out to the River Valley Lodge in Taihape for a few days of class-5 white water rafting, horseback riding, and even some relaxation.

Or should I say “sheeprafting”.  We had a truly unique experience rafting on the Rangitikei River that could have only happened in New Zealand.  Before we got down into the gorge where the rapids were, we saw a sheep that had wandered down the steep bank walls and had become stuck by the water with no grass to eat.  Our guide told us that the sheep can’t get back up unless we help them, so we stopped, put the sheep in the boat with us, and carried it downstream to release it at a better spot.

In case you didn’t catch that last part, there was a freaking SHEEP in our RAFT, standing right next to me.  Cole got a photo.

The rapids were ridiculous fun as well.  But since sheeprafting wasn’t adventurous enough for one weekend, we had to have a mind-blowing horseback riding experience as well.  No seriously, this was one of the craziest things I have ever seen.

We were walking down this muddy little path cut into the side of a hill on our horses right at the beginning of our trek.  Our guide was at the front, followed by me on my horse (“Gypsy”), then Allie, Sylvia, Jessica, and Steven.  The path was really soft due to the recent heavy rain, so the horses walked right along the edge where the path dropped off into a grassy hill.  Suddenly, I heard Sylvia yell out something to the effect of, “OH SHIT!” and turned my head just in time to see what was going on.  I watched as the horse’s legs slipped into the path so its body fell down the hill.  Sylvia launched herself over the head of the horse a millisecond before it rolled end over end 20 meters down the hill.  Sylvia rolled as well, and then grabbed onto the hill and frantically climbed upward to make sure she wasn’t in the path of the falling horse.  The horse stopped rolling and stood up, and so did Sylvia.

We couldn’t believe what had just happened.  Right away, we made sure Sylvia was okay, and then the guide went down to check out the horse.  After inspecting his legs and finding no physical damage, she turned to us and said, “That is the most incredible thing I have ever seen.”

Amazingly, both Sylvia and the horse were completely unharmed.  The horse even continued with us for the rest of the trek, but the guide switched horses with Sylvia in case he was still spooked from the fall in any way.  Other than that super-scary experience, the horseback riding was awesome.  We got to trot and canter at some spots.  Lots of fun.  Near-death experiences.  Fun.

Nothingness. After I completed a few assignments at the beginning of September, that’s what happened.  I had roughly two straight weeks where no assignments were due, so I did a bunch of nothing.

WOW! Short for the World of Wearable Arts.  This was another event sponsored by IFSA-Butler last Thursday, the 25th.  It was an awesome show.  Basically, it’s a really “experimental” fashion show crossed with a circus.  There were music, dancing, and acrobatics throughout, all illuminated by an impressive light show.  Lots of fun.  Check out their website to see some of the crazy designs… www.worldofwearableart.com

Speaking of cool light shows, Arise Church had a talent show on Sunday, and I participated.  I borrowed a guitar and learned the song “Magic” by Andy Davis.  The cool part was the venue.  Church was held in the Michael Fowler Centre that week, one of the nicest concert venues in Wellington.  It’s a huge, beautiful hall with great acoustics.  I got to perform on the main stage, complete with a massive sound system and a killer light setup.  About 300 people showed up to watch, too.  It was awesome.

Now, the part you’ve all been waiting for!  It’s time for more Kiwi-speak analysis.  I’ve collected a few more funny Australasian phrases for your enjoyment.  I say “Australasian” because that word refers to the Australia – New Zealand (ish) area.  Not all of these are strictly Kiwi… some are shared with Australia, and some are more British.

Good on you – means “good for you”.

How ya goin? – A common greeting that is literally a combination of “How ya doin” and “How’s it goin”.

Summit – This is a substitution for the word “something”, normally only spoken.  For example, someone might say, “Let’s watch a movie and then get coffee or summit.”  But no one would write this way.

Flag that – like “F*** that”, “Screw that”, “Forget that”

Can’t be bothered – means “I’m too lazy” or “I don’t feel like it.”  For example, “I should go to class this morning, but I can’t be bothered to walk all the way up the hill in the rain.”

Wag – skip class.  “I wagged management today because the lecturer was awful last time.”

Zed – the last letter of the alphabet.  Yes, this ruins the rhyme at the end of the alphabet song.  “Cue are ess, tee you vee.  Double-you ex, why and ZED.”  Doh!

Now, you Americans probably consider most of these speech mannerisms “wrong”, or at least strange.  But I have found some things about the accent that I like, such as:
Herb – with the “H” pronounced.  Herb.  It makes sense.  The H is there… we should pronounce it.
T’s – Within a word, they are always pronounced.  For instance, Americans would pronounce the word butter as “budder”.  This is incorrect, but I have found it a very difficult habit to break.

While I’m at it, here’s an insight into German culture I recently gained:
In Germany, one would never call someone on the telephone without introducing himself first thing.  In the mobile phone age, this is less of a problem than it used to be, but when I call a residential or business number, the first thing I say is usually something like, “Yes, may I speak with so-and-so please?”  But a German would say, “Hello, this is Hanz.  May I speak with so-and-so please?”

This is a funny convention because they introduce themselves on a first-name basis regardless of whether the person on the other end is supposed to already know them. [Content removed by request.]

Good stuff.  Well, that’s all I have for today.  I leave you with this YouTube video, created by Australians to mock the Kiwi accent.  (Note:  This is a good example of a really relaxed, casual dialect of New Zealand English.  Not many Kiwis actually talk like this.)  Enjoy!