Go Chiefs!

Friday night I went to a Chiefs game, and they won! For all you KC Chiefs fans out there, I thought of you, even if I was at a rugby game, not football (or “grid-iron” as they call it here). The Waikato Chiefs are a professional rugby team based in Hamilton, but due to how the rugby team areas are divided, they are considered Taranaki’s team as well. This is due to a recent change in shifting the teams around which happened last year. Until then, the local team was the Hurricanes. Later this year the Hurricanes and Chiefs are scheduled to compete at the Taranaki stadium, so there is already talk of that being an interesting game in terms of fan loyalty. Speaking of fans, one of my friends at the game was wearing a KC Chiefs jersey he got when traveling in the US. There were some Denver Broncos fans sitting just in front of us who were quite amused by it.

The Chiefs beat the Australian Brumbies in a close game with a final score of 19-17. According to those around me who are far more knowledgeable in the rules and strategy of rugby, it was not a well-played game by either team. I even heard a couple comments that based on the way they played, the Chiefs should have lost. That being said, nobody was complaining when they won the game J

Like any good traditional event in New Zealand, the haka was performed prior to the start of the game. In the case of the All Blacks (New Zealand’s national rugby team), the team performs the haka. For this game however, there was a very traditional looking group complete with traditional clothing, war paint, and weapons that performed the haka. All other times I had seen the haka was by the All Blacks in their rugby jerseys, or groups mainly wearing everyday clothes. After Friday night though, I must say it is even more convincing and intimidating to see when it is done by such a traditional looking group. Attempting to visualize the haka from the perspective of someone who has just stumbled on New Zealand (such as James Cook maybe), I can see how a large group meeting you on the beach with the haka as a greeting would be quite menacing.

Once the game began, it was an action packed 80 minutes. Rugby games have two 40 minute halves, with the clock running almost non-stop from start to finish for each half. From what I can tell (I do not claim to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination), the only time the clock stops is for major injuries, or if something really needs debating between the referees. Due to the constant running of the clock, the game feels that it moves much faster than a football game. There is much less time spent “re-setting” after each play. What is a touchdown in football is called a “Try” in rugby and is worth 5 points. The kick after is worth one point, and a penalty kick (field goal in football speak I think) is 3 points. Other than that, except for noting the uniform difference in that rugby players wear only shorts and a jersey, I cannot comment in any detail on the differences in the game because I have not yet figured out enough for it to make sense to you. Maybe one day I will though, after I figure out cricket, and then I can educate those of you who may have any sort of interest in the games.

The rest of the weekend was lovely and sunny and involved the beach, a new chicken recipe (send me an email if you would like a copy of it) and planning for my sisters rapidly approaching visit (can’t wait!).

Americarna is next weekend, I will try to snag photos of some cool American muscle cars to post J

Daily Observations Continued....

I noticed soon after arriving that there was a general “something different” about the houses here but could not immediately define what it was. It hit me one day as I was walking through town and I realized what a couple of the notable differences were. First is that most houses here have nearly flat roofs. It is not something you will find in all of New Zealand, but is noticeable in most of the Northern Island (with the exception of places in the mountains or close to them where it actually gets cold). Since there is no snow, there is much less need for the peaked roofs that is so common to much of the Midwest and other part of the US where you need to keep snow from causing your roof to cave in halfway through winter. When I mentioned this difference to a local, they seemed a bit amused at the idea of a steep peaked roof. I suppose “normal” is relative. In addition to having mostly-flat roofs on their houses, nearly every house in town has a fenced yard. I do not feel that a fenced backyard is that uncommon in the states, especially if you have pets or a garden, but I found it interesting to note that front yards here are also fenced. I have been told by locals that it is for privacy, which is quite logical I suppose. I have also been told by locals who have visited the states that they find it odd Americans do not fence their yards, as they cannot imagine why you would not want to. Once again, “normal” is relative I think J

I feel that many of us have pre-conceptions about other countries (my travel experiences have provided me with some amusing pre-conceptions about America), and there also seem to be certain myths or stereotypes that are somewhat generally accepted about other countries or cultures. As I was preparing my first journey over here, one thing that I kept hearing was that the toilets here flush the other direction. The most common explanation was that gravity must work backwards in this hemisphere so therefore the water goes around the bowl backwards to what you see in America. Well, I can now tell you that this is one myth that turns out to be true. Let me clarify that I am not scientific enough to discuss whether gravity functions differently here, but I can confirm (I have even consulted with Kiwis who have travelled around the world and they agree) that toilets flush one direction in the US and the other direction in NZ.

Moving to the topic of communication, prepaid cell phone plans are much more common here than in the US. The major phone companies of 2 Degrees, Spark, and Vodafone do offer contract plans the same as you might find with AT&T or Sprint in the US, but they are not the only options. From what I can tell, those plans are most common if you have purchased a phone with the company. If you already have a phone, or are not under a contract, a prepaid option is available where you simply top up each month. The benefit to this sort of arrangement is you are free to change your plan anytime you like, or add something (such as options for usage in Australia for a month if you are traveling) for short or long term. The interesting thing about most plans is how few minutes of call time you get, but part of that is due to the fact that you are only charged minutes if you make a call; there is no charge for incoming calls to your phone. The plan I am on (yep, it’s prepaid) only has 60 minutes of calling per month but any unused minutes roll over each month if I continue with the same plan (I think I was up to 1200 minutes last time I checked…). Free mobile to mobile calling is only just recently becoming popular here. Last year 2 Degrees introduced “favorites” where you got free calling to your 5 most used numbers (T-Mobile a few years ago anyone?). This year they have introduced free calling to any 2 Degrees number. As someone coming from the US who is used to such conveniences, it was a bit amusing to watch the reaction socially as advertising came out for the changes.  

Hope you had a wonderful and relaxing weekend and are staying warm. Check back soon for details of my weekend spent enjoying the warm weather before it disappears under rain clouds. 

Daily Observations

As a general statement, there are not a lot of things in everyday life that are shockingly different between New Plymouth, NZ and Midwestern USA. But over time I have made a mental note of little things here and there, and thought I would share some with you.

I am not certain whether it is a nationwide practice or just a local one, but the mail-people deliver the mail on bicycles. On the one hand, the fitness benefits of the job must be excellent. On the other hand though, given some of the hills around town that I have biked up before having a car, I really do not envy them.

I took my car for an oil change a couple of weeks ago (previously a friend had changed it for me so this was the first time it was done at a shop). I was not entirely thrilled when I saw the cost of the job ($140 NZ), as it was significantly higher than what I was used to paying when I lived in KC. However, I was a bit more accepting of what I paid when I picked the car up and discovered that the price includes a vacuum, wash, wax, top up of anything the car needed (except gas, darn), and a bag of candy J I have been told that some US places offer a similar deal, but it was not something I had experienced, so I enjoyed the car being cleaned without yours truly having to do the work.

Eggs are rarely sold by the dozen here. I have found cartons of 6 eggs, 10 eggs, 18 eggs, or trays of 30 eggs. While it may seem like a lot of eggs for one person to buy, I have found that it is usually cheapest to buy the big trays. Lucky me they really do not last too long since I like to bake J On a side-note, some of the grocery stores I visited in Japan allowed you to buy as few as just 1 egg at a time.

It is common for homes to have washing machines, but not dryers. Winters are not cold enough that you are unable to hang clothes outside, assuming of course you can find a day when it is not raining. Clothes drying racks are a must-have during the wintertime for any home. Dishwashers are also not as common as in the US. Newer places have them, but many residences, especially apartments, do not offer this amenity. On the note of apartments, very few have refrigerators included so most people own one and it moves with them same as all their other furniture (including the washing machine of course).

People still go to the butcher here. I have one that I frequent because the meat is much higher quality for the same, or even occasionally a lesser, price as what the supermarkets have. It is true that it adds a stop along the way when I’m shopping, but I have decided it is well worth the extra time.

Hope you are having a good week and staying warm if you are still in the midst of winter. Weather has been warm and sunny and beautiful here, Taranaki is paradise in the summertime J

Waitangi Day

Waitangi Day is one of New Zealand's public holidays, which commemorates the day the treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. The treaty was signed in the town of Waitangi on February 6, 1840 and is considered to be New Zealand's founding document. The treaty gave Maori rights as British citizens, guaranteed land rights to the Maori, and made New Zealand a part of the British empire. There were, however, differences between the Maori and the English translations which over time has led to differing opinions over what was really intended by the document, and has subsequently led to ongoing debates over the document. My understanding is that there are still debates at present day over some things, mostly land, but I do not pretend to be an expert so I would recommend doing a bit of research if you want to know specific details. The day was made a national holiday in 1957, 10 after annual celebrations of the event began.

The original treaty documents can be viewed at one of the government offices in Wellington. I have been to see them on one of my trips to the capitol, and remember thinking now that I've seen New Zealand's founding documents, I should visit DC so I can see my own country's founding documents :)

Waitangi day fell on a Friday this year, which meant a 3 day weekend from work, yippee. It was not a terribly warm day, unfortunately, but we did manage a bit of cultural celebrations.

Oakura Pa (a Maori settlement location) was having a celebration. So we went for a nice stroll along the beach and then headed to the Pa. They were serving Hangi (traditional Maori meal), although we unfortunately got there too late to have any as they ran out quicker than anticipated. There were traditional crafts such as woven baskets for sale (and not so traditional things such as jewelry, paintings, etc) for sale, which were delightful to look at, and gave me some wonderful ideas for future decorating. I think my favorite part was listening to the live music though. There were several groups performing, including a traditional Maori group singing in Te Reo (Maori) and finishing up with a Haka. Myself and two other Americans plus a couple of Maori friends enjoyed just relaxing outdoors in the festive environment.

After we were done in the great outdoors, we went back to town and had a kiwi BBQ for supper, yum :)

There were lots of flags in town this week