Hi there
Years ago I read an article that said British people are pretty bad at accepting compliments. And by 'British' I lump kiwis into that statement.
When a person says to one of us, "Oh, I love your cardy...", we shrug and answer something like "This old thing? I've had it a while. "
Whereas Americans would declare "Yes, my cardy is really lovely, isn't it? That's why I bought it."
***
A 'cardy' is short for 'cardigan'. I guess an American would never say 'cardy'. Oh well...
Hi there
I was reading an article the other day where the two main characters went first of all to Asia, then to New Zealand, and finally these intrepid travellers ended up 'Down Under in Australia'.
Hey, wait a minute - my hand is up, waving frantically.... New Zealand is 'Down Under' too, it's not a title exclusively designated to Australia. I blame that music group, Midnight Oil, for much of the confusion. Their song about being 'Down Under' sort of misses us out completely.
In fact, I don't hesitate to say that we are more 'Down Under' than Australia. Look for New Zealand on a map, you'll see what I mean.
Okay, sometimes maps do leave New Zealand out completely. There will be a big patch of blue sea beneath Australia. The cartographers who made these maps were obviously more into kangaroos and koalas than kiwi birds and rugby.
Several years back there was an upside-down map tea-towel that some clever person put out. New Zealand is at the top of the world on this tea towel map. I guess for once we were 'Top Over', not 'Down Under'. Yay!
The only place 'Down Under' beneath New Zealand is Antarctica. And that place is never mentioned as being 'Down Under'. I would say Antarctica is the most Down-Under-est country out of all of us fighting for the crown...
Hi there
A few years back when I was down in the tourist mecca of Queenstown I bought a New Zealand-orientated t-shirt. It featured a sheep and a kiwi dressed up as astronauts:
I wore the t-shirt when I was visiting Las Vegas. And I thought everyone would get the joke about two iconic NZ creatures dressed in space suits.
But every American said to me something along the lines of: "Like your alien t-shirt."
They hadn't even registered they were looking at a sheep and a kiwi; they just thought they were looking at a couple of aliens in space attire. Made me realise that New Zealand is not exactly as well-known as we kiwis think we must be.
And let's talk about the bone tiki I wore around my neck, also in Las Vegas. This guy in a queue behind me pointed at my pendant and happily shouted, "E.T.", at the top of his lungs...
