A1.2.3 How To Find NZers And Information About NZ: In The Wild...
Description
This article is from the New Zealand FAQ, by Phil Stuart-Jones and Lin Nah with numerous contributions by others.
A1.2.3 How To Find NZers And Information About NZ: In The Wild...
The following comments result from the thread 'Obviously Antipodean' which
Dave Frame started by posing the question, "So does anyone have any idea
why we antipodeans are so readily identifiable when we travel?".
From: andrew@unigen.unit.no (Andrew McNaughton)
Track suit bottoms, jandals, rugby jersey (bit too fashionable now),
vegemite stains around the mouth, obviously travelling on the cheap,
working in a pub in London or as a nanny in some pile in the countryside, a
willingness to pass the time of day with a total stranger. This last one
happened to me in the London Underground, said gidday to some bloke as we
waited in this draughty hole of a station and he looked at me as if I was a
madman and backed away. Thing that got me was he was grottier looking than
I was so by rights I should have been the one backing away. Even slobs
have pride.
-----
From: morrisp@lincoln.ac.nz (Morris, Peter)
Because Australians wear a ball 'n' chain round their leg?
Because you have suntans at the wrong time of year?
Because you have skin cancer at any time of year?
Because your name is Bruce/Sheila?
Because you open your mouth?
Because you eat vegemite or weak marmite?
Because you drink Tetleys/Stones
Because you're taller than the average Brit?
Because you exercise more than the average Brit?
Because you whinge more than the average Brit?
Because you stare, with your mouths wide open in awe at the wonderful land
that Britain truly is.:-)
-----
From: "(Ghost ) Joost Stenfert Kroese" <joost@cad.canterbury.ac.nz>
Your wildernis pack, your hiking boots. The Ozone depleted sunburn, the
stubble, checkered shirt, the dusty khaki pants... do you want me to
continue?
OK the sheepish grin. For god's sake people in europe don't smile at each
other in the tube. it's dangerous.
-----
From: ted@fishnet.co.nz (Ted Howard)
Two things I've noticed that stand out in a crowd.
We tend to look people in the eyes.
We tend to be interested in our surroundings - with an almost childish
facination (compared to most other cultures).
-----
From: lawry@maths.ox.ac.uk (James Lawry)
Speight's T-shirts, Dave.
-----
From: matoed.portsmouth.uk.ibm.com@ (Dave Matoe)
We tend to be loud
We have outrageous opinions on places that we recently arrive in (Because a
mate was there 4 years back and told us..bla bla bla..)
We are fiercely patriotic and wear rugby jerseys everywhere
We wear shorts to work in Summer
We wear Adidas trackies down Oxford Street
We call a spade a 'bloody spade' which means we have street cred
We kick ass in Rugby and rub it in like heck
We end many of our words with an 'o', 'aye' or 'mate' for instance 'Hey
mate, what the bloody hell do yuh think your doing with Davo's pint aye?'
We exploit our Maori culture in the Rugby, but ignore it at other times.
(ooops, controversial point..forget I said that one :-)
We rave on about sweets no ones ever heard of like 'Barley Sugar, Pineapple
Lumps and Milkshake lollies'
We winge about everybody else winging
We watch Xena and Hercules cos they are filmed in NZ
We cringe when ever Rachel Hunter comes on the tele
We remark on how Phillip Schofield started off in shazam before he hit it
big time with 'Joseph'
We p*ss in the back garden when we have a BBQ - Warning, English do not
find this an endearing quaint down-under custom.
We don't object to women buying a round
We think a swanny is great to wear at all times of the year, despite the
'NZ Railways' markings on the back of it.
All of us have a relative called 'Wayne' or 'Trevor' somewhere down the
line.
-----
From: jthursto@direct.ca (s & j thurston)
Gazing around, staring and grinning at everyone and everything. Every
other guy called Bruce or Graham. NZ women talking to non NZ men about
football and sports and they (the dorks) think that they *must* be coming
on to them. Yeah sure pencil neck you're just my type. NOT. NZ women
liking guys who don't have a thing for Mummy. NZ women ready to arm
wrestle to see who pays for the beer.
-----
From: matoed.portsmouth.uk.ibm.com@ (Dave Matoe)
Some more.......
We would be proud to be considered 'All Black'
We are the only country to spell awesome with an 'o' (remember David Tua
the boxer?)
We use awesome in replacement of 'Great, excellent, fantastic, remarkable
interesting, wonderful, stimulating and choice'
We wear Jandals and not thongs or flip flops
Kiwi ladies understand the off-side rule (now explain it to me...:-)
We call personality-challenged individuals 'dicks heads'
We take 50 photo's of ourselves in front of Big Ben to send to all the
relo's back home.
We send our mums a wedgewood tea cup and saucer and forget about the rest
of the tea set.
We never watch neighbours
We only travel with MacPacs
We know who Phillip Sherry and Dougal Stevenson are (Well some of us do I
s'pose..:-)
We use unique words like Drongo, Skite, Hokey Pokey, L&P, tutai, hangi and
DB
We know what ship Captain Cook sailed in
We call Australians - wallabies, English - POMS and Dennis Connor a 'bit of
a bugger...' when we're with our folks, but 'bloody ozzies, winging poms
and a personality-challenged individual' when we're with our mates :-)
We only eat sure to rise pikelets and no other kind
We miss luxury flakes when we're away yet never eat them when we're at home
and finally
We don't like people being a smart ass - so I'm off. :-)
-----
From: otago@falcon.cc.ukans.edu (Graham Pendreigh)
: We use awesome in replacement of 'Great, excellent, fantastic, remarkable
: interesting, wonderful, stimulating and choice'
Received text remains, however, "not bad", as in Salisbury Cathedral...
-----
From: David Frame <d.frame@phys.canterbury.ac.nz>
> Speight's T-shirts, Dave.
Yeah... ok... I can see how that might be a wee bit of a giveaway... but
even when I was out of uniform - wearing non-standard blokewear - people
still figured me for a kiwi. And that was *before* I opened my mouth and
demonstrated a particular affinity for certain consonants.
-----
From: alan@remaal.prestel.co.uk (Alan Macdougall)
The old Macpac - where I live (Queens Park tube) every fifth person on the
train either has a Macpac or reads the TNT on a Monday morning. Also, I
keep meeting on the Central line people from NZ that I haven't seen in
years - I'm sure that loud reunions on the tube through Shepherds Bush is a
bit of a giveaway too...
-----
Continue to:
My Books
