Of Trees and Ferns

After my walk/picnic today in the lovely Wellington Botanic Gardens, I started thinking about the large amount of strange foliage here in New Zealand. In the gardens, there is a particular plaque which I like which explains why the Southern Hemisphere has such different vegetation than the Northern one.

But most importantly, we should discuss the Pohutukawa tree. It's crazy in bloom right now, and let me just say that I didn't know what it was until I googled "New Zealand tree with red fluffs." It looks like this:

LOOK HOW CUTE THESE FLUFFS ARE

I feel like it's a New Zealand attempt at a truffula tree.

Yes, I see a resemblance.

So apparently the Pohutukawa tree is considered a NZ staple around Christmastime, and like everything else essentially Kiwi, there's a Maori legend involved. This one says that a young Maori warrior wished to climb to heaven to avenge his father, but fell. The red fluffs represent his blood. I'm sure it sounds a lot more serious if you don't refer to them as fluffs...

This is by far my favorite of the NZ trees, but they have some really awesome, prehistoric looking trees. Mostly, it just seems really jungly and like a scene from Jurassic Park here. Seriously though. I always feel like I've just stepped into the jungle. My North American/European self is not really sure how to handle it.
Oh! I almost forgot the most Kiwi of all the plants. How could I?? The silver fern is an icon of everything that is New Zealand, in case you weren't already aware. The All Blacks (the national rugby team), as well as many other sports teams use the silver fern as their logo. It's called ponga in Maori, and it is seriously EVERYWHERE. It's so Kiwi that if someone has it as a tattoo, you can guarantee that they are either from NZ or are practically in love with the place. 

Unofficial Kiwi flag

But I like the ferns. I think they're cool, and it reminds me that I'm in New Zealand, and I'm lucky to be here every time I see them.

I particularly like when they're just sprouting or whatever you call this action

Merry Christmas!

Hey all. So we just had Christmas a couple days ago. It was strange to me, as someone who has always lived in the Northern Hemisphere to experience a summer Christmas. The fact that I was at the beach two days before Christmas BLEW my mind. It seemed unnatural. I should have been wearing four layers, gloves, a scarf, drinking hot cocoa, and hoping for snow. I should not have been in a bikini, craving iced tea, and getting sunburnt. As much as I love summer, I think Christmas should belong in the winter.
I mean, New Zealand still plays all the Christmas music about how it's cold outside, snow, and winter wonderlands, but they don't have those things. It seems rather strange to be hearing the opposite of what you're seeing. Since we listen to the radio at work, which I am at for eleven hours straight, I heard a lot of Christmas music over the last few weeks. While my ears were like, "Yes, it must be close to Christmas. Get some holiday cheer," my eyes would tell me that it was summer. It couldn't possibly be Christmastime. The dichotomy of seeing people wearing shorts and tank tops whilst also seeing snowflake decorations on shop fronts is rather jarring.
Even the traditional Christmas meal is better suited for cold weather. In the summer, I don't want to eat heavy roasts or turkey and heaps of potatoes. I want salad. I can understand why more people down here go for the non-traditional Christmas barbecue. I don't blame them. But this is not my Christmas! I want to feast on so much food that I fall asleep and drink eggnog and have mulled wine. I had none of these things. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be staying in the Southern Hemisphere for Christmas again. While I like that it's summer (and my tan looks awesome!) I feel like a large part of my life was missing. And anyway, what is there to look forward to in the winter time here? The best part of winter back home is Christmas and New Years. So you're telling me that winter just sucks, period? Not looking forward to that.

I hope you guys all had good Christmases, whether snowy or not. I still had fun with friends, and watched plenty of Christmas movies. It just didn't feel like Christmas. I'm glad it's over though so I can just think of it as summer and nothing else.

Safe travels!

Weird Kiwi Food

After being here for over two months now, I feel it is finally time for me to discuss the food that is different than what we have back home. Most of it is delicious, some of it is weird, and other stuff is just not anything that we have in the States at all.

Let's start with sweet stuff:

- Feijoas:

Also known as a guavasteen. I've not actually tried one of the fruits (not in season yet), but they have feijoa juice, which is... an acquired taste I think. I'm not fond of it, but I've also been told that the fruit is better than the juice, so I will try it. Maybe.



- Hokey Pokey:

This is a delicious brittle toffee sort of thing. Think of Crunchy bars. They put hokey pokey in chocolate, ice cream, or just eat it. I think there needs to be more hokey pokey in my life, and unlike the feijoa, I am happy about having this around.






- Afghan biscuits:

YUM. I'm bringing this recipe back to the States with me because they are that good. Afghans are a chocolate biscuit with an interesting texture because they have corn flakes in them too? I don't get that, but it's yum as, so that's ok. They come with a chocolate frosting and walnut, and I could probably eat them every day. Good thing that I don't though...




- Pineapple Lumps:

These are supposedly super Kiwi. Upon receiving his NZ citizenship this week, my flatmate also got these from my other flatmate as a gift of reaching full Kiwi-ness. They're made of some weird Laffy Taffy like substance with fake pineapple flavor, covered with chocolate. It's not for everyone, but that's ok. I'll stick with my hokey pokey thanks.







- Boysenberry flavored everything:

Tip Top is the main ice cream brand in NZ. 

Rather than having a lot of raspberry flavored stuff (ice cream/sorbet/muffins/etc), like we do in the States, Kiwis have boysenberry flavored things. I'M SO OK WITH THIS. It's delicious and a nice change from raspberry. I sometimes miss my raspberry, but boysenberry ice cream is hella delicious.








Now for the savory stuff...

- Cranberry-brie Combination:

I have seen cranberry and brie on chicken sandwiches, burgers, and pizza options. I don't understand who came up with this combo, or why. But it's everywhere. I still haven't tried this, but I feel like I should. We make sandwiches at work, so maybe I'll try one. For me, cranberry sauce is a fall/winter thing, but Kiwis apparently eat it year-round. I mean, it is delicious. But with brie??







- Meat Pies:

I understand that these are not a strictly NZ thing. We just don't have meat pies in the States at all, so for the Americans who have not experienced these before, you need to try them (unless you're veg, of course). But yum. Savory pies are one of the things I miss when I'm in the States. I started eating them in the UK when visiting family, so finding that they're all over the place in NZ was a very happy find for me.


- Condiments:

Ketchup does not exist here. They have tomato sauce. But it is NOT ketchup. Fries come with tomato sauce and aioli in restaurants. For the kiwis reading this, there is a BIG difference between ketchup and tomato sauce. I can't explain it, but it's better. I want my ketchup back. Heinz, preferably (Pittsburgh, represent!) More often than not, you can get aioli with your fries, which is fine with me. I prefer aioli over the mayo that Europeans have with their fries. But tomato sauce is not ketchup, and I'm sad. Fish and chip places also don't have vinegar here. Malt vinegar is not a common fish and chips accompaniment. I guess they put tomato sauce on that too... Blasphemy.

And then there's the coffee.

- Flat Whites and Long Blacks:

Flat White

 Flat whites seem like lattes with me. They taste the same, they use the same process, but they are apparently different. Wikipedia says that it uses the micro-foam from the bottom of the steam pot rather than the regular foam from the top or middle of the steam pot. (Sorry for the non-baristas reading that, it probably didn't make much sense). But really, it's still practically a low-foam latte. Long blacks are basically Americanos with less water... Ok. Whatever. Oh, and for Americans reading this, there isn't drip-coffee here. So if you're at a cafe, you will only be able to order espresso-based coffees. It was the same way in the UK, but it is definitely something to get used to. Just order Americanos if you want a coffee. Basically the same concept.

If you are reading this and can think of anything else, leave a comment!! Happy travels all.

Why Kiwis Are Actually Hobbits

Or at least in one way.

It is socially acceptable to not wear shoes sometimes in public. What. Is. This. Shenanigans? I have noticed this too many times to count-- whether in a store or just on the street, you are guaranteed to see people not wearing shoes. Sometimes they have them, and are carrying them, sometimes they don't appear to have shoes at all. And these are not homeless people, or people whose feet are killing them from wearing high heels. They just did not want to wear shoes... I don't get it. I've even seen this in the city center, where you would think "Certainly one must wear shoes here. City streets are gross, but respectable places where shoes are worn all the time," but you would be ever so wrong. Kiwis just don't seem to mind the lack of shoes. There are no signs along the lines of "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service." I don't understand this freedom of the feet. Why the need to go shoeless? Probably to air out their hobbit feet.

Thanksgiving Pt 2

I just thought I'd put up some pictures of our Thanksgiving feast. Enjoy.

The 4 of us who moved from the States together; Kate, myself, Silvana, and Alexa

Someone brought the pavlova- its not a feast in NZ without one. It's basically meringue, whipped cream, fruit, and chocolate. Not bad.

Figuring out how to carve a turkey via internet. Useful.

Successful feasting!

But wait, there's more!

Instead of going around, saying what we're thankful for, there was a board to write on. I thought it was a good idea.

Thanksgiving in a Foreign Land

As this is my first time not having Thanksgiving at home, this is an especially momentous landmark for me.  My family doesn't even do big Thanksgiving, since half of my family's in England, and the other half is all over the States, so it's hard to get everyone together.  For the past few years, it's only been my parents, me, and maybe my great-great-aunt.  So not having a ton of family around isn't even a big deal to me.  It's missing out on the traditions and helping my mom to do every little thing.  I miss being able to go out with my friends to shady bars in Pittsburgh on the night before Thanksgiving.  It's the little things really...  I've also realized that unless I live really close to my family, it'll be hard to get to see them for Thanksgiving every year now.  I now I feel like I've been shoved out into the cruel world to prepare Thanksgiving dinners on my own.  Ok, that might be stretching it a bit, but this is an emotional time right now.

To remedy being in a country that does not celebrate Thanksgiving, us Americans are putting on a huge Thanksgiving dinner.  I think we're expecting around 25 people.  We've got two turkeys, thirteen pounds (roughly 6-7 kg) of potatoes to be roasted and mashed, so many pies, and all the other fixings.  I've been lucky enough to get canned pumpkin from my mom in the States, so I don't have to boil and mash my own pumpkins (how do you even do that??) So staying true to American tradition, I'm taking shortcuts in my cooking, and it'll be delicious.  I also have my mom's recipe for stuffing, which is the best soooo I'm excited about that.  I've noticed that they don't really have cornbread here (understandable, but sad).  This means that I actually had to look up a recipe and make cornbread with real ingredients, not just a box of Jiff cornbread. This is NOT American.  It took effort and I had to use so many ingredients.  I don't even think I've ever made non-Jiff cornbread before.  This is a Thanksgiving of firsts for me here.

But in the end, I hope today's feast with friends rather than family will be just as much fun, but I will nonetheless be filled with homesickness.  I'm sure my mom is crying right now too.  Don't worry, Mom, I'll come over next year.

Happy Thanksgiving guys.  Hope you slip into happy food coma dreams.

Oh yeah- one more week until the Hobbit premiere here in Wellington. We're all excited.

The Struggles of International Job Hunting

I have come to the realization that either a) one should have a job lined up before deciding to pick up and randomly move to another country or b) one should study the time period of when best to arrive to find a job swiftly. Rather than just going and then waiting a month to find a job.

Upon arrival in New Zealand, I was certain I would find a job in two, maybe three weeks. I have been here over a month now, and I JUST got a job yesterday. I start on Tuesday. Now, I don't want you guys thinking that I just sat on the couch all day for that whole month and didn't properly look for a job. Most weeks consisted of me looking up jobs that were hiring online before leaving the house, then hiking down to the city library, printing off anywhere between 5-15 CVs, and then walking around the entire city and dropping them off. I also took leads from friends who said their jobs were hiring. On days that I didn't go into the city, I also applied for jobs online. I probably dropped off around 30 CVs, only to be called back by four places, one of which was today, after I already accepted another job.

At first, I looked only at bars and cafes, since my main experience is in cafes. However, the more desperate for a job I became, the more I started branching out. I applied at retail shops, waitressing jobs, even a few hotel jobs (concierge, maid, whatever). After three weeks of hearing nothing back from places, I decided to go to the Temp Centre in Wellington, which offers either shift work or temp positions which last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. However, I've only been offered one shift from them so far. Thankfully I  heard back from a bakery which I've applied to two weeks ago.

From what I can gather, though, since this is the end of term here in NZ, there are a lot of university students who may be planning on staying here for the summer and have snatched up a lot of jobs in the last month, or have gone from part time to full time. My friends who I came to NZ with got jobs within the first two or three weeks that they were here, but because they arrived two weeks before me, it was just enough before the end of term to miss the wave of students looking for jobs. If I had known that this was the end of term, I most likely would have come earlier. As it were, I came at a bad time, and despite all of my searching, it still took a month to find a position.

So let this be a lesson to everyone, if you don't already have a job lined up, it's best to figure out what the market is like when you do plan on going. I'm just pleased that I've found something now. And hopefully there will be plenty of happy posts after this.

Fireworks for Guy Fawkes Day made a very pleasant birthday

Until next time...