We are now in the homestretch of our trip. Teaching is now over, and I can relax. We've enjoyed a weekend exploring some more sights of Auckland (more volcanoes! can't get enough of them). We return home on Wednesday, and are starting to clean up the house and gather up all of our crap. Spring is starting to, well, spring up here in Northern NZ...trees are flowering, birds are singing, so it will be weird to head back home where they are getting battered by tropical storm remnants, and starting (I guess) to have chillier nights and the thoughts of autumn. Maybe.
7 weeks into our trip, we are really getting the hang of this kiwi accent. The most noticeable aspect of it, and I think the thing that distinguishes it from British, or Aussie, or S. African (which of course all sound the same to the American ear) is the short "e", which they change to a short "i". We first noticed it when we met our cab driver from the airport, whose name was Terry, but they way he said it sounded like "Teary". We took the ferry, which they say like "firry", head sounds like "hid", dead sounds like "did", etc. I've apparently been giving things that sound like "lic-tures".
The challenging thing to me is to determine when to start talking like a local. Should say elevator, when I know they say lift? It seems obvious that I should. But should I start to say "firry"? I think we have been sounding more kiwi, and probably sounding very silly. I remember talking to a neighbor about their kids' "football" games, and she said, " you mean soccer, right?". I didnt know if she was just pandering to me or if they really said 'soccer' here. (they do.). I'm starting to say ba-NAH-nah or to-MAH-to as they do here - but I probably just sound ridiculous. Still can't say "zed" instead of "zee" though -- that is too weird. I did enjoy hearing a song by Zed Zed Top on the radio however!!!
Other things they say that I hope not to bring home with me: bell pepper = capsicum; bathing suit = togs; pick-up truck = ute; kitchen counter = bench. The weirdest one for me has been course = paper, as in "I am taking three papers at university this term", or "what will I need to do to pass this paper?" Another weird one is "pie" - I would never turn down an offer for pie at home, since it is one of my favorite things -- but pies here are savory, not sweet, and usually contain ground beef/lamb - like our "pot pie" - and are the kind of cuisine you find wrapped in plastic sitting in a warming machine at a convenience store, which here is called the "dairy", which sounds like "deary". Sigh.
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