Kiwis in America are adaptable people and integrate well but sometimes it is just great to talk our own lingo, share a sheep joke, talk nostalgically about Vegemite and find out where the parties are that promise saveloys and tomato sauce...
I'll even try to put info on topics that as a New Zealander I should know a hell of a lot more about or enjoy and hopefully not bore you stiff.
Check out my sister lens to this one: Aussies in America. Lots of pie info on that one.
Table of Contents
I use the term content loosely
- Kiwi Ramblings
- Apparently I can't shift the car,..
- Marrying a Yank
- Kiwi Christmas in LA anyone?
- USA New Zealand Flights
- Find a kiwi
- The Great Debate
- Links - tenuous or otherwise
- Help the Australians!
- Great Stuff on Amazon
- Quirky NZ clothing stuff from CafePress
- Anything but a t-shirt on CafePress
- 'Essential Kiwi' YouTube vids
- Flickr NZ
- Underarms, catamarans and food poisonings
- Newstalk ZB News
- New Guestbook
Kiwi Ramblings
From an addled mind
It has always amazed me that so many New Zealanders start up conversations with strangers more often on rugby than using something safe like the weather. Now I have nothing against rugby at all. I can be in a room with people screaming and yelling at the TV and still read my book quite happily. Taxi drivers would start up conversations with "Good game yesterday, aye?". Not wanting to say anything that would encourage a conversation where I couldn't contribute anything meaningful I would say something like "Is Craig Green still an All Black?" and that would end it quickly. It was a great way to ward off anyone really. For the rugby experts I did go to Rugby Museum of New Zealand and found that he played 20 tests between 1983 and 1987 and now he's getting famous all over again or perhaps for the first time here on this lens in USA!One great shame of my life is that I only learned to eat oysters when living in Macau. It seems that the bland oysters full of poisons from the polluted seas off Hong Kong tasted better than Bluff Oysters. However on my return to the deep south I found that in my 49th year of NZ life I could now eat them, and then I was willing to be introduced to the world of Toheroa patties. It has been hard to find them on any Wisconsin menu and now I can't make up for lost time.
I'm a well traveled girl but it is really only until you live in another country that you really dwell on being a New Zealander. I lived in Macau in 2005 and found that because I expected everything to be so totally different that I was ready for anything and often pleasantly surprised when things were often similar to home despite often having to do charades to get myself understood. Here I expect so much to be the same and find so many things so different it can be frustrating. The fact that you're charged more for using a debit card than a check/cheque and having to use pennies again.
Enough whining - on to the good stuff!
BTW - If you're wondering about my choice of photo in the introduction where I could have chosen from a gazillion fabulous photos of New Zealand I just love the way this photo of a bach at Taylors Mistake near Christchurch epitomizes the Kiwi can do attitude. I bet they can't get insurance though!
Apparently I can't shift the car,..
Never assume we speak the same language.
Aiso, I have to write the date with the month first, drive on the Wrong side of the road and receive my pay every two weeks instead of a fortnight and no one luxes or hoovers the floor. Making a form for work I put instructions for ticking the box which apparently was unfathomable and my cheques need checking!. I bought my American husband a small book of Kiwi slang which sits in the smallest room in the house and apparently has opened up a whole new world of linguistics.
A couple of amusing pages on the topic are www.uber.nu/2001/06/22/
and a guy called Richard Seaman aka The Flying Kiwi has a page on the topic
www.richard-seaman.com/USA/Life/Language/AmericanVersusNewZealandVocabulary.html
Do we ever get used to the snow? I learnt to snowshoe this year which wasn't on the 50 things I had to do before I die, but if you want to go anywhere in the winter in Wisconsin you gotta learn!
I envy all the coastal New Zealanders.
Marrying a Yank
and your green card and other lurid details
For more information on this and other things you ought to know about living here and also about your civic duties such as voting in New Zealand, or what to do if you lose your passport or how to get on the register of Kiwis overseas (a great help if you're caught in an area of disaster such as a tornado) go the the New Zealand embassy website
NZ Embassy:Information for New Zealanders living in the USA
And for those who like a romantic story - yes we met on the internet and after 6 months of lies and sending photos of famous models he decided to check me out in person. Fortunately he had a forgiving nature or just happened to prefer short, shall we say sturdy women with fashionably greying hair. After being fairly sure he wasn't an ax murderer, I took him around the South Island, introduced him to whitebait and toheroa patties, huts in Skippers Canyon, a seaside stay at a friends hovel at Kaka Point in South Otago, horseriding on deserted beaches, Stewart Island, NZ wine and generally showed him one hell of a good time. A couple of trips to Wisconsin over the next 2 years, a job in Macau in between then a wedding in good ol' Invercargill. And we are going back to live in NZ in a few years. I bought some coastal NZ just in case it was all sold by the time we go back.
Kiwi Christmas in LA anyone?
Lamb, Sausage rolls, chippolatas, Pav, Hokey Pokey.......
USA New Zealand Flights
Some options
Find a kiwi
Groups you can join
Help me out people - let me know of any online and offline groups out there.Los Angeles Kiwi club has a great site with an events page and a fascinating bios page. Add yourself if you live there.
Kiwis in LA
San Francisco Kiwis have what seems to be a well established website and social circle.
sfkiwis
Another San Fran group for Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans. Events look to be well attended.
San-Francisco-Bay-Area-Aussies-Kiwis-and-Saffas
If you are in Texas there's is the Australia New Zealand Society of Texas. Along with social and cultural events they have a weekly playgroup.
Tanzot.org
The long standing Southern Cross Club promotes friendship amongst Aussies, Kiwis and Americans. A good business and social contact group. The site appears to be updated infrequently.
Southern Cross Club
New York has a thriving circle of kiwis. This website has extensive links to other regional groups however some of them are no longer current.
Kiwi Club of New York
Mentioned before - Yahoo Groups. Kiwis all over USA write on a range of topics but predominantly life in USA and nostalgic Kiwi stuff. Similarly there is a yahoo groups for Kiwis in Florida but it seems to be pretty stagnant - maybe you could revive it?
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/Kiwis-in-America
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/Floridakiwis
Another Florida one that looks like it is alive and well is the South Florida Aussie Kiwi Club
Finding a rugby club is a sure bet there's kiwis in it. This provides some good links to clubs across the states
www.ambassadorsshield.com
Did you play Netball at home? This site has a lot of information and there are links to various regional clubs with their own websites. Lots of Brits, South African, Kiwis and Americans and Blokes!!
Netball America
If you are looking at networking for business interests be sure to check out if there is a ANZACC (Australian New Zealand American Chamber of Commerce) near you. They often are a great source of social events too. The Chicago chapter has a comprehensive list of regional chapters
ANZACC Midwest
In Atlanta, Georgia, along with a New Zealand Honorary Consul office, there is a social group with a small membership charge.
New Zealand American Association in Atlanta
A new club has been formed in Dallas/Fort Worth area, Texas in 2008. No website yet but they are off to a stellar start. At their first meeting in August 2008 their guest speaker was Peter Snell. Click here to contact The Kiwi Koala Club
The Great Debate
And I already know the correct answer!
I bet everyone has had this discussion before...... Let's see who of us have the 'refined' tastes. Keep it seemly!
Links - tenuous or otherwise
In no particular order
- Dub Pies
- Craving for a real meat pie or sausage rolls? If you live in NYC or are only a day away in terms of delivery these guys (the Down Under Bakery) might be just the ticket for a party.
- Air Tahiti
- Especially handy alternative for those from Midwest to the East. Specials a couple of times a year to NZ.
- Kea Global
- Kea brings together expats and 'friends of New Zealand' to create a powerful global network for the benefit of New Zealand. Kea is independent, non-political and non-profit. There are Kea chapters in New York, Boston and Washington. You can look for jobs for people who like Kiwis or want to work with Kiwis
- Buy USA
- Tired of people back home asking you to buy things over here and then have to get a loan to pay packing and shipping? These guys do all that for the folks back home and solve the problems with websites and companies that do not do international shipping.
- Marmite Pantry
- Not only Marmite but also VEGEMITE. I buy it in 6 packs. They have a range of other products held especially dear by Australians but these two are the most important for us. Great Service and a small operation that deserves some business. If you order anything please tell them you found them on my Squidoo site.
- Te Puna Web Directory
- This is a fantastic resource if you need to search for a website in New Zealand. Arranged by Subject groups or alphabetically it is truly better than a general search engine. The National Library has other great resources too (I know I used to work there) - such as digital images and it indexes articles in NZ magazines or in overseas magazines about NZ. To go to the home page Click here
- Arts and Letters Daily
- If you like to keep up with the world on almost anything this is the place to begin. Started by New Zealander Dennis Dutton and then sold for a tidy sum, Dennis is still Editor. How smart is that? Great links to philosophical articles, criticisms, culture, music art, disputes, gossip etc, gleaned from a huge range of magazines and newspapers.
- USAKiwis
- An emphasis on rugby news plus news and weather from 18 NZ cities.
Help the Australians!
Poor blokes didn't have a helpful site like this so I made one. Now if you've been grocery shopping and got the vegemite but need a little something else, visit my Aussies in America site and order some old fashioned meat pies.
Great Stuff on Amazon
Adapting to life in America or just comfort stuff
Flight of the Conchords
Ain't it great that these guys are sooooo famous!
Decorated Mouse Pad with New, country, Zealand, nation
Get a biro and put your home town on it
Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World
Great tale of ingenuity, fortitude and survival on the Auckland Islands, New Zealand
Quirky NZ clothing stuff from CafePress
Some lateral thinking went on here!
Anything but a t-shirt on CafePress
which don't cost a lot!
Underarms, catamarans and food poisonings
I wonder if those words have ever been used together in a google search ...until now!
- 10 Challenges
- Another great blog post from a member in the Underground Network! Read below and join in on the conversation. You can find the original post here. Follow this blog at: http://kingdom1st.wordpress.com. ????????? ...
Newstalk ZB News
Keepin' up the with the goss in NZ
See who's the Prime Minister, who's going to jail and how much petrol costs anything else in between
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byNew Guestbook
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- Amy (from A Kiwi's Guide to Surviving America) Amy (from A Kiwi's Guide to Surviving America) Oct 30, 2009 @ 11:50 am
- Hi Gayle,
Thanks for your comment. I really enjoyed reading your blog when I was setting mine up.It provided more than a few laughs. It does sound like we have had some fairly similar experiences. Surprisingly there aren't many blogs from Kiwis in the States (but there are loads from Americans in NZ).
Oh, some homemade soup sounds great! I do miss that. Some good pumpkin soup. I've either tried or been told all about pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread and roasted pumpkin seeds...but no soup!
Amy
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- Irene Irene Sep 10, 2009 @ 12:54 am
- Just stumbled across this but you had prob told me about it. Well writ girl. And very clever. WIsh I was coming for your road trip to Lake Michigan. Juanita is looking forward to it. Have just seen a pic of her in Colerado whilst branding some cattle with some handsome lookin dudes. Cowboy butts still drive me nuts even tho I got one of my own!! The Dallas group would have been good for her to catch up with most likely.
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- steven-g steven-g Jul 12, 2009 @ 9:31 pm
- He just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich... great lens
Cheers
Steven
Free Credit Report
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- Carmen Smith Carmen Smith Mar 11, 2009 @ 9:07 am | in reply to Nicole
- Kia ora to fellow kiwis out there ,awesome site !!,...I dont miss Marmite yet ,but its only been a month . No Ive been too busy stuffing my gob with sugar-laden goodies ,the Americans just blow us away when it comes to convenience foods aye ,but I will say this my teen was right ,it is better that fresh foods in NZ is cheaper than fastfood!! absolutely makes more sense . But damn those 99c deals work for me .
Im such a hypocrite.
Hey be neat to hear from other kiwis even one who lives nearby , grab a coffee and yakety yak.
Can I leave my email in here ?
Thanks again for an awesome site
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- Nicole Nicole Feb 12, 2009 @ 12:15 pm
- Ahh.... the good 'ol Sav. Oh how I've missed that!!
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- kiwisoutback kiwisoutback Jan 29, 2009 @ 1:20 pm
- Excellent work! Well done, you've provided some excellent links. If you have a minute, I have a store featuring
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- KiwiGayle KiwiGayle Dec 11, 2008 @ 11:01 pm | in reply to Nikki G
- Thanks Nikki. Send me another msg with and I'll contact you. Will be in Carlsbad in Feb - Maybe have a beer and vegemite! Can put you in touch with other kiwis near you.
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- Nikki G Nikki G Dec 11, 2008 @ 2:02 pm
- Great to catch up on some true blue kiwi culture. I've been looking at pics of meat pies, moro bars & milo & makes me homesicker :) I've been here in San Diego for 10 years & some days I feel like the only Kiwi rattling around in the place. Nice site, I'll be back often :)
Take it easy
Nikki
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- KimGiancaterino KimGiancaterino Nov 7, 2008 @ 10:56 am
- I enjoyed your lens, and am inspired to try Vegemite on toast.
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- StevenCousley StevenCousley Nov 2, 2008 @ 6:12 am
- Great site and being a true blue aussie I easily picked the most popular poll answer. :)
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