No, it's not the amount alcohol in a regular beer. And it's not the percentage of NZ population not drinking. It's certainly not the percentage interest you'd pay for a mortgage on your NZ bach (holiday house).
Found out what it is?
If not, I'll tell you. It's the interest rate. On an online savings account! I think I'm going to exploit this and start my own business by borrowing money in Sweden, put them on a savings account here and skim the risk free return! Just imagine the interest rate on mortgages here...
I was perhaps to tired to notice this on the flight from Christchurch to Dunedin, but the people in the safety video were not only acting like aircraft safety is joke. They were also completely naked! What appears to be the uniform is actually body paint. Have a look!
What you see is what you get. Buy an Afghan! Or what about a Scotch? If you don't want the whole, we can chop off the fingers. Vintage trend is all over the place. Try a (budget) cookie from the 50ies! Did I mention than Kiwis love sports? And bougies? For those of you who don't know what the word bougie means read here. Is chocolate the first thing that pops up in your mind when you see this?
Last Thursday we celebrated my wonderful flatmate Becky's and her friend Paula's birthdays. We sat on the floor (!) in Japanese restaurant and ate Japanese food (and I learned they have other food than sushi). I had a lot of fun, met some cool people and three of them turned out to be my classmates in accounting! Congratulations again, Becky and Paula and thanks for inviting me to this lovely party!
These photos don't actually represent the complete range of food here, but these products definitely caught my attention and curiosity.
Kiwis drink a lot of water (probably 'cause they can't drink alcohol all day). This can/bottle might be a compromise between a beer can and a bottle of water. Those muffins are triple. Wonder how healthy that is. Just triple the calories of a normal muffin and you'll get this one! Ah, Marmite. It's a bread spread. Made of what? Yeast. And they eat it, just like that. In New Zealand they don't have any candies. They have lollies. And lollie cake. Cupcakes. Try the healthy ones with a bicycle on top!
When I moved from Växjö (a small town in the south of Sweden) to Stockholm life was full of surprises. And then I thought that I’ve seen it all. This doesn’t make sense really; you can’t have experienced all life has to offer when you’re 21 right?
Now life is full of surprises again! It feels as if I was born yesterday. You probably wonder what’s my point here (and unless I don’t present it in a nice summary you’ll stop reading).
The point is that things happen, new things. And they surprise me. Like yesterday when our neighbours jumped over the 4 meter fence between our flats and brought a big barrel of beer to our flat. You can imagine the end of that story.
I’ll give you more examples. People here are really nice, actually I’ve never been in a more friendly country. Kiwis will help you find whatever you are looking for, or solve whatever problem you have at any time of the day. That’s not enough. They are cool and funny too! Sometimes they seem a bit confusing though. When I’m wearing a jacket and it’s 4⁰ C outside, some of them wear t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops. When they invite you for tea you actually get dinner.
There are some unpleasant surprises as well. Today is Monday, and the weekend was a wild one, as you may have guessed by now. There is crushed glass everywhere, both in our kitchen and out on the streets. Internet is never working in the evenings, hot water is running out if all of us decide to take a shower and so on. Dunedin is a funny place to live in, but I’m beginning to like it a wee bit.
Now I have to study, I’m going to do a lot of that wonderful activity. That’s the way things are, just as good as they could be different.
(In the picture you can see a demonstration of how helpful kiwis are. Becky is helping the guy to drink beer by holding the barrel. Somebody is holding him aloft and John, a potential kiwi, just like me is holding the tube. What a team! That guy got reeeaally drunk.)
The Otago University Student Association (OUSA) organized this cool food festival. I didn't get much different food to try but the atmosphere, the lights, the Ferris Wheel, the fire artists and live music made it a beautiful memory.
Most of the houses you can see in the pictures are student flats. They look nice if you stand far enough from them. Don't come closer to see the worn, dirty and rusty interior. I sometimes get the impression they are inhabited by junkies.
I live in this one, left window if you see it like this:
I got up early this morning, ate breakfast listening to John grunting and hooting at the football teams in the world cup final. Then I just thought I’d go to school. Easily and unapprehensively on a treacherously icy road. With my laptop in a tight grip, taking one centimetre steps I crept like an old snail to the university.
Later I saw people jogging, students wearing flip-flops, shorts and t-shirts. What is wrong with me? Am I just imagining it’s icy cold winter and that the side walks are slippery with morning frost? (The photo above is just a snap I did on Sunday. It captures this town well really. The steep streets, the evergreen bushes and the hills around the town. I'll take more photos later to show you the details of it.)
I don’t know the best way to describe the place where I live to you, but I’ll try.
It’s cold inside that I don’t have to put my milk in the fridge. I’m constantly wearing my down jacket both indoors and outdoors. I only get up from my bed and from underneath of my three blankets if I really have to. I sleep with hotties = hot water bottles under my feet. I think it is as cold inside as outside, sometimes colder inside.
We are five students sharing a flat = big house with two toilets, a shower, a kitchen and a small garden. The house is just a few blocks away from the University of Otago. Two guys, Conor and John are from the US and two girls, Becky and Eilidh are from New Zealand. They are our Kiwi hosts.
Becky and Eilith don’t seem to feel the cold that much, and especially not John. He’s out hiking all the time and he also took a swim in an ice cold river. As if it isn’t cold enough inside.
School starts tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it. They’ve got heating there.
…är min personliga flygkvot uppfylld för livet. Det var inte så jobbigt som det låter, för att jag flög med Emirates – ett av världens bästa flygbolag. Ett stort plus för deras snygga och hjälpsamma flyvärdinnor.
Såhär såg min resa ut:
Arlanda - London Heathrow - började nästan gråta när planet lyfte =(
3 timmars flygplats- och flygplansbyte till Gatwick mitt i Londons rusningstrafik
London Gatwick – Dubai - Bilderna är från Dubais flygplats ^^
Dubai – Bangkok - har aldrig sett så stort urval av vattenpipor i kombination med kvinnor i burka som på Dubais flygplats
Bangkok – Sydney - thailändarna är elaka nog att inte bara skanna handbagaget utan också öppna det och rota igenom det
Sydney – Christchurch - börjar tröttna på flygplansmaten, skrikande barn och feta grannar som tar halva min stol
Christchurch – Dunedin - oseriös säkerhetsgenomgång – de skämtade om hur snyggt en syrgasmask ska sitta
Taxi till huset - förstod inte ett ord av vad taxichauffören sa förutom att hans gravida fru är 19
Efter en sådan resa vill man komma till ett (varmt) rum med en skön säng. Så blev det inte riktigt...
