Word Fun with Kiwis

There are a few words that I have learned since I have been in New Zealand. The first is 'unco'. The other day, Kiwi Hannah was being a klutz (as usual) and she said 'Uhh. I'm such an uncle!' And I was like 'What? Why are you an uncle?' And she explained that she had said 'unco' and not 'uncle' but both words sound the exact same with her accent. And apparently unco is short for uncoordinated. Clever. Kiwis like to think that they make new words, but they actually don't, they just shorten words that already exist.

Some other translations:
Beanie or Hat = Toque
Jumper (sounds like jumpa when they say it) = sweater
Cotton buds = Q-tips
Marmite = Gross (not actually, I just think marmite is gross)
Lappy = Laptop computer
Togs = Swim suit
Kiwi fruit = Kiwi
Kiwi = New Zealander
Drink bottle = Water bottle
Everything Matt and Aleisha say = ????????
Albino (they pronounce it Al-beenoh) = Albino
Toilet = Bathroom/Washroom
Sup Bro = Hey
Sweet As = Awesome! or Sweet! or Cool! etc.
Take-away = To go
Soft Drink = Pop
Ginger (pronounced Ging-ger) = Ginger (in reference to red heads)
Macca's = McDonals or McDicks
Stubbies = Short shorts that boys wear (so unattractive)
All Blacks = A Rugby team
Ute = A small truck
Undies = Underwear
Jandles = Flip Flops
Hand-bag = Purse (even big ones)
Chips = Fries
Chips = Chips
Biscuits = Non-round Cookies
Cookies = Round Cookies

Kiwis also say 'eh' a lot. A lot more than most Canadians, I'd say. That's all I can think of for now. Other strange things they do include driving on the wrong side of the road - the left side. I finally think I have mastered looking both ways in the right order before crossing the street, finally! And I checked and the water does go down the drain in the opposite direction!

Today was pretty awesome. It was Elisa's birthday! Happy B-day Gurrrl! Josh and Misty came today and gave the first lecture on relationships. We talked about trust today. And we played this game which involved trusting. There were 4 teams and 8 rounds. In each round each team had to pick either 'X' or 'Y'. And that was it. If all 4 teams chose 'X' then everyone got -1 point. If 3 teams chose 'X' and 1 chose 'Y', the 'X' teams would get +1 point each, and the 'Y' got -3. If two chose 'X' and two chose 'Y', the 'X's got +2 each and the 'Y's got -2 each. If one team chose 'X' and three chose 'Y', the 'X' got +3 and the 'Y's got -1, and if all four chose 'Y' everyone would get +1. So basically if everyone chose Y every time, then everyone would win. But you have to trust that everyone will chose Y. My team decided that we would go for the win and choose X every time. We were so trustworthy! It was Matt, Rich, Kyle, Anne, Me and Van. Van was the only one with a conscience. He made us choose Y the last round because he felt guilty. Bahaha! But we still won!!! And that's all that matters! But actually Josh explained that Jesus would have chosen 'Y' every time and that is what we should do too. I would do that in real life, but not in a game. In a game I want all the glory! :P

This afternoon I slacked on my CIR (homework) because I disliked last week so much and didn't want to write about it. So I went for a nice long run. I always feel so awkward going for runs because my running shirt is a tight tank top from lululemon and I am not sure if it is YWAM appropriate. So I always sneak around and try not to let anyone see me when I go for a run. That failed. At the end of my run, I walked my Jacob, Henk and Rebecca. And apparently I looked like Barbie because I am tall and blonde and 'skinny'. Pffffft. I don't know what world I am considered skinny in but it is not this one. And I am pretty sure that Barbie has boobs that are a lot larger than mine and a waist that is a lot smaller than mine. And her feet are permanently stuck in high-heel tip-toe position.

I went into the A-frame to get some water after my run. And Noemi was disgusted at how sweaty I was. I was pretty drenched. I sweat so much! Last spring I did a field school in Belize and I sweated 24-7 the whole time. Everyone always thought that I had just had a shower.... Nope. Just REALLY sweaty. I actually sweated so much, while sitting on wooden chairs doing homework, that I got a heat rash on my butt cheeks. I had to get some cortisone cream and put it on my butt at night. I would wedgie my underwear into my butt, apply the cream, point the fan towards my bed so that the wind would blow on my bum, and tell my roomy, Sarah, to try not to look (for her own good) and then I would starfish bellyflop onto my bed for the night. Poor Sarah, she saw a bit too much of my butt. So I look forward to find out what my outreach team will have to endure while we are in Fiji! Bahaha!

Speaking of gross butt things. My digestive system is still on the fritz! Yesterday I had diarrhea and today I am constipated. And I didn't take any Imodium. I am so frustrated with my body. I wish I could just go back to my normal poop schedule of every day, once a day, nicely formed - not too runny, not too hard. Just right.

Tonight for small groups we watched a movie. We watched The Proposal, with Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock. I am so in love with Ryan Reynolds. I am so going to marry him. And then I won't have to change my last name because I like my last name. But I will mostly marry him because he is one of the most attractive men I have ever seen and he is rich.