1. Everything is backwards! You drive on the left, your turn signal is on the right,
2. On nutrition labels, they don’t measure in calories, but measure in kJ of energy. It almost sounds like a good thing to be getting more energy out of your food…
3. There are “heaps” of sheep and cows EVERYWHERE!
4. They have lots of American companies. We have seen McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s, Subway, Mobil, etc. The most surprising find, however, has been KFC. Who would have thought that Kiwis would like Kentucky Fried Chicken? Do they even know where Kentucky is?
5. Currency doesn’t come any smaller than 10 cents, so if you buy something that costs $4.87 it will be rounded up, $4.83 would be rounded down. Also, their smallest bill is $5, but they have $1 and $2 coins.
6. Their “medium” version at fast food places is equivalent to our “kids meal” sizes!
7. When it rains, it pours… but only for a minute or so, then all is back to normal.
8. Their ice-cream tastes like frozen cool-whip.
9. Their most popular sodas are ginger beer (which is not really a beer), and L&P (Lemon and Paeroa) which is similar to a blend of Squirt and Sprite… so good!
10. Round-a-bouts are plentiful and scary. They’re not too into stop lights.
11. Free refills, “tomato sauce” packets, and plastic-ware are a thing of the US. Expect to pay for those luxuries here.
12. Expect to wake up to the sound of mating cows and crazy birds every morning- ear plugs are key!
Kiwi Lingo:
Pharmacies are called “Chemists”
Heaps is used often to describe when there is a lot of something
Take a squiz= not what you think it means. It means to take a peek at something; a quick look.
They like to say epic= monumental, fail=…fail, and primo= excellent (not Spanish for cousin) a lot.
Good on ya! = ?
“Sweet as” & “choice as” are the most commonly used terms to express satisfaction. Oh that L&P was sweet as! Haha… sometimes this can sound completely inappropriate if you haven’t seen it spelled.
Round sprinkles are called “hundreds and thousands”
Dodgey= sketchy
Biscuits= cookies
Chips= French fries
Toilets= Bathrooms (or for our Canadian buddies, washrooms)
Their alphabet consists of letters A-Zed… yes, “Zed”, not “Z”
