speaking Kiwi

I believe I've already blogged on the Australian tendancy to shorten words and give everything nicknames, usually ending in "ie" - like sunnies for sunglasses, mossies for mosquitoes (although how you can call a big, tattooed, leather-wearing guy on a Harley a bikie, I'll never understand). The New Zealanders also have different words for certain things too. I've particularly noticed this in terms of vegetables. Sweet peppers (green and red peppers etc) are capsicums, zucchini are courgettes and sweet potatoes are kumara (pronounced by New Zealanders as kum-rah). I was looking through a New Zealand cookbook the other day and saw a recipe that called for "one small diced swede".

an update

Just a quick post to let you all know that I'm leaving Kerikeri in about a week so if you send me anything from this point on you should use the IEP address in Auckland and they will forward it once I get settled in.

I don't yet know where I'm going - there are lots of options and, of course, I hate making decisions. I am forcing myself to move on because Kerikeri and the Stone Store Lodge and Richard and Dot and the restaurant and everything are great and it would be so easy to stay, but I don't want to get back to Canada and have to say the only parts of NZ I saw were Auckland, Hastings and Kerikeri. I have maybe 8 weeks left - can't believe it is almost over.

my doggie

Sorry, couldn't resist posting a picture of my dog Marco. I miss him a lot.

sunshine on the water looks so lovely

Richard arranged for me to go on a boat trip today. My first time on a sailboat and I had a great time. The weather was fantastic. We stopped at an island and I had a chance to go snorkelling and for a walk. The skipper of the boat, Gungha II, is Canadian. He's originally from Victoria, British Columbia and he's been living on boats for 16 years. He's been living in NZ for about a decade or so. It was a really great day.

Oh, and for those of you who didn't notice in the Christmas picnic picture, yeah, I cut my hair (don't worry B, it's growing back quickly). Had to, the underneath part was all frizzy but now it's much better.

thinking of Auntie Terry

Last night, at the Landing, I had to divide about 200 raw chicken livers into little plastic containers. I thought about my Auntie Terry - when I was little, she lived with us for a couple of months and all I remember is that she used to like to eat chicken livers and kept some in our fridge which, of course, my sister and I regarded with fascinated disgust. Now, I have no idea if she ate them all the time or if it is just the warped lens of a child's mind, but that's all I remember of the time she was there. Sometimes I wonder what my niece and nephew will remember of me from this time in their lives. I know once Lauren referred to me, in order to differentiate me from another Jennifer in her life, as 'the one who comes over to visit the dogs'. Justin and I sometimes draw together and I mostly doodle geometric shapes and patterns since my representational drawings are rather abysmal. When he asks me what I'm drawing I usually tell him that it's abstract art (as opposed to 'I can't draw') and apparently he has told his teacher that that his drawings are 'abstract' art, so I guess I'm having some sort of influence.

Justin and Lauren at Myrtle Beach

Happy Valentine's Day

I can't believe it's halfway through February. I have to get a move on about figuring out where I'm going next. It would be so easy just to stay here, but I've set myself a goal of March 1st as the time to find a new situation. That gives Richard a chance to find someone to replace me and for me to arrange something for me to do. Not sure yet if I should find a new HelpX placement, go sightseeing, buy a car, things like that. And, as a lot of you know, I am hopeless about making decisions.

I went on a swimming-with-dolphins trip on Tuesday, but unfortunately, due to the weather, it wasn't safe to be in the water with the dolphins (not to mention rather cold) but we did see them from the boat.

Actually, because of the speed of the dolphins and the speed of my reaction times, most of the pictures I took were less dramatic than hoped and involved the dolphin reentering the water or a fin, barely visible off in the distance.

I did learn something interesting - when a dolphin has a stillbirth, or the calf dies shortly after birth, she carries around the body until it completely decomposes as part of her grieving process. The tour operators had a picture in their collection of a dolphin carrying her baby's body on her back.

feeling homesick lately...

...I'll spend a few minutes standing in the walk-in freezer at work and that ought to take care of it pretty quickly.

stopped raining

according to the newspaper we received about 140-160 mm of rain in two days - more than usually happens in all of Feb.

it's raining (but it's not snow)

It has been raining here for 2 days - I am rather restless. We had no guests last night so I didn't need to get up to help make breakfasts this morning and no rooms to tidy. I had hoped to go on a swim-with-dolphins tour, but in the pouring rain there was no point.

We just had two couples arrive a half hour ago - they want privacy, so they are paying for the third room so no one else can stay there. This should be interesting.

Happy Waitangi Day

Today is Waitangi Day in New Zealand.

The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed on February 6, 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, (not far from where I'm living) by Maori chiefs and the representative of the British crown. It established British law in New Zealand while guaranteeing the Maori certain rights over their land and laws.

Each year, on Feb 6th, there are celebrations and protests to commemorate the the signing of the treaty. The British and Maori both had different reasons for signing it and there is a lot of animosity and contention now about the meaning of it and how that should translate in to policy and law.

The problems with the Treaty of Waitangi are similar to those of many translated documents - English and Maori versions differ in important ways, particularly in regards to two words. In the English version, the Queen of the United Kingdom (England) is given full sovereignty over New Zealand and the Maori are given full equality as British subjects while granting to the chiefs continued chieftainship and ownership of their lands and treasures. The difficulty arises over the meaning of the Maori words used for sovereignty, "kawanatanga" (literally, governorship) and "rangatiratanga" (literally chieftainship). There are arguments about the meaning of the words in the two translations, as well as whether or not the Maori actually understood the document they were signing since the words represented concepts that were not really part of the Maori frame of reference.

In current times, there is a tribunal to make decisions about possible violations of the Treaty that affect land and resource rights and provide compensation to the Maori (similar to what goes on in other countries with Native claims about land and fishing/hunting rights, but the Maori have it in writing and are not just relying on guilt to force the issue). While the Maori face many of the same issues that the aboriginal populations of other countries are dealing with (alcoholism, addiction, poverty, discrimination, violence, over representation in the legal and other social systems, etc.), overall they seem to be in a better situation. They hold much more political power and positions of power in society than other aboriginal people. This is not to say there isn't much to be done, but, I believe, they are the only indigenous people who got the British to sign a Treaty, even if the British promptly began to use it to take advantage,