Kiwiana

So not much has changed on the job or Wanganui scene lately. Therefore this entry will be dedicated to Kiwiana, all things inherently Kiwi.

I'll start with food, because I love food, and because I'm hungry. New Zealand has about 4 million people and about 40 million sheep (something like that). Consequently lamb is damn near everywhere. When I arrived here I decided I should do my best to eat only at restaurants that will only be available to me here in New Zealand, but that hasn't stopped me from going to Subway a dozen times for roast lamb sandwiches. I'd tried lamb in the past in the US, but it is significantly less common and probably not quite as delicioso. I've also had lamb kebabs (no shortage of kebab shops in NZ), barbecued lamb chops, and lamb burgers. I can't get enough.

As far as fast food, Burger King and McDonald's are damn near everywhere, but NZ's pride is the Burger Fuel. A standard fast food burger joint I guess, but the burgers are clearly larger, and the fries overwhelmingly saltier. Also of note is the McCafe, and McDonald's attachment that serves stuff like muffins and scones and whatever else people who wake up early enough for breakfast might eat on the way to work.

Probably the third largest American-style fast food chain, and the only one I've successfully avoided so far, is KFC.

While shopping for groceries, I've discovered that no supermarkets carry turkey, just ham, chicken, and bacon that looks like ham. Also "granola" doesn't exist here. They have what is called "Muesli" (pronounced myoosli, if that helps), sold in bags of Muesli, Muesli bars, and breakfast cereals.

Lastly, there is a major Cadbury headquarters in New Zealand. Consequently pretty much any supermarket or convenience store sells these large Cadbury chocolate bars that come in roughly 8000 flavors. I wonder how many I can fit into my bag on the flight back home.

On to music. Now I've never been hip with the latest hop, so I couldn't say for sure what's different about the music here from back home since I rarely heard new music back home. But I'll make some guesses. One of the most popular bands both here and in the UK is Kings of Leon, who apparently are from Nashville and are only moderately successful in the USA. They're pretty good, but I still don't know what it means when someone says 'your sex is on fire'. The Killers are also pretty huge here, but that's different cause they're a really good band anyway.

A couple other standouts are Midnight Youth, which may are may not have a big following in the US but I've recently learned they'll be playing at South by Southwest music festival in Austin, so if they're not big in the States yet I'm sure they soon will be.

Also is Tiki Taane (sp?). They only song I know by this Maori musician is some mellow acoustic guitar song called 'Always On My Mind' which gets played extensively.

Apparently there are some differences in bar music between NZ and US as well. I've been to at least half a dozen bars that have played either Summer Nights from Grease or some sort of Grease medley. Also Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi is huge, apparently because some guy sang it really well on New Zealand Idol a few years ago.

Finally, and this may be the most important part, I have heard "Don't Stop Me Now" played at two bars, which led me to discover that a girl from Brazil and one from Denmark both know all the words to the song. The world is a beautiful place.