NZ advertisements that aren't the worst thing ever.

Advertisements are quite different in New Zealand than in the States. Sometimes they seem a lot more blunt. Frequently a bit sarcastic. They always seem a to have a lower budget (although I don't think this is a bad thing). Regardless, I've been meaning for months to snap some photos of the really Kiwi-esqe billboards around town. But it hasn't happened. And then tonight I saw this commercial, an anti-drug driving ad, and I just had to share. The message is the same as the commercials in the States: Don't drink/drug and drive. But it's pretty entertaining...

And another...

The billboards are also pretty good around here.

Hell Pizza ad. Wish I could've seen this one in the flesh...

Aw, poor Paris.

Tui, a completely shit beer, is only sort of redeemed by it's sarcastic yeah right tui bird ads. These billboards are all over town, and have a rotation of sarcastic sayings that change every month or so...

That's all I've got for now folks... I know not a real update- but hey at least its a little quirky Kiwi culture for you!

What's Behind That Wall? ...and other New Zealand-isms

Welcome to another installment of New Zealand is not like America (probably because it's a different country)...

The day we arrived in Christchurch and we were being driven to our temporary accommodations, there was something very different about the neighborhood streets, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It's not that we were driving on the wrong side of the road, or that it felt like we were going at warp speed. (If you've ever visited a country where you drive on the opposite side of the road, you know what I'm talking about.) Something was different. Where were the lawns and mail boxes and porches and driveways? What was with all the walls?

Take a look:

Nice enough looking house... with the Great Wall of NZ built around it.

What do you all have to hide? Wall after wall after wall...

I was a bit put off at first, driving down the road, feeling officially uninvited from each person's private life. I kind of like seeing people's porch swings, roses in bloom, Christmas trees in the window during the holidays.

Then I got to spend some time behind the wall. The wall cuts out a lot of street noise. And it provides a lot of privacy. Suddenly your front yard is also private. Or rather, there is no front yard and back yard. There's just... space. Every house isn't situated with a front and back. Many houses have several entrances: through kitchens and lounges and beautiful bedroom doors opening into the yard.

You may remember this is where we stayed when we first arrived. Life behind the wall.

And the yards... stuff grows here. Ferns and fruit and exotic looking trees. It all flourishes. So I'm on the fence (pun!) about how I feel about the walls... what do you think?

Next up, wine. All wine bottles have screw tops. No corks. Rarely even corks from other countries. This is how they do in New Zealand. The argument: there is a much lower failure rate (wine turning bad) in wines with screw tops. I'm a fan, because on more than 1 10 accounts, Scott & I have had to get really creative about getting a cork out of a wine bottle without a cork screw.

And they aren't just practical about their wine. Toilet flushes and water conservation are taken so seriously that every toilet flushing mechanism looks something like the one below:

Do you need a full flush, or will half-a-one do?

I've yet to see a good old fashioned handle, but you know? I think this is definitely a trend that the Kiwi's have got right. Not every bathroom encounter is deserves the average of 3 gallons of water per flush!

That's it for now... but here's a few more photos of my favorite model. She's so talented and patient...

Eating Out in New Zealand: You're Not in America Anymore!

We like to go out to eat. A lot. I chalk it up to the freedom of not having children and being able to do what we want, when we want. I certainly don't think it has anything to do with my aversion to going to the grocery store, and absolutely has nothing to do with laziness. Anyhow, there are a surprising number of little differences between a Kiwi dining experience and eating out in the U.S. of A.

Bookings
They really like you to make bookings (reservations). Even when the restaurant isn't yet half full, you get a cocked eyebrow when you answer, "No, we don't have a booking". And then you might find yourself towards the back...

Anatomy of the Menu
The Appetizer is called the Entrée. The Entrées are called Mains. Bread is never complimentary. Beer and wine aren't hard to find, spirits can be.

Gor:lla. (nope, that's not a typo!) A little restaurant that prides itself on uniqueness, local and organic.
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Language of the Kiwi Restaurant
Bacon: usually called "Streaky Bacon" (no idea why, and I'm afraid to ask)
Biscuits: Cookies
Chips: French Fries
Gherkins: Pickles (sort of)
Kumara: Sweet Potato
Manuka: Honey (technically it's a type of honey)
Rocket: Arugula

Beverages
Frequently you must ask for water. They're happy to bring it to you, just ask. Good for the enviornment! Beer prices are (expensive... and) reflected by their percentage. 4% ABV beer is usually $1 cheaper than 5% and it seems to go up exponentially from there. Wine is similar, but priced a lot more similarly to wine the States. Oh, and everyone's got cider on the list.


What you WILL find
Lots of lamb, steak, chicken, salmon. Lots of smoked salmon. Tons of pies (think pot pie, not dessert pie). Plenty of quiches and fritatas. Breaded foods, deep fried foods. Ethnic foods. Surprisingly, lots of places that cater to gluten free eating.

What you WON'T find
French Toast without bananas and bacon on top. Nice Calfornia-esque green salads are hard to find. Chèvre. Taco trucks, or really any "normal" Mexican food (Scott and I agree to disagree on this issue). Zinfandel, or any California wines... which I know is to be expected but I still miss it.

The BEST place for brekkie.
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Ordering coffee
Oh man, this should be it's own blog post. So, don't bother trying to find drip coffee, it doesn't exist. Coffee is an espresso based experience in New Zealand, and they are proud of it. You will need an open mind and a translator to get a coffee similar to what you are looking for...

Flat White: Most similar to a latte, but with a slightly higher coffee to milk ratio
Short Black: Basic shot of espresso
Long Black: Similar to an americano, 2 shots of espresso poured over hot water. (I fear if one tried to order a "Long Black" in America, you run the risk of being slapped and/or arrested.)
Bongo: A double shot with hot milk in a small cup
Fluffy: Steamed milk (for kids)

Oh yeah, a French Press (the closest you're gonna get to that Peet's coffee that you actually want will require a French Press) is called a "Plunger". Appetizing, no?

Cafe Metro, my favorite little coffee place near our house.
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Gratuity
You may have noticed that your fancy dinner didn't come with complimentary bread, you had to ask for water, and your server dropped off your food and disappeared into a black hole. New Zealand is not a tipping country. Of course they won't turn down a little cash bonus upon your departure, but it is not expected. Ever. I felt guilty the first couple of times we left a restaurant... but now I relish in it. No one asks you 5 times in 20 minutes how your food is. I'm eating it, aren't I?! Sure if you need a new fork, you may have to catch someone as they walk by. I don't mind. The downside? When we return to the States, tipping is going to be so annoying.

Payment
No matter how fancy-smancy the restaurant is, you pay the cashier when you leave. No one brings the bill to your table. This left Scott and I sitting for a long time once or twice. But actually, it's kind of sweet. Don't you hate when the waiter brings your bill while you're still finishing your meal? Maybe you wanted another glass of wine? Or worse, when you need to get to the movie theater but your waitress vanished into that mysterious black hole of a kitchen again. No biggie; here in New Zealand, you always pay at the front.

The Coffee House Cafe & Bistro (pre-earthquake, the wall is gone now...). A favorite.
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The Cost of Things... and other odds and ends
At many restaurants there is a 15% surcharge on public holidays... which, if you'll recall, New Zealand has frequently.
Pizza is available at almost every restaurant, and is a nice choice for those on a budget.
Happy Hour is a fond but distant memory.
Eating out is pretty darn expensive compared to the US, although buying your food at the grocery store isn't too much pricier.
Napkins are sometimes called "serviettes", which I like because one time I taught myself French for 3 months... and now it's totally paid off.

A Different Way to Do Things...

I think it's about time for another installment of "How things are different in NZ". There are the obvious bits about living in Christchurch that are obviously drastically different than living in the states... but how about a few of the smaller nuances that are common for the kiwis but not for us?

Hanging clothes out to dry:

Fact: I never thought I would see Scott hang his laundry out on the line. In his defense, we've always had a dryer. That being said, he'd be keen on using the dryer if I didn't harp about being a good Kiwi. New Zealanders don't use dryers except in the case of extreme emergency it seems. Whether its an apartment building or a mansion, there's clothes lines in the side yard. Not only is electricity expensive here (and therefore wasteful when it comes to clothes drying), but people here actually seem to take some personal responsibility regarding the matter. Why would you spend money and use valuable electricity when the same thing can be done by the sun, for free?

The mailman rides a bicycle:

I actually haven't seen mail trucks since we've arrived... I don't even know yet if they exist.

The money looks like monopoly money.

Why do they get pictures of birds instead of in addition to dead white guys?

And they don't use 1 cent coins. But they DO use 1 dollar and 2 dollar coins.

Genius.

I also really like that some gas stations provide an attendant who will pump your gas for you. I recognize that this happens in some states, but it didn't happen in mine. Anyways, the thing that I like is that I go to the same gas station about 75% of the time... so I've actually gotten to acquainted with the attendant. He's given me advice regarding my car, and he always washes the windows. Sometimes, I just feel like I travelled back in time to a decade when people were friendlier and when parents didn't have to teach their children to avoid the gas station attendant because he's probably an ex-con. I would provide a picture here, but ya'll would see how much gas costs per litre, and then none of you would come visit.

Speaking of new and different things, Scott and I are off shortly for Monday Night Date Night. MNDN was always kind of a joke between us- it seemend like the only free night we had between my crazy work schedule and his crazy MTB schedule always fell on a Monday. New country, new jobs, new life? Same night seems to be free... so we're off to try a local restaurant I've been wanting to check out since we got here. It's called Gor:lla (not a type-o!), and their motto is Good Simple Local. I'll letcha know how it goes!

Kiwi-isms

I know every culture, speaking every language, has it's own slang. But being that we've only been here 6+ weeks, we still find Kiwi slang funny, and sometimes confusing. For any of the rest of you who are curious, or who've been confounded by New Zealand words and phrases, I've compiled a little list of "Kiwi-isms". This is by no means a complete list.... there's so many that sometimes I think they just make words up. But the following are used frequently enough for me to understand and thus remember them:

All photos from last weekend in Nelson

Aye: Kind of like the Canadian "eh?". This is said at the end of almost every Kiwi sentence. It's kind of like they don't want to offend or be too blunt, so at the end of every sentence they throw an "aye" on at the end to see if you agree. (Pronounced like you say the letter "A")
Context: We should get a bottle of wine instead of beer, aye?

Bird: A hot girl.

Bloke: A guy, a dude, usually someone you don't know. Our friend told us a bloke is usually a bachelor type.
Context: She went on a date with some bloke who didn't even pay for her dinner.

Boy Racer: Teenagers and young men who drive super fast, have obnoxiously loud stereos and exhaust, and who are the culprits of doing street races and doughnuts in intersections.

Bush: The wilderness. (Not a presidential failure... here.)
Context: Sam and his family are on holiday at that house they have out in the bush.

Chemist: Pharmacy

Chilly Bin: A cooler (a great example of how Kiwis like to change an ordinary object's name into something cute.)

Chips: French Fries. (And "chips" as we know then in the US, would be "crisps".)

Cuppa: A cup of. Coffee or tea, specifically.
Context: I can't function in the morning without my cuppa.

Dairy: A convenience store or corner store that sells essential food items and lotto tickets, like a 7-11.

Dodgy: Bad or unreliable. Scott says he hears this one every 30 seconds.
Context: I wouldn't ride that bike, it looks dodgy to me.

Done and Dusted: All done. Finished. (This is one of my favorites, I don't know why. It's just fun to say!)
Context: I finished that report for you. Done and dusted.

Entree: NOT your dinner! In New Zealand, your entree is your appetizer!

Fit: to be attractive.
Context: Dude did you see that bird? She was sooo fit!

Gidday: Universal Kiwi greeting, ie: Hello!

Good as gold: Good to go.

Good on ya: Good job. Way to go.

Gumboots: Galoshes or rubber boots.

Heaps: Tons. And it doesn't have to be something that can physically be in a heap or a pile.
Context: Did you see all his tattoos? He had heaps.

Holiday: A vacation, anywhere from one day to months.
Context: Dr. Smith won't be here until March. He's on holiday.

Jandals: Flip flops/sandals

Jersey: Sweater or shirt.

Kia Ora: Hello in Maori language. The favorite word of New Zealand tourism adverts.

Knackered: Super tired. Also "buggered" and "stuffed". Every term cracks me up.
Context: After that bike race I could barely walk I was so knackered.

Long Drop: An outhouse. (HAHAHA)

Loo: the toilet. No one says "bathroom", and they all kind of look at you funny if you do. I personally can't bring myself to say "loo", so I just say "toilet".

Mad: Crazy. Nuts. Insane. (Used a lot in nursing. Nurses, just think about the 5150 and DT patients. They're all "mad".)
Context: That lady with all the cats is completely mad.

Mate: Friend. Scott says this all the time now, and it makes me giggle.
Context: Hey babe, I'm gonna go have a couple of beers with my mates. (I hope he continues this phase when we're back in the US. I want to see the look on his mate's faces... haha.)

Nappy: Diaper. So a diaper bag is a nappy sack. No one says diaper.

OTT: Spoken abbreviation for Over The Top. (Kind of like saying "TMI" instead of "Too Much Information.")
Context: That patient's stories are just OTT.

Oz: Australia

Partner: Boyfriend or Girlfriend, of the same or opposite sex. SO CONFUSING at first! I figured every person I met was gay... But unlike in the states, a person's life partner is not identified as male or female during your first conversation with someone, and thus their sexual identity is theirs to reveal when they so choose. They don't use the terms "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" here after high school age. The terms "husband" and "wife" are used the same as in the states.
Context: My partner and I bought our house when we graduated college.

Pie: A meat pie. Typically in a single serving size. They're cute. (This is a source of national pride, Kiwis are known for their pies. For me, it was source of personal frustration, because I'm known for loving fruit pies. Several disappointments happened before I learned. If it's an apple pie, they specify that it's a fruit pie.)

Plaster: A band-aid, but also a plaster cast. Must be discerned by context.
Context: Can you go plaster his broken arm please?
Context: Can you put a plaster on his IV site please?

Puffed: Short of breath.
Context: I was way too puffed to run all the way up the hill.

Rubber: an eraser! A co-worker of mine told me a funny memory from her study-abroad in Illinois when she asked her hot professor if he had a rubber she could borrow!

Singlet: A tank top/sleeveless shirt for men or women. Not just gym-rat (guys) wear tank tops here. Everyone does... but they're called singlets.

She'll be right: It's all good. Don't worry about a thing. Re: Good as gold.

Suss: to figure something out.
Context: I'm not sure if he's coming to work today, I'll suss that up and get back to you.

Sweet As: A term used by every Kiwi, young and old. It basically means "cool" or "sweet". Not to be confused with Sweet Ass... the Kiwis would never be so vulgar! It's confusing to us expats because we're thinking, Sweet as what? The funny thing about Sweet As, is the first word can be replaced with any word. Cold as. Expensive as. Lucky as. Basically any time Americans would say Such and such is soooooooo               .
Context: "That new bike is sweet as." or "It must be 40 degrees out! It's hot as!"

Tea: We are not talking about the beverage folks. For some reason "tea" is slang for dinner. And no, it's not because they drink tea with dinner. And it's not in the afternoon at what I would have called "tea-time".
Context: "Kristen, it's 9pm, why don't you take a break and have your tea?"

Tramping: Hiking

Uni: Short for University, which they say instead of "college".
Context: Uni starts up again next week, so this weekend we gotta get drunk as.

Ute: A truck.

Wee: Little. They say this as often as "aye", maybe more.
Context: We're off to get a wee cuppa and go for a wee walk down on that wee beach by the ocean.

Zed: "Z", as in the last letter of the alphabet.
Context: (a wee one learning the alphabet would say " X, Y, Zed...")

Funny Food Names:

Capsicum: Pepper
Courgette: Zucchini
Kumara: Sweet Potato
Porridge: Oatmeal

In addition to these terms, to fully understand Kiwi speak, you must understand 4-year old speak. Say what? Kiwi's have this habit, which I haven't decided if I like or not, of shortening every word and adding "ie" (or a "y") to the end. As a result, you have a nation full of folks talking like toddlers:

Breakfast = Brekkie
Cousin = Cuzzie
Christmas = Chrissy
Kindergarten = Kindie
Mosquito = Mozzie
Present = Prezzie
Sandwich = Sammie
Sunglassess = Sunnies
Wellington (the capital of NZ) = Welly

"I hope my cuzzy likes the sunnies I got for her as a prezzie for Chrissy."  If you didn't know better, you'd think this bloke was still in nappies!

Obligatory duck picture. They say there's more sheep than people in NZ... I reckon this also goes for ducks.

Nursing in New Zealand. Part 1.

Hi all!

I just went and made myself a large "cuppa", New Zealand speak for a cup of coffee or tea. Context: "Hey Deb, I'm running to the cafe, can I get you a cuppa?" At my work, this is usually followed up with a 5 minute conversation about how crappy the provided coffee is (their words, not mine), and "thank God there is a cafe with real coffee across the street". (A later post will be dedicated to Kiwis' version of "real coffee".) Anyways... I've got my cuppa (tea), and am ready to tackle the topic: Nursing in New Zealand. This will be a lengthy post, so I suggest you too go get yourself a cuppa.

"What is nursing in New Zealand like?" has to be the most common question I get, second to "Do the toilets really flush the other way around?" The latter has yet to be determined, as I need someone to confirm the direction of flush in the Northern Hemisphere first. Anyways...

I don't feel properly equipped to blog about nursing in New Zealand. First of all, I've only been here for 4 weeks (tomorrow), and at my job for 3 weeks. Secondly, I don't work in the hospital so I don't have side-by-side comparisons for my 3rd floor buddies.

So I've decided to give you a run down of what my work and typical workday are like, and hopefully within this, an idea of nursing in New Zealand. First, a picture.

From Scott's recent road ride to Diamond Harbour

I have an agreement with Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery to work .8 FTE. This translates 8 days per fortnight, or 4 8-hour days per week. Pretty sweet. In New Zealand, "24 Hour Surgery" does not correlate to a surgery center like in the United States. The name, misleading to expats, is commonly understood here: 24 Hour Surgery means 24 Hour Clinic. In nurse speak, it's basically a prompt care or urgent care center.

A bit more about Pegasus: the organization is actually owned, kind of like a co-op, by over 320 General Practitioners in the Canterbury area. (Canterbury is the county, if you will, that Christchurch is a part of.) So these 320 GPs use Pegasus as a sort of extension of their offices. When patients come in with infections, DVTs, fractures, etc. they can be sent to Pegasus for outpatient treatment that is much quicker and easier than going to hospital. (No, I did not forget the "the" before hospital. It's a British kind of thing I think, but they refer to the hospital as if it were a pronoun. Just, Hospital.)

A person does not have to be a patient of one of these GPs to use our services, they can also walk in off the street, be tourists, etc. These people will encounter a $50 charge (if its not a night/weekend/holiday- then its a few hundred) for our services. This $50 (or so) will cover all plastering of fractures, suturing of lacerations, visits by doctors, etc. Hello socialized medicine, call me a communist but I see your advantages. Moving on.

So Pegasus has a triage "ER" type facility and a fracture clinic downstairs, and upstairs they have an observation unit and the Community Care nursing team. I interviewed and was hired to be in triage, however, upon learning about my Public Health nursing degree and 6 months of experience as a student in the community, I was told that I would be "temporarily" placed in Community Care, as they are extremely short staffed.

More of Scott's road ride, I can't wait to retire from nursing and buy a farm.

Being that a) I can't exactly say "no" to the only employer I have in New Zealand and b) I had no idea how healthcare in New Zealand really operated, I took the opportunity in Community Care [Com Care] as a positive thing. Sure, I envisioned myself suturing up gnarly mountain bike lacerations on fellow adventurers, but how relaxing is it to kick back and shoot the breeze with one patient at a time!? No patient transfers, rare acute pain control, rare emergency situations. I recognize that I am at risk of losing my skills (outside of drug calculations and IV starts, which I do constantly), but for the moment, I am having a very relaxing introduction to nursing in New Zealand. It's quite refreshing, actually.

So here's my day: I arrive at work at either 7:30am or 3:00pm. There are no noc shifts in Com Care, just AMs or PMs, 8 hours either way. I get a list of my patients for the day, usually 4-6 names. We have handover (report). The patients either come into the clinic, or we go out to the home. We can go anywhere in Christchurch [Chch], as well as several surrounding communities. Up to about 50 minutes driving time one-way sometimes. This can make an 8 hour day go quickly, if you like beautiful scenery, ocean views, sheep, and inner-city post earthquake traffic. I'm in the honeymoon phase still, so I like it all. Anyhow...

The most common tasks of Com Care include:

IV antibiotic transfusions (90% Cephazolin, pronounced kef-zol-in in a charming accent)

SQ Clexane (Kiwi speak for Lovenox)

Lab draws 

ECGs

Wound dressing changes

Catheterizations

Patient Assessments (done at home only. After a patient has been discharged from hospital, the GP likes to follow up immediately. If it's a weekend or holiday, or the GP is on holiday, they contact Com Care to see the patient and make sure they are safe and happy at home. The patients are usually respiratory in nature.)

A photo from watching races at the Christchurch velodrome. Are you non-nurses bored yet?

So after I see patients in the clinic or at home, I write "notes" related to their care. We follow the SOAP (subjective, objective, action, plan) algorithm for your nurses out there. My notes range from 0.25-1.0 pages typed. That's it. That's all my charting. Wrap your brains around that.

There's a bit of written charting we keep in their file (calling it a chart would be laughable, it's 10-15 pages max) including vital signs, contact info, referral forms and usually a modest H&P. My responsibilities, besides typing my notes, also includes phoning GPs, hospital, clinics, etc. to arrange for my patient's appointments to ensure they have good continuing care. It's really quite a lovely service to be a part of. The nurses are (mostly) happy. The patients are happy. I have yet to be spoken to in an even slightly degrading manner by a patient. Or a doctor!

So as you Enloe readers can imagine, my job is so different from 3rd floor that it's barely comparable. I will be cross-training in triage at the end of summer (March), so perhaps that will lend itself to some more side-by-side analysis. Regardless, I'll try to summarize a few things that I find interesting about nursing in NZ. (But another picture beforehand, to keep everyone else awake...)

Public Seating in downtown Chch. A punting boat on the Avon river. A glimpse of earthquake rebuild behind the tree. 

Physicians

- Doctors are referred to by their first names, just like nurses. Can you imagine this in the states?

- Everyone shares the same staff room, from nurses' aides to doctors. And they all mingle.

- Docs frequently liaise with the nurse about how to improve the patient's care.

- At least at Pegasus, docs wear scrubs just like everyone else's. No fancy lab coats. No designer jeans.

Working Conditions

- Coffee, tea, milk, biscuits (cookies), crackers, and fruit are provided at all times for staff. Full meals are provided if you work weekends (sandwich/panini ingredients or frozen meals, usually.)

- If you must work a public holiday (NZ has 11 public holidays annually compared to 10 in the States), you receive 1.5x hourly pay and a "day in lieu" of PTO. This means you get a whole 8 hours of PTO to take whenever you want if you had to work a public holiday. Queens Birthday in June? Sign me up! This actually applies to all professions in New Zealand, but most places just close on public holidays.

- If you are sick, you may use your sick time. Why would you use your PTO???

- Weekend pay is time and a half. At hospital, it's double time. Weekends and holiday time (vacations) are precious to kiwis. A major catch phrase of the whole country is "the work-life balance".

General Nursing Comparisons

- Starting IVs (cannulation, if you astute readers remember) is a big deal here. You must take post-graduate classes and do continuing education to be certified to start IVs. Doctors frequently start IVs. (3rd floor: can you imagine it? Call CHG instead of VAD!)

- DVTs and asymptomatic PEs are managed in the community. Have a clot all the way from your ankle to your groin? No problem, we'll give you SC Clexane at home daily, and you'll be on warfarin. You'll come to clinic every 1-2 days for repeat INRs, and we'd prefer you don't go back to work. Bed rest shmedrest. Just take it easy please. 

- We send patients home with their peripheral IVs every single day. PICC lines are very rare. So is the incidence of patients using their peripheral line for IV drug abuse.

- I wear a funny uniform with a striped fitted button up blouse and black pants instead of scrubs. Apparently it's "more professional". New Zealand as a country is really into uniforms (bankers, cell phone retailers, cafe waitresses, etc. all wear matching uniforms, usually with blouses, skirts/slacks, and stripes involved.) I'll wear scrubs when I'm downstairs.

- Nurses in New Zealand are far more worldly. My colleagues have worked in hospitals and clinics in Saudi, Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Australia, India, Germany, Finland, and the UK. It's inspiring, although to them I think my "big adventure" is pretty tame.

Healthcare in New Zealand

- People can pay or have additional insurance policies that pay for care in a private hospital. This hospital stay will include a better nurse:patient ratio, and (seriously) gourmet food services. As previously mentioned, a stay in the public hospital is free.

- New Zealand covers the cost of accidents for everyone. If you American readers come visit me (hint, hint) and break your leg parasailing or forget which side of the road to drive on and crash your rental, your visit to the hospital, treatment, medications, and follow up care are free. Completely.

I think that sums it up for now. If you've not fallen asleep, congratulations! In the time it's taken me to compose this, the weather has gone from calm and cloudy, to windy and stormy, to sprinkling rain, now to sunny and windy. This, I understand, is what Christchurch is known for. I'm going to get out and enjoy the sun while it lasts. 

A last photo, one of great importance:

Look what I got! Look what I got! Thank you, mom!!!

S.O.S.

Houston, we have a problem. A very serious, genuine problem.

Let me back up though.

We've been here for 12 days, and oddly, no one has propositioned me to be best friends for life. Weird, I know. However, we are lucky enough to be invited over tonight by a friend (of a friend). It's Christmas Eve here, so we're actually really happy to have some company to spend it with. But more importantly, we recognize that we must make friends of our only prospects, and therefore I am pulling out the big guns.

Cookies. Who doesn't like homemade chocolate chip cookies, warm out of the oven? No one I trust.

Thus began the great cookie adventure of Christmas '12. Ingredients weren't actually too terribly hard to find. The baking soda doesn't come in an orange box, which is totally wrong, but all other ingredients are pretty good to go...

Except. One. Thing.

The key ingredient, chocolate chips, are totally wrong. I started with "dark chocolate chip buttons" because the packaging appealed to me and they claimed to be dark chocolate. Thank goodness I sampled them before getting too far from the store (don't judge me). Gross! Like the chocolate surrounding a Cadbury Cream Egg... waxy and way too sweet.

Like any self respecting cook, I turned around and exchanged my other un-opened package for a bag that simply said "Dark Chocolate Chips", and the ingredient list (which I've never had to check on chocolate chips before!) started with "cocoa solids" instead of "sugar" which I took as a good sign.

Foiled again. Instead of big wax buttons, I got small wax tidbits. I'm on the fence about whether mouthfuls of weird chocolate is better than bites of cookie with such little chocolate chips you can't taste them. Either way, fail.

They look deceiving...

See the micro-chip size? What the heck?

But they're just wrong. And I find this so alarming, it's obviously worth writing home about. These sub-par chocolate impostors better not cost me my new friendship.

If anyone in New Zealand knows where to find real chocolate, I'm all ears.

If anyone in America wants to send me real chocolate, well you'll get a super peppy post dedicated to you in my blog... but that's about it, really.