Kia Ora!

A devoted reader has requested that I allot some time to talking about New Zealand food and language.  New Zealand food is not that different from food in the U.S.A.  (Vegans: don't listen to this). They have excellent beef and lamb, but I haven't found that it is cheaper than that which we buy.   They also sell mutton, but I haven't seen it in the local grocery.   There are sausage rolls and little meat pies that people can pick up from a BP or other cafe for a casual snack, breakfast, or lunch.  I haven't seen any fried Twinkies.
In the grocery, one might see "Vegemite" or "Marmite," which I think, may be a UK spread derived from yeast extract, and served on bread or toast.  I haven't been brave enough to try it, but one patient I saw today loves it.  I've seen it described as molasses colored or thick paste, and very salty.

In certain restaurants you can do "take away" or take out food, whether Asian, Indian, fish and chips.  Fresh fish has been delicious when I have dined at restaurants on the coast, but I don't recognize the names of the fish--I have been told to look for blue moki when I get to South Island.  My host here says people tend to go for beef inland, and seafood on the coast.
Indian "butter chicken" seems to be popular, which is boneless chicken in a curry sauce--also found in grocery stores in cans or packages.  In many restaurants,  it is customary to order from a blackboard menu behind the counter or choose from food in a glass display case, pay for it, and then you're given a number with a display holder; you find a table and relax, and they bring you the food.  Tipping is not expected, even at full service sit-down restaurants.

And yes--Taihape has

I confess I only ate here once, after swimming, when I was craving a hamburger, and it wasn't bad--at least they have New Zealand Angus beef.  I sometimes take a stroll around the village after work, and turn onto a quiet residential street with cooking odors in the air, and wonder what people are making for dinner.  And then I realize as I pass McDonald's, that I have been smelling their cooking oil. Apparently it is a stopover place for young people traveling on the highway between Palmerston North (south end of North Island) to Auckland.

So...when I arrived in NZ, I wasn't prepared for the dialect.  I had heard New Zealand accents, as have we all, but that was one on one, and usually slow, or Russell Crowe in a movie.
In the clinic, I have to listen carefully, and have been pre-warned with my Appendix B on New Zealand slang expressions , some of which I shall not repeat here.

brilliant- not admiration for what you just said, but means excellent or great or OK
crook - sick or unwell, like "I have a crook stomach"
grizzly - like a grumpy child might be
chesty cough
feeling a bit "wobbly" might be dizzy
off (his) face - completely drunk
spit the dummy - throw a tantrum or get mad
sprog - a child
coo - cool, said a lot, after almost anything
sweet as: really good (I was trying to show a patient his normal lab results, and he kept saying what I thought was "sweeties" and I kept trying to tell him sweet intake didn't have any impact on his cholesterol, and all the while, his wife was laughing in the backround)

Off to the South Island this weekend--but next, about medicine and Taihape Health in NZ!
Haere ra.   Adrianna