5/15/2008

This and that

Years ago, long after I moved away, my mom swore that there had been an earthquake where she lived outside the Chicago area and it cracked the wall in the basement of their house. I found that hard to believe since I had lived there for over 20 years and never noticed any earthquakes, but I had no reason to think she was making it up. It really upset her and she mentioned that she could never live where that was an everyday occurance.

Well, I felt my first genuine earthquake a few months back. I was minding my own business, sitting on the couch when I could have sworn that Hubby had sneaked behind me and was shaking the couch with gusto! In actuality, he was outside and didn't notice anything amiss, but it was felt all across the north island and into the south island, too. I must say it was a bit disconcerting, especially when I remembered that he had told me there were major fault lines running through New Zealand. Of course, if I weren't such an anal thinker, I would have figured that out simply from the fact that there are several active volcanoes on both islands. Duh.

When we have a bit of free time, Hubby takes me to the beach. A lot. On two occasions, we noticed wedding parties shooting photos with the ocean in the background, which was really cool--even if we had already done that at our reception. We also noted that all of the bridesmaids were dressed in black and white, which was quite interesting--even if we had already done that, too. Maybe we started a trend.

I met my in-laws for the first time last March. They are quite nice folk and we got along well. They mentioned that they think Americans in America are really nice, contrary to the impression that travelling Americans give. They also mentioned something was a bit confusing in America I had never even given thought to before--that American money is all the same color. It wasn't until then that I realized that Hubby sometimes referred to New Zealand money by the color.


There is no one dollar bill anymore, though. Instead, there are one- and two-dollar coins.

I think I have notice a trend at KFC that would never be allowed to happen in America. In all the orders we have had, I don't recall seeing any parts but thighs and legs. Kinda makes ya wanna go "hmmmm". I suppose (in the name of research of course) I shall have to eat more KFC to make sure. I will keep you posted on the progress of my research. Oh, yes, they only serve 'original recipe' chicken here. If you want extra crispy, you're out of luck, except for a chicken fillet sandwich.

Another thing that is weird--what am I saying?!?! Most of the things here are weird!! Oops, sorry, I digress...
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I find it strange that 'white out' is called 'twink' here. I guess I should google it to find out why, but I don't really feel like it now, since it's after 1am. Maybe I will do it later and give you an update, but don't hold your breath.
BTW, White Zinfindel and Long Island Tea are apparently prominently American. One lady said she had a LIT before , but it was in Japan.

edit: KFT goes back and forth serving just thighs and legs or all parts of the chicken.

2 comments:

Lorac said...

Hi there. I am from Canada and we also have all the coloured money. A couple of friends I have in the states call it Monopoly Money. We also find quick ID of a bill by the colour.

Ratbert said...

Twink was the first brand of whiteout available in NZ and became the generic name