Observations in Kiwi-land: the good, the bad and the wonderfully weird

After living here for two months, these are my observations as an American of New Zealand and New Zealanders. It is an update/addition to my "first impressions" post. Different things strike me as time passes.

Toilet at movie theater: Clean, with industrial sanitary disposal and dual flush that's impossible to distinguish for all but the best vision

The Good:
1. Bathrooms! Yes, this is my second post about them. Literally EVERY toilet that I have encountered has an option for pee vs. poo (that really is what they call it here) so as to conserve water. Which button is which is not always obvious, however. For the following, is the one with the grey triangle denoting half (as in half as much water)? ...or the dark color means poo?

The one with the grey triangle is for "full flush"

Also, every single-seater public toilet I've seen are all-gender. Just makes sense! And there are multi-stall all-gender too (as I've mentioned before). Nobody is getting hurt with this arrangement, people.

2. The food is really, really fresh. Even the cheapest bread is wonderful. We are becoming snobs here and will have to spend half our paycheck on food when we get home. Also, must find a source of good meat pies in Denver.

3. Kit Kats come in at least a half dozen flavors and have twice the chocolate of ones in the US. Here are just a few- besides those pictured, we've also had mint chocolate, dark chocolate, and they have a caramel pretzel flavor too.

4. This is the most gorgeous place on the planet. No, really.

The Bad:
1. Accessibility (indoors and out) seems even worse here than in the U.S. Stairs, stairs and more stairs, and then you have scary foot bridges. We've seen one, short hiking trail marked as wheelchair accessible, but the vast majority of our adventures would have been very difficult indeed.

2. Not that Americans are ones to talk, but racism against Asians is a problem here. More than once Kiwis have shared unsavory comments with me. Not to say that other types of racism aren't also an issue: we heard about a doctor from Ghana who had difficulty finding housing, for instance.

3. And much more minor note: Their "chips" (French fries) are amazing, but Kiwis don't know how to make hamburgers. They have finally started importing proper ketchup, but what on Earth are they mixing with the meat? The exception to this is Fergberger in Queenstown, recently dubbed "world's best burger" by Ed Sheeran, but he's from the UK - what does he know? I'm glad us dumb Americans get to be connoisseurs of something, even if it's just a burger.

The Wonderfully Weird:
1. Eggs are not refrigerated in stores here. Probably because they don't have the industrial egg production we do and thus avoid the disease that approach harbors. They are also the most delicious eggs we've ever tasted but then, what isn't here (except the hamburgers)?

2. More common than fast food here (which is nearly all American, with Subway seeming to be the most ubiquitous) are "takeaway" places that feature fish and chips and... Chinese food.

3. Nearly every toilet in a public place that attracts tourists I've visited has a sign, often in Chinese, that says something along the lines of, "Please don't squat on our toilets, and do flush your toilet paper (rather than put it in the rather elaborate bin for disposing feminine products)." The latter has names like "EcoLab," "Hygene," and even a company named "Rentokil" makes them.

The bin is about a meter high with a gizmo to make sure you don't see the contents when you dispose of something there. Makes you think used sanitary products are toxic waste! 

4. The most popular variety of "crisps" (potato chips) is "chicken" flavor.

As a final note, we are finally figuring out Kiwi speak. Here is a rough guide:
- "E"s are pronounced as "I"s- this led to an interesting misunderstanding I mentioned in a previous post about stuffed animal "teddies," and gave me a good laugh when on our recent boat trip Fran said in a Kiwi accent, "This boat has three decks."
- "I"s are optional. "Fish" is pronounced something like "frsh," which brings me to the final rule:
- "R"s are rogue. They are added randomly, such as the above and "mocha" being pronounced "mah-ker" and dropped frequently, e.g., "cheers" gets and extra syllable and drops the r to become "chee-as."