As Fi Bows to Peer Pressure

I don’t feel like I can explain the importance of today in my own words tonight and so I’m posting a song/video instead.

Today is a Happy Day!

While everyone celebrates Easter in different ways, here’s how I’m doing it this year. I’m doing nothing - or very little anyway. I’m going to church and spending time to think about the importance of this weekend for Christians but when it comes down to actual exciting things - I have done nothing. It’s great!

You see . . .

Life is London is action-packed, fast-paced and generally insane every minute. I am rarely home, I dash from one thing to the next and I spend my working days bored out of my mind because I’ve discovered I’m way more ambitious than I ever thought I was. While keeping occupied and busy is always good, sometimes it’s equally good to stop for a while and do less all-over-the-place stuff so I am reading and watching tv and movies and generally trying to relax. Catching up on sleep is also the plan.

I read voraciously and am currently working on (yes I really have started all of these books in the last week):

Fatal Voyage - Kathy Reichs (think a book of the tv show Bones)

The Bottom Billion - Paul Collier (Why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it - I enjoy reading Paul Collier’s work having got into it quite a bit during Masters so this is quite interesting)

Pillow Talk - Freya North (my guilty pleasure is chick-lit)

Two Caravans - Marina Lewycka (by the woman who bought you A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian)

Freakonomics - Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner (A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything - think econ 101 but really easy to read)

Down Under - Bill Bryson (originally an American who moved to the UK for years and years and then back to America and who can write so well explores australia and then writes a book about it - carnage)

I have recently finished reading:

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini (author of The Kite Runner - Thousand Splendid Suns is my current fav book, incredibly well-written and a story that draws you into lives that are so very sad)

The Welsh Girl - Peter Ho Davies (World War II and Wales has POW camps, tells three connected stories from different viewpoints in a good way but doesn’t end that well at all)

The Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers - Xiaolu Guo (brilliant little book that tells the story of a new Chinese student in London and her relationship with an older English guy)

Now I look at this list - which is basically the books I’ve been reading in the last two to three weeks, I am a little worried that I may have too much time. It’s just that I love books and I love reading in my lunchbreak, before sleeping, when I’m travelling and any moment when there’s not something else happening. Anyway . . .

The point of all of that was that I was wondering whether readers, if I still have any, would be interested in getting short little reviews of the books I read. I’m happy to blog reviews on a reasonably regular basis if there’s any interest - if you’re keen then post me a comment and I’ll start with A Thousand Splendid Suns. To be honest I may start reviewing anyway but it would be nicer if someone actually wanted me to.

So that’s how I’m spending my Easter. I’m missing my family but I’m enjoying relxing and resting and taking time for myself to read and watch tv and watch the snow fall past my window.

Everyday the C of E website has a verse on it for the day. While so many will have heard this verse and thought about it already today, I’m encouraging all those who haven’t taken time out on Good Friday to sit and think about the man who took the sin of the world on his shoulders and was crucified.

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

Music is Jaci Velasquez - Al Mundo Dios Amo (God So loved the World). An English translation of the lyrics can be found here.

The following are words unique to NZ from Wikipedia. To be honest, I hadn’t really realised there were so many or that I’d stopped using them but now I read the list I miss using them in everyday life. Having done a hunt for all things Naki (another story) - this was the best I could find to remind myself of home and family at a time (Easter) when home and family are really important (yes I know this is also a particularly good time to be thinking about sacrifice and grace and Jesus but that’s a discussion for Sunday).

New Zealand words (thanks Wikipedia)

Unique to New Zealand

• au, - pronounced “o”, from the Māori word aua meaning “I don’t know”. Common in Northland and Gisborne.
• bach, — a small holiday home, usually near the beach, often with only one or two rooms and of simple construction. Pronounced “batch”. Comes from bachelor. (See also ‘crib’, below).
• bay - a mutation of the common slang word “Bro”. Mostly used in and around Gisborne. Commonly combined with the slang “eta” to form “eta bay” and pronounced as one word.
• boondocks, — rural, isolated part of the country (not unique, however)
• a box of birds, - I am fine, used as a response to the question “how are you?” A common follow-up is all shit and feathers. (See also ‘a box of fluffies’, below).
• a box of fluffies — a variant of “a box of birds”.
• bunk/bunking - truancy
• chilly bin - An Esky or other portable polystyrene/plastic food and beverage cooler
• choice! — informal excellent! Great idea! Common in Auckland
• chur bro — Slang, humorous ‘pronounced as a deep ‘chair’ usually a strong voicing of thanks but also a parting salutation. Shortened from “cheers brother” although can be said to either male or female. Common in Auckland. More recently this can and has often been shortened to “chur bo”, as “bro” loses its ‘r’.
• crib — another word for bach, more commonly used in the south of the South Island.
• cuz — as in male or female cousin.
• Dag(g) — similar to a “hard-case” i.e. a comedian or funny person. Commonly used in the phrase: “What a dag!”. NZ comedian John Clarke’s stage name Fred Dagg was influenced by this.
• dairy — equivalent to the British term corner shop or American term convenience store.
• dak — marijuana
• The Ditch — slang the Tasman Sea, the “ditch” separating New Zealand and Australia, almost always used in the phrase: “across the ditch”, meaning, Australia. Occasionally also refers to Cook Strait, which separates the two main islands of the country.
• domain — as well as its common overseas uses, a public park or reserve, often with sports or camping facilities.
• egg - mild insult meaning ‘fool’ or ‘dork’. Enjoyed widespread use in the 1980s, still used today. Used to be used occasionally with the partner (and now all but obsolete) “spoon”.
• eh! (occasionally spelled “aye”) — Slang used for emphasis at the end of a sentence, eh!. Can be used as meaning “isn’t it”. (A similar but not identical usage is found in Canadian English). See Eh. Possibly adapted by derivation from the Maori oral punctuitive syllable “e” (pronounced as the ‘e’ in “egg”) eg “e hine e”, “e tu”, “tino pai e”. More recently spelt “ay” or “aye”, which is a closer phonetic spelling in the NZ accent.
• eoh; eoa; aoh (no agreed spelling, conversational only) derived from the Maori “e hoa” (friend). Used as a friendly term meaning “mate” in the NZEng equivalent, or bro; also used as “hey” or “yo” in place of subject’s name if at the beginning of a phrase. Non-gender specific, and pronounced like a very short, clipped “our” perhaps without the final ‘r’, or like out without the ‘t’. Was common in Auckland but was popularised by the television show ‘bro’Town’, where it is both pronounced and written as ‘ow’. “Eoh, you coming or not?”; “Where you been eoh?”.
• Et/Eta/Eta Harry, - pronounced “Etta”. Common in Gisborne, exclamation similar to “whatever”. Often used to express the sentiment “that is not true”. Derived from the Maori word “Eta”.
• freezing works — a meat-packing plant, an abattoir.
• fulla — slang guy, from ‘fellow’.
• green fingered bro — slang for someone who regularly smokes cannabis; usually referring to a person from Kaitaia.
• Godzone - informal New Zealand: corruption from ‘God’s Own Country’.
• halfpai - slang meaning half-arsed eg “doing a halfpai job at doing the dishes”; actual meaning: half-good from the Maori word pai = good.
• hamu (pron. ha-moo) - verb or noun meaning scab (as above) or scrounge. Bay of Plenty origins, uncommon elsewhere.
• hard case — slang a person who has a very good sense of humour, a comedian.
• hau - expression: ‘wow’; often pronounced with a long drawn-out tail “hauuuuuu”; Maori origins, sometimes transmuted into hau-ly (holy), to punctuate the expression.
• hoon- Young delinquent
• JAFA - a derogatory acronym used to describe Aucklanders. This stands for Just Another Fucking Aucklander. Aucklanders refer to it as Just Another Fantastic Aucklander. This acronym has particular sentimental significance to NZers, being the name of an iconic cinema sweet (called Jaffas), which consist of a spherical marble sized shell of orange/red candy filled with chocolate. This explains the superfluous ‘F’ in some versions of the acronym.
• Jandals — slang as in US and UK “flip-flops”, Australia “thongs”. Portmanteau of Japanese Sandal. See Jandals.
• Joker - bloke, guy, fulla… usually a general term for kiwi male, with positive connotations. Sometimes a “good joker” or “funny joker”, never used in derogation. Although about two generations old from the time of entry, it is still recognised and understood.
• kina - sea urchin
• Mainland — informal usually, but not always, refers (sometimes mildly humorously) to the South Island, which, despite its much smaller population, is the larger of the two main islands of New Zealand.
• Manus - A derogatory term meaning idiot or imbecile. Pronounced ‘Mah - niss’. Derived from ‘male’ ‘anus’. Common in West Auckland.
• Mucky - informal A term used for making a mess, or some something that can be messy.
• OE or Big OE — informal overseas experience, time spent travelling and working overseas, usually beginning in London.
• P - a recently adopted term for Crystallised Methamphetamine. “P” stands for “pure”, which it was also called. During the mid-2000s, the New Zealand Media popularised this term for the illegal drug, and other terms are all but unused.
• paua - abalone
• pecking order - order of which siblings are born.
• pottle — in some areas, the unit by which strawberries and certain other fruit are sold. In other parts of New Zealand, the terms “chip” and “punnet”, shared with UK English, are better known.
• Queen Street farmer — informal humorous a usually pejorative term for an investor in rural land with no knowledge of land use.
• Rej - pronounced “reedge”. Abbr. of “reject”, a schoolyard insult.
• Remuera tractor/Fendalton tractor — slang humorous a usually pejorative term for an SUV (known as a “four wheel drive” locally) (compare Queen Street farmer, above). See Toorak Tractor.
• Rogernomics - a political term applied to so-called ‘economic reforms’ of the 1980s, and continuing worldwide today. These involved turning public assets and property over to private interest; selling government land and companies for short-term , one-off profit. Named in honour of its spearheading MP, Sir Roger Douglas.
• rolls/rollies - rolling tobacco (see tayllies)
• scarfie — slang a university student, particularly one studying at the University of Otago.
• shraps - slang, coins/loose change - derived from shrapnel which may also be used.
• sewl - slang,farewell/good-bye corruption of “see you” pronounced similar to “seal”
• Shot - slang said instead of thanks or cheers, commonly as “Shot bro” or “Shot g”
• sookie bubba noun (sometimes spelt ’sooky baba’ or variants) - NZ version of crybaby, wimp, tangiweto (maori). Extension of ’sook’ as used elsewhere.
• stores - slang, groceries (mainly used in Gisborne)
• tailies - cigarettes; shortened from tailor-made cigarettes.
• tin - slang Corrugated roofing iron, an icon of New Zealand architecture and widely used in old and new houses.
• Too Much - Good, Great, very pleased
• Twink - A popular brand of correction fluid that has become a generic term. Similar to Jandals.
• Tu Meke - Maori word meaning ‘Great’
• up the Puhoi — slang far from civilisation. The Puhoi is a river just north of Auckland. Over the years the phrase has evolved and is now often heard as “Up the Boohai”. It is also sometimes attributed to other New Zealand rivers. Again, more characteristic of the older generation.
• Vivid -A popular brand of permanent marker that has become a generic term. Similar to twink.
• Waka — slang term for any kind of vehicle or means of transport, from the Maori term waka used for a canoe or watercraft.
• Warewhare - pronounced wa-re-fa-re, nickname for the Warehouse stores.
• Westie — a derogatory term which refers to an inhabitant of West Auckland, usually Caucasian. It is also used by people from West Auckland instead of “Bogan” for people who may not even reside there. Has some similar sentiment to the term “white-trash” which is common in the U.S. Westies may be identified by their affinity for black clothing,(including tight jeans), Heavy Metal music, ‘muscle cars’ and aggressive dog breeds. Their women, children and pets are often just as tough as the men.
• West Island - humorous name for Australia due to it being west of NZ.
• WOF/Warrant — (Warrant of Fitness), vehicle roadworthiness test, similar to British MoT and the Australian Roadworthy Certificate, except that it is required 6-monthly for older vehicles. Often pronounced as ‘woof’.
• Wops/Wopwops - slang rural areas or towns/localities on the fringes of larger towns/cities. (Wop Wops or the Wop Wops are also used but less commonly).

I love how music makes me muse on life, the places I’ve been and the things I’ve done. Photos have the same effect but not to the same degree - a good piece of music can transport me from one side of the world to years past in the other hemisphere. How very poetic!

It’s three years since I announced I was running for Parliament, three years since the way I thought and acted changed dramatically. Watching candidates get nominated and excited from this side of the world, while London prepares to elect its mayor, is making me want to be back in it, I miss the adrenaline rush of the campaign and the way I felt both incredibly small and silly and on top of the world at the same time. I never ever thought I’d say this but maybe I want to do it again sometime. It nearly took it all out of me last time but the last three years have also changed my perspective on the importance of politics.

I’ve always said the most annoying thing about politics is that it’s only very loosely based in reality. Life in Parliament is its own little world and that frustrated me. I have learned, however, that very little of life is actually based in reality (whatever reality is). My job at the Church is very much based in a church-reality, the things I do in London are based on a view of the world that takes it in from a London-perspective. I know that friends in NGOs get annoyed at the loose-sense of reality in their perspective . . . so is there actually any real reality and is politics and Parliament really that bad. I’d certainly love to be back in a Parliamentary setting because there’s something so thriving about the atmosphere working for States.

Time to stop musing and start blogging about non-me stuff . . .