A Foreign Country

Aunty Irene asked me yesterday, How different is England from New Zealand?
I replied that it's not so different that it's strange and uncomfortable, just different enough to be strange and interesting.

So I thought I'd share with you some of the interesting/strange things I've noticed so far...



1. The Traffic lights: They show an orange light before turning from Red to Green (to help people get ready to zoom off as soon as it hits green... very handy)

2. Narrow streets, funny parking rules. Because the streets are soooo narrow, you can park your car in any direction. Wierd... but handy!

3. The Houses. The houses are mostly made of brick and all joined together. Think "Coronation Street"...

4. The Public Transport. Double decker buses everywhere. And a rail system that runs on time. Amazing.

5. The washing machines... Clothes washers are all located in the kitchen! Imagine cooking your breakfast and putting on a load at the same time. Strange.

6. The Water Taps... are round the opposite way. I keep accidentally drinking/brushing my teeth with warm water. Lucky the shower turns on with a button or I'd have had a few cold shocks!

7. The funny way everyone talks here! We are in the North East of England near the Scottish border. Hadrian's Wall actually runs through Newcastle. The accent here is actually more of a dialect.

Here's a sample of "Geordie Patter"...

Pet A term of endearment, like Luv. Everyone gets called Pet

Arreet Pet? Are you alright?
Howay the Lads! Means something like Go team!
Wor Lass Our girl (family members are called "Wor Dash, wor Scrag, wor Princess etc)

Ohhhhh the Bairn! Oh the Baby!

Eeeeeeeeeeh! A common expression meaning something like "Hey!"

Eeeeeeeh! Wor Rory! A common expression used by Grandma when Mr G does something annoying

Ahhh Divvn't Nah I don't know

OK, so If me 'n' the bairns come back talkin' funny-like, y'll nah how come, arreet pet?? Eeeeeeeh! I divvn't nah!

PS: Off tomorrow down south to Cornwall for a week or so. Not likely to have a computer connection til we get back. So talk to ya'll in a week or so xx

(Hey I did three posts today to make up for it!)

Click for the next part of the Journey: Back from Cornwall