Despite having lived in Australasia for nearly 2 years, I still have some American ingrained in me.
While my friends and family may have laughed when I spoke to them last July, many Kiwi's can pick that I'm American right away. A lot of times people wonder if I'm Canadian (people always have, even when I was guiding in Alaska) and occasionally people swear I'm Irish (if you've ever heard a true Irish accent you have to wonder what these people are thinking to hear me as Irish!). An American couchsurfering couple we hosted didn't think I sounded American, but I certainly don't sound kiwi either (despite all the slang I use).
However, it's the little differences that remind me that I'm living in a country I didn't grow up in. In all honesty, there isn't a huge amount of differences between New Zealand and America. McDonalds and KFC are as popular here as they are there, we sleep on mattresses, have dishwashers, watch American movies/TV, and have a pretty similar set of cultural standards (education, economy, environmental debate, farming). The largest, and most glaring, difference to a new arrival would be the driving. We drive on the left hand side of the road here - with our steering wheel on the right. I'll admit, I still wander to the wrong side of the car sometimes! However, I rarely have to repeat, in my head, to myself "Stay left, stay left, stay left" when turning a corner anymore. Trust me, I used to!
I've adapted pretty well here. I almost always say biscuit instead of cookie now, but I'm probably still half and half on calling fries chips. Ironically, I sound more Canadian than ever now, having picked up on the kiwi use of "aye" after many comments.....though I haven't sorted out the subtle nuances of making the one word have many definitions: question, exclamation, indignant affront to my intelligence.
But regardless of how comfortable and natural I feel here in NZ (pronounced "N Zed"), there is one thing that will probably always get me.......The light switches! To this day, it still feels unnatural to turn the light switch DOWN to turn the light ON. This point made me chuckle (and write this blog) when it became so obvious this morning how much I haven't let go of my American "up = on" philosophy. We have two light switches in the kitchen right next to each other. I had only turned one on to make my breakfast. When I went to turn it off again I saw one switch was down and one was up....... Now, I'm pretty sure I mentally said "Okay, the switch that is down is the one that is on.....so you need to hit the upside to make it go off"........
What do I do? I turn the other light on!!! Ah hahahahaha Ah hahahahaha hahahaha. Aaaahhhhhhh
It really is the small things in life! :)
