NZ ways

So, yes, in New Zealand, you drive on the left side of the road. It’s such a simple statement, and it seems so easy to remember. But it changes everything. If you run into someone on the sidewalk, you move to the left. You board the bus on the left. When crossing the street, you look to the right first. Sometimes a car moves to turn while I’m still in the road, and I think they’re going to run over me, but then I realize that I’ve already cleared that part of the road needed by the car to turn. Or I just glance up and see a two-handed texting teenager driving, and then realize she’s the passenger. And so on.

- The light switches switch down to turn on.
- The outlets have switches, too, just like the lights. It’s to conserve energy, I think.
- The toilets have half flush and whole flush. Sometimes it’s two buttons, sometimes it’s not. If it’s not obvious which is which, the half flush is usually on the left.
- I have yet to see a sink that has the style of plug that you pull up on the rod and it plugs the sink. They mostly have separate plugs on chains, but the one in my bathroom is a metal circle that spins in the drain, so if the circle is vertical, the sink drains. If the circle is horizontal, it plugs the sink.
- Cellphone calls are extremely expensive here, so everyone texts. There are only two cellphone providers, Vodaphone and Telecom. Under certain plans, texts to same provider is free or included, so some people have two cellphones, one Vodafone and one Telecom. IT’S HAPPENING. THE TWO CELLPHONE ERA IS HAPPENING. It’s only a matter of time before the machine gun phone comes out, I know it.
- There is a poster at the bank that shows a father showing his young daughter how to bat. She’s holding the bat, and he’s kneeling behind her holding her hands to show her how to do it. But, it’s not a baseball bat, it’s a cricket bat.
- There are no pennies or nickels. They use Swedish Rounding if you use cash and the cost is not in ten cent increments. There are one dollar and two dollar coins, though. The one dollar coin has a kiwi on it! Also, there is tax, but it’s included in all the prices, so what you see is what you get.
- The crosswalk lights will not go on until someone presses the button. So both lights will be dark until you press the button, and then the red No Walk Man lights up. When the green Walk Man lights up, there is also a persistent beeping sound telling you that you may now cross.
- French fries are chips and chips are crisps.

More to come!