Life: Idiotropic

It took a long time to convince my girls that just because they spoke English that they weren't English.  They didn't understand that difference between the language and the nationality.  They finally sort of got it - they speak English, but they are American.  "So I speak American?"  "No, no... you are an American that speaks English."

Or, may be not.  Since moving abroad, we have been accused of "speaking American" several times, and when you're suddenly in an environment that is teaching "British English," and you're hearing "Australian English" and "New Zealand English," then it all gets muddled up and all of the sudden it's just easier to say, "Yeah, I speak American."

I'm still learning all sorts of odd vocabulary and giving my friends that blank stare that usually comes when listening to a language other than my own.

Today Luci went to the birthday party of a friend from New Zealand.  Her mother relayed the evening before that she was almost ready.  "I've got the cake made and the jelly boats.  Just have to make the fairy bread."

I understood cake and then:  blank stare.

Jenny asked in her absolutely lovely, most polite New Zealand accent if I didn't know what jelly boats were?  Nope.

"Well, you carve out an orange and then fill it with jelly and add a little flag to make it look like a boat."

That night I tried to imagine how a hollowed out orange filled with jelly could be palatable, picturing a child scooping out thick spoonfuls of strawberry jam out of an orange rind.  Seemed overly sweet, awfully sticky, and definitely not something I'd ever serve at a children's party.  Can you just imagine 20+ kids running around the house with sticky mouths and jammy fingers? 

This afternoon I picked up Luci from the party and walked in mostly to say hello and thank you, but partially to survey the picked over food table and see what exactly Jenny meant.

Jelly Boats.  New Zealander for an orange sliced in half and carved out so that you only have two nice orange rind bowls.  Add JELLO and chill.  The flag on a toothpick makes it look like a small sailboat.

Fairy Bread.  New Zealander for toast with honey and a generous sprinkling of "hundreds of thousands."

Hundreds of Thousands.  New Zealander for those colorful sprinkles that we would most often use on cupcakes or on ice cream.  The same colorful sprinkles that the Dutch often use on toast for breakfast.

And on another note, I learned a bit of Australian this week when my friend told me that her husband steals from her on a regular basis.  Shocking, isn't it?  Well, my face must have shown it because Michelle quickly asked if I knew what that meant.  Apparently not in Australian.  So, here it goes.

"Ripping me off."  1.  American English for stealing or cheating.  2.  Australian English for a good tease.  I.E.  Ribbing. 

Quite a difference, eh?  (See, I speak a bit of Canadian English too!  Quite the polyglot, I am!)

Eh.  Canadian word tacked on to the end of almost sentence to ask a question or beg agreement.  Prounounced "A."  Similar to the Spanish use of "Vale."