Hey! So I hope the new year has been going well for all of you so far, I definitely have had to get back into the routine of waking up earlier and being in class again after being home for 3 weeks:P As I had mentioned last semester, one of my housemates was from New Zealand, and was going to Brock for her last semester of her undergrad and it was so great having her live with us, but unfortunately she had to go back to Christchurch (her hometown) at the end of the semester:(
It is so great that the university offers students the opportunity to go and study in other countries, and also allow students from other countries to come and study here in Canada. It was so awesome having a roommate from the other side of the world living with us, I got to learn a lot about New Zealand culture and the way they live down there.
My roommate Bek (or Rebekah) told us that majority of the people in New Zealand speak English, but the Natives that live there speak Maori (pronounced ‘ma:ori), which is also one of the official languages there. We even learned that the Maori word for New Zealand is Atearoa, and means “land of the long white cloud”. Speaking of language, it was interesting to hear a New Zealand accent (which I’ve now realized does not sound Australian, as Bek pointed out within the first week) and the way they pronouce certain words differently from us Canadians. Bek even practiced doing her “Canadian accent” throughout the semester, and actually got pretty good at it!
We also learned that New Zealanders call themselves “Kiwis” after the kiwi bird, which is the national symbol of New Zealand. Another thing we learned? New Zealanders LOVE rugby, seriously, you should have seen our house when the Rugby World Cup was on! She even decorated our living room with a huge All Blacks (the national team there) team flag!
All in all it was great having Bek live with us for the semester and we’re all going to miss her a lot while she’s going to nursing school back in her hometown, but hopefully we’ll be able to visit her in New Zealand soon, and who knows, maybe even try out our amazing Kiwi accents!:P
