out of the mouths of babes



2 weeks after arriving in NZ I found a job looking after 2 little boys. Being a nanny in a foreign country has been fun so far, but not without a learning curve. These scrawny little kids have taught me more about their home and culture than ever could have learned on my own. Some of these things include;

Teaching me about the popular sports of NZ; rugby and cricket. According to the 7 year old rugby is, "a game where there's a ball and they tackle each other."

Rice crispies (ya know, the delicious cereal) are actually Rice bubbles, because crispies are chips and chips are french fries. Confused yet?

When a 5 year old says he "can't find his rubber" it's not what your dirty American mind thinks, he's just misplaced his eraser.

Oh, and when they are hurt and ask for a 'plaster' that's a band aid, not wall goop you use to fill in nail holes.

Legos, even though having multiple boxes of them, are simply called Lego. No S, Lindsey! LEGO! (to which I always want to respond with, "my ego?")

A jacket is a jumper (Thanks, Harry Potter, I knew that one!)

And one of my favorite occurrences happened one afternoon when an small earthquake rattled the house. Me, being the northeastern girl that I am, just thought it was a big gust of wind.
"Nope, that was definitely an earthquake. Don't you know, Lindsey?"
 
No, I guess I don't know.