Flat Whites, Bare Nipples and a Brain Drain
I often try to think of the best way to summarize a trip. When Kent and I go on travel radio shows, they give us just a few minutes to make points. Likewise, a bunch of people will ask us about our trips but they aren't really that interested in hearing more than just the bullet points. Below are some random musings to answer these queries.
*Dresses and skirts are everywhere here. In the US, even in the summer, you just don't see that many women dressed to look like, well, women. Here skirts, dresses minis and maxis are everywhere. Even the little girls dress up like this. It's a good thing.
*Sexy actress Juliette Lewis is in Wellington this week playing a gig with her rock band. I swear we passed her walking alone in the Auckland airport. The city paper included a photo of Lewis, shirtless holding a giant bow and arrow, with a visible nipple. When Janet Jackson dared to bare her metal-ringed aureole during the Super Bowl in 04, a volcano erupted. Here it's just another photo in the paper, and a shrug.
*Drivers are kind here, nobody honked at us even when we were navigating the many roundabouts, driving like little old senior citizens. No honking, no worries, no hassles. We love it.
*It's easy to get a flat white (like a little latte), a well-made cappuccino, or an espresso anywhere. But try to get 'filter coffee' well that's tough. In two hotels, the closest we could get was an annoying French Press that renders gritty weak-assed brew that makes you want to run out and buy a real latte.
*Airport secutiry is, well, isn't really. We boarded our domestic flight and no one even looked in our bags. One of the pilots stowed the baggage, collected teh tickets, and told us the safety instructions. When we returned our rental car, instead of the usual grilling about new dents in the car or how far we drove, we just dropped the keys down a hole at the empty Budget Rent-a-car desk. Lovely!
*A billboard in Auckland airport said it all. It showed a bunch of college grads being towed away in a box with a UK flag with the heading, "The Brain Drain. Why you need to insure yourself in New Zealand." We have met many people from other countries who have moved here, as well as many young Kiwis who have already lived part of their lives abroad and have returned.
*Dresses and skirts are everywhere here. In the US, even in the summer, you just don't see that many women dressed to look like, well, women. Here skirts, dresses minis and maxis are everywhere. Even the little girls dress up like this. It's a good thing.
*Sexy actress Juliette Lewis is in Wellington this week playing a gig with her rock band. I swear we passed her walking alone in the Auckland airport. The city paper included a photo of Lewis, shirtless holding a giant bow and arrow, with a visible nipple. When Janet Jackson dared to bare her metal-ringed aureole during the Super Bowl in 04, a volcano erupted. Here it's just another photo in the paper, and a shrug.
*Drivers are kind here, nobody honked at us even when we were navigating the many roundabouts, driving like little old senior citizens. No honking, no worries, no hassles. We love it.
*It's easy to get a flat white (like a little latte), a well-made cappuccino, or an espresso anywhere. But try to get 'filter coffee' well that's tough. In two hotels, the closest we could get was an annoying French Press that renders gritty weak-assed brew that makes you want to run out and buy a real latte.
*Airport secutiry is, well, isn't really. We boarded our domestic flight and no one even looked in our bags. One of the pilots stowed the baggage, collected teh tickets, and told us the safety instructions. When we returned our rental car, instead of the usual grilling about new dents in the car or how far we drove, we just dropped the keys down a hole at the empty Budget Rent-a-car desk. Lovely!
*A billboard in Auckland airport said it all. It showed a bunch of college grads being towed away in a box with a UK flag with the heading, "The Brain Drain. Why you need to insure yourself in New Zealand." We have met many people from other countries who have moved here, as well as many young Kiwis who have already lived part of their lives abroad and have returned.
posted by Max Hartshorne at 10:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home