things i enjoy about nz, part 4

to make up for having not updated in a while (school sucks), i thought i'd have a bonus entry today. while milkshakes here just don't exist and the ice cream could be better, there are two frozen treats here i just can't get anywhere else.

memphis meltdowns and frujus

let me start by saying this is the most awesome ice cream bar ever. aside from the out of print milky way bar, that is. the proportions are just perfect: it's got the right amount of ice cream, raspberry goo, and chocolate. and it all tastes so yummy. they make other ones but this one is just perfect. the raspberry is tart which helps cut the sweetness of the ice cream and chocolate. there's a gooey caramel one which i think is good, but sweetness overload.

frujus are also delicious. it's the closest thing to a popsicle here (well, for me at least since the only flavour i like is orange), but it's a little different. for starters, it tastes like actual oranges instead of the fake crap popsicles use. so that's a good thing, right? i can eat one and i'm getting probably 5% fruit juice, which is more than i'd get from a popsicle! they're so yummy though, and very refreshing. i don't really need the refreshing bit anymore since it's cooler, but it's a great summertime treat.

while i may not be able to get a good malt here, at least i have these things to tide me over!

things i enjoy about nz, part 3

given what i heard on the news it only seems appropriate i discuss this today. one benefit to living in another country, particularly new zealand, is the exchange rates. currently 1 usd can equals 0.73 nzd. while sometimes things can be more expensive as a result, it can also mean savings when your money is based in usd.

exchange rates

one way this is favourable is my student loans. since i am american and thus am using financial aid from america, it means i'm getting a savings. though my exchange rate wasn't determined when the nz dollar was this low (close enough, though), i'm basically getting 25% off tuition.

when you're borrowing as much as i am to go to school internationally, any little bit helps! you'd think with how much my tuition is i'd get on campus accommodation or at least free books, though.

nzd vs. usd

on a similar note, another positive of the new zealand currency over united states currency is how much better it looks. first, i'll assume readers do not know what denominations either country has.

united states

coins: 1¢ (penny), 5¢ (nickel), 10¢ (dime), 25¢ (quarter), $1 (i actually didn't know they still made these, so they're rare)

bills: $1, $2 (awesome, but rare), $5, $10, $20, $50, $100

new zealand

coins: 10¢, 20¢, 50¢, $1, $2

bills: $5, $10, $20, $50, $100

okay. one pro the us has is that we've always been decimalised, though now that pretty much everyone is it's really a moot point. but i do like that we have a 25¢ piece, i find i need a quarter far more than two dimes. another plus is we have names for our coins. penny rolls off the tongue so much easier than "1 cent coin (or piece)". but it really ends there.

for starters, new zealand has $1 and $2 coins. the us has $1 coins too but please, the fact that i didn't even know they still made them is telling. most vending machines and other machines that takes coins doesn't take $1 coins in the us. another thing is sizes.

see, size does matter. in america, the size from one coin to the other is completely arbitrary. the penny is small, the nickel is bigger than the penny, yet the dime is smaller than than everything else (including the penny), and the quarter's the biggest of them all. including the no longer made 50¢ coin, it's even bigger than the $1 coin. i haven't held a $1 coin in a long time (10 or 11 years) and i can't remember if it's bigger than the quarter or not.

however, in new zealand, it all makes sense. the larger the denomination, the bigger it is. from smallest to largest, 10¢, 20¢, 50¢. the $2 coin is bigger than the $1 coin, and both are gold and far thicker, so there's no confusion. even the bills are like this, as the denomination increases so does the bill's size. it's brilliant. plus the bills are all different colours. while america is slowly adding colour to our rather drab dollar bills, the predominant colour is still green (hence the nickname greenback). another plus is not only does it make it easier for visitors or new immigrants to get used to a new currency, but if you're blind or visually impaired, you can actually tell the difference. i feel bad for any blind americans who hold a garage sale or something.

things i enjoy about nz, part 2

by this point i've hopefully made it clear that while there's plenty i miss about america, there are also things i enjoy in nz that i would not be able to have back in america. with any country of course there's tons of things that are unique to it.

being near a beach

this certainly isn't new zealand specific; there's even beaches in america after all. however, what's important here is that while i'm minutes away from the beach here, where i lived in america i'm hours from the beach.

this isn't the most gorgeous beach, sure, but to me it's a beach. plus there are prettier beaches i could easily get to, whereas back in america i'd have to drive hours to just get to a beach. prettier beaches are even further away.

i loooooove going swimming, whether it's in a pool or beach. back home (memphis) there's pretty much zero options for swimming. no water parks (closed before i moved there), no public pools (only in bad areas), and of course no beaches. even better, there's also a place about an hour or so away that's got a giant wave pool that's heated year round. but it's outdoors so even if it's cooler outside but sunny, you can relax and pretend it's still summer. and there's a couple indoor water parks, so there's lots of options for swimming.

that one thing is equal to at least three or four positive things about memphis.

things i enjoy about nz, part 1

to balance out writing about what i miss from america (as well as make up for skipping a couple days), i figured i should also write about the things i enjoy here that i cannot get (or at least not as good) back home.

fish and chips

the premise is simple enough: battered, fried fish filets served with sliced, fried potatoes. every country seems to get it right but america. oh sure, you'll see fish and chips on many menus, especially "pubs" (i put it in quotes because they're not pubs, they'll claim to have be english or irish pub but aside from having fish and chips on the menu and guinness signs everywhere, they're not). but they don't give you fish and chips, you're getting fish and french fries. it sounds pedantic but there's a huge difference.

for starters, the batter is all wrong for the fish. it's not supposed to be very flavourful, and the batter should be smooth. you can get crumbed fish at our local place but to me that's not fish and chips. usually the fish itself is okay, as long as you pick a mild whitefish though you'll be on the right track. so again, it's usually the batter that is wrong.

secondly, and most importantly, is the chips. this is where every single place in america fails. they don't give you chips, you get french fries. they're always too thick or too thin (usually the latter). there's a very specific thickness for a chip. just think of any other type of fry out there. let's take shoestring for example. this is popular in diners and fast food (mcdonald's and burger king uses this). too thick and they're not shoestring anymore. surely everyone can agree mcdonald's and wendy's fries are not the same thing since they're of different thickness. it sounds silly to think that the thickness of a fry makes it taste different, you'd think fried potato is fried potato. but somehow it does matter.

also, there's the serving of the food. it's meant to be wrapped in paper (or newspaper if you want to be traditional), not plastic-lined paper and definitely not just on a plate. how else will you soak up all the grease? the blotches of grease that get on the paper i definitely don't want in my belly. one bar near my house in america serves "fish and chips" on that sort of plasticy kind of paper with newspaper print on it. ridiculous.

finally, there's the accompaniment. i'm simple, i just like ketchup tomato sauce with it. it's got to be wattie's, heinz isn't acceptable in this case. (the two have very different flavours, wattie's is much sweeter and because of its distinct taste they can't be substituted for one another.) some weird people like to have tartar(e) sauce with their fish, but that's gross.

since america doesn't even sell wattie's (though if you know a sweet kiwi, they can always post you some) they fail on all accounts of serving fish and chips. not to mention the sheer expense over there, they try to charge $15 for a couple filets and fries. please! here, $15 gets me enough chips to serve four people comfortably and three pieces of fish - way more than one person could eat.