“Ooh, my accent isn’t really THAT bad, is it?”

Very probably it is.

Bummer.

But it’s not just the accent; it’s the whole attitude.

Every Friday afternoon Milo has soccer practice, and there’s an American dad who brings his son.  I’ve never talked to him before, but this Friday the field was eerily quiet.  Us lonely parents conferred and the word on the field was that Oaklands school gala was on–that’s why only 25% of the normal contingent of kids was present.  Along with very few parents.

But despite the slim field, The American must talk.

(I know what that’s like.)

Thankfully, the American Dad glued himself to another dad, and the poor polite Kiwi was stuck mumbling “hum….ah….yes…um….uhuh…” for the whole hour.  I got the interesting position of being able to listen in while not being an essential part of the conversation.

It wasn’t so pretty.  Opinionated, yes.  Loud, yes.  Forceful; also yes.  The snippets were full of “you kiwis this” and “us, that.”  At one point I caught the American saying “You guys are catching up….you know….advertising, sport….”

Clearly he believes the American culture is superior.

I hereby resolve to cease and desist from comparing the American culture to the Kiwi culture.  No one wants to hear that.  Let alone the Kiwis!

In that spirit, I’ll change the topic. It’s snowing in December! Well, snowing cottonwood fluff anyway.  Can you see the tiny white things in the air?  It’s accumulating in drifts around the trunks, and shimmering in the air at soccer practice. December 1 is the official start to summer in NZ. The forecast is for 30 degrees C tomorrow.
Bring on the Warmth!