Cultural Nuances: A User's Guide to Coffee

Below is a picture featured at one of our local Cafes- "A User's Guide to Coffee". I was thrilled to see this because it helped me piece together the difference between a Flat White and a Latte, which at first I would have said are are exactly the same. But, they aren't! The difference between them is how they steam the milk and what parts of that make it into the drink (A flat white is one of the most popular drinks here and is spreading from NZ to the world; if you get the chance try one because they are fantastic.). I think this is a good and simple illustration of many of the cultural differences here that we are still learning and seeking to understand.

A helpful breakdown of the different coffees that the Cafe's here serve.

Like many things in New Zealand, several of these drinks would be exactly the same in the US.  However, many of them are also distinct and unique to NZ. Taking this as a small illustration of the culture at large, the key is to notice and adapt to the nuances. Kathryn and I could have landed in Auckland and dove in to life here full-on, not worrying about these subtle differences and concluding that people here are just weird, yet at the core are just like us. This would have led to us not adapting much and missing many of the things that make people here uniquely Kiwi.  If we had taken this approach, we would most likely find ourselves doing ministry here in ways that would prove rather unproductive. Our understanding of New Zealand culture is still quite young, but we are learning and observing a lot and asking lots of questions.

One of the many categories of things that we have been learning a lot about are things related to soon coming baby Iversen! Here are some fun examples of word differences that we are still adjusting to and getting teased about for our mistakes:

• Nappy - Diaper (consequently if you say "will you hand me a napkin?" people will be confused, because that makes them think diaper; instead, you say "will you hand me a serviette (which is French)?")
• Cot - Crib
• Antenatal Classes - Prenatal Classes
• Dummy (not sure on that spelling, but that is the pronunciation) - Pacifier (though some here say Passie)
• Cesar (pronounced Caesar) - C-Section
• Capsule - Carseat
• Pram or Buggy - Stroller

It seems that each time we go to our antenatal class we find ourselves pulling the instructor aside afterwards to ask for some clarification of terms!