Submitted by Jenna Deal on the 2018 winter session program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Animal and Food Sciences…
A few days ago, our group left America to come to New Zealand. The day we left, I still couldn’t believe that it was happening. Now that we’re here, it feels like we have been here for weeks, even though it has only been one. In this one week, I have found a few differences between America and New Zealand. The first one being the obvious one, the time zone. When we arrived, we were instructed to not go to sleep until New Zealand goes to sleep. We had to continue to find activities to do to limit any jet-lag we may feel since we are currently eighteen hours ahead of the time back home. After this past week and keeping busy, I believe I have adjusted well. I fall asleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow at night, and I wake up on the first alarm in the morning. The next adjustment is the weather. It is summer right now in New Zealand with 76 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures, while snow is blanketing my home in Delaware. However, with me enjoying the spring and summer weather at home, this was an easy transition.
In addition to the timing and the weather, another difference is the accent. English is a dominant language in New Zealand, however the accent can make it difficult to understand. As we travel to different farms and interact with people throughout the towns and cities, it takes a couple of times and much attention to be able to follow along with what they are saying. For example, we were at a dairy demonstration farm and they have shares with another operation. As the manager was talking, he kept repeating ‘shares,’ but what I kept hearing was ‘shears.’ As I continued to listen and think about the scenario he was explaining, I was able to make the connection and figure it out.
One thing that has helped me start to become accustomed to this language was the plane ride. With a total of seventeen hours in the air with New Zealand flight attendants, some of the welcoming words and language became easier to understand. On the first New Zealand flight, I was assigned to sit next to someone who happened to be coming back to New Zealand from spending her holiday with her family in Tennessee. She has lived in Auckland for a year and she had picked up the accent. We had a conversation about what she does, her opinions on the countries that she has traveled to and her opinions on what we should do in New Zealand. Being able to carry on this conversation one-on-one with someone with the accent seemed to really help because she also used some of the slang, such as saying ‘trekking’ instead of ‘hiking.’ As our time here in New Zealand continues, I hope to pick up the language and culture and bring it back home with me. In this one week I have already been submerged and by the end, I hope to resurface refreshed and with different views on life.