It's a "Lolly," not Candy

At work the maori sometimes bring candy so that you can chew/suck on them while working. At first it took me awhile to realize that "lolly" is their exact word for candy. I intially thought that lolly referred to a specific kind of treat. One girl thought the word candy was pretty funny. They've heard it before, but I think she said that it refers to some specific brand or type, so it's rare to hear.

Also, I've noticed that every single maori at work smokes. But since I don't want to sit in the boring and quiet non-smoking section of the smoko area, I sit with them. I gotta say, I find it ironic that even though they're slowly killing themselves by lighting up a cancer stick (or two) at every smoko, I'm voluntarily killing myself secondhand, haha. But a small note: Until now, I never understood why teenagers begin or try smoking (or drinking) simply due to peer pressure or to look "cool." But sitting and chatting with the maori everyday (and living at hairy berry, where everyone smokes and drinks), I finally get how something so self-destructive can be enticing, 'cause it really does make you look like you're "one of them." At times I also find myself wondering what it must taste(?) like, and it's interesting to watch them roll their own cigarettes. Pre-rolled cigarettes are really expensive here, so a majority just buy tobacco, filters, and paper separately, and roll them by hand.

We've been talking about drinking in relation to my 21st birthday as well. 21 used to be a big deal here as well, because the drinking age was lowered to 18 only recently. I don't really know what'll happen, if anything does. Some suggest that we head to the big city nearby - Tauranga - to a bar or club. I don't even know if that's what I wanna do. I guess I should try a beer, at the very least? I dunno. It's just weird because I'm not at home with my usual group of friends, but these people are fun as well.We'll see.

We went to the beach again last saturday. I rested on the sand reading a book, while sam and the three british dudes went swimming. It was a really nice, sunny day, pretty hot but also windy. The downside? I got sunburnt a bit, but that's nothing compared to getting bitten to death. There were these sand flies that kept landing on me, and I swatted them away occasionally, but then it started getting really annoying. A couple days later I realize that I'm itching all over with tiny little dots covering my arms and legs. It looks like I've got the chicken pox. It's so bad sometimes that I can't fall asleep at night, and it bothers me a lot at work. Who knew that such tiny little things could cause so much trouble? I swear my skin feels like it burns even when I try to rub away the itch. Couldn't find any anti-itch cream at the store (they don't stock the stores like dominicks, so there are barely any pharmaceutical items), and the next-door pharmacy wasn't open. Oh well.

Side note: So far, the weirdest thing I've seen in NZ?
Two boys wearing Santa hats. Doesn't sound out of place, right? Well, let's add in the fact that we're at the beach. On a hot summer day. They're wearing wetsuits, and are holding those boards you float on (kickboards?). I had a picture of it, but I accidentally deleted it before uploading it onto pbase (sorry). But really, how weird is that?

The next day Sam and I went whitewater rafting! It's gotta be one of the coolest things I've ever done. There were nine of us, and we had been planning it for a week. We weren't gonna settle for any lame rafting, so we chose a level 5 course. Sam sat in the back of one raft, and I sat in the front of the other. Being in the front, I definitely got wet the most (that is, if you can be more wet than being soaked, and everyone was from head to toe). We were on the river for about 1.5 hours, and man, oh man, was it exciting! That blackwater rafting we did in the caves before, was okay. Something to be tried once but not worth doing again. Whitewater rafting? We are SO gonna do it again. We're hoping for a multi-day trip, where you raft for about 6 hours a day, and then camp out on the riverside for the night before starting again in the morning. (Oh, and the person standing next to Sam is that british guy, Stuart).

Last thing to note: we made omu-rice! Or should I say that Sam made it. He's the one who cooks our dinners. Anywho, every once in awhile we like to cook different dishes, and our mom gave us this recipe. We've tried out gijae's pasta sauce - which is great, by the way, thanks geej! - a couple times already. We'll try out jessi's soon, and sam says a friend emailed him another recipe. Sam was so proud of the omu-rice that he made, and honestly, it tasted just like our mom's. Good ol' korean cuisine! (Note: Sam's hair is growing long, eh?)