One Year in New Zealand

I have officially spent slightly over one year in New Zealand now.  I have this socially awkward tendency to give out advice, I honestly think it's because my mom made me watch a lot of Dr. Phil in my late teens.  At any rate, I have compiled a short list of things that I have learned in New Zealand:

1. New Zealanders (Kiwis) speak English but it is not the same English we speak in Utah.  They don't pronounce their r's and they have a gajillion slang words like:
• togs (swimsuit)
• whinge (complain)
• scull (drink something quickly, chug)
• drop-kick (a useless partner, usually a boyfriend)
• mate (friends)
• biscuit (cookies)
• dunny (toilet/drop pot)
• sparky (electrician)
• 
  
  Despite this, I sill wish I had a kiwi accent sometimes, it's pretty sweet as.
2. Things in New Zealand are expensive, fact of life.  I find myself complaining about it often but it doesn't change things, if you need it you pay the price. Kind of like how I paid $25.00 for a bottle of OPI nail polish, I have needs (sorry Mike).
3. Weather is unpredictable, at least in Auckland.  If Tamati the weatherman says there is going to be sun, you should still bring your umbrella.  
4. I have made the best friends in New Zealand.  Nothing makes a completely foreign place feel like home more than friends do.  I have had the pleasure of meeting some of the nicest, most welcoming people in New Zealand.  Without them I probably would have gone home already.
5. Everyone should see New Zealand at some point in their life, especially Fiordland, it is absolutely breathtaking.