Posts by Isabel Hitchings
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Up Front: Where You From?, in reply to webweaver,
I still have no idea how those of you who live in ChCh are brave or strong enough to choose to stay
Like Emma said, a lot of it is in the practicalities - this is where we have friends and jobs and schools and commitments and starting over somewhere new takes a lot of organising. The places my partner would be most likely to find work are probably Wellington or San Franscisco neither of which are know for seismic stability so we wouldn't actually be any safer.
The other thing, for me, is loyalty. Leaving Christchurch right now would feel like divorcing someone who has just had a cancer diagnosis. This is particularly so in regards to my children's school which has to pretty much start from scratch and for which the loss of funding and staff levels if the roll drops could be catastrophic.
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Up Front: Where You From?, in reply to Matthew Littlewood,
New Zealanders speak notoriously fast and it’s getting faster.
I think this is why I'm sometimes mistaken for a non-kiwi. I'm not aware of doing it but when I hear recordings of myself I talk in a very slow and deliberate manner - I have a nasty suspicion that I give the impression that I am explaining everything to a small and rather dim child.
I was lucky enough to be in the first year of Elizabeth Gordon and Margaret Maclagen's New Zealand English paper at Canterbury. They were enthusiastically engaged in researching the ear/air merger at the time and it was fascinating to be able to watch a significant shift in the language unfolding.
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Up Front: Where You From?, in reply to Hannah,
I sometimes get the “are you from England” question, but think it’s a bit snobby to say “No, I just come from a line of educated teachers who knew how to speak properly” even though I think it’s true.
I'm amused that I have picked up some Englishness from my parents but I don't believe the way I speak is inherently better than anyone else no matter how broad and kiwi their accent. I actually think it is very sad how much many kiwis denigrate our local ways of talking. Once we get past the cringe New Zealand English is fascinating and deeply cool.
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Up Front: Where You From?, in reply to Tom Beard,
In some contexts, when people ask where I’m from I’ll presume that they’ve noticed my vestigial accent, so I’ll say “London” (despite having no conscious memories of my time living there).
Often people who ask me that question expect me to say "England" despite me having spent a whole six weeks (aged 3) in that country. My third-form English teacher even assumed that the reason I could name several parts of speech was due to the Englsih education system.
I've been trying to think when my "fromness" changed and I think it was the point where I no longer went back to Nelson for the entire summer holidays which was around my third year of Uni.
I've found a useful indicator of how much a place I am living is Home is how I feel about using the bathroom - I knew one flat was a bad place to be when I found myself saving all my ablutionary functions for the student union building.
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I'm trying to work out how "fewer buses" results in "more people in the city". Is he going to issue us with jet-packs?
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Proper Crisps are also amazing. Other chips taste funny to me now.
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Hard News: An excellent evening in Newtown, in reply to Russell Brown,
I think felafel should be the official snack of PAS gatherings.
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Hard News: An excellent evening in Newtown, in reply to Russell Brown,
Oh yes, I recommend that anyone who can should avail themselves of your services.
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Hard News: An excellent evening in Newtown, in reply to Russell Brown,
Was the advice:
• Useful
• Not usefulTick one.
Definitely useful.
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Hard News: What Now?, in reply to ,
Steven The number of things which I disapprove of in general life that have been godsends in the current circumstances is mind-boggling and a little humbling - from paper plates to federated farmers!