Language Barrier

When I tell people that one of the difficult things to adjust to in Ireland is the language barrier, they get confused.  Don't they speak English there?  Well, yes, they do.  Even though Irish is an official language in Ireland, English is much more popular in most areas.  All official signs have both Irish and English, and sometimes it is funny to see the difference.  Some are easy so see how the words relate, like these signs labeling the station names.

Some don't seem to connect at all, like this station sign and label in the library.

But that isn't really what I am talking about when I say language barrier.  Sometimes they call things by different names.  Here are a few examples.  Find the food examples in this post.

Appointment book = Diary

Bathroom (like at a restaurant, not necessarily at home) = Toilet

Ladybug = Ladybird

Lawyer = Solicitor or Barrister, depending on specialty

Home Inspector = Surveyor

Tank Top = Vest

Vest = Waistcoat

Sweater = Jumper

Depart (usually get off the train) = Alight

Most adults have been exposed to enough American culture, especially through TV shows, that they understand what I am talking about and don't mention it.  Kids, however.....  Not only do they often not know what you are talking about, but they also get confused by the pronunciation differences.  I got called out by a little girl I was minding (babysitting) when I talked about something with stripes looking like a zebra.  She looked at me confused for about 10 seconds, then finally said, "Oh, you mean zebra?"  Except when she says it, it sounded like Deborah with a Z.  She continued to mock me for a few minutes until I distracted her with something else.

At first I was confused by the context of some words.  The two most notable cases being Scheme and Bold.  Scheme to me has a very negative connotation, and is something you would be expecting a con-man or villain to be planning.  However, here it is used like we would use the words Plan or Program.  For example, I am using the DOMINO Scheme at the maternity hospital, which is a program where, among other things, midwives are used in place of Obstetricians when at all possible.  Hardly nefarious.  Or the First Time Home-buyer Scheme, where fist time buyers get more breaks than second time Home-buyers.  

Bold is something American children are taught is a good thing.  Be bold, follow your dreams, be courageous!  However, here it is a bad thing, something to be chastised for.  You'l often see children out in public acting up, interrupting adults, etc.  Usually something minor, but you will hear the parents sterling telling them, "Don't be bold!"  I understand what they mean, but still a bit hard for me to wrap my head around.

Time telling is also often confusing for me.  I had a whole Abbot and Costello-esque conversation trying to make an appointment one day over text message.  I was asked if midday would suit (would work fine), I said yes.  Then I waited for the confirmation of the time.  I eventually texted back asking what time.  The response was, "Midday."  I thought maybe she hadn't gotten my other text saying midday was fine, so responded, "Yes, midday, but what time exactly?"  She figured out that I understood midday to mean sometime in the middle of the day and explained to me that midday means 12:00.  Noon, in other words, a term I never hear anyone here use.  

Military time is also used in written correspondence and is the default setting on all your appliances, so get used to that.  I've also never heard anyone describe 10:30 as "ten thirty."  It's always "half ten," as in half passed ten.  I remember a similar structure when I studied German, but there I think half ten actually meant 9:30, but that was a long time ago so maybe I am wrong about that one.  

I still haven't figured out "Thursday next."  A TV commercial here led me to believe that it would mean a week from Thursday, but when I tired to confirm that with an Irishman, they told me that it meant the coming Thursday.  I talked about this with hubby last night and he though it was a week from Thursday as well, so now I am really confused.  If today is Sunday the 1st, would Thursday next be Thursday the 5th or the 12th?  If someone tries to make an appointment this way, I will definitely confirm with the date.

"Immersion" is a whole cultural experience in itself.  This is the word they use for the most popular type of hot water heater, which is not immediately obvious when you move in.  A heating coil is immersed in the tank of water, hence the name.  But it's not just called a different thing, it works differently also.  I grew up with hot water heaters that were set at a certain temperature, and it would cycle on and off as needed to maintain this temperature.  An immersion, however, stays on, continually heating, until someone turns it off.  We are lucky and have a digitally controlled one, so we set it once (like your digital thermostat) and forget about it unless we used lot of hot water and need a boost, then we hit the "+1" button that turns it on for just an hour.  I am told that people without digital systems just turn it on a bit before they need it, for a shower, dishwasher, washing machine, or whatever else you may need it for, then turn it off when you are done.  Also some systems have a "sink" or "bath" setting, where you control how deep the tank is heated, so you aren't wasting as much electricity if you only need it hot enough for the occasional hand washing.  And "God love you" if you leave the immersion on.  Apparently this is the worst fear of Irish Mammies all over the country, is often joked about, and is much worse than leaving the house with the oven on.  I don't know if this is an actual safety issue, like if the tank will explode, but I think it's more of a money-wasting thing.  A friend of mine accidentally left hers running for an entire day, and she said she didn't know water could get that hot!

It's also difficult to being the one with the accent.  No, you aren't surrounded by people with Irish Accents, you are just surrounded by people, and you stand out like a sore thumb with your American accent!

Glowworm Caves

One of the last sites we visited on our trip was the Waitomo Glowworm Caves near Auckland.  When I say near Auckland, I mean a 3 hour drive.  Definitely look into combining trips if you do any of these!  I didn’t really look into what the site was all about before we left, and I’m glad we didn’t, because the surprise made it so much better.

The tour started out with a guided walk through the caverns.  This was very much like Luray Caverns, or any other limestone cavern you may have seen.  I was surprised, though, by how white(ish) everything was.  I seemed to remember past caves I visited having more brown and orange in them at least, but maybe I am just remembering wrong.  Also, all the stone looked so soft, like an overripe peach or something.  I’m sure it was not as squishy as it looked, but I didn’t touch. 

After hearing some of the history of the cave, and looking at interesting stalactites and stalagmites, we ventured into a dark corner to overlook a little area of water, and see the glowworms.  You would shuffle your way toward the front, lean over the ledge, and you could spot about 10-20 little blue specks of light, which, of course, were the glowworms.

You can easily see why the original explorers were tempted to explore this cave. This was were our tour ended.

Our guide told us a bit about them, including how they make these web-like, icicle shaped, hangings that they catch flying insects in.  On the way down, our bus driver also told us that they are extremely sensitive to light and noise, so no photographs at all inside, or any accidental flash would make the glowworms stop glowing for a bit.  That would be no fun for anyone.

We walked away from there feeling intrigued, especially by the web things, but also really disappointed, thinking this might be the only glowworms we would see.  I mean it was neat, but come on, no very spectacular to see a handful spread over a big area.  Lucky for us, that wasn’t all.  Next we went on a boat ride through the “grotto.”  She had to give us the info away from the entrance to the grotto, because of the aforementioned noise issue, so she just told us we would be walking down some steps into a small boat, where we would be floating on the water through the grotto.  It was a little scary walking through the dark to boat, with only minimal pen-light beams to help if needed.  It also made it feel like we were about to go on a ride through a haunted house or something.  So by the time we got on the boat, we were already in an excited state.  We had all been warned about the light and the noise, so we all, even the toddlers, did our best to keep quiet and no phoned came out of anyone’s pockets.  It was amazing, actually, just how quiet it was. The dampness of the cave helped absorb any noise, but the way they had the boats rigged up helped quite a bit as well.  Instead of using oars or poles to propel us through the water, there were cables strung between the walls of the cave that the guide, standing on the front of the boat, would use to slowly pull us around.  You did not hear even one little splash.

The caves were completely dark, and those obviously photo-shopped blue lights were much bigger than what we actually saw, but gives a really good view of the boat and the ropes.

So here we are, in the dark, damp, silent cave, all very excited, and then we pull away from the dock….into a world of wonder.  There were millions of these tiny blue lights glowing all around us, small as a fiber optic cable.  It reminded me of being in the country on a clear moonless night, when you can see every star in the sky, except they were blue instead of white.  Confession: I also felt like Ariel during the Kiss the Girl song when the fireflies flew all around them.  The boat probably aided that fantasy. 

We were only in there for a few minutes, but it was enough to stay with us for a lifetime.  Just when we thought we had seen it all, it was time to exit the cave and get back into the real world.  Except it didn’t feel like the real world anymore.  After seeing these amazing things we never knew even existed, and having had an almost meditative environment, we came out of the mouth of the cave into a bright, warm, clear day, and the most amazing foliage.  Mom put it best when she said it felt like we were entering paradise.  I don’t think I could say it better than that, so I won’t even try.

Great Barrier Reef take 2

Our third day* in Australia, we did our second snorkeling trip.  The first trip was to a small island, where the reef was just offshore.  Today we went to the outer reef,  the Agincourt Ribbon Reefs in much deeper waters, and snorkeled off of a platform moored there.  

We used pool noodles to float instead of life vests.  Are we working those sting suits or what?

It was amazing.  First, the boat ride was much smoother and we were able to sit inside or outside, where yesterday had no indoor option, although the ride was much more relaxing yesterday.  Second, it was much nicer being based on a platform with an underwater viewing area, a boat with an underwater viewing area that you could go out in, and floors smoother than the rough sand beach.  Third, the water was very clear, since there were no waves to stir up the sand.  Last but not least, the reef was just much bigger and so were some of the fish.

Can you see through the water here that the reef is right there off the snorkeling platform.

The underwater viewing area was a little claustrophobic, but great way for us to see the fish while we waited for our lunch to digest.

This was from the underwater viewing platform also, you didn't have to swim for (or at all actually) to see great coral.  You could have sat on the snorkeling platform with your face in the water and still have been able to see all this.

Yesterday I was excited because we saw a giant clam about halfway through the snorkeling trip.  Today, as soon as you got off of the platform there was one there waiting for you, and we saw at least a dozen before the day was out.  Our snorkeling guide told us that the cool teal looking moss around the edge of the clam were actually a part of it that acted like eyeballs.  All they could really see was change in light and dark, but it was enough that when he dove down toward it, the clam started to close.  He was showing us how it is not at all like the movies where they snap shut and trap a diver’s hand.  It actually moved very slowly, and he was able to put his hand in and still pull it out, since the membrane on the inside prevented the shell from closing completely.  Not a trick we should try ourselves, don’t want to accidentally damage the poor clam, but still cool to see him do it!

And the reef was so tall!   Because the water was so deep, there was plenty of room for it to grow up and up and up, and it drops off so steeply, but with things still growing all down the side. 

Not a great shot through the window in the underwater viewing platform, but it does at least give you a glimpse of how deep the reef went.

There are turtles and sharks and sometimes dolphins in the area, but we didn’t get to see them today.  We did see one huge blue fish, a Napolean Wrassi, and we saw him up close and personal.  They did a feeding right off the snorkeling platform, and he was so eager, he actually went onto the platform and was partially out of the water.  The man feeding him told Mom that the rough surface of the snorkeling platform was actually less harsh than the coral he would normally have to push through to get at lobsters, so they weren’t concerned about him hurting himself.  Of course some other fish gathered around too, and were so focused on the food that they didn’t pay attention to us and we were able to get very close.  One large red fish almost bumped right into me! 

We just kept calling him Big Blue, but this is the Napoleon Wrassi.

We took a snorkeling tour led by a marine biologist, and he kept stressing how climate change is ruining the ocean, and things are dying at an alarming rate.  Two lessons taken from him: Do everything you can to reduce your carbon footprint (and fertilizer runoff), and see the reef while you can, because it may not be here later.  That is actually part of the reason I finally made this trip, I realized that if I had gone 10 years ago, I would be seeing way more reef, and I was worried what it would look like 10 years from now.  Come see it now (but while somehow not causing the pollution from the airplane).  It’s awesome!

*This post is out of sync with the rest of the posts because I had to wait until I got home to access some of the pictures.

Hobbiton

 

I knew that if I came as far as Australia, that I would want to see New Zealand as well, but when it came time to book the trip, I didn’t know WHERE in New Zealand to come.  I told the travel agent to book my time here around seeing Hobbiton, so this is the whole reason we are in Auckland.  I am so glad it didn’t disappoint!

We found out that Peter Jackson originally planned to shoot The Shire scenes in pieces, spread over different farms.  However, when he found this farm with the big tree by the pond, they decided that the whole thing would be shot on just this farm.

That's the Green Dragon Inn on the other side of the lake.

The set for the Lord of the Rings was made of temporary materials, and was taken down after shooting.  The Farm owner quickly realized that people wanted to see the set, and so when they came back to film The Hobbit movies, the farmer negotiated to have the set made out of permanent materials so he could make it into a tourist attraction.  I was worried how it would look once I found out it was owned and run by a farmer, but this place could not have been better if Walt Disney himself had designed it.

This is what it looked like when the Lord of The rings was finished shooting.  Not very exciting at all.  That's Bag End at the top of the picture.

We learned lots of cool things about the set, like that the tree over Bag End in the Lord of the Rings films was found on a different site, cut down, and reassembled on site.  Just like a cut Christmas tree, it died after a few weeks and was taken down after shooting.  The tree there now, and used in The Hobbit, is artificial (one of the few artificial plants there).  By the time shooting was set to begin, the colors had faded too much, and Peter Jackson made a crew spend 10 days spray painting each individual leaf a different shade of green!

Can you tell that the tree on the top left is fake?

Close up view of the fake leaves.

We also found out that the hobbit holes were made different sizes, so that some would make actors look larger, and others would make actors look smaller.

These made us look like giants:

Tiny firewood!

Don't miss the tiny axe in the stump behind me.

This made us look hobbit sized:

Each hobbit hole had a back story, and it showed in the details.  You could guess the profession of many of the hole residents just by what was around the yard.

  

The Cheese-monger's house.  Can you see something hanging int he window on the left?

An up close look shows lots of cheese in there.

An even closer look shows they even stocked the back shelves!

The spindle outside the carpenter's house actually worked, and there were saw marks in the saw horses.

Every window had something in it.

Can you guess what this hobbit's occupation was?

The fishmonger had (thankfully fake) fish hanging to dry, in the basket, and in the smoking room.

Some things we found here did not make it into the movie set because they didn’t fit in, other things were just disguised.

The ferns are quite common in this area, so some parts of the farm were just not suitable for filming.

The poor sheep that live here had to be moved if they were in the shot, because they looked too "modern" for The Shire.  Apparently a completely different kind of sheep was imported that fit the story better.

These palm trees don't fit the look, but couldn't be removed, so were just disguised by having branches of other trees put in front of them.  Also, I think this is the part of  The Shire that was only in the extended scenes, and only for a second or two.

After geeking out on every single hobbit hole we saw, we headed to the Green Dragon Inn for some drinks.  They had brews special made for the movie set: Sackville Cider, Frogmorton (non-alcoholic) Ginger Beer, and Girdley Fine Grain Amber Ale.  We skipped the cider and enjoyed the other two very much.

Mom is ready for her brew.

The fire was welcomed after the cool day with off and on rain.

Even the bathroom at the Green Dragon Inn was hobbit-ish.

Then we moved into the party tent for a delicious buffet lunch.  You know we can’t act like hobbits and NOT pig out.  We found out you can rent this tent for special events, like weddings.  Hubby, I want a do-over on our wedding now!

We thoroughly enjoyed our time here, and took about 500 pictures, so here are a few others I just have to share with you.  

We found Bag End.

And Sam and Rosie's home.

The Misty Mountains look beautiful today.

If you come to New Zealand, you should definitely consider a visit to Hobbiton.