Kiwis in the Playground

[Vuzzmop]

Anyone else in the playground fom New Zealand? I feel like the only kiwi here, except maybe Chili God, and deities don't count. Post here if you hail from the land of the long white cloud, or if you want to ask something about it like in "ask a canadian", only not.

Living in NZ is like being stranded in paradise. It's a lovely place to be, but you can't go anywhere else if you get tired of it, like in Europe. Ask anything you want about us, because it seems like before Lord Of The Rings, nobody knew we existed, or thought we were a state of Australia (shudder) .

[Amotis]

You visit Middle Earth?

edito - lol @ simi edit.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Damn right you're not a state of Australia.

We have standards here.

Eh. You're far better than Tasmania.

[Vuzzmop]

Do you mean the places where it was filmed, because that's all over the place. When they were filming it, they filmed a lot in a quarry area near by my house, but all of the landscape is filmed in NZ. I've been skiing on the mountains above Moria, and have been to Hobbiton, which they kept intact after filming.

Edit: I'm sure Tasmania is fine, and I thought what I saw of Australia (Sydney) was nice, as long as you can get past the barren red desert and inferior sports teams.

[Hell Puppi]

Barren red deserts? Inferior sports teams? Sounds like Arizona.

Though once you get used to the barren, trees and that water falling from the sky kinda freaks you out.

[Vuzzmop]

True, we get four seasons in one day over here, but the forests are endearing despite the fact that they are always wet. I'm afraid that it's not going to be like that for much longer though. All of the pollution from other countries does us massive damage from the ozone hole, which we get in all it's malanoma inducing glory.

I've got a question for any non-kiwis out there. Do any other countries refer to themselves by an animals name? I find it odd that only the people of NZ have the kajolees to name themselves after a small, fluffy, flightless bird.

[tannish2]

1. did they choose to film there because theres a portal to middle earth?
2. do they really have hobbits there? or just midgets with hairy feet?
3. im in america right now so i feel i need an escape plan... what are the immigration laws like?
4. what level of freedomnessosityism do you have there?
5. when do they get video games? on the japan scedule? the america scedule? the europe scedule?
6. what are ratings like? do they show adult content on kids channels at 3 PM? or do they not even let people show their faces on TV without blurring?
7. what system of government do you have? and are the parodies, if they exist, funny?(i know, you cant really beat shooting old people in the face and having a man sized safe in your office, but you can try)
8. if you have a votey form of government do you vote for people depeneding on their policies/record, or what they wear?

o and as an american, no, we do not refer to our nationality by fruit or small flightless birds, unless you count out politicians, who are often refered to as asses (i know IM not talking about the animal though)

[Hell Puppi]

Vuzzmop, not that I know of in america...I think most people are too damn uptight.

[Vuzzmop]

1. did they choose to film there because theres a portal to middle earth?
2. do they really have hobbits there? or just midgets with hairy feet?
3. im in america right now so i feel i need an escape plan... what are the immigration laws like?
4. what level of freedomnessosityism do you have there?
5. when do they get video games? on the japan scedule? the america scedule? the europe scedule?
6. what are ratings like? do they show adult content on kids channels at 3 PM? or do they not even let people show their faces on TV without blurring?
7. what system of government do you have? and are the parodies, if they exist, funny?(i know, you cant really beat shooting old people in the face and having a man sized safe in your office, but you can try)
8. if you have a votey form of government do you vote for people depeneding on their policies/record, or what they wear?

o and as an american, no, we do not refer to our nationality by fruit or small flightless birds, unless you count out politicians, who are often refered to as asses (i know IM not talking about the animal though)

I wrote a really long response to this and then my computer conked out, so I'll give you the abridged version.

1. It is middle Earth silly
2.I'm short and have really big feat, so you can count one.
3.Immigration is quite tight, especially if you bring plants or other organisms with you. NZ has a very delicate ecosystem. If you bring a fire arms or weapon, the anal probing could last weeks. We don't like guns.
4. Levels of freedom I would say are slightly higher than the US as we are more liberal, and our governments are more centralist bending to the left.
5. A little bit after everyone else. Shipping takes a while across the pacific.
6. 8:30 watershed time for adult shows.
7. Our governmental system is democratic, with a parliament made up of many differrent parties and one Prime Minister. She (we were the first to do that, by the way) has less power than a president, and votes count up to the amount of seats a party has in parliament, with the party with the most seats having their leader as Prime Minister. Satire is allowed, even more so than in the US, as it shows the peoples opinions, and we have a very funny parody show on mondays that regularly pokes fun at the government.
8. Most people vote for someone they see as being charisamatic, but down to earth with a good amount of common sense.

Ovderall, we are quite a bit more liberal ( eg legal prostitution), and a whole lot less violent (eg with gun control) than the US, and if you need to escape, I'm sure you'll get a warm reception here, if you can accept a few dozen George.W.Bush jokes.

FYI, we don't call the fruit "kiwis" here. We call them "kiwifruit" just to make it a bit less confusing. Also, a question, do other countries get yellow fleshed kiwifruit? We have both green and yellow.

[tannish2]

2 problems, problem 1. i mean a portal to actual middle earth, i know at least one of the books had a map, and it was not shaped like kiwiland, and if i remember right it was much much much much larger...
problem number 2. there is only 1 good george W bush joke, it came from his mother, with a little help from his father.

and it sounds like a happy place, how do they treat cats? and whats the temperature like?

[Vuzzmop]

It still makes me feel bad to make fun of GW Bush. I feel like that Texas woman who strangled her baby until it got brain damage. I feel like Barbara Bush!

Anyway, we treat cats nicely as long as they don't prey on native birds. Our ecosystem, before the Maori came from across the Pacific harboring rats, had no native land mammals, and almost no predators at all, so cats, weasels and rats can be a major problem. Overrall though, most people like pets. The weather is four seasons in one day, and the temperature is moderate, without getting massively hot or cold. The ocean isn't that warm, so scuba diving, while good, especially in one of the many marine reserves, is cold and can't be done for long without getting chills.

[Hell Puppi]

We have only green kiwifruit, that I know of. Perhaps some specialty places have the yellow, but I've only ever seen the green

[Cyrano]

There are yellow kiwis?
Up is down, red is blue, I'm sane...the structure of the universe is coming apart!

[Yiel]

We get both green and yellow Kiwifruit over here Vuzzmop.

Oh.... do you think if we send our bushy-eyed Gollum-like Prime Minister over to you, you could arrange a "Natural Disaster". This next election has the Australian public picking between him, and TinTin.

Oh one more thing think I could get you to say "Fish & Chips"?

[Cyrano]

We get both green and yellow Kiwifruit over here Vuzzmop.

Oh.... do you think if we send our bushy-eyed Gollum-like Prime Minister over to you, you could arrange a "Natural Disaster". This next election has the Australian public picking between him, and TinTin.

Oh one more thing think I could get you to say "Fish & Chips"?

Wait, what? Is TinTin a derogatory term for an actual person, or is your prime minister wrecking the democratic process by placing himself against a cartoon character?
I hope TinTin wins, if its the second.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

My Dad works with a guy from New Zealand in Atlanta, but thats about the only one I know.

However, it'd probably be in my top 3 places to visit if I ever learn to fly.

[Dragonrider]

Yeah...New Zealand is definitely in the future of my traveling experience, if I have anything to say about it.

[Vuzzmop]

There are yellow kiwis?
Up is down, red is blue, I'm sane...the structure of the universe is coming apart!

Yup. They are kinda new and specially grown, and much sweeter than green kiwifruit. You can also eat the skin, because it has no hairs.

I don't know how to double quote, so "Fish and Chips!".

[tannish2]

We get both green and yellow Kiwifruit over here Vuzzmop.
Oh.... do you think if we send our bushy-eyed Gollum-like Prime Minister over to you, you could arrange a "Natural Disaster". This next election has the Australian public picking between him, and TinTin.

to the australian: yours is a clone, we have the original over here, he is simultaneously everything, and nothing. be glad that yours does not USE his gun.

do you guys have magical dragonicorns who feed off polution and stupid that crap ice cream that cures all disease, gives you superpowers, and tastes so good that it would occasionally put people into coma's, if not for its curative properties?

also do you have people who use the word "literally" do describe something in the figurative?

[Vuzzmop]

The Australians don't but we do. But only one, and we have to keep it in a cage until the rest of the world believes our crazy theory that global warming exists.

On the question towards using the word "literally" in a figurative statement, no, but I bet the Australians do.