Blog roundup: Awesome words, photos and comment

THE New Zealand accent and choice of words is always a topic worthy of a few minutes at any expat gathering, and this week's blog roundup features two very different posts on the topic.

The first from the great wits at Kiwianarama introduced me to some new Kiwi-isms that I'd heard but hadn't realised were fashionable:

If they reply with “Awesome!”, they do not literally mean,“That stirs in me feelings of immense religious awe, respect or fear!”

While Juli Ryan at Wellington Road is struggling with learning Maori, the other official language in New Zealand. It seems the NZ attitude to foreigners trying the minority tongue is not to be commended.

In most countries, your effort to speak the language is appreciated. Not so in NZ. When I try to speak te reo, I am constantly corrected.

Meanwhile, Domestic Executive has managed to capture some pig photographs that should make you go "Ahhh," and Photografi has a great image of one of those porky pigeons that look like they should be roasted for Christmas (Please don't write in, it's a joke... I meant Easter.)

But lastly there's the serious reality of tax and taxation in New Zealand. It's already a high tax rate without a tax-free allowance, but the schools still try to fleece extra money from hard-up parents, as Avalon reports.

The free education is getting less free as time goes on, and you need to be aware of the situation and ready for it.