Just before we set off I told a friend that we were going to
arrive first in Christchurch on the start of our trip.
“Oh”, he asked, “what state is it in?”
“Err, Canterbury? I replied, dredging up my school boy
geography.
“No. After the earthquake, what state is it in now?”
Of course, I had not done my homework, so could not reply
but it got me thinking: one of the attractions of visiting New Zealand and
Australia is that we are countries united in the opportunities to be
misunderstood. So that will be the theme of this blog: mischievous
miscommunication.
In other countries, trying feebly to speak other languages,
I blunder through attempts to make at least one joke on every trip. Here, I can
relax, confident in the knowledge that the possibilities are endless and
hopefully the waitress, shop assistant or YHA staff won’t just give a blank
look and ask me to repeat what I said. No risk of that; they will get the pun
immediately and then join in the fun. Yep, no worries mate.
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