Maori Week Continued: Fish and Fishing

In a previous blog entry, I told the Maori story of New Zealand and how the north and south islands were named. Here is an abridged version of the story, along with a word lesson, prepared by Te Tumu - School of Maori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies for Maori Language Week 2009 at the University of Otago:

ika = (noun) meaning fish
Pronunciation: i = as in "see"; ka = as in "cut"

hi = (verb) meaning to fish
Pronunciation: i = as in "heed"

Combined, hi ika means "to fish for fish".

Maori Language Week (July 27-31)

To all of our non-Kiwi readers: Did you know that New Zealand has 3 official languages? Besides English and Sign language, Maori is the third official language of New Zealand.

This week is Maori Language Week in New Zealand. The country takes one week out of the year to reflect upon the importance of the Maori language and reminds those living here to become familiar with Te Reo Maori, if we don't already speak it. This week, I will post some Maori words and phrases for you to learn along with us.

-o-

To be honest with you, I was completely unaware of the Maori - the native people of New Zealand and the language - when we first moved here. And I consider myself a knowledgeable person. But I never learned about New Zealand in school, except for where it is located. So since moving to New Zealand, I have been curious and amazed by the Maori language and the fact that it permeates quite a bit of every day life here in New Zealand.

If you take the time to look at a map of New Zealand, you'll notice that a few of the cities throughout the country are in Maori: Whangarei, Kaitaia, Taranaki, Moeraki, just to name a few. But most cities have both an English name and a Maori name. For example, we live in Dunedin (Maori name = Otepoti). Other examples: Wellington (the capital city) = Te Whanganui a Tara; Auckland = Tamaki Makaurau; Christchurch = Otautahi.

This week on Sunrise (our favorite television morning news program), the weatherman Josh gives us the weather on a map with the Maori city placenames. On Monday, I missed the weather in Dunedin because I forgot that its Maori name is Otepoti. I wonder if this happened to a lot of other people in Dunedin, including the locals? (ETK)

New Sunday Routine

Everyone who has had a baby or has a baby knows that routines are important.

Over the past month of so, we have developed a new Sunday morning routine. Before Max, the weekends used to be filled with lazy mornings reading in bed, drinking coffee and then heading off to the Farmer's market or the beach. And while we still drink coffee and go to the market, only now it's with Max. So, as a new family we've developed a brand new morning routine on Sundays: Yum Cha.

Yum Cha ("drinking tea") is the Cantonese ritual referring to the actual event of gathering with family and friends for dim sum. Dim sum ("a bit of heart") is the name of the cuisine served at Yum Cha consisting of a wide range of small dishes (steamed pork buns, sweet and sour wontons, Chinese sausage with rice, Egg Tarts, Chinese pork triangles) served with Chinese tea.

Sunday mornings, rain or shine, we all gather into the car and drive into town anticipating the delicious dim sum at Golden Harvest Chinese restaurant. It's sort of hidden, Golden Harvest, tucked into an almost secret walkway amongst all of the clothing and tat shops on George Street. We happened upon it one day while going for a walk with Max in the pram.

Most mornings we're the first people to arrive. As the morning progresses, the restaurant fills mostly with Asian families and students. The waitresses know that we're regulars. One even mentioned to Chris, "You must really like Yum Cha. You're here every week."

No kidding.

It's part of our routine. (ETK)

Selves-portrait: Me and Max at Golden Harvest

Max and Chris eating dim sum. Notice all of the toys to keep Max occupied.

Spicy Szechuan Soup - And they're not kidding ... check out all the dried red chilies!

Spicy!

Enjoying our Sunday.