Cup'a

New Zealand is a part of the Commonwealth (Britain). This mean several things: Queen Elizabeth II is sovereign (whatever that means), they compete in the Commonwealth games (that's like the mini-Olympics just for former colonies who didn't kick the British out by force), if you appeal a court case to the highest level it goes to an English supreme court (that's not what they call it but its the same idea), and they drink a lot of tea. It is this last point on which I intend to pontificate today. People here drink a lot of tea. As I've understood it until now "tea time" was some weird afternoon pause in the British day during which they all sit around and eat crumpets or scones or something as the drink a cup of tea. As it turns out I under estimated tea time. First off, "tea" here means "dinner" at home. It is not a meal between lunch and dinner it is simply dinner. In fact, in my experience, "tea" doesn't include tea at all. Most Kiwis don't drink anything with "tea."

So in addition to tealess tea the Kiwis have added in an extra meal each day. They call it morning tea or smoko. I really like morning tea. I think that this will have to become a part of my life permanently. Basically around 11:00 in the morning they stop whatever they are doing and sit down for 15-30 minutes for something to eat and a "cup'a." It is perfect for me because I don't usually eat breakfast when I first get up but I'm usually hungry before lunch. Morning tea is the solution. A quick snack and I'm ready to go for the next hour until we have lunch. Wonderful.

In the evening, after tealess tea and the kids have gone down, there is another round of tea (the drink not the meal). Another nice treat if you drink tea. Which brings me to my problem with all of this. I don't drink tea. Well I never did. However, with all of this tea everywhere I realized that I would get sick of saying "no thanks I don't drink tea" over and over again so I've started drinking tea. And I like it a lot. With a lump of sugar and the right tea it can be just right on a cold day. In the end I'm just writing to let you know that upon our return if you come to my home I may offer you a "cup'a" and it means I'm making tea at 11:00am.

Matt