Saturday, December 5, 2009

#1- Kia Ora.

So this is a bit odd, well for me anyway. In a conversation with a bloke from the UK my greeting of 'Kia Ora' was quickly replied with 'huh?', feeling knowledgeable I explained thoroughly the roots of the words though I was interrupted with "Wheres Maori?" then "Oh i know!, KiaOra is a kind of drink!".. Uhhh what? since WHEN was KIAORA a drink? Sounds a little crazy to me.
In New Zealand we usually get the odd greeting from that kid with heaps of 'swagger' as he pops his collar,adjusts his fresh bling and who seems to be kind of limping but in reality is just practicing his 'gangster lean' on the way to the takeaways for some 'Fush and Chups'(Fish and Chips- Australians care to differ)- he then murmurs "KiaOra", a generic term that has been implemented into our vocabulary since we were kids. It's Maori. We get it. Well, knowing me and my ' everyone in the world knows about New Zealand & everything about it' mindset, I was fully outraged and shocked when I discovered that KiaOra is a drink in the UK? I thought he was joking. but no, he even proved his claim with a wikipedia link and we all know that wikipedia is always 'right'- it isn't but I'll believe it this time. According to the site; "Kia-Ora is a concentrated fruit soft drink, owned by Atlantic Industries and licensed for manufacturing in the UK by Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd", and it has more than one flavor! Exciting!. Where has this drink been all my life!? and why is it only sold in the UK, it is part of our native language, but I guess the English stole this one from us. At least it is indirectly promoting New Zealand, Yay!



Top: "Kia Ora!, Let's Hongi!"
Bottom: 'Kia Ora'- The Drink

1 comment:

  1. It's hilarious how the most mundane everyday things we take for granted means different things to other ppl in other places too. LOL! Great story Chloe!

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