General Chat

Kia ora from Aotearoa New Zealand,
We are having a global Telethon to raise money and support for the Earthquake Fund. It's live on Maori Television now from 9am until 9pm NZ time Sunday the 22nd of May. The website is www.riseup.org.nz This event is a huge day for us here in NZ and we're receiving fantastic support from around the world. Many GR members have relatives in NZ and will know that Christchurch is famous for it's historical buildings. This is a special challenge to my relatives in England, Scotland, The Shetland Islands, Ireland, the USA, Australia, Sweden and Tonga - take a moment and become part of it!
Kia Kaha and big aroha to everyone from Davina

You have relatives everywhere but Canada? Sniff. ;)

The very best of luck to you.

For info, it's 11 a.m. in Christchurch as I'm posting, and I've been trying to follow links to figure out exactly where to view the event live!

This seems to be it?

http://www.livestream.com/riseupchristchurch

Hi Janey,
There may well be relatives in Canada, perhaps I haven't found them yet. My Bates ancestors who were in Philadelphia, USA from 1845 until during the Civil War seriously considered Canada as a new home but decided to settle in New Zealand. We have lost track of their eldest daughter Matilda who didn't come to NZ with her family - I wonder if she fancied Canada! My parents went to Canada in the late 1980s and just loved it. NZ'ers really like Canadians - we laugh at the same stuff. The ice rink is five minutes walk from our home and ice hockey is quite popular. We always have pure Canadian maple syrup in our fridge, even though it costs a fortune - so a few positive connections if no actual relations as yet!
Thanks for your support!
Davina

Hi Janey,
Yes that is a link, thankyou.
Best wishes,
Davina

Here's a more direct one, that gives full-screen w/o the streaming chat etc.

http://www.livestream.com/newchannel/popoutplayer?channel=riseupchristchurch

There's a lot of Maori being spoken it seems -- do a lot of non-Maori NZers know enough to follow?


We do indeed have a lot in common.

When we Canadians go to the UK, people say "what part of America are you from?" (I said: the Canadian part. This is "America", after all. As are Mexico and Cuba and Brazil ...)

And I gather you get "what part of Australia are you from?" ;)

One person in two weeks asked us whether we were Canadian. We were impressed. She was the one who told us about New Zealanders getting taken for Australians. She said Americans don't mind bieng taken for Canadians and Australians don't mind being taken for New Zealanders, but the other ways around doesn't work.

So she just automatically asked anyone who sounded North American whether they were Canadian, and anyone who sounded Antipodean whether they were from New Zealand. :D


So are we going to get some actual, like, musical performances on this show at some point??

Oh, p.s., as the Canuckistanians here know:

I hate hockey.

And I hate maple syrup.

XP

Hello Janey,
As regards the maple syrup and hockey - we have NZ'ers who don't like hangi or rugby - it's all good though as long as you like
living in your chosen country. The Telethon is on the Maori language channel which is excellent viewing. There's a mix of Maori, English and other languages (mostly foreign subtitled films). Most NZ'ers understand some basic Maori and many words are used as naturally as English.

Kia ora - Hello, greetings, thanks!

Haere mai - Welcome

Aroha - Love

Hangi - delicious kai (food) cooked in the earth

Best wishes from Davina

So just for the Brits, it is now

10 p.m. Cdn time
3 a.m. UK time
2 p.m. NZ time

So the telethon is on for another 7 hours, ending at 10 a.m. UK time.

So the Brits will still have a chance to watch a bit in the morning.

Take a look, it's interesting to see the people and places!

And they're getting close to $1 million now ...

(I apologize for not having a functioning credit card, and will have to send only best wishes.)

Hi Again,
The Telethon is a mix of entertainment and events - they try to appeal to a broad base. There are a few people out in the big, wide world who confuse us with Australians but it seems to happen with all countries. We try to be gracious about it! Well the whanau are all arriving to sit and eat and drink and talk (or argue) and watch the telly - we always want to spot a relative or someone we know. I'll tell them that a friendly Canadian is cheering for us - they'll be delighted!

Best wishes,
Davina

Enjoy, Davina!


The internet tells me you can cook hangi in a crockpot if you don't have a spot of earth handy for cooking it in. ;)

http://www.food.com/recipe/hangi-in-a-crock-pot-160425

4 medium potatoes, cut in half
4 small sweet potatoes, cut in half
1 head cabbage, leaves
1 fresh pumpkin, cut into 8 small pieces
4 chicken thighs, cut in half
8 small lamb chops or 8 small pork chops
4 slices smoked pork
prepared stuffing (optional)
60 ml water

1 To make individual servings use banana leaves or tin foil.
(No, we don't use tin foil, because it is an appalling waste of resources and non-biodegradable ... and we tend not to have banana leaves lying around in these parts ;) so it's made do and mend!)

2 Put cabbage leaves down first, then veges, meat and stuffing (if using) together on top of the cabbage.

3 Put another couple of cabbages leaves over the top of veges.

4 Wrap everything up in the tinfoil or banana leaves, preferably encasing everything with the cabbage.

5 Put into crock pot.

6 Add water to bottom of crock pot.

7 Cook on high for approx 6-8 hours or until cooked through.

8 Note: Only add salt once cooked.


No.1 loves his sweet potatoes, so we might just try that.

hangi is delicious!

we spent time in NZ in 1992/93 (Palmerston North) and were lucky enough to be invited to one prepared by Maori.



Good Luck Davina



sylvia

Hi Sylvia,
Yes, a well cooked hangi is indeed a feast. One of the best I ever had was at Houhora, a small settlement in the Far North. It had the freshest kaimoana (seafood) - crayfish, snapper, tuatua, mussels..... and wild game ..... and lamb.... home grown veges.... special herbs and spices... and then good old steamed pudding. The steamed pud wasn't a traditional Maori dish of course but the lines get blurred when cultures mingle! If you or Janey are ever in New Zealand we'd love to show you around.

Kia Kaha,
Davina

Janey, I am one New Zealander who has Canadian relatives.

Hello Davina, I dont think we have met before. I am in the Hunua Hills up near Auckland. Where are you?

Huia.

Kia ora Huia,
Ah, the beautiful Hunua bush and spectacular falls, a magical place. I don't think we've met but who knows - I worked for Statistics NZ as a Field Interviewer for many years and I'm now with The University of Auckland's Growing Up in NZ project. I meet lots of lovely families and hear their stories.
I live in Burswood, East Tamaki but I am from Te Kao originally. Have you been watching the Telethon? It's over the million dollars now. I cannot believe Ben lost his dreads... but it could be like when Robbie Rakete chopped his gorgeous locks.... it all worked out just fine! Brilliant to see ''our Rachael'' (Hunter) home to give her support. And a big thanks to all the people who are supporting this from NZ and afar!

Best wishes,
Davina