Kiwiana

We were recently invited to a Quiz Night with some of my co-workers. The theme was "Kiwiana" - so you might be wondering why we were invited. We certainly wondered. We thought as new immigrants we'd be pretty useless on the team, but it turned out that we were able to answer a few questions. We almost even carried our weight.

So what's New Zealand's equivalent of baseball and apple pie (or for our English friends, football and a pint)? Here's a few things we learned about Kiwiana.

1. Pineapple lumps.

These are chewy candies covered in chocolate. I guess there must be some pineapple juice in them, but trust us when we tell you, they taste nothing like pineapple. They are a National Treasure. A little bit too sticky sweet for my taste, but Gareth ate nearly a whole bag at Quiz Night.

2. Flight of the Conchords

New Zealand's "fourth most popular comedy folk duo." You may have seen their show on HBO. It seems the show was actually more popular in America than it is in New Zealand though. One of the quiz questions was "Give the complete names of both Flight of the Conchords members" - Gareth and I were the only ones on our team who knew the answer (Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie). We're big fans.

3. No. 8 wire.

It's apparently used for fencing, but has become a national symbol of Kiwi ingenuity and self-sufficiency. The idea is that Kiwis can fix anything with a bit of No. 8 wire. Kiwis are pretty proud of their DIY attitude. They sometimes call it a "No. 8 wire mentality." As a matter of fact, that very phrase was just mentioned in an ad on TV as I wrote this.

4. Pavlova

This is a meringue and cream dessert usually topped with kiwifruit. It's New Zealand's equivalent of America's apple pie. There's a raging debate over who invented it: the New Zealanders or Australians. Both countries say they made it first. Naturally, we're siding with New Zealand on this one.