The Language Barrier

I had an interesting day today. I didn’t go to any fabulous outlooks, or tramp on a beautiful track, or eat a wonderfully prepared and presented meal. I went to the mall. We needed to bring some money over from the States and were trying to figure out the most economical way of doing it. So, on my list was a visit to the bank, a trip to the housewares store, and a stop by a stationery store to buy pencils. It seemed simple enough.

My first stop was the bank because Mark really wanted to get some data for his “best way to transfer money” research. We had wired money to our NZ account earlier today, taken money out via the ATM, and the last thing to try was doing a cash advance on one of our credit cards (NOT as bad as it sounds since our bank does some creative money disbursements). In addition, I needed to deposit a check to our NZ account. I had remembered my passport (which has been a necessity in the past) and was ready to do business. I was first told that there would be a $3 fee to deposit the check if a teller did it. The nice teller directed me to a set of envelopes that I could use to deposit the check via ATM (or so I thought) and avoid the fee. I did then try very hard to do what I was supposed to do with the check, but ... I think I just might have jammed their machine. I found the envelopes and sealed the check inside. I had to ask a different employee where to deposit the envelope and she directed me to a machine just outside the door. It looked much like every ATM machine I’d ever seen, so I ran my card through, entered my PIN, and indicated that I wanted to make a deposit. A slot on the machine opened up and offered me an envelope. I thought I’d conserve resources and just use the deposit envelope I already had, although it was a bit larger, and made of plastic. I inserted my envelope in a different slot, and began to worry a wee bit when the machine sort of chewed on my deposit for awhile. While I watched to see what would happen, a woman came up beside me, yanked open a mechanical “drawer” and dropped in an envelope that looked just like the one *I* had force fed into the ATM. Maybe the nice teller hadn't said "ATM." Oh well, it was only a $6.43 check. I just hope I don’t get charged for repairing the machine..... By the way, the cash advance didn’t work either. Not sure what happened, but that just means one less data point for Mark.

Other difficulties today: I had one person direct me to the “egg rings” when I asked for “aprons” (say them both repeatedly until they sound similar). And I couldn’t find pencils for the life of me. You’d think it wouldn’t be that hard, but the two bookstores in the mall were sorely lacking basic stationery supplies. Is the NZ honeymoon over? No, it was just one of those days that make you realise that you’re not in the United States, and that’s okay. It was a gorgeous blue-sky fluffy-white-cloud day, the kids had a wonderful time at school, Mark gave a well-received presentation in the Geography Department's Seminar series, and I managed to get in a 2 kilometre swim!