Hey Bevs, good morning nice to meet you on here. I think I would like New Zealand as I like to fly my kite as well.

I bet there are some really interesting Maori customs you have learned about, as their culture is so different to any other.

It is a place along with Austrailia that I would love to visit.
But I will pop in to your forum from time to time, have a great Christmas and new Year, Bevs.


Cheers
Jose Luis

And you ? are you intergrated or are you too prim and proper, to gob sunflower seed all over the pavement?

Kia Ora Jose Luis.

From my perspective, the customs are not so very different. They represent what we all hope for.
Care, Love, Respect, Honour, Family, Standards

That sounds right to me.

Kia Ora, is hello I presume?

me prim & proper


are you serious


it's something else I've tried & just can't manage


maybe I just have a problem with my mouth...............

Cut glass British accent? Plums in your mouth?

Yis. An informal hello. A sort of general 'be well and healthy' type of greeting.

Hi, how are you? Kia Ora.

No excuses,

I am sorry, I will have to put you down as a "non intergrated"

Keep trying though, your status can still be changed when you master the essetials of Spanishness.

I don't know if it's necessary or even possible to integrate really

we have spanish friends, eat spanish food, keep a 'spanish' timetable, watch spanish tele

my kids probably are more spanish than english in their mannerisms & attitudes


even I have some spanish mannerisms now



but we are after all english & always will be english by birth

we also have english friends & friends from other countries too, we also eat english food, and watch DVDs in english (or spanish depending on whether we are alone or if we have spanish speaking company)

my income is mostly from the expat community

I think we choose what we like from both cultures


I do think you miss a lot by not at least trying to learn the language though

actually we did have elocution lessons at school & I can do the plummy accent with the best of 'em



no, it's the pips from 6 years ago & the pipa shells getting between my teeth that's the real problem

ok I'll just have to live with it............

what about if I swear at you in Spanish?



will that do?

There's a trick to it. The grape goes in, pips and all, and it's a case of mush and swallow. I hate the idea of crunching the pips, so I just crush the grape against my palate with my tongue.

The grape sellers are to be congratulated on creating the custom . A brilliant marketing ploy.

I have loads of sunflower seeds in the house (inside the hamster food).

Normally I steal them from the hamster at the start of summer to plant them in the garden but I am going to try and shell one in my mouth now. Watch this space .............

I think I might make sure there is a big bunch of grapes in the house for new year too and when most of my family are happily tipsy I will tell them to play the grape game as Big Ben starts the countdown

Dentures ?

No NO NO

you can retake the test anytime you want, but till then.............not even swearing in Galleo will make a difference to your status.

Sorry, rules is rules.