Tuesday, April 14, 2009

#1026 Nick From NZ/Australia, Auckland Super City


Show 1026 Monday 13 April
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.


Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show. Today’s guest is Nick. You may remember him from show number 907. This season he ran a café in Niseko called Powderlife Café. Nick also used to own a café in Australia. He’s also an artist and he’s originally from a town in New Zealand called Masterton. His family moved to Australia in 1994, when he was seven.
I asked Nick what his first impressions of Australia were.

Well, I was only little so I thought the people spoke very weird and, and they were a little, a little strange. I thought, I thought people rode in, in kangaroos and stuff, so …



STICK NEWS



Kia ora in Stick News today a mayor in Auckland New Zealand accidentally sent a text message to another mayor calling him a lunatic.

Tāmaki-makau-rau is the largest and most populous urban area in Aotearoa and has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world. According to Wikipedia the region is made up of Auckland City, North Shore City, the urban parts of Waitakere and Manukau cities, Papakura District and some nearby urban parts of Rodney and Franklin Districts.
Recently the government said that the eight councils in the Auckland region should merge together to make a super city.
Some of the Mayors aren’t so keen on the idea.
And the New Zealand herald has reported that: Auckland's Super City debate has turned rough.
They said Auckland City Mayor John Banks accidentally sent a text message to the North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams calling him a lunatic. The text message was supposed to go to his friend Aaron.

And that was Stick News for Monday the 13th of April.
Kia ora.



conversations with sarah
#647 Did you learn a lot studying business?

with Nick Jackson

Step 1: Repeat Sarah’s lines.
Step 2: Read Sarah’s lines and talk to Nick.

Sarah Did people make fun of your accent when you first got there?

Nick Yes. When I first got there and when I left. The whole way through.

Sarah So your accent still sounds different from a regular Australian accent?

Nick Um, it does. Ah, when I go back to New Zealand I’m teased for being an Australian, when I go back to Australia, I get teased for being a New Zealander, so …

Sarah But I guess your accent changed over the years.

Nick It did, it did. I’ve got more of an Australian accent. My parents are both from New Zealand … well, my dad lived in Aust … in New Zealand for a long time, so he’s also got a kiwi accent. So, I’ve got a, a mix of accents. Australian and New Zealand accent.

Sarah Do any of your relatives still live in New Zealand?

Nick I’ve got two sisters that still, still live in New Zealand. Um, everybody else moved over with us.

Sarah What did you study at university?

Nick I did a Bachelor of Business and Marketing. Um, I’ve got a little bit left to go in my marketing degree. But, um, I finished off the business side of it, so that was good. Yeah, I, ah, I didn’t, I didn’t finish my marketing because I bought a café in Queensland in Australia. Um, and I finished that up and came here basically, immediately. So, I’m yet to finish my marketing degree.

Sarah Why did you decide to study business?

Nick It’s, it’s what I’m most interested in. Um, I could have done a degree that was a lot easier, but I felt that, that business appealed to me a lot more. Um, yeah, I did, I did marketing specifically because it’s, it’s very, you have to be creative, you have to be kind of artsy to get through it. Um, yeah, I , I quite enjoy starting businesses and dealing with business and that sort of thing, so …

Sarah Did you learn a lot studying business?

Nick No. In all honesty I doubt I took 30 percent of what I learnt at uni into the business. Um, I’m more of a life experience kind of person that … you learn from your mistakes you learn from what you do physically instead of learning in a classroom. You have to do it more hands on. Yeah, so, I feel the year and a half of owning a café was five times more beneficial to me than my business degree.

Sarah If you met someone who was thinking of opening a business, would you advise them to do a degree or just get straight into it?

Nick I would say do your research. Um, you couldn’t go into anything without doing your research and finding out facts and finding out the best ways of doing things. Um, so, yeah, I … starting a … yeah, I, I feel like you have to be prepared. But I don’t think you have to have a degree to do things. It’s, sort of, just a, just a piece of paper really.

Sarah You also do some art, don’t you?

Nick Very amateur, yes. Um, just, that’s something I started in uni, doing a bit of um … it’s, it’s, it’s sort of … it’s stencil art. So I use sprays and stencils and stuff like that to create pictures, images. Um, yeah, and it’s sort of different ways of doing it. I don’t know, I just sort of, I like to play around with it. Different colours, different sort of designs, and everything like that.

Sarah What do you think makes a good café worker?

Nick Just, just be as friendly as possible. Um, yeah, the customer is, is number one. So you have to try and look after them. Um, and pa - you have to have a passion for it too. I … you know, I have a passion to … I roast my own coffee so I have a passion for the beans that I roast, so I try and make the best coffee from it.

Sarah Did you pick up some Japanese while working here this season?

Nick Yeah, it was Japanese that’s necessary … I could communicate on a very basic level to the customers. Um, yeah, it was … hey could understand me, I could understand them. I think they … coming to Niseko, they realize that there’s a lot more foreigners - a lot more Australians working there – that can’t speak Japanese. So I think they’re very understanding in that way.

Sarah Have you learnt any other languages?

Nick Only on a very basic level again. Um, I was studying French and Italian at school. Um, I remember probably one, maybe two percent. The greetings and the thank yous, that sort of thing. Um, ah, yeah, I just didn’t, didn’t grasp the concept of other languages so well. But Japanese I’m picking up a lot faster than the other two. Being here really helps. I’ve learnt my katakana.



links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures


music

show start
artist: Boom Tschak
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: More Chocolate, Please
from: Former Yugoslavia
MySpace

cws start
artist: Wolfgang S.
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: Dynamite
from: Belgrade, Serbia, Former Yugoslavia
artist site
MySpace

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Josta
album: Altrove (part 1)
track: BabaLoop
from: Torino, Italy
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
artist site

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.

No comments: