Morning and afternoon tea, the Kiwi way?

[tinglesnark]

Hello folks!

I am newly registered, although I have been a lurker for the past year but I will post an introduction thread with all that in

I am interested in the local customs and how they vary from area to area. My children will very likely be attending school in Christchurch and as we are from the UK we are fascinated by the custom of morning tea!

To be fair, we don't even have afternoon tea but that is simply a regional thing.

So! What kind of goodies are usually found in these children's lunchboxes? Do adults generally do the same thing and have a packup loaded with treats?

Looking forward to your replies

[dharder]

Not sure they are goodies or treats, we do mainly fruit/yoghurt, that kind of thing, and the odd biscuit. As an adult, morning tea seems to involve mainly going for a coffee

[lou76]

As an adult it varies, that's my experience anyway. Day to day, we pop out and get a coffee mid morning and once a week we take it in turns at work to bake. At a previous company we also had morning tea, where we took it in turns, however it was more like a buffet than just a piece of cake!

All day meetings at work also tend to involve Morning tea, which normally involves hot drinks and Muffins/scones. In my experience, afternoon tea rarely happens.

Personally I really like it as it is a nice sociable thing to do.

[tinglesnark]

Ah cool, so very dependant on the place then! I am really looking forward to new customs

[lou76]

I would say it depends on the place and your team. Just go with the flow when you get here.

As you have probably picked up, there is a big coffee culture here. I didn't even drink coffee before I came and now it's once a day. I can't imagine in my uk job, just popping out for coffee. I now work in the city, but previously working in rural NZ, whilst we still went for coffee occasionally it wasn't such a common occurance.

Oh and on local customs, if you are invited to a friends and asked to bring a plate, they mean one with food on and not an empty one ��

[ahar010]

Ah cool, so very dependant on the place then! I am really looking forward to new customs

I think your biggest surprise will be the Xmas Day in the sun.

[tinglesnark]

Ah, I spent a few years in Africa so have had a few sunny crimbos! We also used to BYO there so I am lucky in that I wont turn up with a shiny new plate all wrapped up as a gift haha

[baboonworld]

No choc allowed at our primary, and you have to bring your rubbish home! Grr = messy school bags

[tea drinker]

Some schools may have an awareness of extreme allergies e.g. nuts and may ask fellow students to be tolerant and understanding with what they bring
It can get very hot so chose foods that can cope with the heat e.g. a chicken sandwich may not be so good after it has been left in the sun (on a peg) at school. A lot of students choose to eat their sandwich at Morning Tea (Morning playtime) and eat the other bits at lunchtime. Carrot sticks and a dip are popular, crackers and cheese also
Whereas, in the colder months , you can take a 'thermos' style pot where food will still be warm.

Regarding the comment about taking rubbish home and it creating messy bags - use re using pots and re using sandwich wraps within the lunchbox or a lunch box with 'divisions' and train your children to shut the box.

Had a laugh at the 'bring a plate' comment - I knew about that one but when I was asked to 'bring a recipe' I did - beautifully written out - only to discover that everyone else had actually MADE the recipe

Tea drinking is also a very serious business

[lou76]

Had a laugh at the 'bring a plate' comment - I knew about that one but when I was asked to 'bring a recipe' I did - beautifully written out - only to discover that everyone else had actually MADE the recipe

Love it!

Tea drinking is also a very serious business

I agree- but tend to find this outside of work (lots of proper tea made with loose leaves). Best of both worlds for me.