A "Jandal" Story

Jandals—as my niece Jalayne has already instructed many of you—is the New Zealand term for flip-flops. To Beth’s dismay, she arrived in New Zealand without hers, a deficiency she became aware of in the airport’s rental car parking lot when I retrieved mine from my luggage so that I could finally ditch the running shoes I’d worn for pretty much 24 hours. Purchasing a pair as soon as possible became an immediate mission. Now, since Beth attended her last year of high school in New Zealand as an exchange student, she already knew the correct terminology to use in any query directed to store personnel. However, we quickly discovered that availability—not communication—would be the real issue. You see, in April, New Zealand is in the midst of autumn; think October in the northern hemisphere . . . albeit a most temperate one. Many stores currently displayed their winter wares. We could always locate hats and gloves, gum boots (although those may be a year-round commodity in New Zealand), and fleece. Not so much the jandal section—or even the jandal shelf or bin.

After multiple disappointments at various locations we finally found some remaining pairs in a summer footwear clearance section. In fact, we landed a windfall: two pairs for the price of one, and the one pair drastically reduced. Beth and I both ended up with new jandals for the price of NZ$4.99. Consider that my pair originally cost NZ$25.99, Beth’s about a dollar less, and you can appreciate our pleasure from a financial angle. In the photo below, Beth’s feet sport the classy pedicure and the “loofah” style jandal in zebra colors. My feet, on the other hand, totally lack the pedicure (just couldn’t squeeze in that appointment before departure) but model for the camera nevertheless . . . in this case, the “wave” style jandal . . . in blue, of course!