First day on rounds from "Bad Crook" to a "Box Of Birds".

I was an American Cardiologist new to the country starting out my first day as a senior consultant in Cardiology at Palmerston North Hospital in the North Island of New Zealand. I was introduced at the morning meeting of consultants and registrar's and the list of new patient admissions were presented. Following the presentations I went with the cardiolgy team to make rounds. The first patient was a rather gregarious old farmer from Feilding, a local community dotted with sheep and cattle farms near the hospital. As I entered the open ward he lay reclining on his bed near the window with the golden light from the early morning sun settling on his naked chest. I pulled the privacy curtain and introduced myself and the team of nurses,pharmacist's and young doctors in training gathered around his bed. I asked him what had brought him to the hospital. He explained that yesterday while in the paddock hearding his sheep he became "bad crook", "bad crook doc" he repeated as he grabbed his hairy chest covered with ECG pads. Bad crook I thought to myself what does he possibly mean. The old man must have seen the lines of concern on my wrinkled brow because he blurted out with a smile no worries doc this morning I'm a "box of birds". "Bad crook","box of birds" I said, as I turned to my Kiwi colleagues for help. Lia our cardiology nurse with bright and cheerful blue eyes leaned over with a smile on her face and explained yesterday he felt unwell with chest pain and this morning feels on top of the world. Not to be caught out again I statrted a small red notebook that day with a list of Kiwi slang expressions.