All nations have there own personalities it seems to me.
Taken Directly from the Rough guide to NZ 2009 and summarised, I liked these notions.
‘The Maori have never been marginalised like native Americans or Australian Aborigines’.
‘There is considerable intermarriage between Maori and Pakeha (those of European descent) a fact that led to one academic to speculate race relations will be worked out in the bedrooms of NZ’
‘One Maori concept that has crossed over to general Kiwi culture is that of mana, a synthesis of prestige, charisma and influence, which increases through brave or compassionate actions or reduced by foolish or lazy ones’
What is striking here and particularly on the South Island is how friendly everyone is and I mean genuinely so. I met a young German man, Frank who had been all over both Islands and he was telling me of the kindness of strangers he had encountered. I said I felt it was like England but without the stuffiness. (That word took quite a bit of explaining we settled on not quite as stiff as the Germans). He thought I was from NZ as I initiated the conversation. He gave me the low down on some of the longer walks, particularly where I’m going to soon in Northland.
Some idiosyncrasies I’ve encountered;
- The weather is never what they predict, for instance today is meant to be cloudy but that actually means there will be at least one cloud in the sky.
- Litter is not acceptable! This is fabulous there are very few bins, you take your rubbish away with you! It’s by far the cleanest county I’ve been to. It’s a bit dirtier in the cities but not much.
- Urinating in public is considered beneath contempt and very bad manners that’s why there are so many toilets. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen but it is much more frowned upon than in England or Europe. I think that’s brilliant.
- ‘It’ll be alright!’ a common phrase for when your about to do something risky like bungy jumping, climbing volcanos, travel solo and sleeping in your car, etc! I like this too because mostly it is! Don’t get me started on risk, I think we fail our kids by not letting them take risks and I guilty of this too.
Anyway currently in suburban Auckland for a bit…I’ll update later.
The Travelling Bee 