I recently had a friend over here ask me what I thought of NZ and Wellington.
It’s interesting because we’ve now been over here for nearly 8 months, and I’m starting to forget how certain aspects of our countries are different. Also, the fact we don’t have TV is hindering my assumption-making!
I’ve sometimes heard people refer to AU and NZ as “pretty much the same country.” After actually spending some time here, I would have to disagree. New Zealand people do have quite a different culture to Australians – though we both like similar sports.
New Zealanders, as a generalized whole, seem to me more ‘Britishy’ than Australians. In my view, they’re a little more:
It’s interesting because we’ve now been over here for nearly 8 months, and I’m starting to forget how certain aspects of our countries are different. Also, the fact we don’t have TV is hindering my assumption-making!
I’ve sometimes heard people refer to AU and NZ as “pretty much the same country.” After actually spending some time here, I would have to disagree. New Zealand people do have quite a different culture to Australians – though we both like similar sports.
New Zealanders, as a generalized whole, seem to me more ‘Britishy’ than Australians. In my view, they’re a little more:
While Australians are a bit more like:
“Where the Bloody Hell are YA?”
“Where the Bloody Hell are YA?”
New Zealand is also home to the ‘Kiwi Mumble’ (which I am going to develop a wiki for I think). They (very politely) don’t like to speak up under any circumstance, and may not even do so under duress. I am already a loud person in general, so team me with a loud American and we sometimes get strange looks on the bus…maybe for disturbing the peace?
Bus drivers in Wellington are also too polite sometimes – they can’t seem to drive past a person waving at a stop, even when the bus is full. Conversely, you’re also sometimes dropped off in the middle of the street, something which I never encountered in Brisbane – where the bus drivers are adamant about safety in different ways. Mostly gruff/ angry ones shouting “move to the back of the bus” at the passengers.
New Zealanders also seem to have a stronger, unifying sense of national identity. Although this is not lacking in Australia, it’s quite different here because of the overarching embracement of Maori culture and language. Sadly, I wouldn’t know a word of any Aboriginal languages, or even much about history and culture. Here, the people are strongly identified with the idea of NZ being a country of shared heritage and dual language (Maori is the second official language). Through my work I can even to a Maori language course, or one about the Treaty of Waitangi – so that I can be a better informed public servant.
People are also more keen to get into arts and cultural events. I went to see Be Kind Rewind on Monday as part of the NZ Film Festival. It was a 4pm screening and I was expecting it to be pretty empty really. However, the huge Embassy Theatre was PACKED. I have found this amazing because people want to engage with the arts seemingly so much more than in Brisbane. Even the weekly WIT shows recently have averaged 50+ people on a WEDNESDAY! We struggled to get 10 people to come to our shows back home..
So anyway, this is getting rather long.
I’ll just stop for now. Maybe if anyone has any specific questions they could comment? Ok
Merrilee
Bus drivers in Wellington are also too polite sometimes – they can’t seem to drive past a person waving at a stop, even when the bus is full. Conversely, you’re also sometimes dropped off in the middle of the street, something which I never encountered in Brisbane – where the bus drivers are adamant about safety in different ways. Mostly gruff/ angry ones shouting “move to the back of the bus” at the passengers.
New Zealanders also seem to have a stronger, unifying sense of national identity. Although this is not lacking in Australia, it’s quite different here because of the overarching embracement of Maori culture and language. Sadly, I wouldn’t know a word of any Aboriginal languages, or even much about history and culture. Here, the people are strongly identified with the idea of NZ being a country of shared heritage and dual language (Maori is the second official language). Through my work I can even to a Maori language course, or one about the Treaty of Waitangi – so that I can be a better informed public servant.
People are also more keen to get into arts and cultural events. I went to see Be Kind Rewind on Monday as part of the NZ Film Festival. It was a 4pm screening and I was expecting it to be pretty empty really. However, the huge Embassy Theatre was PACKED. I have found this amazing because people want to engage with the arts seemingly so much more than in Brisbane. Even the weekly WIT shows recently have averaged 50+ people on a WEDNESDAY! We struggled to get 10 people to come to our shows back home..
So anyway, this is getting rather long.
I’ll just stop for now. Maybe if anyone has any specific questions they could comment? Ok
Merrilee
