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
3 comments:
Interesting...yeah, I think NZ's are a bit more like rural Aussies. Maybe?
Soooo...are you guys planning on staying over there permanently or what's the latest?
Love ya! xx
Hey Mezz,
It's interesting what you say about people embracing the arts and willing to get out and see theatre, performance etc.
These are all issues I continue to try to find solutions to in Brisbane.
Perhaps it has something to do with the climate? Wellington I imagine is a bit cooler than Brisbane. Perhaps people there want to go out, so they go to places like theatres where they'll be inside and dry. Whereas here they head to beaches etc.
Also I imagine Wellington, while the capital, is more compact than Brisbane. We have a big problem here with people not wanting to make the effort to come see a show because it'd take them half an hour or more to drive, then there's parking, or public transport doesn't go late enough, etc.
We need to become more of a late-night city.
Anyway, glad you're having fun!
Cheers, Natalie.
I agree on the weather front Nat. Even Loose Moose has trouble getting people to come during the summer months, namely cos everybody's so happy to be outdoors! (Then again, their 'slow' nights are still pretty good by Brisvegas standards). But the colder weather - providing its not bad enough that people don't even want to drive, i.e. through a blizzard - seems to pack em in in droves!
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