Here are some general observations about my time in New Zealand, a country I hope to return to and experience more of.

The people

First and foremost, the people are exceedingly warm and open and friendly. Beyond that, I noticed something specific about their interactions. It struck me several times how completely disinterested they are in blaming and shaming. I saw this in small ways and in higher stakes ways.

I’m not sure if these examples will translate:

* At a cafe in Auckland, I tore the receipt from the credit card charger in the wrong direction, which pulled out and partially unraveled the entire paper roll. The server said, “That’s alright.. happens all the time,” with a gleam in her eye that told me it does not, which I confirmed by asking.

* In Rotorua, I found bread and butter in the fridge and messaged my host Diane if there are any additional spreads besides butter for toast in the mornings. Just after I sent the message, I discovered jam, peanut butter, and Marmite in the cupboard. I was about to let her know I’d found them, but she was quick to respond. When I next saw her, I apologized and explained that as an Airbnb employee, I know how to be a good guest, including not asking the host questions that can be answered by reading the thorough information the host provides, or in my case looking around a bit more. She replied, with a smile and that same gleam in her eye, “Well, you’re allowed one slip-up.”

* Also in Rotorua, Diane’s boyfriend or husband Mike left a bag of feijoas at my doorstep (hmm.. I’ll have to go back to my Rotorua posts and add this). I didn’t know what they were at first or how to eat them, so I didn’t get to them right away. When I ran into Mike late the next day, I confessed I hadn’t had any yet, bracing for disappointment or an air of perception of my ingratitude. He said that was alright and told me how to eat them.

Again, these were all small gestures but significant to me.

* Here’s what I mean by higher stakes. I asked my host at the hostel in Paihia how he deals with potential bed bugs from every single guest. He told me about the one case they had last winter from a girl who didn’t know she was carrying them. He didn’t talk about how careless she was, or what a pain it was to clear the room, or the business he lost as a result. He talked about helping her wash all her clothes and belongings.

This last one moves me to tears every time I think about it. The generosity of spirit in the people of New Zealand was a revelation to behold. Such a contrast from America’s me-first ethos.

Maori culture

Unlike the genocides of America and nearby Australia, there was no mass killing of the native Maori people by the later-arriving European settlers on New Zealand. Google tells me there were land wars in the 19th century, and the Maori population is currently a 15% minority. Nonetheless, I perceived during my time on the North Island that the people and the government of New Zealand celebrate and honor Maori culture, keeping it alive in public monuments, the names of roads and landmarks, and knowing their history. It was three White men who taught me about the Treaty of Waitangi while I was in Paihia, the place of the signing, in which the British Crown and Maori iwi chiefs reached an agreement about sovereignty, land ownership, and indigenous rights. I’m sure there’s a lot more I could learn about this from the Maori perspective, but from my own observations, Maori culture is well-integrated into New Zealand life.

It’s clean

There are public bathrooms everywhere, and in large part, they’re in great condition. People respect public spaces.

It’s safe

I never once perceived any threat to my person or belongings, including in the major cities. I felt secure in relaxing my usual street-smart vigilance, and that in itself was restful.

The correct side of the road, not the right side of the road

(How one of the InterCity bus drivers described it)

Man, I just never got used to this. Crossing the street broke my brain every single time, especially if I was jaywalking or in a parking lot rather than crossing an intersection. I was constantly looking over my shoulder for cars in the wrong direction.

Also, as in the United States though we don’t consciously think about it, the side of the road we drive on extends to the side we use in the crosswalk and the side on which we enter double doors. I continuously found myself on a collision course with fellow pedestrians.

Money

The U.S. dollar is strong against the New Zealand dollar: $1.00 USD = $1.41 NZD, or roughly $10.00 NZD = $7.00 USD. So things cost the same amount as they would at home, but I was getting them for a lot less. Like a $5.00 latte being $3.50 or a $20.00 meal being $14.00.

There is no tipping, and GST (goods and services tax) is folded into the pricing (though listed separately on receipts). So when reviewing a menu, the price shown was exactly what I would pay. I LOVED THIS

Time

I mistakenly assumed New Zealand uses a 24-hour clock. Australia does, but NZ does not.

Music in restaurants

Nearly everywhere music played on speakers overhead, it was either 70s or 80s music. I heard a lot of Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Blondie, and Hall and Oates. This is neither here nor there, really, just part of my experience.

Food

Speaking of restaurants, the food here is more or less the food back home. I didn’t try to find “authentic New Zealand food”. The one exception might be the hangi lunch I had at Whakarewarewa village, meaning it was cooked using the geothermal oven.

Phone dialing

Local numbers here start with 0, and after innumerable permutations that failed, I figured out that I had to start with a plus sign in front of the country code (+64) and then drop the leading 0 in front of the local number.

Websites

I use LastPass to fill in passwords, but they wouldn’t work if I was redirected from a .com to a .co.nz instead.

I’ll add more if I think of anything else 🙂