Family Reunion

Family Reunion

Throughout my travels in New Zealand, I have noticed that there were a very significant amount of Asian people, particularly in Wellington and Auckland. According to the New Zealand Census, people of European descent make up 69% of the population, Maoris make up 14.6%, and Asians make up 9.2% of the NZ population (Statistics). In Auckland, Asians make up 18.9% of the population (Statistics). I was curious as to the reason for such a large Asian population in New Zealand as well as insights to the Asian population in New Zealand. I was fortunate enough to have an aunt and two cousins who were Auckland Natives. Having not seen them since I was last in New Zealand (15 years ago), I was very excited to get the opportunity to see them again. I also realized that this was an interesting opportunity to get the perspectives of very different people. My aunt, “Auntie” Niece, is a retired Filipino nurse who had been in New Zealand for about 25 years. My cousin, David, is a 29 year old physical therapist who is a graduate of the University of Otago. My second cousin, Ailene, is a 17 year old student who is about to apply for colleges. Lastly was Zoey, David’s fiancé and preschool teacher, who was born in China and was the only one out of the four that was an immigrant.

In response to my question about the reason for the significant Asian population, I received no concrete answer, but rather several different theories and explanations. Firstly, I was told that New Zealand allowed a wave of Chinese people to come in the late 1800s to work as gold miners. This apparently was the first time Chinese people came to New Zealand and set the basis for the influx of Chinese later on as families stayed in contact and expanded generation after generation. Apparently, there are even 4^th and 5^th generation Chinese people in New Zealand today. I fact-checked this later on to discover that in 1869, about 2,000 Chinese people arrived to New Zealand to mainly work in gold mines in Otago (Te Ara). I was also told that during the 1990s, New Zealand immigration laws opened up and were relatively lax, combined with the perception that New Zealand is a “Western” culture and Asia’s fascination the West, New Zealand proved to be an attractive entry point. My aunt and uncle personally went through the application process which was similar to a resume evaluation where points are given depending on certain attributes such as level of education and jobs. Interestingly, they also mentioned that since New Zealand was easier to get into than most other Western countries, it often serves as an attractive entry point before Asians move into other countries in the British Commonwealth such as Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. As I conducted further research into the topic, I found that my aunt and uncle fit almost the exact demographic of 1990s Asian immigrants described in the Tera Encylopedia History of New Zealand. They were educated, fairly wealthy, and generally stuck with their own race (Te Ara). 

However, my extended family also had some criticism about the newer Asian population. My aunt is highly interested in real estate investments and criticized how many highly wealthy Asian investors were very eager to buy properties in Auckland, driving up the demand for real estate while leaving supply relatively static, which leads to higher prices. As I looked deeper into this, I noticed that in May 2015, the Auckland area’s average home price was $829,000 NZD which has grown at an astonishing rate of 13.83% since May 2012 where home prices were a $562,000 NZD (ENZ). According to the NZ Hearld, Auckland’s average annual wages has only grown 2% in the past year, meaning that home prices are increasing at a far greater rate than salaries, making it difficult for people to afford homes (Nichols). 

Reuniting with my family has provided me an opportunity to gain deeper insights into the Asian population and culture in New Zealand. I was fortunate enough to be able to discuss a whole range of topics about New Zealand ranging from the educational system to great food places to New Zealand politics to even New Zealand investment opportunities. By interacting with my family instead of a random stranger, I was able to get deeper and less-filtered insight which has helped me better understand New Zealand culture. 

Works Cited

ENZ. (n.d.). House Prices in Auckland. Retrieved January 16, 2016, from http://www.enz.org/house-prices-auckland.html

Nichols, L. (n.d.). House growth in Auckland outstripping salaries. Retrieved January 16, 2016, from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11434556

Statistics. (n.d.). Profile and summary reports. Retrieved January 16, 2016, from http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports.aspx

Te Ara. (n.d.). History of Immigration. Retrieved January 16, 2016, from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/history-of-immigration/page-17

Te Ara. (n.d.). Te Ara Encyclopedia of New ZealandChinese Gold Miners. Retrieved January 16, 2016, from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/1365/chinese-gold-miners

Restaurant Culture: Tipping and Organics

Since coming to New Zealand, I have noticed an apparent focus on organically grown food. Additionally, I’ve found myself trying a variety of different restaurants, and one location in particular allowed me to have a pleasant conversation regarding both the popularity of organically grown food in New Zealand, and what it is like to work in such a space.

Federal & Wolfe is a café not far from our hotel. Upon visiting their website, one is greeted by the slogan “Amazing organic food made fresh daily.” I can definitely attest to this sentiment. Of the three times that I have eaten there, all three of my meals have been absolutely delicious.

During my third visit to the café, I was lucky enough to have a brief discussion with one of the servers. I was already somewhat aware of the focus on organically grown food, after seeing advertisements for farmers markets and going to one in Wellington. Additionally, I knew from their website that the café specialized in organically grown food.

I began the discussion by inquiring about the food. To my pleasure, the server confirmed that all of the ingredients in the food are grown organically, and somewhat locally. I believe she said that all of them were grown in New Zealand. The success of such an establishment is definitely not surprising when one considers that in 2015 a leading organic food producer in New Zealand, called Ceres, doubled in size over the course of the last five years (Wimley paragraph 2).

I was also curious about the practice of tipping. During the past two summers, I have worked at a seafood restaurant, where I made the vast majority of my money through tips. When I brought this up to the server she laughed and said that the practice of tipping had always made her uncomfortable. According to her tipping is more common on the North Island, particularly on the in Auckland, than on the South Island, where she is originally from. It would seem that her statements where essentially accurate based both upon my personal observations, and a New Zealand Herald survey.

Prior to my arrival in Auckland, I cannot recall seeing a tip jar in any of the restaurants that I visited. However, after visiting a few coffee shops and restaurants, I saw that things operated a bit differently here than in Wellington or Rotorua. In the aforementioned in newspaper article, the writer establishes that of 573 servers based in Auckland the average number of tips received in a week was fifty-three. In Wellington and Wairapapa the average was thirty-six tips among the 244 wait staffers surveyed. Additionally, in towns on the South Island, such as Canterbury the average was 26 tips per week (Morton paragraphs 4-5). As one can plainly see, the prevalence of the practice increases as one moves northward. So it seems appropriate that the author of article has dubbed Auckland the “tipping capital” (Morton paragraph 1).

When I asked if she made a “living wage” she replied that she did, which was good to hear. She asked in reply to my question something to the effect of: “What do you do if you don’t have a good night/don’t make many tips.” My response was something to the effect of “You’re kind of screwed.” At any rate, she seemed just as surprised and confused by the United States’ practice of making restaurant employees subsist on their tips, as I expressed at hearing that they did not receive tips. The living wage is something of a matter of contention in New Zealand and a recent article, also from the New Zealand Herald mentions that the living wage in New Zealand as of 2015 is estimated to be $19.25 (Collins paragraph 1). In addition, one-third of New Zealanders make less than the living wage (Collins paragraph 11).

It was nice to hear from my server at Federal & Wolfe, she and I ended up having a very pleasant discussion about the tipping procedures in New Zealand. While she did say that receiving tips made her uncomfortable, she also said that she usually saved them in a jar so that she could treat children to desserts, or help people out when they come up short at the register. She also said that she and her co-workers often divide up the tip jar at the end of the night and go drinking together, which definitely sounds like a good use of extra money.

Overall, Federal & Wolfe proved to be a place that allowed me to explore two aspects of New Zealand restaurant culture, tipping and organic food. If you’re ever in Auckland and need a bite to eat, I definitely recommend trying out Federal & Wolfe!

Works Cited

Collins, Simon. “Living wage estimate rises to $19.25/hour.” New Zealand Herald 24 Feb. 2015. Web. <http://bit.ly/1RMuFhf>

Morton, Jamie. “When diners hit tipping point: Where Kiwis are most likely to pay extra.” New Zealand Herald 9 Feb. 2015. Web. <http://bit.ly/1U1CDAo>

Wimley, Alexandra. “New Zealand organics sees unprecedented growth.” Element Magazine 21 Sept. 2015. Web. <http://bit.ly/205Js7I>

All Blacks

As a lover of fashion and the stories that clothing can tell about a culture, I arrived in Auckland curious to see the types of fashion and style that Kiwis in this busy city would sport. In our class session on culture, we discussed how clothing would be one of the outer layers, or observable realities of a culture (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner 21). During my time here, I have noticed that Kiwis often dress in darker colors, particularly black. It is not surprising then that Lorde, a famous Kiwi pop singer, is known for wearing dark clothing (Duboff). I have also noticed that Kiwi style has a unique edginess to it that fashion in the United States seems to lack. Much of the clothing appears to be vintage, highlighting the value of sustainability that many Kiwis share.  In my opinion, Kiwi fashion has a way of looking good while being grungy and less put-together.  

In browsing through Metro, an Auckland-based lifestyle magazine, I came across an article entitled “Auckland’s Best Dressed 2015.” I loved the creativity that the Kiwis featured put into their outfits and the eclectic mix of pieces that they chose to pair together. I was struck by how different the fashion is from a similar article in the Washingtonian magazine I had read on the plane ride to New Zealand, entitled “These are the 10 Best-Dressed People in Washington Right Now.” The stylish Washingtonians in the article wear polished, fitted outfits with bright colors and patterns (Zlotnick). Kiwis, on the other hand, wear more muted colors. Layers also seem to be popular, as many of these best-dressed Kiwis are wearing vests or multiple jackets. One Kiwi in the article, Mika Haka, wears a bone earring as a nod to his Maori culture (Hendrikse).  

To find out more about everyday Kiwi fashion and style, I took to the streets of Auckland and chatted with some clothing store shoppers. I asked two university-age students how they would describe their personal styles, and one said his style was more androgynous, while another said her style is an eclectic mix of vintage and new clothing. One of the students added that young Aucklanders are particularly fashionable and image-conscious. I interviewed another university-aged Kiwi and asked her if she feels there is a specific style that young New Zealanders have. She said that most people do not wear bright colors (even during the summer), and they mostly stick to wearing muted colors such as white, grey, and black. After noticing how much black New Zealanders tend to wear, I asked six different Kiwis what their favorite clothing color is to wear. The unanimous answer was black. Finally, I asked some Kiwis how they felt about tattoos. It turned out that most of the people I interviewed have tattoos, and they said that tattoos are openly accepted in New Zealand. One person also said that tattoos do not have the stigma that they may have in other countries. Another person mentioned that many New Zealanders get tattoos, such as ones of a silver fern, to show national pride. Others get tattoos to show pride in one’s heritage. For instance, many Maori people have tattoos featuring Maori symbols and designs.  

All of this information I gathered about New Zealanders being fans of wearing black made me curious about how this trend originated. It is a bit ironic that people living in a place that has such moderate year-round temperatures would wear so much black clothing. Why not lighter colors? Interestingly enough, I found an article about this from the New Zealand Herald entitled “New Zealand’s Dark Obsession.” According to the article, black’s popularity in New Zealand roots back to the colonial days and was a sign of being higher class. People who had not done as well financially wore more natural fabrics, such as light-colored canvases. Cloth in black was more expensive and more time-consuming and costly to wash. For the Maori people, the color black also has importance, as it symbolizes the void that existed before the world  began. Fast-forward to the 1920s, and black became an even more popular color for New Zealanders to wear. Many New Zealanders had lost loved ones during World War I and wore black as a sign of mourning. In addition, Coco Chanel’s trend of the little black dress began to catch on as well as the trend of the black flapper dress. During the 1990s, Karen Walker, arguably one of the most prominent Kiwi fashion designers, was inspired by  a power crisis in Auckland and designed an all-black collection. The collection was so popular that many other Kiwi fashion designers followed suit (Hill). Even now, black is still as popular here as ever. An article about New Zealand’s recent 2015 fashion week sums it up best: “black is still the new black”  (Knight). Perhaps the term "all blacks" can be used to describe more than just the New Zealand rugby team-- it is the state that New Zealand fashion has been in since colonization.

Duboff, Josh. "Queen of Darkness: A Journey Through Lorde’s Style Evolution." Vanity Fair 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/01/lorde-style-black-goth>.

Hendrikse, India. "Auckland’s Best Dressed 2015." Metro 20 Aug. 2015. Web. 12 Jan. 2016. <http://www.metromag.co.nz/city-life/fashion-shopping/aucklands-best-dressed-2015/>.

Hill, Rebecca B. "New Zealand's Dark Obsession." New Zealand Herald 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Jan. 2016. <http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10787448>.

Knight, Kim. "New Zealand Fashion Week 2015: The highlights of day one." Life & Style. N.p., 26 Aug. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/fashion/71455821/New-Zealand-Fashion-Week-2015-The-highlights-of-day-one>.

Trompenaars, Fons, and Charles Hampden-Turner. Riding the Waves of Culture. London: Nicholas Brezley, 1997. 20-28. Print.

Zlotnick, Sarah. "These Are the 10 Best-Dressed People in Washington Right Now." Washingtonian 10 Sept. 2015. Web. 14 Jan. 2016. <http://www.washingtonian.com/2015/09/10/these-are-the-10-best-dressed-people-in-washington-dc-right-now/>.

Two Hemispheres, One World

From my view of Auckland from the 18^th floor of the hotel, it is sometimes difficult to believe that we are actually over 7,000 miles away from home. Leading American-based Fortune 500 firms, such as Deloitte, AIG, SAP, and Pricewaterhouse Coopers, who own massive towers, dominate the city skyline shared with the famous Auckland Sky Tower. Down below, it is almost impossible to wander through this alluring city and not notice an American presence. Burger King, Subway, and Starbucks are scattered around every street corner. However, one aspect that has continuously surprised me along this trip, whether we are in Auckland, Wellington or Rotorua, is the relative depth of knowledge the locals seem to have of America and its characteristics.

Although I am from Baltimore, MD, I always respond with “Washington, D.C.” when I am asked where I am from during our visit. I simply selected a location closest to my home, a place I assume the locals would possibly have some idea of its location in the United States. I initially never expected any follow-up questions to my response, simply because I thought the United States is just so far away. Imagine my surprise when I have received follow-up replies such as: “Is that the home of the Wizards NBA team?” or “Heard the flowers are beautiful there in spring, almost as beautiful as those Yellowstone National Park” or “That’s south of Philadelphia, right?” The depth of knowledge made me ponder why I did not know nearly as much about New Zealand before this trip as they did about the United States.

I possess a high interest in rugby and was planning to interview a local about sporting culture but little did I know that that person would actually approach me. I was browsing for an All Blacks jersey when a shopkeeper approached me. He immediately asked if I was American and I responded, “yes,” and asked how he knew. He replied that I was looking at a basketball-style All Blacks jersey and that the “only [people]” who prefer that style were Americans. I asked him if there were any other American sports he preferred and he gave me a short “no.” “Not even American NFL football?” I asked. He replied, “No way, that game is for [cowards]. Not enough hitting and jawing.” Maintaining an open mind, I did not take offense and surprisingly even found myself agreeing with some of his points as he proceeded to describe why rugby was “better.” Being a NFL super-fan, I asked if he knew of Jarryd Hayne, an ex-rugby star who was the first rugby player to make an NFL roster for the San Francisco 49ers. He replied “Of course! He always gave us a lot of trouble in the World Cup!”

 Our conversation quickly turned to an in-depth discussion about how the NFL was actually influencing rugby in New Zealand. From better-concentrated, high-protein meal plans, to sleeping patterns, and even down to what kind of gel is used on the player’s hands, all of these being things I discovered were recently adapted by the New Zealand rugby teams. I asked him on the flip side if Jarryd Hayne had brought anything to the NFL and he said “hitting form” and ball carrying security, the former posing a serious issue in the NFL because of high concussion rates. After almost 30 minutes had passed, I unfortunately had to cut short our didactic conversation in order to attend dinner.

My biggest takeaway from our conversation was not as much discussing “NFL vs. rugby” but rather realizing the mutualistic relationship potentially shared between the two sports. Rugby player conditioning had improved from the adoption of an NFL diet, while Jarryd Hayne had helped reduce the number of concussions. A previous pluralistic relationship, which had seen the individual growth of the two sports on opposite hemispheres, was now slowly starting to become multicultural. The sporting practices were mixing and melding as they learn from one another in order to optimize player performance.     

During our visit with Damon Salesa, a professor at the University of Auckland, we learned that many Pacific Islanders “love the United States,” for example, noting that it is “very honorable [for many] to serve” in the Military. Their overall “love” or “patriotism” could potentially explain their interest in the culture but I have realized over the past 2 weeks that simply knowing facts about another place is not as useful if that information is not shared to build relationships. The knowledge that I have gained from this study abroad, whether it relates to the people, culture, history or places, are all experiences I intend to share back in the United States in order to advance attention and appreciation. In the words of our guide from the Te Papa Tongarewa museum: we visit New Zealand not “representing the United States” but rather “are the United States.”  

Kiwi Identity

If there is one question important to consider for a class on the history and culture of New Zealand, then that question follows: what is New Zealand’s national “identity.”  It’s an interesting question because the very existence of such an identity cannot be assumed in the first place.  That is to say, such an identity functions as a kind of political myth whose type is very familiar to people from the United States, but I always wonder how common such myths are in other countries, and whether they are as prevalent in the popular consciousness as they are in America.

Now, to explain what I mean about national identity and political myths, let’s start by looking at the U.S. as an example.  I think of the U.S. as having a very strong political myth—“strong” referring to its power and historical relevance as a narrative—and most American’s have some fairly coherent idea of what this myth is.  It is a narrative that idealizes a rugged kind of individualism (think cowboys and frontiersman) and focuses on individual freedoms, like what our tour guide talked about during the walk through Aukland.  This myth features a reverence towards history and the founding fathers, and within the world-view perpetuated by this myth, America is placed as the center-piece and primary vanguard of the long history of western-styled democracy.  These ideas, along with an emphasis on Puritan work ethic, are more or less the components of the American political myth, out of which the American “identity” is born.  This myth is constantly reinforced, reproduced and exported as a kind of cultural meme through media, the government, et cetera, and because of this, it has gained global significance.

All of this is to say that American-ness is a broadly well-understood concept, and coming from this background, I’m interested to know how the concept of New Zealand-ness compares, or if such a concept exists at all.

And I can see reason to doubt the existence of a coherent New Zealand political myth.  As we talked about in class, it’s only a relatively recent phenomenon that the Pakeha New Zealanders started referring to New Zealand as their home country, rather than Great Britain.  In addition, I remember our Aukland tour guide lamenting how Kiwi’s didn’t care much about their own history and connected more with Britain’s, which is certainly different from how it is in the U.S..  But before I move on to discuss New Zealand’s political myth, I don’t think it’s necessarily a positive or a negative that a nation actually has one.  After all, these myths are essentially fictions, and important only in the cause of understanding how people’s political identities are formed.

But moving on, after staying here for while I can say with confidence that New Zealand certainly has its own political myth, and therefore there exists and distinct Kiwi identity.  This view was reinforced in Waiheke, where I met an older gentleman from Aukland who was touring the island.  As is common in this country, my talk with him came as a result of an aggressive and welcoming politeness on his part, as he immediately recognized us as a group of Americans and started telling us about the island.  What specifically interested me in our conversation was, when I asked him if he lived on the island, he said, “no, but I like to be someone who’s conscious of his country.”  I was surprised by his immediate self-identification with the land in an almost nationalistic sense.  It was clear that he had a lot of pride in his country, and specifically he seemed to identify his love for the land with that pride.  Referring to this, he went on to say, “you don’t have much of that in America anymore, do you?”  I wasn’t sure what he meant, but his statement inspired me to ask him what it means to be a New Zealander as opposed to an American.

To this, he immediately replied to the effect that the national identity of New Zealand is based on language and a connection to the land.  By “language,” he meant the Maori language, and he showed a clear respect for the country’s Maori heritage.  I found this interesting, because American patriotism seems very divorced from its own indigenous heritage.  And when he talked about a connection to the land, it was extremely reminiscent of Calder’s essay in the sense that this connection operates as a revered symbol of national identity.

So based on these two concepts: the Maori language and the symbolic connection between Man and “nature,” one can see the makings of a New Zealand political myth appearing in both written and anecdotal accounts.  What’s more, this myth seems to be understood broadly—like the American one—in the sense that everywhere you can find the Maori language in writing, and everywhere you can see a reverence for the natural world manifested as modern environmentalism.