Culture Shock: Some of the biggest differences between New Zealand and America
When I arrived in New Zealand, I can honestly say I had no clue what to expect. I did not not much about the country, the history, or the culture there. My best guess was something like a combo of Australia (which I had never been to) and Hawaii (which I had ALSO never been to). So basically, I was going in blind.
Let me start off with saying that the biggest shock was how familiar Auckland was to me. I am from Seattle originally, and everything about Auckland screamed Seattle to me. The place actually felt more familiar than San Diego despite it being in a different country. In fact, if you took away the accents and made everyone a tiny more standoffish, then I probably couldn't have told you the difference. It was consistently cloud, drizzly, and just cold enough to be winter. This almost exactly mirrors how Seattle is during the winter. They even had a Sky Tower that, while much taller, looked nearly identical to the Space Needle.
I knew it was an English-speaking country, but when I got there I quickly learned that Maori, the language of the native people, was also an official language, along with New Zealand sign language. That was one of the coolest things to me; they were respecting the native population and carrying on the language to keep the culture alive, and they were respecting the needs of disabled people as well.
Everywhere we went, most signs were in both English and Maori, and Braille was on most signs that were within arm's reach.
Another thing that shocked me were how the roads worked, both in laws and construction. Firstly, the cars drove on the opposite sides of the road. While I went in knowing that, it was still jarring when trying to cross the street. I had to look in the opposite directions in which I had the habit of looking, a habit I wasn't even aware that I possessed. On top of that, pedestrians do not have the right-of-way in New Zealand, which I figured out pretty quickly. Despite that, more cars kindly stopped and let myself and the other students cross the road than is even typical in America, at least that's what it felt like. There were also four-way cross walks, which I had never seen before in real life, and weird streets that looked like large sidewalks but still allowed cars on them.
One of the nicest shocks however was just how kind everyone was to us. Every cashier, teacher, tour guide, and random people we encountered were so friendly, just as excited to meet us as we were to meet them. It made the trip that much more amazing, and reminded me how nice people can really be, and how exciting it is to meet people from different places.
Let me start off with saying that the biggest shock was how familiar Auckland was to me. I am from Seattle originally, and everything about Auckland screamed Seattle to me. The place actually felt more familiar than San Diego despite it being in a different country. In fact, if you took away the accents and made everyone a tiny more standoffish, then I probably couldn't have told you the difference. It was consistently cloud, drizzly, and just cold enough to be winter. This almost exactly mirrors how Seattle is during the winter. They even had a Sky Tower that, while much taller, looked nearly identical to the Space Needle.
I knew it was an English-speaking country, but when I got there I quickly learned that Maori, the language of the native people, was also an official language, along with New Zealand sign language. That was one of the coolest things to me; they were respecting the native population and carrying on the language to keep the culture alive, and they were respecting the needs of disabled people as well.Everywhere we went, most signs were in both English and Maori, and Braille was on most signs that were within arm's reach.
Another thing that shocked me were how the roads worked, both in laws and construction. Firstly, the cars drove on the opposite sides of the road. While I went in knowing that, it was still jarring when trying to cross the street. I had to look in the opposite directions in which I had the habit of looking, a habit I wasn't even aware that I possessed. On top of that, pedestrians do not have the right-of-way in New Zealand, which I figured out pretty quickly. Despite that, more cars kindly stopped and let myself and the other students cross the road than is even typical in America, at least that's what it felt like. There were also four-way cross walks, which I had never seen before in real life, and weird streets that looked like large sidewalks but still allowed cars on them. One of the nicest shocks however was just how kind everyone was to us. Every cashier, teacher, tour guide, and random people we encountered were so friendly, just as excited to meet us as we were to meet them. It made the trip that much more amazing, and reminded me how nice people can really be, and how exciting it is to meet people from different places.
Comments
Post a Comment