I realised that other than Sydney Harbour Bridge linking Australia to NZ and that we don’t have any cars (both which seem very farfetched), I don’t know too many foreigner misconceptions about NZ, even having lived in many other countries myself. In my experience NZ was often more of a mystery/unknown/unimportant country on the backside of the the world. In recent years, I guess more people know about NZ thanks to the movie industry etc.
So tell me what your perceptions are of New Zealand (I’m happy to let you know if I think they are on the money or not and I’m sure the other kiwis on here will chime in).
Um. . . Impressions. . . good mountain biking, some sheep, an odd relationship between whites and maori, grumpy about being mistaken for Aussies, odd wildlife, a strange film culture (Tongan Ninja? Navigator? Braindead? Meet the Feebles? Bad Taste (ok, those last 3 are of a kind) . . . What are you people ON?!), small cute cities, climate sort of like British Columbia or SE Alaska, and. . . Katherine Mansfield’s great. And it’s overrun with orcs, of course.
All shattered after I visited there. Prior to that I thought it was more or less exactly like Australia, which I had also never been to, so I’m not even sure why I thought that.
it’s a couple of islands about 1500 miles E of Australia
they speak English
their sporting passion is Rugby Union; the team is known as the All Blacks and their symbol is a silver fern; the top players from Fiji, Samoa and one other Pacific island* play for NZ because the club money is far better; they have a Maori team which plays touring sides
they also play cricket (Daniel Vettori is their best spinner) and Rugby League
‘The Lord of the Rings’ was filmed on locations throughout NZ and a company*founded by Peter Jackson did the special effects
Just a few things I’ve gleaned (probably erroneously) from the collective consciousness:[ul][li]Dramatic natural beauty (mountains and such)[]Sheep everywhere[]Deeply religiousSomewhat insular and a bit “backward”[/ul][/li]No offense intended. I speak from a position of ignorance and these are just the first things that popped into my head. Also, despite it being surrounded by water, I can’t imagine what a beach in New Zealand would look like… almost to the point that I can’t imagine New Zealand having beaches at all. Weird, huh?
Beautiful scenery, much like the way I imagine Rocky Mountain Canada
Plenty of rain, lakes, and rivers (see above)
Climate significantly colder than most of Australia; don’t expect people go to the beach much
Major cities not too big, clean and attractive, with some cultural resources but not like huge world-class cities (think Vancouver).
Everyone speaks English and I would probably think they were from Australia, until I’m told otherwise. Though even there I’ve been known to mistake an Englishman for an Australian.
What I know:
LOTR was filmed there
The aboriginal people are the Maoris
There used to be giant birds (Moas) there, until relatively recent times.
Most people thus far are somewhat close.
The things I must take acception to are:
[QUOTE=recessiveMeme]
[li]Deeply religiousSomewhat insular and a bit “backward”[/list][/li][/QUOTE]
Along with Australia we have a vast majority of Athiests compared to religous people and we have total separation of state and education - so ‘deeply religious’ is a bit of a laugh.
The NZ of the 50s may have been a bit backward, but I don’t think NZ has ever been insular. Bare in mind our TV, News and Film is a combination of US, Britain, Australia and our own and we have a large number of new immigrants.
There are certain areas such as (off the top of my head) honey research, meat research, diary production, IT, film animation where we lead the world, so only ‘backward’ in some areas (as are most countries I have lived in).
This one surprised me too. I mean, just about everything else mentioned in this thread might have some basis in reality, but deeply religious??? I just can’t see it. Sure, there are plenty of Christians around, but as a society we’re about as secular as you’d expect a modern-day liberal democracy to be.
recessiveMeme (or anybody else who perceives NZ this way), I’m very curious now: can you think of anything in particular that might have contributed to this perception?
Profound natural beauty
Remote
Hate being grouped with or mistaken as Australians
Lots of sheep
Peter Jackson is the patron saint of the promotion of tourism
Well, sheep, of course.
Mountainous
Has a funny little bird for a state critter
Giant squid in the vicinity
Jet boats up shallow rivers
Usually offered as a free stopover on most fares to Australia (well, at least they used to be.)
Native people stick their tongues out a lot.
Sheep, rain, mountains, aborigones, rocky beaches, and Australian-like accents (that I’m sure are quite distinct from Australian accents to people who live there). In terms of movies my notions are probably informed more by The Piano than by the LOTR trilogy.
I’ve been to New Zealand and I liked it a lot. It reminds me a little of England, a little of southeast Alaska, and a lot of itself. I want to go back.
Beautiful, with Maori who sing like angels (a couple groups sang here) and people whose accent can be almost unintelligible. I really want to visit one day. Whale Rider added to some of my impressions.
