The Kiwi Way

Jenna: One of the little things I look forward to almost every day lately is getting up in the morning and getting a glass of water from the kitchen sink. This isn't because I'm thirsty when I wake up (though I am) but because when I look up and out the window over the kitchen sink, I can just see the tip top of Mount Taranaki, usually free of clouds in the early morning. It's pretty beautiful, and it's something I can't experience at home in Sherwood Park.

The rest of my morning is usually spent trying to ignore the fact that I'm FREEZING. Seriously. The lack of central heating in New Zealand homes, combined with poor insulation, makes for a chilly morning pretty much every day outside of the months of December thru March. Breakfast is made with cold fingers, and I usually sit huddled up while I eat breakfast in front of the morning news with my flatmates, Lena and Rory. When they're in the country, that is...they've been travelling Europe since August, and we only moved in with them in July.

When we first moved to New Plymouth, I cherished being able to see the sea every day. The WorleyParsons building is right on the waterfront. If you're on Level 3 or above, you can see the mountain from one side of the building, and the sea from the other. It's pretty unreal. I still look forward to seeing the sea every day, but I've noticed lately that I already take it for granted. Only 10 months in, and I already "forget" to acknowledge the sea every day, even though I see it literally every day, twice a day, 5 days a week. I'm trying to rectify that, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is likely the case for other things in my life. I tend to stress over little things, and sometimes that means they detract from my enjoyment of the larger things. I can very easily get into a groove of "finish work, go to the gym, come home and cook dinner, clean up from dinner, do laundry/dishes/to-do list" and then the day is gone and I haven't taken the time whatsoever to appreciate where I am. But having said that, it's also part of what comes with LIVING in another country. Life and its various responsibilities don't stop when we leave home. We still have to work, we still have to clean the house, do laundry, cook dinner, and buy groceries. We can't spend every second travelling every corner of New Zealand, living the backpacker life. I think that's what a lot of people don't understand about our situation here. Every moment is not an adventure, but the year as a whole is an adventure in itself. There are some situations that we take advantage of because our time here is limited, but for the most part, we live a pretty normal life here in New Zealand. A normal Kiwi life.

Mitch touched on a lot of the things that make New Zealand, well...New Zealand. There are the obvious ones, like the way Kiwis speak, the different words and phrases they use (that we now use, too...the human brain is just a giant sponge), and how active they all seem to be. The not-so-obvious ones that we have come to notice are, but not limited to, the following:

1. Kiwis are extremely friendly (perhaps this is obvious, but I wanted to point it out). They give us Canadians a run for our money on this point. They sincerely want you to enjoy your time in their country, so they'll go out of your way to make sure that you do. One of the main reasons Mitch and I have experienced so much here in such a short time is because of our friends and their willingness to include us without hesitation. We'll be forever grateful for that.
2. Ice cream is outstanding here. Seriously. This is an important one. I love ice cream. I will miss being able to buy a $3 ice cream cone the size of my head at almost any corner store ("dairy").
3. Fish and chips...on the beach. This one might be specific to Taranaki (?) but it's a thing. And it's great. Grab FnC from takeaway shop for <$7. Head to beach. Consume. We've only actually done this once, but we'll be doing it again.
4. They go barefoot everywhere. Supermarkets, sidewalks...they just don't like shoes, or something.
5. Lots of other things I can't think of right now.

Another thing I really love about living in New Plymouth is the closeness of the community. Coming from a so-called "bedroom community", I find it extremely cool that I can have a 5-minute commute to work, where I'm in the centre of town and can go for a beer or two after work at any number of cool pubs within walking distance of my building. Since New Plymouth isn't that big, most of my coworkers can meet in the town centre for drinks, and the vast majority won't have a massively longer commute home than the next person. It creates many many more opportunities to get together outside of work, which I've found also creates a better sense of community within the workplace.

AND since work is right on the water, it means that in the summer months, an after-work swim is not only possible, but common. In the "extreme" a lunch-hour swim or even surf is not unusual. Which leads me to another point - I find a lot of people here are genuinely interested in what you like to do OUTSIDE of work. My manager here, when screening new applicants, specifically looks for what interests the person has that are non-work related in order to get an idea of how well-rounded the individual is. It's something I definitely need to work on, but I'm getting there. This probably isn't Kiwi-specific, either, but this is my blog post and I'll do what I want.

I'm sure I missed a ton of things I wanted to say, and perhaps I'll come back and edit this later to include anything I forgot, but in closing...I've learned a lot about myself in the time we've been here. I've learned to be patient, to take life a bit slower, to say "yes", and to not back down from a challenge. I've also learned, though, that life isn't REALLY that much different here. No matter where Mitch and I are, as long as we have good people around us (which we have been lucky enough to have) and open minds, life is fun and exciting. Our life in New Zealand is amazing and unique, and we are so very thankful - but life is what you make it. I'm confident that by surrounding ourselves with good people and continuing to adventure (big or small), we'll have a great life no matter where we are.

Getting Lost

Mitch: When talking to friends back home the first question I usually get is “What is life in New Zealand like?”.  I typically answer “good”, “fun”, “relaxing”, or some other vague one-word answer.  In reality, it’s impossible to translate our life here in to words, and certainly few want to listen to me ramble if I tried to do so. In my experience, listening to someone describe their every-day lifestyle is like listening to a story about a dream they had: you don’t really care, but you smile and nod anyways. 

With that being said, I will now attempt to describe every-day life here in New Zealand.

A kiwi home is cozy, but not cramped.  Clean, but not tidy.  Timeworn, but not broken.  It is a retreat in which to return after an exhausting adventure, not a castle to tower over one’s neighbor.  Nature seems to seep in through any crack and cranny; cobwebs constantly need to be swept from the corners, and rogue ants are often found exploring uncharted walls.  Every house is unique; there are no “cookie cutter” homes here.  Each building has been designed and built to fit the property, which is typically chock full of wild vegetation.  As to be expected, fern trees are quite common.  Nikau palm trees are quite common as well, which may not be unusual except they are often found near Norfolk pines, also known as “Star Pines”, or “Natural Christmas Trees”.  The contrast is quite stark. 

A Star Pine with Nikau Palms in the distance.

The citizens of New Zealand are much like their surroundings: Peaceful, comforting, beautiful, and wild.  Kiwis aren’t defined by materialistic things or societal standards.  They aren’t slaves to their jobs, nor does their profession set their social status.  Life here is not measured with money or belongings.  Kiwis strive to experience the world around them, and if there’s a better place to do so I certainly haven’t been there.   

I’m still amazed by how active people are here, and Kiwis are always keen for an adventure.  It’s common practice to head out on the weekend for a camping trip, mountain climb, ski outing, or whitebait piss-up.  Technically, whitebaiting is net fishing, but from what I’ve seen it consists of little more than sticking a net into a stream, getting drunk with buddies, and periodically collecting the whitebait from the net.  Whitebait are tiny fish that look like bean sprouts with eyes.  They’re consumed by frying them with egg to form whitebait fritters.  I’m pretty sure whitebait is a valid form of currency in New Zealand. 

Whitebait.

Much like Canada, New Zealand is a cultural mixing pot.  You don’t have to go far to find an Indian, Brit, South African, or Argentine.  There are even a few Canadians around these parts.  Many expats arrived here for work or travel and simply fell in love with the country, or a local, and never went home.  Some are spouses of kiwis that lived abroad and recruited a future kiwi.  There seems to be a unique tradition (if you can call it that) among Kiwis called an “overseas experience”, or O.E. for short.  Nearly everyone we know who resides in New Zealand has moved overseas for an extended period of time, akin to Jenna and my current situation.  Europe is the most common destination, however a handful of our friends have lived in Aussie, North America, or Africa as well.  It’s not uncommon to hear “so-and-so is away on their O.E.”, just as we would say “so-and-so is away at college”.  Since arriving here, 3 of our close friends have moved overseas for an indefinite amount of time, two to the UK and one to South Africa. 

Driving in New Zealand is an adventure in its own.  There is no such thing as a straight road here.  As the crow flies, Auckland is just over 200km from New Plymouth, but the drive takes roughly 4.5 hours.  The highway speeds are 100km/h, yet driving at such speeds is nigh impossible, as you frequently have to slow down to 20-30km/h to navigate a sharp turn, or chug your way up a hillside.  Many roads are carved through dense forest or along steep cliff faces, and highways rarely have shoulders.  This makes for an extremely scenic, but somewhat stressful, driving experience. A Canadian driver’s license is a valid license for up to 1 year, so we were able to drive upon arrival- or, rather, we were legally able to drive upon arrival.  Kiwis drive on the left-hand side of the road, and the wheel is located on the right-hand side of the vehicle, both of which are opposite from back home.  Things were hairy for the first few weeks, but we eventually got used to it. Note: Don't drive in New Zealand if you have a thing for possums.  Actually... New Zealand just isn't safe for possums in general. Don't travel to New Zealand if you are a possum. 

A typical Kiwi highway

Just as hockey is a religion in Canada, rugby is religion in New Zealand.  Rugby Union, which is a variant of rugby, is the most widely supported in New Zealand.  The Super Rugby league has five teams in New Zealand: Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders, and Hurricanes.   Other teams are based in Australia, Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Taranaki, where Jenna and I live, currently fall into the region of Chiefs supporters, which is somewhat controversial. Prior to this season Taranaki hosted Hurricanes games, therefore most locals are still Hurricanes fans, even though Taranaki no longer hosts Hurricane games. (Kind of interesting: Instead of saying "Go Chiefs/Hurricanes/etc.", Kiwis say "Go The Chiefs/Hurricanes/etc.").  Of course, the first time the Chiefs and Hurricanes met in league play it was hosted at New Plymouth’s Yarrow Stadium.  The game sold out in hours, and the atmosphere was electric.  Beer is unusually cheap at the games, and comes with a convenient carrying handle so you can tote 4 beers with one hand.  We are currently in the midst of the rugby World Cup, which the All Blacks, New Zealand’s national rugby team, are the defending champs.  Several houses, boats, and cars don an All Black flag: a black background with a silver fern spanning diagonally from corner to corner.  Thanks to CNN hysteria I occasionally find myself thinking we’ve been invaded by militant terrorists, whose flag is somewhat similar.  Australians likely fear both on roughly the same level. 

Go The All Blacks!

Yarrow Stadium, Chiefs v Hurricanes

From what I assume is due to the prominence of the All Black brand several other New Zealand sports teams feature similar names:  Their soccer team is the All Whites, cricket the Black Caps, field hockey the Black Sticks, basketball the Tall Blacks, and the badminton team the Black Cocks.  Even though they received an increase in publicity, and several condom sponsorship deals, the Black Cocks were forced to change their name due to opposition from the IBF.  All twelve supporters of the team were severely disappointed.

Jen and I were put up in a long-stay hotel when we arrived until we were able to find a place to live.  As we were walking to a property management office I noticed a sign for a local GIS company.  Seeing as I had experience in GIS, I fired them an email describing my situation.  The owner responded and asked to go for coffee.  After a chat she offered me a job doing field work for them, which involves hiking around New Zealand's back country hauling GPS and survey equipment.  The work is difficult at times, but the landscape is beautiful and serene.

Picture taken during some field work, about 5-10mins from New Plymouth.

I noticed that New Zealand was hosting the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.  New Plymouth was hosting 5 round-robin games, as well as a quarter final match.  We had drawn Brazil to play their games in New Plymouth, which was a high-profile affair, as several of their players were already multi-million dollar athletes in the Premiere League.  I had a bit of free time between field work, so I volunteered.  I received the position of "Sideline Medic", even though I had no medical training other than basic first aid.  Basically my job was to sit 5m from the pitch and watch 6 matches of soccer.  Every time a player would go down with what appeared to be an injury (hint: soccer players do this a lot) my heart would stop.  My job was to carry the stretcher, and I've seen enough videos of stretcher-bearers screwing up to know that if I messed up I would be forever YouTube famous.  Luckily all the sissy soccer players got back up in the end and I never had to cart anyone off! I met a few really cool people that were on my crew, who had just as much medical training as I did.  It was quite an amazing experience.  Seeing powerhouse Brazil lose in the final to local-favorite Hungary was pretty exceptional as well.

Sideline Medic

Shortly after settling in to New Plymouth I began looking in to playing competitive soccer.  One of Jenna’s coworkers, of whom I had never met at the time, said his club was looking for more players and that I should come out to pre-season kick-arounds.  Unfortunately Jenna’s coworker was currently committed to his cricket club, and could not make the kick-arounds, so I would have to there alone.  I’m somewhat of an introvert, so this was rather daunting, but since saying “yes” has gotten me this far, I decided to give it a shot.  The only one there when I arrived was Mark Nicholson, the Div 1 team manager.   We chatted for a bit as more players trickled in.  It was a hot day, and I was rather out of shape, but I was not expecting to be outclassed as bad as I was; everyone was quite phenomenal at soccer.  I had some catching up to do, since it had been several years since I had played high-level competitive soccer.  8 years, in fact.  Little did I know, many of the guys that showed up that day would end up being some of the greatest friends I have.  They have undoubtedly helped shape my New Zealand adventure in to the joyous experience that is has become.  

FC Western Div 1

I will miss a lot about this country when I return to Canada.  The hills, the beaches, the ocean without the ocean smell, the wine, the small-town personalities, even the sheep.  But I will miss the people most of all.

So, what is life in New Zealand like? "Adventurous."