deboltz

are there any? if there are what are they?

just wondering as i have a friend that moved to the US and he reckons that the simliarities are that they speak english and thats it

im hoping to move to NZ in the future so im trying to find out as much as i can before i go

binman

Seriously suggest you don't take further advice from your friend that moved to the US. NZ is not a British outpost in the South Pacific as many would believe. As a starting point I suggest you at least read some NZ history and in particular the Treaty of Waitangi.Cheers binman

deboltz

huh?

i have thanks, but im talking about small day to day things

(my mate moved to kentucky in the US, and what shocked him was that everyone seems to have a gun and there is a church on every street)

binman

Suggest that you honestly come over to NZ first and have a serious look around. It is not everyones cup of tea, I understand that 50% of Brits will eventually leave either to return to UK or move to Australia. As for guns it is believed that there are 1,000,000 in the country and for a country of just over 4,000,000 that I would imagine is quite a high ratio. It is something I am very aware of in my line of work. Cheers binman

deboltz

i will come over beforehand, probably on my own to scout it out for a few weeks

im trying to collate as much info as i can beforehand

Avid

The answer to your first question is yes. I don't fancy spending an hour or so answering the second one, sorry. Though I'd say, off the top of my head, the biggest cultural difference is that there is no 'whingeing' in New Zealand!

You are probably best off just reading as many threads on this forum as you can. The negative posts tend to reveal more about culture clash/shock than the positive ones, I'd say, but both are equally valid.

southerner

Why, do you see lots of empty ammo packets in the rubbish?

southerner

I still maintain that NZ of all the countries in the world is culturally the closest you get to Britain. However, it is still different enough in many ways that some peeps find it surprising.

The more obvious differences are:
- low density of population, and all that entails
- more outdoors recreational opportunities
- people are laidback (perhaps too much)
- relative lack of history

mazi

My experience was that there are a wealth of cultural differences, but like Avid, I'm not sure I want to go into them all at this late hour. To be rather general about it - I found, like your friend in the US, the similarity to be the English language and that was it. BUT that may depend on where exactly you're coming from - for example - I think NZ is far more suited to people from the North of England or Scotland as it is a bit more 'open' that way. People turning up at my house unannounced drove me mad, and I really don't undertsand the whole 'open house' thing - or people coming in and turning the kettle on - but I am the archetypal Southerner (of England I mean) and that does make me a bit more reserved in some ways.

mazi

That's not to say either that all Southerners wouldn't like it there or get on fine - just that I think I match sterotype of one who is very private and doesn't like talking to strangers on a train or having my peace disturbed at home by unsolicited house calls.

tootsie

NZ is nothing like Britain, or England for that matter. Ok, English is spoken (not very well either) but it really is a Pacific island and the affliliations are more with the other PIs, Asia and Australia.

Britain is perceived to be too far away to be of any importance to lots of New Zealanders and many seem to have a negative opinion about our culture and outlook on life anyway.

You really do have to live and work in NZ for a while to realise how different it is.

Apple13

Are the cultural differences between living in Glasgow to Chelmsford? How about Swansea to Manchester? Or Cambridge to Dundee?

If there are these sorts of differences seen just within one island, how could there not be cultural diffences between NZ and the UK?