Heavenlyscent

Hi
Someone asked me this week in a post how I could describe New Zealand as Backward. Can people help me explain as I have pondered on the subject for days


No choice in the supermarkets, if u want to home back u r ok, want a convenience meal forget it!
Education is appaling, my opinion of having 4 kids in the UK system then NZ
No expectations for kids to leave school and go to University
The people are NOT intelligent and to get an intelligent conversation is near on impossible
Health and Safety is a joke
Music is mostly american rap and NZ follow american culture
Wages are do not match expectations, therefore lifestyle you have previously had is no where in sight
The Kiwi's do not want progress especially in all the farms I visited
NZ is not safer than the UK in our experience
Drugs are a big acceptable part of their culture
The biggest suicide rate in teenagers is in NZ as the pressure on kids to go out and work to bring in money for the family, is a bigger pressure than getting a good education in the UK
College courses are few and far between
Being so far away from other countries, it has been left behind
The fact that there is no structure to society is very hard to work with, especially as the UK is so structured
Lots of Adults in NZ believe in being in gangs, which their kids follow.

This is not a england vs nz post, but I was asked my opinion and I am sure there are lots of people out there who can help me try to explain how lots of Brits find NZ backward

Heavenlyscent

should have wrote home bake in first line sorry

spankysparkle

where do you live? some of the stuff you have mentioned in your post sound like it isparticular to certain areas?

crap coffee

so f***ing True.. That's one of the big reasons - I became very interested in NZ drug policy which I've been working on. I think it's just bloody wrong. crappy law.

well .. accidentally I met a young guy (about my age) who is using drug daily....I got shocked at first when I found out... and talked to quite a few people about it..but... Noone (Kiwi) seem to think its wrong? they think it's ok to use drug here... OMG.

Heavenlyscent

ROTORUA

Heavenlyscent

I was also so shocked how acceptable DRUGs are in NZ especially after bringing 4 teenagers out with me.

spankysparkle

I have a feeling that perhaps some of the issues you mentioned are localised and not NZ wide. I'm sure other posters will comment on that. You also seem to generalise a lot...

127luton

Hmmm.... a very interesting and contraversial thread indeed!
Especially the suicidal /teenager comment. Its recently been highlighted in a worldwide longitudinal study, that in fact the most 'unhappy' and those suffering from isolation and depressive episodes in the worlds top richest countries.. hmm turned out to be the UK. One must be aware of how data and stats are collected, on the balance of things alot of similar drug cultures are widespread across many many countries, as too the influences upon teens in regard to Americanism.
However ... in fairness.. you are of course expressing your personal experience and attitude to what you find.....
Although i myself.. having some experience... have found New Zealand to be different... but not backward..

Berni

pinkkristen

I know a kiwi who is now living in the uk (and quite happily), he along with a lot of his friends and family smoked weed daily even infront of the kids etc! They see it as normal daily life, the police in his area (according to him) turned a blind eye - same with drink driving. Also, swearing was totally normal to use the f word infront of kids. When he came to live in the UK - twas forced upon him that there would no use of that language infront of our family's children!

BTW - now he's living in the UK, he has changed his life around, doesn't smoke any of the naughty stuff, swearing is now at a minimal and runs his own business!

That is only my experience of a kiwi and i'm sure like anywhere everyones different, but he gave me an honest account of life there and a lot of what people say about NZ is what he has experienced.

He is quite happy in the UK and likes the chances (educationally the most) it gives his daughter.

Justcol

What a load of bollocks

There is as much choice as the population can support,

My eldest son has returned to the uk having completed his final years
education in NZ and will easily qualify for a uk uni place.
My youngest son is doing very very well at school, he receives excellents
for most of his school work and is looking forward to going to uni in 3 years time.
Both my boys were uk grammar school pupils so were some what more
advanced than most of their comprehensive school piers (sorry but its true)
My youngest prefers nz teaching styles and finds it more enriching and rewarding.

Your listening to the wrong radio stations, i dont like rap so i listen to indie music stations.
Are you trying to suggest that uk music isnt influenced by US artists? if so
your being very blinkered for the sake of proving your point.

Most come here for a change in lifestyle, not get rich. If you didnt know wages
were lower you didnt do your research before you arrived.

Drugs are prevalent only in certain aspects of society, i know one person who
smokes weed occasionally, i knew many more who did in the uk.

I dont know shit about farming so i cant comment but if the farmers are happy
with the way they produce things then why change it? just because uk farmers
do things differently doesnt mean the kiwis have to follow suit. I would say there
are more successful farmers down here than in the uk where all farmers do is
complain about not enough handouts.

There are jut as many college courses available here as anywhere else, i can study
just about anything i want at wintec or waikato uni as long as i qualify for the course.
If i dont there are courses to help me study to the required level.

Being so far away from other countries has meant it has retained its own identity.

My son happily peddled off into town tonight to get himself a pizza, he would not
have been safe to do that in the uk.
When i left the uk there was another dead teenager on the news every few days
these deaths were the results of street gangs roaming around causing havoc.

So the kiwis being less structured is a bad thing is it. What do you want 1984?

You live in RotaVegas what do you expect, try moving to a more civilised area
of the country and you'll see things are different.
Yes some things down here are very different to the UK but different isnt always a bad thing.
You sound like you cannot cope with different and are dealing with it by being very negative and blaming kiwis for just being kiwis.
You move to someone elses country and then bitch because its not the same
as the one you left, how bloody arrogant.
If you dont like it give air new zealand a call its only $1300 for a one way ticket

spankysparkle

agreed 100%

Heavenlyscent

LOL I will answer all comments. U obviously CANNOT READ THAT IS WHY U FIT IN!!!!! I NO LONGER LIVE IN NZ
You didn't like my comments, you do not have to it is a free country, I expressed my opinion as I found it!

spankysparkle

actually, i asked you where you live, not lived, and you said Rotorua!

Stormer999

"The Kiwi's do not want progress especially in all the farms I visited"
The UK farmers progressed to feeding cows to cows! We ended up with CJD that is still killing people here, 75 last year giving a grand total of 1500 so far, the cows that ate cows ended up with BSE....Mad Cows Disease......progress?

pinkkristen

Funnily enough the person that i mentioned came from Rotarua!! Must be more of a lifestyle thing there. As i said it was totally normal for him and people around him to live like that. He's a great guy and a fab dad - so some good came outa him!