Maz

Just in general... please tell me it's minimal.

poppets

i would say yes its minimal, except we also have the dollar
(i'm sure someone will argue the toss with me though, but i think its as removed from the US as you can get - from what little i've seen of US)
but you'll see for yourselfs in a few weeks

Am Loolah

And obviously NZ have Maccie D's and it's still crap even there!

Maz

Oh vomit... well I guess it can't be perfect. Actually we do a really good job of staying away from junk food, even though my MIL would probably gladly see us all obese, the way she goes for all the junky crap. *vom*

Maz

The bank notes aren't all the same size and colour, too, are they? Drives me batty here!

That's great that it's nice and far removed woot! Of course after just over 11 years here, I'm afraid I'm starting to see it as the norm, though I do fight that perception!

Are the top news stories usually NZ ones?

poppets

oh yes, rest of the world is an after thought on the news, NZ always first

Maz

Good to hear!

Jack The Lad

You are really gonna have a messed up accent when you get there

Maz

Oi you! I told my parents what you and G said about my accent and they said that while I've picked up phrases, my BBC English accent is still perfectly intact, thankyouverybloodymuch. I'm picking up a Kiwi accent already with the amount of time I'm spending on the phone to down under. My phone bill is horrifying!

Jack The Lad

So is your accent

Campbells

Hi there,

Try Skype, can save you a lot of $

Cheers

danny.f

So far,the main influence is televisual,but that's worldwide anyway. Apart from the bloke in Farmers,in Porirua,who looked as lost an American as I've seen since the President,there's none!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!!

Campbells

Yeah, so like if you umm, like, umm, like yeah, like, umm mean American umm TV like, watz up wit chu bru, u like not like, like Americans or do you like, like um Americans?

I cut my ariel cable to our TV about 3 years ago and discovered “life” without the haunted fish tank (TV). We have a big screen LCD but don’t have it connected to the ariel socket.

We do what we call “selective” viewing. In other words:

No adverts (except the movie trailers).
We watch what we want to watch
When we want to watch
Our life is not planned around the TV guide
We try to be outdoors rather than indoors (great lifestyle in NZ)


Not saying that we are not exposed to the same stuff rather we “try” to filter it!

The times I have been away on business and of course end-up in a hotel with Sky TV and if and when I have turned the fish tank on, I have ended up flicking through umpteen channels to try to find something worth while and end up switching the thing off.

I’d rather rent a DVD and watch it on the laptop…….

I spent three months in Greece (magic place – the islands) and I used to chuckle at the Americans with their bottle of Jack in one hand and their “let’s go” guides in the other. You know if it is not in the book then I am not interested.

I would say that most Kiwis prefer to chase the modest life and have a life rather than the Hollywood air-head scene.

Give me the Kiwis any day MATE!

Cheers

happynz

The hip-hop sub-culture here -- it's rather large, really, you'll hear it (even when you don't want to) -- has people modeling their accents and behaviour on the scumbag hip-hoppers from Brooklyn, the Bronx and South Central LA. Many adverts on TV cater to these sad idiots. Heaps of graffiti on walls and fences, even here in Christchurch. Bizzaro cultural disconnect going on... *sigh* It sucks.

Campbells

$500 car
$1000 bling bling wheels
$2000 exhaust
$5000 sound system - all bass
$ 20 baseball hat that is 3 sizes too big and looks totally stupid......

This is all okay, it’s the attitude that worries me. White boy wanna be rapper I think it is called?

Yup, NZ needs to get a handle on it otherwise we are going to get all the other stuff that goes with that culture. Scary!

For a start, what about pollution - as in noise pollution?

If graffiti was the worst of that culture I would be very happy. NY in the 80s!

Let's face it, any music where the lyrics all rhyme with "bitch" are not exactly poetic!

New Zealand has been quoted to be behind the times. This can be a great advantage as we can look at the results of the timelines of other countries of this culture and stop it in it’s tracks or continue to feed them MTV, pizza and cotton wool in their prison cells. Shame, poor criminals, did the nasty policeman shout at you. Don’t worry we’ll take care of you. Here, have some more handouts……..

We have been in NZ two years and totally love it. Must admit find the amount of growing gun violence a major concern. I also find the attitude of the youths on the roads VERY aggressive and dangerous. May have to consider moving to somewhere like Singapore where crime is punishable and the youth have respect and discipline.

Personally speaking: I think it is time for a change. No more namby pamby politicians as they just talk about the issues, time for action otherwise if the rapp culture gains power they will be the ones threatening the politicians if you know what I mean?

Cheers ……..