Why is it.....
Jul 14th 2010, 9:01 am
#31
Near the outer fringe
Joined: Apr 2010
Location: Porirua
Posts: 466
Re: Why is it.....
OK. I'm interested to read more about this .
What is it that you are aware of that I am not?
For a basic background about me. I've lived here in NZ for 6 years now. There is a fair mix of all sorts of peoples around me and I mix with all of them. I have ears , eyes and I listen.
What is it that you are aware of that I am not?
For a basic background about me. I've lived here in NZ for 6 years now. There is a fair mix of all sorts of peoples around me and I mix with all of them. I have ears , eyes and I listen.
I mean that if you have grown up with people and gone to school with them and lived in a community all your life, then you know when they are being really racist, and you know when they hold grudges for different reasons. You recognise the attention seekers and the grandstanders. You have a longer perspective regarding how people have become more radical or more mellow over time. You are more likely to know when people are joking, or when they are half serious!
I would think that it takes a lot of time as an immigrant to build the same level of background knowledge - if you ever can. People will naturally interact with you differently if they perceive you as being an 'outsider' so it's doubly hard to get an unfiltered viewpoint.
That doesn't mean you can't mix and it doesn't mean you can't understand things. It just means that some things have to be lived to be understood and that takes time.
YMMV
WP
P.S. Having just seen your post in another thread... How long would I have to live in Bournemouth before I knew as much about it as you do? As a northerner I think you would be giving people from Poole more credit for local knowledge than me for quite a number of years regardless of how observant I am!
Last edited by JohnThePom; Jul 14th 2010 at 9:07 am. Reason: Added P.S.
Jul 14th 2010, 10:20 am
#33
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Joined: Apr 2006
Location: Rangiora
Posts: 1,201
Re: Why is it.....
Geography - a 1000 nautical miles further from Oz, another month at sea (in a leaky boat), less resources, a harsher climate.............
I am constantly amazed that NZ has got as far as it has in so short a time! I drove round the Lees Valley at the weekend - absolutely amazing that people actually live there and farm there. Yeah sure in the UK there would probably be a motorway through it - but is that progress?
NZs doing pretty bloody well under the circumstances and we don't know how lucky we are!
I am constantly amazed that NZ has got as far as it has in so short a time! I drove round the Lees Valley at the weekend - absolutely amazing that people actually live there and farm there. Yeah sure in the UK there would probably be a motorway through it - but is that progress?
NZs doing pretty bloody well under the circumstances and we don't know how lucky we are!
Jul 14th 2010, 10:48 am
#34
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Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: bottom of the world
Posts: 4,533
Re: Why is it.....
You say that as though we're still reliant on wooden ships.
The trip accrss the tasman takes a couple of hours in a plane
a week at best in a crago ship and is instant via telecomunications.
I'm thinking its all down to the people who live here being frightened
of change.
The trip accrss the tasman takes a couple of hours in a plane
a week at best in a crago ship and is instant via telecomunications.
I'm thinking its all down to the people who live here being frightened
of change.
Jul 14th 2010, 10:53 am
#35
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Nelson Bays/Abel Tasman NZ- my Utopia
Posts: 632
Re: Why is it.....
Geography - a 1000 nautical miles further from Oz, another month at sea (in a leaky boat), less resources, a harsher climate.............
I am constantly amazed that NZ has got as far as it has in so short a time! I drove round the Lees Valley at the weekend - absolutely amazing that people actually live there and farm there. Yeah sure in the UK there would probably be a motorway through it - but is that progress?
NZs doing pretty bloody well under the circumstances and we don't know how lucky we are!
I am constantly amazed that NZ has got as far as it has in so short a time! I drove round the Lees Valley at the weekend - absolutely amazing that people actually live there and farm there. Yeah sure in the UK there would probably be a motorway through it - but is that progress?
NZs doing pretty bloody well under the circumstances and we don't know how lucky we are!
I am so glad that the NZIS allowed us to become residents of these two beautiful, piffling little South Pacific islands, whom are regarded by many to be 20-30 years behind US of A and Europe,
YET________ managed to steer a sound course through the financial chaos experienced by the 'Western Economies".
I only hope that NZ government continues to follow its own individual course and not copy US of A or UK et al. Rather see the many mistakes they have made and avoid doing the same!
Jul 14th 2010, 11:26 am
#36
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Apr 2006
Location: Rangiora
Posts: 1,201
Re: Why is it.....
You say that as though we're still reliant on wooden ships.
The trip accrss the tasman takes a couple of hours in a plane
a week at best in a crago ship and is instant via telecomunications.
I'm thinking its all down to the people who live here being frightened
of change.
The trip accrss the tasman takes a couple of hours in a plane
a week at best in a crago ship and is instant via telecomunications.
I'm thinking its all down to the people who live here being frightened
of change.
A globe is really the only way to see how far away from the rest of the world we are.
NZ is the best small country in the world.
Jul 14th 2010, 6:08 pm
#38
slanderer of the innocent
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 6,695
Re: Why is it.....
No, there was very little in it. The early arrivals, certainly missionaries and whalers were here in NZ in the early 1790s. The first Aussie colony was established in 1787 and the initial fleet of convicts arrived in Aussie in 1788.
I'm not buying the story around the special 'relationship' between Maori and Pakeha either, because very little desire to 'right the wrongs', nor any sensitivity towards Maori is evident among any every day Pakeha that I have come across. Perhaps in political circles yes there has been some sensitivity in the latter 25 to 30 years, after much protestation. The Waitangi Land tribunals were introduced in 1977, along with the recognition of Te Reo as an official language and realisation that there are specific Maori issues around health, education and poverty. There's still one heck of a long way to go to !
I'm not buying the story around the special 'relationship' between Maori and Pakeha either, because very little desire to 'right the wrongs', nor any sensitivity towards Maori is evident among any every day Pakeha that I have come across. Perhaps in political circles yes there has been some sensitivity in the latter 25 to 30 years, after much protestation. The Waitangi Land tribunals were introduced in 1977, along with the recognition of Te Reo as an official language and realisation that there are specific Maori issues around health, education and poverty. There's still one heck of a long way to go to !
"Special relationship' is a phrase the Brits like to use about their relationship with the US, it's not a phrase Kiwis would use, ever. I'd call this another classic example of seeing an issue from the POV of the old country, instead of the new and missing the point as a result.
Last edited by ExKiwilass; Jul 14th 2010 at 6:11 pm.
Jul 14th 2010, 6:10 pm
#39
slanderer of the innocent
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 6,695
Re: Why is it.....
OK. I'm interested to read more about this .
What is it that you are aware of that I am not?
For a basic background about me. I've lived here in NZ for 6 years now. There is a fair mix of all sorts of peoples around me and I mix with all of them. I have ears , eyes and I listen.
What is it that you are aware of that I am not?
For a basic background about me. I've lived here in NZ for 6 years now. There is a fair mix of all sorts of peoples around me and I mix with all of them. I have ears , eyes and I listen.
Jul 14th 2010, 6:12 pm
#40
slanderer of the innocent
Joined: Dec 2008
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 6,695
Re: Why is it.....
Jul 14th 2010, 6:54 pm
#41
Account Closed
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 548
Re: Why is it.....
Hmmm probably what the Irish Welsh Scots and English collectively did to the rest of the world! The blame game goes on infinitum... I still hate the Normans for what they did to my country!
Jul 14th 2010, 9:05 pm
#42
BE Enthusiast
Joined: May 2010
Location: Mission Bay, Auckland yay!
Posts: 493
Re: Why is it.....
....those danged Vikings too with their sackings and pillagings (although to be fair they didn't quite settle did they!)....now those accursed Romans on the other hand......coming over with their aqueducts and their baths and big shiny shields and building dirty great big walls......!
Last edited by londonescapee; Jul 14th 2010 at 9:15 pm.
Jul 14th 2010, 9:28 pm
#43
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,008
Re: Why is it.....
TBH in the grand scheme of things "a couple of decades" doesnt make a whole lot of difference.
Why did i come to nz? because i wanted to give it a go and experiance what it had to offer
which sadly i'm finding out isnt very much. A view is a view is a view. seen one seen em all. I'm not that impressed.
I have more friends here than back in the uk but i'm not the slightest bit interested in the "kiwi way", Maori rights or rugby
so that excludes me from a lot of things. I dont like slow. Slow is dull and boring.
I like places that can offer entertainment, places to go, places to see, things to do, choice, variety.
I like to visit places and towns that dont all look exactly the same. I like to go to the pub and not have to leave at 9pm
because they want to close up.
I like beaches with things to do when you get there not just looking at the beach.
If i have to live in a house made of tissue paper i would prefer it to be somewhere a little warmer.
Having said that, strange as it seems i'm happier here than i have been for years
Maybe i'm just to much of a nomad to settle anywhere perminantly.
Why did i come to nz? because i wanted to give it a go and experiance what it had to offer
which sadly i'm finding out isnt very much. A view is a view is a view. seen one seen em all. I'm not that impressed.
I have more friends here than back in the uk but i'm not the slightest bit interested in the "kiwi way", Maori rights or rugby
so that excludes me from a lot of things. I dont like slow. Slow is dull and boring.
I like places that can offer entertainment, places to go, places to see, things to do, choice, variety.
I like to visit places and towns that dont all look exactly the same. I like to go to the pub and not have to leave at 9pm
because they want to close up.
I like beaches with things to do when you get there not just looking at the beach.
If i have to live in a house made of tissue paper i would prefer it to be somewhere a little warmer.
Having said that, strange as it seems i'm happier here than i have been for years
Maybe i'm just to much of a nomad to settle anywhere perminantly.
After reading this post I can't wondering why you chose to live in Cambridge.
Jul 14th 2010, 9:30 pm
#44
Near the outer fringe
Joined: Apr 2010
Location: Porirua
Posts: 466
Re: Why is it.....
....those danged Vikings too with their sackings and pillagings (although to be fair they didn't quite settle did they!)....now those accursed Romans on the other hand......coming over with their aqueducts and their baths and big shiny shields and building dirty great big walls......!
