While most of New Zealand culture and everyday habits seem quite familiar to us, there are a few things we've noticed that you definitely won't see in the USA. It should be no surprise that an island nation floating off on its own in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has developed some quirks over the years. :)
Here are 12 that always stick out to me:
1 It's never peanut butter jelly time
Peanut butter here is made of, well, peanuts and not much else. It's not very smooth, not very sweet -- and not very tasty to our kids' sensitive palates. Also odd to me -- Kiwi kids don't live on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. In fact, they think my kids are odd for eating them at lunch everyday. At the Adorable Girl's birthday party, we made a huge platter of PB&Js to give the kids a taste of what they're missing out on. Nearly all of them chose to have a ham and cheese sandwich instead :)
(I discovered this gem -- "American Style Peanut Butter" -- at my local supermarket the other day.From the container, "USA style peanut butter has a robust sweet and salt flavour made with long roasted peanuts." Just like JIF!)
2 Road work is plural
As a writer and editor, I can't help but notice little grammatical differences in the language. And this one I see a lot. Road work -- singular at home -- is plural here. So the "road works end," not "road work ends." It's the little things, people!
3 Spider web swings
My kids love these swings, a kind of giant, circular web thing that swings way too high for this helicopter mom's comfort. I've never seen them in the U.S., where playgrounds tend to be a bit on the mild side. But they might make their way north someday.
4 Toilet tunes
You won't find them everywhere, but some of the public parks around the Auckland region have what I can only describe as the bathroom of the future. Sleek metal doors open to a single toilet with an automated sink. When you enter the little room, an audio recording comes on telling you to press the button to lock the door. The voice then lets you know you have 10 minutes to use the facility, and starts playing mood music for you to enjoy while you do your business. Beats ye olde portapotty any day!
5 Eftpos, please!
The payment system here is a bit different than in the U.S. Everyone -- or nearly everyone -- has what's called an Eftpos card, a debit card that connects to a "chequing" or savings account. Credit card purchases require a separate card, unlike in the U.S. where you can often use the same card for both. New Zealanders also do a lot more of their payments through online transfers. For instance, to pay for the Adorable Girl's Tae Kwon Do class, we had to set up an online banking transfer with a direct deposit to the teacher's account. We've used the same system to pay for things bought on the NZ version of Craigslist, buying school photos, etc.
6 Night Markets
Once a week (Thursdays), the Kmart down the road from us closes its parking garage and hosts a Night Market with probably 70 stalls selling everything from dumplings to donuts. You can find all varieties of food, weird and discounted clothes, toys and junk, smartphone cases, crafts and cotton candy. It's kinda fun. And it's something that happens around the Auckland region on different nights of the week. My internet research tells me that it's a rather new phenomenon for the city, driven by the large number of Asian immigrants now living here. Apparently, night markets are common in many Asian cities. Who knew?
7 Political compromise
This is an interesting one. New Zealand recently had a historic election. The two main parties in the parliamentary system did not receive enough votes to run the government on their own. So they had to partner with smaller political parties to elect a prime minister. It took several weeks for the negotiation process to unfold, and the big reveal was quite a surprise. New Zealand First, a conservative populist party (similar to the Tea Party movement) and the Green party (similar to Jill Stein's group in the U.S.) joined forces with Labour (similar to our Democratic Party) to elect a female prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. To recap, a conservative-leaning party and a left-leaning party found a way to work together with a moderate liberal party to reach their goals. Mind blown?
8 Mayonnaise mayhem
How much do you like mayonnaise? Like, for instance, would you drizzle it over your sushi or slather it on your slice of pizza? They do that here. In fact, restaurants advertise the "mayonnaise drizzle" as a special little extra you can get with your order. I'm always thrown off by this one billboard I drive by, advertising chicken teriyaki with a big swirl of mayonnaise on top. I swear it looks just like a cinnamon roll (it's not). For the record, we hate mayonnaise in this family, so we get some weird looks when we order food here. :)
9 Critters, begone!
New Zealanders really like their birds -- so much so they try to eradicate possible predators. A handful of non-native land mammals have been introduced over the years --- and they're simply not wanted. The country traps and poisons critters, including rats, possums, ferrets and weasels, in an attempt to protect the birds and native plants. As an American, I noticed right away the lack of animals. No squirrels, no chipmunks, no raccoons creeping around. Birds are plentiful, loud and quite beautiful -- but that's about it as far as wildlife goes in the Auckland region. When I take Moses for a walk in the woods, I don't hear the rustling of squirrels and deer and other animals. Instead I hear the birds, the wind -- and Moses' panting. Boy needs to get in shape!
10 The Haka and Pacific culture
You've likely seen YouTube videos of the New Zealand All Blacks doing their haka chant. It's really something to watch. But I bet you haven't seen a group of elementary school kids -- of all colors and backgrounds -- doing the same thing. Maori culture is important to all of New Zealand's residents, and the school our kids go to actively embraces it. There's a Kapa Haka club (that any kid can join) where they learn the language and traditional dances and perform at school events. It's awesome. I took some video of one of the dances they did recently, but I still need to capture the haka on tape. I'll share it when I do!
11 Sunhats
New Zealanders are quite sensitive about sun protection and with good reason. As you may remember from your Earth Day studies in school, there's a hole in the ozone layer above the South Pole -- and we're not that far from it. During this last term of the school year (spring/summer days), kids are required to wear a school-issued, SPF-certified sun hat. The hats are not fashionable -- and the Adorable Girl is not a fan -- but they keep those cute little chipmunk cheeks from burning up.
12 Ye Olde American Hot Dog
Something I'm fascinated by is New Zealand's perception of America. I've picked up a few clues from conversations with my friends here. ("So, is calling you a Redneck the same thing as calling me a Kiwi?"..Um, not exactly....) And shopping always yields some insights too. Recently, I struck gold:
You know how much we Americans love canned hot dogs! Wonder if they brined the buns too??
