Overview

Being an island nation, New Zealand is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. This country is made up of two islands called the North and South Island, of course there are several mini islands too but these are the main ones. New Zealand’s first inhabitants, the Maori, migrated from Polynesian island and that’s what has inspired most of New Zealand. Afterwards the Europeans came and its culture got mixed with the Maori making New Zealand a very unique place!

Daily Life

Kiwis is what New Zealanders like to call themselves. Their name was received from the bird named kiwi that was unique to their country. The Kiwis also like to call themselves “En Zedders”. This nickname is because of the initials NZ and because they pronounce the “z” as “zed”. Kiwis greet each other with “good day” and it is pronounced as “geday”. Most people in New Zealand have houses that are made from wood but they have large yards and flowers/vegetables gardens. In the major cities you will find that people live in apartments instead of houses. In the common pakeha (white people who aren’t Maori) family there are usually two or three children living in the household. On the other hand, Maori families are larger and so are their households because their relatives live with them.

Art

New Zealand’s art consists of visual and plastic art! Of course there is the Maori’s traditional art that includes charcoal drawings and some of these drawings go back to 500 and 800 years old. These charcoals could be found on limestone rock shelters in the South Island. These drawings had animals, extraordinary creatures, and people. The most traditional forms of art for the Maori is: carving, weaving, painting, and tattooing. These traditional art forms were considered spiritual and had information about ancestry and other cultural topics. The most common colors in their art were black, red, and white. Carving was the reason why lots of Kiwi’s houses were made of wood. Carvings would be done in wood, stone, or bone. Wood carving would decorate houses, containers, fence poles, and other objects. Stone and bone were used to make jewelry. One the Europeans introduced metal tools which made carving more intricate and made these carvings even more decorative.

Cuisine

Kiwis have three main meals a day; breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast is mainly eggs, sausages, and bacon. For lunch it would most likely be a hamburger, sandwich, or a meat pie. Lastly, for dinner there would be a meat dish,commonly it is lamb. A famous culinary tradition from the Maoris is the hangi. The hangi is prepared in the regions of New Zealand where there are hot springs. The hangi is a feast where a pit is dug and is later filled with rocks. Afterwards meat and vegetables are placed into this pit and are left there for several hours. The hangi is a hit for tourists so most resort hotels have this but in the northern part of the North Island. But a typical dinner entree for a New Zealander is roast lamb with some roasted potatoes, mint sauce, roasted Kumasi (New Zealand's sweet potato), and roast pumpkin. It is common to have something called “morning tea” (a mid morning snack) and a bedtime snack called “supper”. The British-style afternoon tea is complete with scones, cakes, and other pastries.

Fashion

En Zedders prefer to dress casually and wear more Erin Western-style clothing. Maori also choose to dress like other En Zedders but they still wear their traditional clothes for special occasions. Maori garments are handwoven and they pass the fabric that they make their clothes with to their families. Both men and women wear a special striped fringed skirt. Maori women also wear brightly colored dresses, over these skirts they might also wear long white decorated with black fringes. But on a day to day basis a man and woman would wear comfortable clothing. If a man hada white-collar job he would wear this: ties, white shirts, shorts, and to finish it off with some knee socks.

Music

The most traditional music from New Zealand is Maori music. The Maori have been in New Zealand since the 11th. Their origin is unknown but when they came to New Zealand they decided to call it Aotearoa, “The Land of the Long White Cloud”. The Maori religion was closely related with nature and its ancestors so you can get an idea of what their music was about. In modern times their music is mainly vocal. The use of instruments in their music was neglected under the influence of Christianity. Another traditional music that came from New Zealand was Powhiri. This is a welcoming ceremony where the women sing in a melodic way while the men shout fiercely. The men would be in front of the women symbolizing that they are ready to fight showing their weapons threateningly. Later the women go to the front with faint green leaves and place them on the ground where the men put their weapons on the ground.

Transportation

Despite its rugged nature settings New Zealand is accessible. Road systems are great in both rural and in main cities. But since the terrain is difficult to deal with this results with slow journeys. Around the 19th and 20th century New Zealand developed a shipping trade and transport for the people. The main towns were luckily located on or near the ports. During World War II the exports of goods via ship declined. There was also a railway network that was owned by the government but then it became in and out of private ownership. But because the terrain is so difficult New Zealand encourages air travel! Most towns have their own private airport where they are all linked to the major urban centers.