Cultural Journal 1

Here is my cultural journal entry 1. I have to do 3 throughout the semester for my AU class. I'm not extremely happy with it. I put a lot of thought into it. My ideas are all over the place and I am probably wrong about what I think.

Isolation. I think the isolation of New Zealand is what influences the country and its people. With a population of only 4 million people, the country should not be very crowded no matter how small. Yet, the cities are crowded. Christchurch holds 300,000 people, crammed into one city. Yet drive 20 min out of the city and there are wide open, practically abandoned fields. Why do the Kiwis choose to crowd into cities instead of taking advantage of the room they have to breath. I think it is a way to try to feel less isolated, to feel close to people. No matter what the reason, the isolation of New Zealand has causes some interesting characteristics of the country.
I relate the Kiwis’ sense of isolation to that of anyone’s when they are stuck at their house. Weather it be a child grounded by his parents, or anyone just stuck at home for a day or two. When someone is trapped in a familiar place for a while they start thinking differently. They get a type of cabin fever. Most Kiwis know the country like the back of their hand. Although to them the country may only be the particular island they live on. South islanders tend to stay down in the wilderness of the south island while north islanders will tend to stay in their familiar north island. There are of coarse plenty of exceptions to this. Kiwis seem to be relatively confident in their knowledge of their island. Although the majority of the island is remote and isolated, to them its just part of their playground. They have been around, they know where everything is. A Kiwi sees the island as not being that big, and that you can’t get too far away from home, no matter how hard you try. And because of this you can’t get in that much trouble. By no means are they careless in the outdoors, however, they are quite comfortable in any situation. Kiwis seem to think, they have seen and tried it all and if they haven’t, they’ll give it a shot. To them anything is worth a try, “hell with the consequences, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it” type of attitude. Along with Kiwis trying anything, I have found that most of the time, they simply like to see you try new things. They do not care how good you are at something, but rather that you give forth some effort.
Along with an appreciation of effort, comes a sense of self-reliance. Kiwis are very big on self-reliance. This sense of self-reliance is crucial if you are going to try anything. They see it as, if your capable, then do it, if your not, then know your not and don’t do it. No matter what the adventure, if you think your capable of it, then you can try it out, but in the end, its up to you. When I was cave diving, although I was on a guided tour, you are very much on your own. You were shown how to do it, and what to do, but in the end its up to you to do it right. And there are no piles of paper work or waivers to sign like in the states. It’s just understood that you are responsible enough to make your own decisions. Also, in the ski mountains, a sense of self-reliance is very much present. The lifts are there to help get you to the terrain. Once at the top of the lift it’s your responsibility to figure out what to do. You are allowed to go wherever you want. Your hand isn’t help going down the mountain like it is in the states. If you ask a ski patroller if terrain is open, he’ll tell you if you have an avalanche beacon and know what your doing, go for it, if not, stay away. No one forces you to do anything or stops you from doing much. You have to know what you are capable of and make your own decisions. Similar ideals can be seen once in the lodge at mountain. At the lodge you are not catered too all the time. You are given chores to do around the lodge. Nothing major, just little things like helping prep for dinner or clean the bathroom quick. I have been to the smallest of ski lodges in the states and yet never do they do this, instead they pamper you. In New Zealand they know you are capable of doing something, so why not do it. Cut down on cost and lend a hand, in the end everyone benefits.
Back to Kiwis being isolated and stuck at home an. Like some people stuck at home, you can chose to do a few different things. You can explore your little playground you have in front of you and try to discover or make new thing out of what you already have. Or you can except that it’s all the same, and just chill out. I have noticed that a lot of the young people at my university tend to just chill out. They would rather stay in the city during the weekends and party, rather the go explore or do activities. This partying is quite extensive at times and the government is actually in the process of figuring out how to reduce young peoples drinking habits. High taxes on alcohol have already been put in place and raising the drinking age is being discussed. Not all Kiwis choose to be idle, they have done a fantastic job at making the most of every part of their country. Like a little kid rearranging his room or making a fort out of bed sheets when he is stuck in his room, Kiwis have found a way to make there little island more exciting to them. They love to do extreme sports. They invited bungee jumping and just started jumping off whatever they could. The go in every river possible. Weather with white water kayaks or crazy jet boats. The also like to go far. If a road cant take you wear you want to go, they will simply get a helicopter. Not only do they heli-ski to get to those hard to reach snow caps, they will helicopter in your kayak to get on top of class 6 rapids, or maybe just helicopter you in to hike in really remote locations. They are not afraid to invent new ways to enjoy what they already have.
I can’t be certain if it’s the isolation that causes the Kiwis to act the way they do. I have a hunch it was something to do it with it. No matter what it is they have a definite attitude of anything being possible. This goes with the fact that it is only possible if you make it possible. There is a strong sense of self-reliance here, and with that great or devastating things can occur.