New Zealand cultural elements

Blog Entry B:  What cultural elements called your attention? What is similar to and what is different from our Chilean culture? 

There are many things of this amazing culture that called my attention. One of these things is that the people of this country are very different from the people of Chile. There are much more friendly and more sophisticated.

Also there is the development of the country. New Zealand is more developed than Chile, and this is also reflected in the people. The streets are cleaner and there are not so many dogs like in Chile. In Chile you find dogs in any street, but in New Zealand is very strange to see a dog without a necklace, or in other words, a street dog.

 Another element that called my attention is the sport. In Chile you can see many sports shops, and in these ones you find many football staff. But, in New Zealand, you see things of rugby in every corner of the streets, instead of football. The people watch a lot more rugby than football, and this one is not very important.

However, there are also similarities between the Chilean and New Zealand cultures. One of these similarities is the indigenous people, the Mapuches and the Maoris. They have a very similar language, and many similar manners. This is because these two cultures are not so far each to other, so they have many connections in this one. But, the Maoris have a closer connection with the people of Easter Island. These two cultures are almost equal.

What is to be a New Zealander?

What is it to be a New Zealander? 

There are many things that involves to being a New Zealander. First of all, you have to know that the people of New Zealand are called “kiwis”, or that is their nickname, because of the flightless bird that is one of the most significant animals in the country.

To be a New Zealander, in my opinion, is to have a sense of belonging to this amazing culture that is the culture of New Zealand. A kiwi is a nice person, a person who tries to help the other kiwi, and that has a “Maori feeling” inside of him/her.

All the kiwis play rugby or at least like rugby. If you walk through the streets of New Zealand, you can see that almost all the people have some clothes of the All Blacks or of one rugby team of New Zealand.

Another characteristic way of life of the kiwis is their character. They are all nice with the others and they all have a characteristic way of life that is difficult to describe.

When a New Zealander hears the word “kiwi”, they don’t think in the fruit firstly, but they think in the animal that is characteristic of the country or they think in another New Zealander.

So, summarizing all, that is to be a “kiwi”. All of them have a special character that differentiates them from the other people. In a few words, they are kiwis.