New Zealand: A View from Outside

prepared by Margarita Meklina

With this patchwork of personal stories gathered from all over the world, we show you a different New Zealand. These are snapshots taken from a distance. This is New Zealand as seen through the foreigners' eyes. In some of these images, New Zealand resembles a fairy tale, a true "Land of Plenty." In others, it is an example of a progressive society from which we can learn a great deal.

Sometimes it's prominent people who bring New Zealand its fame. For instance, literature lovers are well acquainted with Auckland University's professor Brian Boyd. This noted scholar authored the breathtaking two-volume biography of the Russian-American writer Vladimir Nabokov. And have you heard about Georgina Beyer, the world’s first transsexual member of a parliament? Last year she came to the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Film Festival with a documentary on her life, and was met with warmth and compassion.

Sometimes it's movies and books that arouse our interest in another country. Some of us learned about New Zealand from the novel The Children of Captain Grant by Jules Verne. Or admired the films The Piano by Jane Campion, the crowd-pleasing Lord of the Rings or the straightforward Whale Rider.

I saw Whale Rider this summer. The American audience, oblivious of Native Americans' hardships, was extremely sympathetic towards the struggles of a troubled Maori community and its search for a new leader. When the heroine, the little girl Pai, was taken away to the ocean by a giant whale whom she attempted to rescue, the audience sobbed. At the end, everybody applauded.

Reviewing Whale Rider, a journalist of the Bay Guardian, the radical local newspaper, praised Helen Clark's determination to "save" New Zealand from being involved in the Iraq conflict. However, since Americans overwhelmingly supported the current administration's foreign policy, New Zealand's dissent on this issue wasn't highlighted by media.

Even though some information about New Zealand reaches us through the media, TV, the Internet, etc., the majority of people are ignorant. Quite frankly, many Americans – as well as many Russians who were also represented in our improvised survey – get the facts wrong on New Zealand. Some can't locate New Zealand on a map; other place koalas in New Zealand instead of Australia. Apparently, it's not only Russians, who must fight an image of their country as a snowy forest crowded with drunken bears.

It will take a lot more work to project a more accurate image of New Zealand. But what gives me hope is that people from other countries – and we can see this from their replies – are friendly toward New Zealanders. It is not so much a question of prejudice, but of a lack of basic knowledge, a problem that can be overcome.

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New Zealand is rich with cows and sheep, surrounded by the picturesque landscape. Its rivers and lakes are filled with the cleanest water in which humongous silver fishes with red fins are splashing. Gardens are full of fruits that are growing there non-stop. Roses are so plenty that they look into every window, which always stay open, since nobody closes windows and doors. New Zealand is safe.

Their beaches are golden. Their men have red weathered faces, and they almost never get bald. Their women are very sporty and tan, and they love to wear white cardigans made from a mixture of linen and cotton. Little New Zealanders are spoiled by kiwis and strawberries and taken to England to see Elizabeth the Second. Later, when they grow up, they become red-faced beautiful men and women in white cardigans.

Valeria Shishkina, Moscow – Boston, Massachusetts

What I know about New Zealand is that it is a land of sheep and their keepers – and in my imagination it's a quiet pastoral landscape. What I've actually seen of it, like most Americans, is from the first two Lord of the Rings films – and the variety of landscapes was fascinating! When I lived in Hong Kong, two of my close friends were from New Zealand –their accents were gentler than the Aussies. My sister went there on vacation, and she and her husband said if they could find work they would go back and live there for the rest of their lives. It's that sort of place, I imagine; the kind of place that people never go to on their way to somewhere else; it's a destination. Perhaps an escape…

Megan Lee, Monterey, California

About New Zealand, I’m sorry, I’m more ignorant than knowledgeable: those North and South Islands – were they ever declared Separate but Equal? And they never had a Civil War? And those sheep, yes, we’ve heard enough about them! But what about New Zealand’s black sheep? Some years ago, when nuclear-armed American military ships were forbidden from “visiting” its harbors by the New Zealand government, the whole country became an ostracized black sheep in our leaders’ eyes. And then the white sheep came into power, and all was forgiven.

Michael Epstein, San Francisco, California

New Zealanders are very friendly and giving. During a farm stay people were quite open about sharing their experiences about farm life and their families (the kids included). The cities and country itself are incredibly beautiful. It didn't make any difference whether it was the north or south island. Our favorite city was Queenstown, which was quite spectacular because of the lake and the striking rugged mountains and all the things there were to do. Another amazing place is the extreme terrain around the glaciers. You can go from sea level to 10,000 ft in just 10 miles. The greatest adventure was mountain biking at Milford Sound. You bus in and then bike down. Because of the avalanche danger you weren't supposed to stop but I did anyway to take pictures. No avalanche but my worried wife became so involved in yelling at me that she ran off the road and flew over her handlebars. I laughed so hard that I also ran off the road and flew over as well.

Dan DiNaro, San Jose, California

I almost wrote about New Zealand's kangaroos and The Matrix, a movie… and also about Nicole Kidman, who is from there… But then I realized that all this pertains to Australia. A friend says that New Zealanders export bad margarine… He is the only one who can say something for sure about that country. Everybody else, like me, confuses New Zealand with Australia.

Aleksandr Shaburov, Moscow

New Zealand for me is the place where it's quiet and warm and where exotic fruits are plentiful. It's the place where you would like to retire.

Andrei Lebedev, Moscow – Paris

It's a multi-ethnic society, and they have quite a lot of Russian immigrants there. I assume that theirs is a very "young" culture, meaning that they are not suffocated by too many traditions and rules.

Olga Zondberg, Moscow

It is two far away islands northeast of Australia in the shape of a boot. Wellington is a capital; English is the state language. A former British colony, now still a member of the Commonwealth. Participated in WWII in the Pacific against Japan. Peaceful, non-crowded, non-polluted, boring for some people, paradise for others. Typical fauna representatives: koala and kiwi-bird. Relatively low cost of living, though quite modern. A relative of mine dreams of the time when he retires, sells his house in the US and moves with his wife to NZ.

Mikhail Beyzerov, Odessa – Boston, Massachusetts

About New Zealand what I am most interested in is the landscape – I have heard it is very beautiful – and the Maori culture. I have more of an interest in going there because of reading Ihimaera and I love the Whale Rider book. I haven't seen the movie. That's all I can say.

Sonja Franeta, San Francisco, California

Legalization of prostitution in New Zealand will help the country grow out of its "square image."

Eugene Jobs, San Francisco, California

When I was a kid, and still living in Europe, one of my favorite interests was watching sports on TV. Soccer always took the lion’s share, but few other sports were also within my scope. And once or twice per year rugby was grabbing the spotlight. I didn’t even fully understand the rules of the game, but what I was mostly looking for was the annual European tour by the All Blacks.

In my home country, nobody would have ever worn a black shirt, because of the bad memories from the times before and during the World War II. Therefore, to look at a team proudly sporting a black uniform was shocking. Moreover, the Haka performed before every match by the players was very impressive to a child. Those giants dancing and shouting really had an impact on my education. And that was the time was I first got to know about these far away islands, New Zealand.

Few years later, again New Zealand was somehow part of my life. It was the time when many European farmers were considering the option to grow kiwis. To me, used to apples, pears, peaches and other more “regular” fruits, this brownish and soft potato-like fruit looked as really something unusual. In my mother’s home village, where peasants for centuries were used to grow grapes, a revolution was coming, and it was from New Zealand.

Later I’ve found my interests much more focused on history and literature. And recently while reading The Uncle's Story, a book by Witi Ihimaera, who now triumphs in the U.S. with his Whale Rider, I stepped into his notes about New Zealand’s involvement in the Vietnam war. I suddenly realized how peculiar the Kiwis’ attitude towards what should be her “natural” allies (Australia, the U.K. and particularly the U.S.) looks to an outsider since the ANZUS 's demise.

Following the blood shed by heroic New Zealanders in the world battlefields during the 20th century, it seems to me that this country somehow has realized how nice is to be “remote.”

Now I reside in the States, and I clearly feel how underestimated the emotional impact of the September 11th events have been abroad... The sense of anger and threat that followed that dreadful day are hard to understand with an ocean in between, but –paraphrasing the text by John Donne – "No island is an island only, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

The bell tolled in New York, but the whole civilized world should have paid a much bigger attention to that creepy and ominous sound... In my opinion, in the 21^st century no ocean is wide or deep enough to be a real shelter.

And then there’s what I consider the glories of Kiwiland... her welcoming attitude to newcomers, her attained gender equality (first country to grant women the right to vote), her fair treatment of diverse life styles (first country to elect a transgender person to the Parliament).

I even think (maybe even erroneously, since I lack of first hand knowledge) that the relationship between the Native Inhabitants and the White settlers has been less conflictual in New Zealand than in other countries (e.g. U.S. or Australia).

To conclude, I would like to say that New Zealanders may become even more a valuable resource to the world’s civilization as long as they realize in full that “the water isn’t wide enough anymore.”

Andrea Bonansea, Torino – San Francisco, California

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