 Let's talk about New Zealand culture and what makes it unique. Today, we're going to talk about four different areas, Māori Pacifica culture, food culture, sport culture, and the outdoor culture. You're not going to want to miss this. I'm just going to go through just a brief overview of how I think that these cultures are unique here in New Zealand, but also some stories and some personal experiences within it as I've lived here for seven years. Here we go. If you're thinking about moving to New Zealand, definitely reach out to me. Definitely check out my training hub, qeamericans.com. It has everything you need. If you're thinking about moving here, if you're traveling here for a year, if you're going to be here for a couple of months, it's great because it helps you prepare to come to New Zealand like what to bring, all the questions that you have. It also helps you set up life here if you're going to be here for a year or more. And it also teaches you about the culture, a little bit of what we're talking about today, but much more in depth. And it just kind of helps you understand how to function well in work culture here, how to function well in school culture and so forth. So check it out. If you are moving or planning on coming to New Zealand for any significant amount of time, you're going to want this training hub. All right, let's dive in. Let's talk about our first type of culture. What makes New Zealand amazing and unique is its Maori culture. It's amazing here. Now just a little bit of statistics. Now we did just do a 2023 census and I can't get any of those actual numbers, but based on just kind of googling it for 2022, 17% of the population is Maori, about 8% of the population is Pacifica, which would be the different Pacific islands. And if you don't know, there's just under 5 million people here in New Zealand. So it's not a big place. There's not a lot of people, and that's what contributes to it being so amazing because there is so much untouched land, which I'll talk about in a minute, but it's just, and its people make it so special. So let's talk about specifically some details that I found when I came here, quite unique about the Maori culture. Now the history with the indigenous culture here has not been great, you know, similar to many other countries that had a deal with the British, right? And people colonizing and coming and taking things that they, you know, didn't agree and all the miscommunication that happened. So that definitely happened here in New Zealand. And then it went through a period of time where, yeah, like it just, it was, like people weren't even admitting that they had a Maori, they couldn't speak their language. They almost kind of snuffed out the language completely. And slowly but surely it has with some, some leaders in the country has started to say, hey, you know, this is part of who New Zealand is. This needs to be integrated into our culture. And it's amazing. So when you come here, so if you're from New Zealand, you don't, you don't understand this. When you grow up in a different culture who doesn't treat their indigenous people very well to a culture that now looks like they do an enormous amount. And, you know, not, you know, I mean, there's arguments as to like, you know, is it enough? And like, everybody's not feeling, but comparatively, maybe from Australia, from the US, like the way that it's starting, it's, it's moving in the right direction. Let's just say that. And it's just amazing how they're starting to get integrated into culture because so much of what makes New Zealand Aotearoa so amazing is its history, its geography, its people. And, and so you have, you have to count that in. And so it's just amazing. You just see Māori culture just integrated in society. And you see it when your kids go to school. And they take Te Vio, Māori, they learn the kāpahaka, they, they, they learn just a lot of things and a lot of cultural things. And it's great. And like teachers use the language often. I have to start off meetings that work with the kātakiā, which is like kind of a Māori prayer kind of. A little bit hard to explain. It's used in the languages use it in very common communications and emails. And it's just great. It's very integrated in society because I think what I, I really think it's great because the Māori culture really represents what makes New Zealand so wonderful. The values of that culture are what makes it so welcoming. It just, it's such a welcoming place. And it stems from that because they believe that if you come onto our land, you should be welcomed and you should be valued. And that's what's, it's so noticeable when you come from it, from, from my experience. It might be, you know, I'm not from everywhere. I don't have everybody's experience. But when I came here, it felt so welcoming and it's just integrated. And whether people are Māori or not, or they're European descent, it's just, if you grew up here, that's normal. The very welcoming, the very accepting, the very interested in who you are, what you can bring here, you know, just like a truly wants to know you, wants to really be known. And that just, that has to go down as one of the most amazing things about New Zealand. And I hear it over and over and over because I work with a lot of immigrants. I have, you know, people that have come here and no matter where they're from, that's the feeling because it's not something that you have everywhere in the world, guys, if you've just always lived here. And it's just like, it's an amazing thing. There's no perfect situation. But the Māori culture is amazing. And it's just so cool, like everything that it brings. We'll talk about food later, but like, yeah, just so, so many things like their Marais and how they do things. And it's just, it's quite awesome. And it's been a privilege to get to know it better and to meet with different communities and to be a part of learning the language and just learning the culture in general. You guys, if you come to New Zealand, you are going to love the Māori culture. Number two, let's talk about sports culture. So the sports culture in New Zealand is very different than the US. It's not different in that they value sports because they definitely value sports here in New Zealand and the US. They value different sports though. In New Zealand, it's all about cricket. It's about rugby. Football is big here. They have what's called netball, which is similar to basketball, but definitely not the same. And then they have, and they have so many different things. Like there's like lawn bowling and badminton is a big sport here and it's just very cool. They have a very, very strong sports culture and it's part of the identity here. And so when we first came, we definitely kind of dove in and we're learning cricket and we're learning, you know, rugby and it's just like watching, watching the all blacks, watching different rugby teams around the country. They're just, they're amazing. They just, they literally make it look really easy when it's not and they just make it look so smooth and easy and it's very cool. And it's very different. And you know, so you see kids, they're playing with rugby balls, which is very different than it looks similar, but it's not the same as the American football and they're passing backwards, not forward, you know. And so everything is just a little bit different. I haven't been able to get my kids to like gung ho about one of the sports here in New Zealand. You know, they have tended towards basketball, towards volleyball, more common sports in the US and that's fine, but they've tried, some have tried netball and some, and what's good about it is that they have to do it in school. They have to know the sport. So they like, I'm like, you guys should at least try it, right? But what's cool about New Zealand also is that you can have, there's such variety, like I think of something and they have it here and you could do it. There's something for everybody. There's some, every little kind of crazy little activity that you like to do, they have it here. And so that's what's really, really cool. And so they get into sports. They're not, they're definitely into sports, but I wouldn't say that New Zealanders, and this has just been my experience. So, you know, let me know your experience. They're not like, they're not so extreme over the top where it like affects their mood for the rest of the week if somebody loses. And you know, there's a little bit of, you know, there's excitement and people get, you know, into it and it's great, but it's, it's not, it's not everything. And that's, you know, it's, what I'm saying is it has its rightful place where I know American sports and sports and they know all these details and they know everything and then they pay on fantasy teams and it's like, it consumes their life and it's all year and, and that's not everybody either. But the sports culture in the US is different because they're valuing different things. We still follow a lot of the American NFL and the NBA and, you know, because that's just who we are, right? And so, and a lot of people do that as well here. But yeah, the sports culture is very strong. So a couple of personal stories that I would share about this that might be interesting to you is what's cool about the sports culture here. So like in the US, like if you are, if your kid is like in high school or middle school and they want to play a sport and it's like, say the winter season or the spring season or the fall season, they're only playing one sport. But in New Zealand, they'll play, they don't practice every day. Like two times a week on one sport would be a lot in it all varies. But I'm just, just talking in general. But so they get so people can technically play multiple sports in a season. So in the spring season, they could be in multiple sports or they could be in sports in school and then have, you know, be in a club team on the weekends in a totally different sport like tennis or football. And so yeah, so that was really different when we came here. And it's actually really good because I think that the athletes here are amazing. Like people are real athletes here. You know, they're not just their bodies aren't conditioned in one way. And we have noticed because our family is big at volleyball and my husband coaches and that that that helps, you know, like badminton players, tennis players make really good servers on a volleyball team. And you know, and so and it all translates. But then what what we're seeing is like, they're just overall good athletes because their muscles haven't been conditioned one way that they can do so many different things that make them more agile and just really good athletes. So the sports culture is very cool. And very, very much a big thing. And like, so can you play sports when you're an adult? Yeah, they have a lot of different things, especially, I mean, New Zealand definitely values rugby and cricket, right? So the end football, they have so many options for that. And, you know, even options like go on and coach and everything after that. And that's just much more subsidized. And, and yeah, they have money behind it because they value it. And that totally makes sense. But as an adult, you can also do a lot of things. There's just so many different things, even just in the small town that I'm in all the different exercise options and different crazy things that you can do. And that's not even touching on the outdoors and all of the free things that you can do outside in New Zealand. And that will bring me into my next topic when we talk about the outdoor culture. All right, number three, let's talk about the outdoor culture of New Zealand. Oh, guys, if you are not outdoorsy, if you don't like the outdoors, I don't think New Zealand's for you. I'm just gonna say that because I tell people the best things in New Zealand are free. The outdoor culture is amazing. So like some of the things that they're really known for would be all of the hiking. They have the great walks here. Like unbelievable. Just look them up if you like hiking, tramping or backpacking. Skiing is huge here. Surfing is amazing here. So many outdoor activities and it's just everywhere. Mountain biking is huge. I'm probably missing some. These are just off the top of my head, but these are like the big ones. And the landscape and it's just so beautiful. It's green all year. And I mean, I guess maybe not as much in the South Island if it gets colder, if there's snow. But it's you guys, if you love the outdoors, you're gonna love New Zealand. And it just speaks to, it's definitely, I included it because there's so many things I could include. I was just trying to like, let's just narrow in on the main things. The outdoor feel of New Zealand affects you living here. It's not, you can't ignore it and it's not ignorable and they value it and they, they treat it well, not perfectly. They treat it well and it thrives. They don't overbuild on it. They respect it in a lot of ways compared to where I'm from. The birds, the wildlife here, it's just part of the feeling that you get when you're here. It's part of like the, the oceans, the sea, the, it's just, it's just, it's part of the culture here. You can't ignore the outdoor nature of everything, the landscapes and all the activities. And it just kind of defines what you do. Like there's always a lot of talk about the wind and the weather and the, all the other, that sort of thing. And yeah. So if you love the outdoors, you're going to love New Zealand. And the fourth cultural uniqueness of New Zealand is the food culture. I have saved the best for last. Now the food culture here in New Zealand has a lot of influences. So you have Māori influence. You have British influences, quite strong Pacific influence, Asian influence, Indian influence. There is such a variety of food, it's great. But some key food items that you will definitely have to try when you come to New Zealand would be their fish and chips. Very commonly bought on Fridays and eaten on the beaches. You have pavlova, which is this amazing dessert. And I make it for everybody that comes here. And that's probably the one food item that, that when people come and visit me in New Zealand and have that, they're making it in the U.S. They take that with them. They're taking the pavlova with them because it's the most amazing. It's a very light meringue dessert. It's a great summer dessert. Anyway, meat pie, sausage rolls. That was a whole new concept. Took me a while to try them. Now I probably like them too much. But yeah. And just the way they do things, the cafes, like, you know, kind of even what they eat in the morning. I have done plenty of videos on the different food items like their beans on toast or, let's see, some other common breakfast items. What would have, you know, lots of avocado on toast and Eggs Benedict is big. You can get all of this in the States as well. But I'm just saying it's just more, I would just say they eat it more. And there's not as much variety in terms of, I would say, breakfast food. Like, if you go to cafes, it's going to be quite similar what they're going to have on every menu. You know, they're going to have the Eggs Benedict. They're going to have the pancakes. They're going to have maybe, no, not always waffles. Let's see, what else do they have? Or there's always the cheese scones or the date scones or, you know, sometimes a muffin, not always. And then every cafe, of course, is unique. And that's the other thing about New Zealand is that they're not chains. They're not chain restaurants, chain breakfast places, not Starbucks everywhere. It's mom and pop, you know, unique small businesses, like real families running small businesses, which contributes to the food culture considerably. Because when you go into a new town or a new city, like you have to figure out where to eat and try new things and just be open to try new things. And you can always ask around people love to tell you where they think you get the best coffee, what the best Indian food is, what, you know, the best Turkish food is, and you can just always ask. And people will tell you, but just go for it. It's great. It keeps it interesting. And, you know, unfortunately, they do still have all of the American fast food. We've got McDonald's Burger King Subway, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Wendy's in some locations, Carl's Junior in some locations. So there is that, if you just feel like something that you just want to eat something that you're familiar with, you do have those options. But yeah, the food culture is it's so good. And it's very, I would say overall, I would say the food feels very British to me. Like, there's so many things that were new. And I was like, what is this? And that's because it's very British and not American, right? And I've talked about that in other videos, so you can watch those. But yeah, the food culture is great. It may take a little bit getting used to their like, they don't allow a lot of the crap ingredients that they allow in the US. And their fruits and vegetables are so amazing, their meats are so amazing, their seafood. You guys, you're going to love it here. All right, so I hope you enjoyed the video today. Please comment below and let me know your thoughts on your experience with the New Zealand culture and what you think makes it unique because I would love to hear about it and I will see you guys next week.