Cultural Identifiers

So I was thinking about the people we stayed with in New Zealand. They weren't "good kiwis" as they put it, in fact they were Brits who had lived in England, Kenya, Germany, and Tanzania before coming to NZ. This got me thinking, how do you get to know someone else's culture, really? What separates them from Americans? What makes someone a "good kiwi"? But for us on this trip, we're moving about so much we don't really have the time to get to know anyone on an intimate level, so lets say you wanted to figure out what separates and kiwi from a Queenslander from a Yankee, could you do it in just three questions, and what would those questions be?

Macadamia Nuts

I have quite a good sense of the Macadamia nut industry now. For Four days we picked, husked, and shelled the nuts. The picking is by far the hardest because the trees are more like tall bushes than trees and you have to crane your neck to pull the nuts down, or stoop over to pick them up; a bit hard on the back, but you to get to climb up the trees to get at the top most nuts which is fun. The husking and shelling is all done by machine so all I had to do really was just make sure the machines kept running and picking out the bad nuts.

One day when we were shelling, Ginie, the woman we were staying with, says to me, "In the front of the ute there are some flexes, could you fetch them for me?" I had no idea what she was talking about but she pointed outside, so out I went. Now, she said in the front of so I figured the truck might be a good place to start, and lucky for me the only thing in the front of the truck were some extension cords, or flexes. Very funny.

Outside Auckland, NZ

Well, We made to our first destination safe and sound. After a plane, a bus, a train, and 14 hours in transit we arrived in Papakura to meet the Warrens. Out here it is beautiful, the trees are a bit different, but it is similar to spring in the US, very green though. We've been gathering nuts for two days - not bad work really, a little hard on the back though. The place we're staying uses rain water for drinking and bathing and swamp water for irrigation and toilets. Solar heated too. They've got chickens, sheep and a pig roaming about. Even after one day we were even more excited about our time in Japan when we will be in control of our own schedule and meals.
(Matthew)

At times I do think this work exchange experience is very ideal, I get to climb really high into trees and pick nuts. There aren't many bugs around so I don't get bothered by much except the occasional nut that falls on my head. In general, although there are mild limitations to our stay, the experience is worth having. I'm very happy that Matthew are traveling together. Everything seems easier when someone else is with you.
(Alison)