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Post-New Zealand

Now that I am back from New Zealand, I want to look back and reflect on some of the thoughts I had coming into this trip! Overall, I can honestly say this was the most exciting, adventurous, and thrilling trip of my entire life and I will never forget the memories and friends I made along the way. 

Coming to New Zealand, I was honestly unsure about the whole trip and what I would learn and while being there it blew away my expectations! I learned so much about the sport culture over there and how it differs from here in America. There are so many differences in which some ways I believe they do better than Americans. One of the huge things I liked is that after high school in America, you are either good enough to go to college and play or stop playing all together. In New Zealand, they play sports throughout their entire lives and that is a huge way to socially network while also competing to win. I enjoyed this aspect greatly because I think all the time how it would be fun if I could still play soccer but I can’t right now because I am not good enough to play on the university team. Looking back at my first blog, I talked about how I was excited to learn and play Netball. This sport was so fun and exhausting after playing it and I would definitely play it if I ever got the chance to again. Learning about these new sports made me think about how the sports tie together with the culture and how sports shape the way people think. 

I was definitely nervous for the food when coming here but I was definitely happy with it overall. The cafeteria food was definitely below par, however, by the time we went to Wellington, some of the foods there were absolutely delicious. I had some great fish and chips and lamb while over there. I was usually against these types of foods but here they were unbelievable. I guess I was just not expecting the kiwis to have good food. 

Overall, I learned a ton about New Zealand while over there between sports and how they shape the culture over there. I learned a bunch but I also was able to experience this in person which allows me to look back and cherish the time I was over there. I also had so much fun and met some great people along the way. I want to thank my parents and instructors on this blog for putting in their resources and time to support us in learning across the world. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget. This is Sam Wegryn signing off, Cheers, Mate! 

Here is a video of my time in Queenstown, New Zealand: 

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Netball (Additional)

On our last day in New Zealand, we decided to learn about the sport Netball. This sport, at first, was very confusing to me. It is very similar to basketball but at the same time entirely different. It was a very fun game, however, nothing like I have ever done before. The objective of this game is to score more goals than the opposing team. 

The rules were fairly complex. There are 7 different positions that play on the court at one time. Each position has a sector that they can go into and if they go out of that sector, it is a penalty. There are some defenders, some midfielders, and some attackers: very similar to normal sports. Goals are scored when a team member is in a good position within the semi circle and shoots the basket into the hoop. The defender has to be at least 1 meter away from the attacker to give them space for a shot. While you have the ball, you can only take 3 steps and then you cannot move. The way you get the ball down the court is keep moving until you are passed to and then you must stay on your ‘pivot’ foot. After many passes, you must try to get it to a player in the semi-circle for them to have a chance at scoring. This was a non-contact sport and if there was any kind of contact, that is a penalty. Penalties can either result in a out of bounds play or a free shot for an attacker. When a basket is scored, play continues when the opposing team takes it out from the middle of the court. 

This was a very challenging sport because I am so used to contact sports and this was completely no contact. Also, I tried to play it like basketball where you defend the attacks and try to not allow them a shot, but this was often called a penalty. One thing that I did not like about this sport was that the referees could never really tell if a defender is 1 meter away or closer. It is very subjective and I think that, that can affect many game’s outcomes. It was definitely a very tiring sport as you were often running up and down the court in your specific sector. 

This is a very popular sport in New Zealand because of the dominance of rugby. As weird as that sounds, rugby is by far the biggest sport in New Zealand, however, is a very male dominated sport. This is because the sheer brutal physicality of the sport. Don’t get me wrong, rugby is still very popular in females here but netball is a more played sport here for the women. Many women are encouraged to play netball because it is a very safe sport because of the non-contact rules. Overall, I really enjoyed learning about this weird sport and it was a lot more exhausting/hard than I thought it would be. 

Here is a quick highlight reel of the New Zealand Silver Ferns winning over Australia at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. 

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Dunedin Railway Station (Additional)

While walking to the octagon (bars and restaurants in the shape of an octagon) in Dunedin, we stumbled upon this massive, architectural masterpiece of a building. It was not until we took a closer look to find a sign that said it was the Dunedin Railway Station. This blew me away and I wanted to know the history of the railway station and if it had always been that. 

It was in fact always a railway station and was first thought of in 1884. It took around 20 years for government funding to be allocated in order to start building. It took many years to just work out the logistics of how this magnificent building was going to be built. They started building it by 1903 and was finally done being constructed in 1906, taking about 3 years to build. In the early staged, the station was the country’s busiest train station, which handled up to 100 trains a day. 

The building is of Flemish renaissance style and it was mostly constructed of dark basalt while Oamaru stone was also alternating which gives it a distinctive light and dark pattern. This pattern was very similar to the buildings found in Dunedin and Christchurch. There is also a huge clock tower that is is visible from much of central Dunedin. This allowed for everyone to know exactly where to go in order to travel across New Zealand. Overall, this building was very fascinating and an absolute masterpiece and I am glad I was able to see it while in Dunedin. 

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What it means to be a Kiwi (Nation Entry)

While traveling throughout New Zealand, I have noticed that even though they speak English, the people are still very different from Americans. The symbol of New Zealand is the silver fern. According to a Maori legend, the silver fern was once a sea dwelling plant and it was asked to come and live in the forest in order to guide the Maori people. They would bend over the fern and the fronds would catch the moonlight which illuminated a path through the forest. This led them to water and places to settle all over the nation. Since then, they have adopted the leaf as a national symbol and you can see that through their sports teams. 

Their national sports teams all have something to do with the fern and some of the coloring that is associated with the fern. The ‘Kiwis’ are very prideful of this symbol which shows through their sport identity. They are extremely passionate about sports which is specifically shown through rugby. The rugby team is called the ‘All Blacks’ and they are a symbol of tough, masculinity that is seen throughout the country. One of our lecturers said “you either played rugby or you didn’t have friends’. Coming here, that was very surprising to me because I didn’t think New Zealand was a big sports country, when it reality, as a kid it’s almost their entire life. This also ties into the love for the outdoors for the ‘Kiwis’. 

When arriving in Auckland, I was blown away by how many people there were running/biking around the city. They love the outdoors here and there’s a good reason why. It’s because it’s so beautiful out here! Mountains in the background, beautiful bodies of water, and unbelievable vegetation outside contribute to the fact that the New Zealanders love outdoors. Where I am from in America, we have corn fields and more corn fields so no wonder they love the outdoors a lot more here. Overall, there are many differences between Americans and New Zealanders and also the cultures between the two. 

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Brent H. (Interview Entry)

While in Auckland, we were out at the Fiddlers in the downtown at the beginning of our nights on one of the last days there. While sitting at the bar talking to the bartender, we happen to start talking to a local named Brent Heares. He was an extremely kind guy who was very interested in us as well as telling us stories about himself. We got to talking and I asked him if I could interview him for this blog and he happily said yes. As you can see, after the night was over, he gave me his business card and told us to give him a call if we were going out the next night. I smeared out his name because I did not want to put up his phone/email on a public blog. 

A little background on Brent starts with he was originally from Christchurch before attending University of Auckland and loved the city so much he has not moved away since. Although I did not ask his age, he looked to be in his lower 40′s. In Auckland, he met his former wife and they had one boy. His son is now a professional bodybuilder and lives in LA while he cut off communication with his wife years ago. He was very open about his life and was willing to talk about anything. 

To get into more of the New Zealand culture, we discussed a whole lot about the All Blacks and how he was nervous for the upcoming World Cup. He told me all about how the Irish just recently defeated the All Blacks and how talented that Irish team was. You could see how much passion he had for the All Blacks and how prideful he was of being from New Zealand. I told him about the Black Caps game we went to and how exhilarating the game was while he was very excited about that. He talked about how he once visited his son in LA and they went to an American Football game and he just did not understand any of it. I explained as many rules as possible but after about 20 minutes of explaining he gave up and insisted rugby was a better and more simple game. I told him that I was a big soccer fan and we kind of went off topic talking about european soccer. I tried to steer it back to NZ sport and he said he wished that the “football” culture here was bigger because he loved watching european soccer but couldn’t attend/follow soccer while living in Auckland. 

On a separate note from sport, we started talking about American pop culture and how he hated American television. He said he was fascinated that there was laughter in the background of American television. He basically was disgusted that Americans had to have laughter in the background of TV to show them what is funny and what isn’t. I did agree that was a weird thing and how I never really noticed it until he said something about it. He also talked about how in New Zealand, life is not all about making money, but, it’s all about how happy you are and the money will follow. I was honesty inspired by that and made me realize that all we are doing in life is to get a good education, to get a good job, to make money. However, in New Zealand, as long as you are doing something that you love then who cares about the money. Overall, I had an absolutely delightful conversation with this very kind man. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet back up with him later in the trip but if he knows it or not, he made a lasting impression on me that I will never forget. 

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Maori’s Arrival (Museum Entry)

Last week in Dunedin, we had some free time and were able to stop by the Otago Museum to learn a little bit more about the Maori people. While walking through the Museum, we found many different artifacts that were fascinating but in particular, there was this giant beautifully carved boat right in the middle of one of the exhibits. The boat must’ve been around 20 feet with very detailed carvings into each end of the boat. This was one of the largest rowing boats that I have ever seen with unbelievable craftsmanship and to think it happened so long ago is crazy. They used these boats to come to New Zealand from Hawaiki. Today, Hawaiki is not on the map, however, it is believed that this is a group of islands in Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean. 

According to Maori Legend, the very first explorer from Polynesia to arrive at New Zealand was Kupe. He used the stars and ocean currents as his guide. It is believed that he landed at the Hokianga Harbour on the North Island around 1000 years ago. More explorers followed Kupe over the next couple hundred years, landing at many different parts of New Zealand. This is where this magnificent boat comes in. Kupe travelled alone, therefore, he had a single person canoe to travel but when there were crowds that traveled together, they would take these larger boats in order to fit more people. 

The carvings at each end of the boats are supposed to be “good luck” for the long travel from the Polynesia Islands all the way to New Zealand. It is said to show the mythical creation of heaven and earth and because of this balance, it would keep the boat afloat. It is also about the Maori creation and the representation of spreading light and knowledge to the world. 

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Canyoning (Additional)

While in Queenstown this past weekend, we had a free day in order to do anything that we wanted to. Some people went white water rafting, others went bungy jumping, however, I wanted to do something that I could not do anywhere else in the world. Though there are things similar to it, there is nothing like New Zealand canyoning. My friend and I came into this not really knowing what to expect, we were only told that it is an extremely cool thing to do and somewhat of a ‘highlight’ of New Zealand. 

There were a number of canyoning companies to choose from but we believed that “Canyoning Queenstown” was the best rated for the price. It was only $220 NZ dollars for a whole afternoon of adventure which is only about $150 US dollars. Through this company, we had the choice to choose the half day or the all day feature. Seeing as if it was our first time and the level of difficulty, the half day seemed like a perfect fit for us. This company aslow features more waterfalls, natural water slides, and deep crystal clear pools than any other canyoning company in Queenstown. The canyons that they take us to are inaccessible to the public so we saw this as a great opportunity. You may still be confused about what exactly canyoning is. It is a range of activities that include zip lining, rappelling down cliffs, hiking, climbing, pool jumps and sliding. At one point we were near the top of the canyon and we were standing in a creek and we could drink straight from the creek! The water was absolutely delicious and something I will not be able to experience anywhere else. 

The roots for the art of canyoning began back in the 1960′s when the future owner’s father went climbing through canyons with the famous Sir Edmund Hillary. He was known for being the first explorer to be able to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest. He is especially famous in New Zealand for being from here and bringing great pride to the small country. As a boy, the future owner heard stories from his father about travelling through canyons with Sir Edmund. This created a passion for adventuring and about 30 years later, the owner had the opportunity to bring his passion to the people of New Zealand. In 1998, they created this company and implemented different grapples throughout the canyon to make this possible. They are very passionate about the beautiful canyon and support the community by promoting education, conservation and environmental sustainability in the areas that they operate in. Overall, this was so much fun and if I could bring my family here sometime, I would not hesitate to pull the trigger on the all day canyoning! 

I was unable to bring my phone on the trip because, as you will see, you get completely soaking and would have destroyed my phone. Therefore, I have no videos or photos of myself doing these stunts so here is a video through “Canyoning Queenstown” to show you all of the things we did. 

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Queenstown Luge (Queenstown Entry)

This past Friday, we were fortunate enough to be able to ride up the Queenstown Skyline Gondola and ride go-kart like machines around the top of the mountain. This was one of the coolest experiences I have ever done and will certainly not be forgetting about that anytime soon. We arrived in Queenstown around 2 o’clock on Friday after a 5 hour drive so as you can imagine, we were all pretty tired. However, this woke us all up and gave me a rush as we were using gravity and steering mechanisms to maneuver down the track. We were not supposed to be racing but as you can imagine... we all raced. The first time down we had to do the beginner course before you could move on to the more advanced track. As you can see in the video, we were extremely high up and had a great view of the city and the surrounding mountains.

The Luge was first implemented at the top of Bob’s Peak in 1998, however, it was possible because in 1961, Mr. Ian Hamilton constructed a very steep road up the mountain in order to bring visitors and create an attraction. Mr. Hamilton was killed shortly after this in a car accident and his shares were bought by Mr. John Dumble. In 1965, the city council gave him and his associates permission to build a cableway up the mountain instead of having bus rides up there. This was finished being built by 1967. This was a very popular attraction in New Zealand and was not changed for another 27 years. In 1994, The complex underwent a $6 million dollar upgrade which gave viewers a more clear viewing station and more room up at the peak. In the coming years, it won the New Zealand Tourism Award which is a huge feat considering the amount of attractions in this beautiful country. This comes full circle when in 1998, the luge opened on top of this skyline view. Since then, they have upgraded the gondola and put in bars/restaurants up at the peak in order to attract many customers and improve their time at the peak. They are planning to invest $100 million dollars to build more efficient gondolas as well as undergo a major expansion of the bar/restaurant complex. All in all, this was a very fun experience and would highly recommend it to anyone who is traveling to Queenstown. If I had the opportunity to come back, that would be one of my top things to do while here in New Zealand. 

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Waiheke Island (Additional)

This past week, we were able to have a totally free day on Saturday and decided to purchase tickets through fullers ferries to the popular island of Waiheke Island. The walk from our accommodation was not too far and it was a 40 minute ferry ride to the island. Once we got on the ferry, it was a beautiful ferry ride showing us the features of New Zealand and all of the mountains that makes this country so beautiful. Once we landed, we stopped at a local burger shop called Too Fat Buns. This place was known for having extremely large, delicious burgers and they did not disappoint. After this, we walked down to the beach and had an absolutely lovely rest of the day enjoying the scenery, tossing around the pigskin, and exploring up and down the beach. After hours of being in the sun, enjoying the absolutely beautiful scenery as seen in the attached gif, we decided to pack up and head back to the ferry. We missed one of the last buses that would take us to the ferry port so we had to walk about 30-40 minutes in order to catch one of the last ferries back. All in all, we had an extremely enjoyable day and would highly recommend this island to anyone who enjoys a gorgeous beach with spectacular views. 

Waiheke Island is the most populated island in the Hauraki Gulf and the third most populated island in New Zealand behind the North and South Islands. There are around 9,000 permanent residents with around 3,000 who have vacation homes on this fantastic island. This island is the most accessible island because of the regular passenger ferry services as well as helicopter rides to the island that occur daily. The Maori’s originally named this island “Te Motu-arai-roa” which means the long sheltering island, however, when the european visitors arrived around the 1800′s, they called it “Motu-Wai-Heke” meaning the island of trickling waters. This eventually adapted to Waiheke Island to make it easier for visitors to pronounce. Some of the cool things that I learned while over there includes the fact that they had to build three gun stations on the island in order to protect the allied shipping for the Auckland Harbour. This was due to threats during World War II from the Japanese. The guns were never fired in action but had to be placed in because of these threats. Overall, this trip was very fun as well as educational and allowed us to be able to learn a little bit more about the New Zealand culture and how Waiheke Island is apart of that culture. 

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Fish and Chips (Food Entry)

Yesterday, we hoped on a bus that took us out to St. Clair Beach in Dunedin for a fun afternoon of surfing. Before we could exhaust ourselves with this rigorous activity, we needed to fill our bellies with something filling yet satisfying. As a group, we ate at the Starfish Cafe and got take out fish and chips so we could enjoy those along the boardwalk. At first, I was nervous about this fried fish because I was never a fan of fish sticks back in the U.S.. I believed that it would be something similar to this with a side of tartar sauce (which I was also not a fan of). As you can see in the picture below, I opened the box to see a bottom layer of french fries (chips as they call it here) and a few pieces of battered, fried cod with a side of tartar sauce and ketchup (tomato sauce as they call it here). When I first took a bite, I was blown away by how delicious it was and how much better it tasted than just microwavable fish sticks that you can get in the U.S.. I made sure to squeeze the lemon across my entire meal to give it a nice flavoring of the fish and fries. The tartar sauce was also excellent as it was nothing like i’ve ever tasted before. Overall, it was one of the tastiest meals I have had so far on this trip and would not mind if I had something like that every week in America. 

Fish and Chips is of British origin that is a friend and battered cod fish served with “chips” (as mentioned before french fries). It is known as being a quick take-out meal that can be compared to a modern day McDonald’s hamburgers. This dish first appeared in Britain in the 1860s and in the next 50 years, there were more than 25,000 fish and chip stores across Britain. As you can imagine, as time went on, this dish became more popular in the country and is now a staple take out meal of Britain. This meal was brought to New Zealand before World War I when the British imperialists brought it over and introduced it to the indigenous people of this country. Ever since then, the dish has become an extremely popular meal and by the 20th century, nearly every small town and suburb had at least one fish and chips shop in it. Because of some religious followings, Friday night has usually been an extremely popular night to eat fish and therefore is usually an extremely crowded night at those shops. All in all, yesterday’s fish and chips were an absolute delight and it will certainly not be the last time I eat fish and chips here in New Zealand. 

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Junior Doctor Strike (Current Event Entry)

There will be thousands of New Zealanders who will miss out on surgery on January 15th and 16th due to many junior doctors will go on strike because of proposed changes in collective agreements. There could be as many as 3300 District Health Boards’ employed junior doctors who will go on strike for 48 hours starting at 7 am on January 15. This can be as many as 80% of junior doctors which is a very significant amount. The union for these junior doctors say that this new collective agreement could change many rules set in place and take away some of the simple rights these doctors believed they would have when going into the profession. These doctors could be moved to any hospital in the country as the District Health Boards’ seem fit. They could also be forced to work 16 hours in a row and they could lose access to training and education. The non-urgent, planned surgeries, and some outpatient appointments would be postponed and rescheduled as a result of the strike. There is a second strike planned for January 29 and 30th unless there is an agreement between the two parties before then. 

This is an extremely significant event in New Zealand because it means that there will be many people who will not be able to get needed surgeries. They will be postponed until the doctors come back to work after the 48 hour period. Some of the surgeries will be postponed for considerable weeks because of this strike. This could even effect our study abroad group because if someone gets injured in the next 2 days, they will most likely not be able to have surgery until after the strike is over. Today we climbed up some steep rocks and there was a chance that someone could have fallen and hurt themselves. This would have been extremely bad timing because of this strike. Overall, this is a huge story in New Zealand and will affect many patients in need of surgery in the upcoming days. 

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12189948

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Dave Gallaher Statue (Historical Marker)

On Friday, we were lucky enough to go to a Black Caps cricket game against Sri Lanka. Outside the stadium, there was a large statue of Dave Gallaher. He was an Irish-born New Zealand rugby union player and was the captain of the Original All-Blacks. As a young child, Gallaher and his family moved to Auckland in 1878. This was because of his father, James Gallagher, and his failing business in Ireland. Once they landed in Auckland, they found that their last name was rarely pronounced correctly so they decided to get rid of the g in Gallagher and stick with Gallaher. They decided to move there because of George Vesey Stewart’s Katikati special settlement scheme. They were promised many benefits of moving over there but soon realized after the move these promises were broken. The farms required a great amount of work, there was no easy access to water, and the farm was extremely hilly. After realizing this, Dave’s mother had to get a job teaching for only $2 a week. Dave had a tough childhood which can be attributed to his hard working attitude in his later years.

When Dave was only 13, he had to spend a week in an Auckland hospital to have surgery to treat stunted muscles in his left leg which led to problems in his spine. That same year, his mother because extremely sick and she eventually passed away from cancer the very next year. With his father in his 70′s, Dave decided to leave school so he could support his family. He took a job with a local station agent. He eventually joined a junior rugby for Parnell club in 1890. He quickly gained attention for his hard working ethics and leadership qualities even as a young man. He was selected for Auckland’s B team in 1896 and during his time there they were extremely dominant. In 1901, Gallaher enlisted in the New Zealand military for service in the Anglo-Boer War. He climbed through the ranks quickly and by March 1902 he reached the rank of squadron sergeant major. He then returned to New Zealand by August 1902. The very next year he was selected for the national team and was part of the unbeaten tour of Australia. By 1905, he was seen as one of the best on the team and was chosen as captain.

Gallaher’s time as captain is one of the most dominant stretches in the history of the sport. This team was invited to tour the British Isles in 1905-06 which was the very first representation of a New Zealand team touring outside of New Zealand/Australia. They won 34 out of the 35 games that they played. After this tour he retired from Rugby and took up coaching and selecting. He was a selector for both Auckland and New Zealand for most of the next decade. While he was a selector for New Zealand, they played 50 matches and won 44 which just shows his knowledge of the game. Once the first World War started, Dave Gallaher decided to fight for his country and enlist in the military once again in 1916. Unfortunately, Gallaher was killed in 1917 in the Battle of Passchendaele in Belgium. He was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, International Rugby Hall of Fame, and also the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. His legendary legacy was cemented after his success with the national team and eventually giving his life for his country.

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Parkour (Sport Entry)

Today we were lucky enough to learn some new sports in Hamilton. We had the opportunity to learn about the history and rules of rugby as well as learning about a popular sport in New Zealand called Parkour. Some would say Parkour is the art of movement. In this sport, we use our bodies in order to get from a to b in a more efficient and effective way. Not only is this a popular sport in New Zealand, but also an up and coming sport in the rest of the world. This is a very unstructured sport because there are many different forms of the sport and anyone can participate in it in a local park, city, town, and just about anywhere in between. First, I want to explain a little bit of the rules for Parkour, however, there are no rules! This is why it is such a popular sport here in New Zealand because anyone can join in, there are no confusing rules like other sports. This is possible because the only “rule”/objective is to get from a to b as quickly as possible. This can include jumping up on railings, firm structures, and just about anything. For example, instead of taking the stairs, one could get a running start and jump up on the wall to pull themselves up. Another aspect of this sport includes going through these movements as quietly as possible. This adds to the difficulty of the sport and can lead to the graciousness of the activity. Also, there is no equipment that needs to be purchased before participating in the sport. Putting these things together creates a very unique sport that anyone can play. Secondly, I want to talk about my experience in the sport. The first challenge was to touch a sign that was up on the second floor without using the stairs. This involved a running start to a wall and be able to pull yourself up on a crate. Then we had to climb over a handrail which then allowed us to be on the second floor without using the stairs. This was a basic task and set the standard for the basics of Parkour. After this, we went to a handicap ramp that had many handrails. We played a game where the “zombies” were on the handrail and they had to close their eyes. The “ninjas” had to use the handrails and walls in order to get past the zombies without being tagged. The instructor gave us specific limits for what we could and couldn’t do on each challenge which made it more difficult and required us to become more creative in the way to get past these zombies. This was very enjoyable because it required us to use some athletic ability with strategy and creativity in order to get past these zombies in order to win the challenge. Lastly, I want to discuss the popularity in New Zealand. This is a very popular sport because it can be played anywhere, anytime. As mentioned before, there is no equipment that needs to be purchased which helps the popularity because your economic status doesn’t matter. The main reason that this sport isn’t as big as other sports is because of how new the sport is. It is only about 30 years old whereas other sports have been around for centuries. The growing popularity in New Zealand and around the world is due to the fact that it was recently created and also the fact that you only need your body in order to perform the sport. Overall, I believe that this sport is going to become very popular in the next 30 years or so because of these factors.

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Tattoo’s in New Zealand (Additional)

While exploring the different cultures of New Zealand, I have noticed that there are many people who cover their bodies in tattoos. Whether the person is covered in tattoos, has a sleeve of tattoos, or has a showing tattoo, there has been a noticeable increase in people that have tattoos when comparing it to the citizens of the U.S. This is extremely different because sometimes in America, showing tattoos can sometimes be seen as unprofessional while here it seems like everyone has at least one. People in the U.S. that decide to get a tattoo on their face usually are seen as improper, while here it is actually connected to a highly sacred practice that the Maori people believe in. It can be seen as a right of passage and usually begin during adolescence. The head is considered to be the most sacred part of the body so this is why the facial tattoo is one of the most popular Maori tattoo. Each section of the head and what kind of tattoo one got there can symbolize a number of things including social status, prestige or power. “Maori tattoos are one of a kind. They are always highly intricate and detailed and display the craftsmanship and artistry of not only the artist but of the Maori culture.” This is extremely interesting because there are no two Maori tattoos that are exactly the same, but there are patterns that make it a Maori tattoo.  The tattoos can also tell the story of your life and the hardships one has endured. 

This practice has dated back to the 1700′s when the Eastern Polynesia people sailed to New Zealand. They were very interested in Maori culture and the tattoos that associated with the culture. This was the first time the tattoos were documented however, they are believed to date back for centuries. There is a very old indepth legend about the tattoos. It comes from the underworld when a warrior went there for love and was taught this practice by the king of the underworld. The warrior then brought back this practice to the Maori people and from then on it became a tradition. Back before technological advancements in tattooing, the process was extremely painful to get their heads tattooed. The Maori’s being tattooed were not supposed to cry or show any emotion because that would show a sign of weakness. “Having a Maori tattoo applied was a very painful experience. First deep cuts were incised into the skin and then the chisel was dipped into the pigment and tapped into the cuts.“ This shows that it was not easy to be apart of this culture and how sacred it is. Overall, I thought this was extremely interesting because it is not like anything in the U.S. while here in New Zealand, it is a main focal point of the Maori culture. 

http://www.zealandtattoo.co.nz/tattoo-styles/maori-tattoo/ 

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Pre-Departure First Thoughts

Hi everyone! Welcome to my Tumblr Blog. On this blog, I will be sharing my adventures in New Zealand while I am there for the next three weeks. I will make sure to keep everyone in the loop about my daily activities and all of the different things I will learn while overseas. I want to educate my followers about the cultural differences when it comes to sport in New Zealand. I believe this is a great way to share my experiences and hope everyone reading enjoys and maybe even learns something new along the way! From the research I’ve done before this trip, I have learned a little bit about the sporting culture in New Zealand and how is compares to here in America. I learned about the ‘All Blacks’ and how this famous rugby team has been successful ever since they were formed. I also learned about how a brewing company (Speight’s) has a specific niche when it comes to rugby and how their beer has an impact on the sporting culture in New Zealand. There are also cultural differences within the country of New Zealand when it comes to sport and more specifically the national rugby team. One of the things that I am very excited about is to learn about a game I have never even heard of: netball. Apparently, it is a huge sport in New Zealand and I have never even heard of it before I began researching New Zealand. Learning new sports can help teach me the different culture of New Zealand and how it compares to sports that Americans play that people around the world do not. I am a little nervous about the food overseas. I have always been a little bit of a picky eater and hope that this can be a way out of that. I want to try new foods yet, I am nervous about finding specific foods that I like and can enjoy throughout the trip. One thing that I would like to learn while in New Zealand is more about the rugby culture over there and learn why it is such a big sport there while in America, it is not a very popular sport. I believe that this is because of the culture so I want to be able to more properly understand why this is. Overall, I am extremely excited for this once in a lifetime opportunity to be traveling across the globe and I will make sure to keep everyone in the loop and teach people about the many different things I will learn while in New Zealand.