May in New Zealand

For my STEP signature project, I studied abroad in Christchurch, New Zealand at the University of Canterbury, staying with a homestay family for 25 days during the first 4 week session of summer term 2016. The class looked at the linguistic and bi-cultural situation of New Zealand through fieldwork, research, and cultural based experiences.

One of the main things I learned from this experience is humans ability to coalesce and form meaningful communities. As a natural introvert, it can be difficult to fit in and create meaningful interactions in a new social situation. However for 25 days, I had to spend nearly everyday with 19 new classmates and live with a new family. My initial forecast was forced interaction: cordial, yet somewhat unauthentic interaction amongst us. However I soon discovered how quickly communities form. Within the first two days, there were still some anxieties between classmates, but the foundation for our future friendship had been established. I came to New Zealand because I was open to new experiences, but knew acting to support this feeling is not always easy. Thankfully, all my classmates also shared this sentiment, and with open minds our relationships grew based on our commonalities and also cultivation and appreciation of differences. Our class eventually came to do hikes, walks, lunch, and even a weekend trip to Lake Tekapo together. We were able to share our new experiences in a foreign country with each other and learn from our handling of these situations.

Social openness also transcends to cultural openness. New Zealand was a country that was never a personal priority to travel to, and it was mostly through STEP funding that I was able to mentally dive into the experience. I arrived in the country with very few expectations and was quickly shown the multiculturalism, the mountains, the seas, and the undefinable kiwi personality of New Zealand. One of the most notable aspects of New Zealand is the bicultural situation between the paheka, or non-Maori, and the Maori. In the United States, the native cultures have been historically downtrodden and efforts to revive these disparate and fragmented cultures have been no practical help in lifting them out of obscurity. New Zealand on the other hand, borrows many words from the Maori language, uses Maori names for streets, animals, and places, and lists Maori as an official language, so that signs, government agencies, and more are in both English and Maori. Although, New Zealand’s history has slightly paralleled the United States’s in respect to native populations, New Zealand has tried to reverse the trend and create realistic opportunities for Maori culture to survive in a modern society. The unanticipated uniqueness that I saw in New Zealand showed me not to cross any country off the list for lack of expectations. Without the experience, I can not value a separate country’s culture, people, and geography.

Time spent together with classmates, my homestay family, and the exploration of Christchurch and the South Island of New Zealand all contributed to previously mentioned changes. All students, myself included, quickly bonded due to the novelty of our situation and our attitude throughout the process. We were all open to exploring the city, to hanging out and playing sports together, and cultivating our exploration of New Zealand. A particularly memorable moment was one Saturday where I had nothing planned except dull internet browsing, while some classmates wanted to go on a trip to Taylor’s Mistake, a beach that was over an hour bus ride and 2 mile walk away. Keeping my promise, I remained open to the long day ahead and joined them. The two photos below are enough explanation for the sights on that trip.

This day was not a solitary incident in the trip and was hot springs, mountain encircled lakes, and natural harbors filled with dolphins and seals occupied the days. This trip to Taylor’s Mistake was just one incident of solitary exploring in the Christchurch area, that included city touring, hiking, and culinary exploration. In essence, I was living in New Zealand, with a New Zealand family and internalizing the appreciable differences in the kiwi culture.

As I learned these differences and came to understand them in context I learned a great deal about the development of New Zealand culture. As aforementioned, New Zealand has a bi-cultural situation between the Maori and non-Maori. The US on the other hand has a much more diverse range of cultures, as many cities have their own associated ethnicities, such as Swedish and Polish in Chicago, Armenian and Chinese in Los Angeles, and everything imaginable in New York City. However, the knowledge of Maori cultural items and language by non-Maori was remarkable. Dances like the haka, phrases like kia ora, and understanding of the language by non-Maori surprised me. In no way does the United States give such appreciation and understanding on a large scale to non-European cultures. This experience showed me how life in the United States could be and how I can incorporate this mindset into my own. My way of life is not the only one, and it needs not be the only one I define myself by. I can learn from other cultures and learn from their different elements and see commonalities that might not be appreciated.

The experience of studying abroad provided much more than simply a class whose course material can be condensed into a series of lectures. The various trip excursions and ample free time provided a structural framework for exploration. The itinerary exposed us to museums, popular city attractions such as botanical gardens, beaches, and more, while free time helped us expand on this base through hikes and city exploration. As previously mentioned, my experience has taught me to not be as closed to different personalities, to seek for their intersections, and then to learn from their differences. Further, this trip has been a training of sorts for my future plans to live in Europe after graduation. I have been reassured of the joys and growth I will certainly undergo, but also reminded of the mindset I must have to face challenges, such as cultural barriers, getting lost, and so on.