My Godzone

Having a blog is a great idea if you want to get your message across. I have another couple that I have on WordPress but decided I would make one on here again after I felt I needed to get things out of my head and out and away from my mind. Whether this blog gets picked up and noticed is not a concern to me but as long as I can write, this is all that matters and what matters most to me right now is that I am happy and that what I am doing is fruitful and is worth writing about.

As a New Zealander I sometimes feel that we are often forgotten on the global map. There have been times where I have seen a globe in the background of a movie or a television show but New Zealand is left largely off it. Whilst living in Saudi Arabia in the early 2000's, I was quick to tell people where exactly New Zealand was and although I am of European descent, I am not actually from Europe. The truth was that very few had heard of us until I mentioned Australia, our nearest neighbour or 'across the ditch' as we like to call it. 

New Zealand is slowly but steadily growing as a nation. Up until several years ago there was only approximately 3.5 million of us. Now its growing closer to 5. Back when I was growing up, it was a real treat to go out for a meal. The meal that I ate was either something like a buffet style dinner or it was something very 80's which consisted of a chicken Kiev, shrimp cocktail, and breaded mussels. The food here in New Zealand has come a long way since then and with the influx of new people every day we can now see there are many other foods we can eat. Just recently I decided to introduce my mother to one of my favourite fruits. A delicious fruit that I believe tastes like ice cream. Its creamy texture, sweet but not over sweet flavour but its odour is one that one would hate to be stuck in a lift with if the lift broke down. It repulses people and its little wonder that there are signs plastered everywhere in Singapore hotels saying "NO DURIAN" wherever you go. The Durian fruit is a special kind of fruit and Mum had never tried one which I found surprising considering like me she has been to Asia. So when I purchased some that had already been cut and packaged I shared it with her. I think she let hers melt a little long as it comes frozen and the odour was already starting to permanent my living room. Still she did not hesitate to taste it and sadly she was not to appreciate its silky flavour and deliciousness that I had found several years ago. You can't win them all I guess. 

My nephew at the beach when he was younger

But as a country we are now seeing more and more make my country their own. It is refreshing to be able to walk down the street and see different faces and different races all melting together to call themselves a community and while my little town is not big by any stretch of the imagination, its nice to see that I can go and purchase goods from India or noodles from China as the township continues to grow. New Zealand is more than just sheep, its more than just its beef and lamb. It is a culture which is tucked away down the bottom of the southern hemisphere which is unique and has a culture all of its own. Many of us still like to be able to say hello to those who pass us on the street but as the years go by, there are some things that have changed. People are not as friendly, some see friendliness as there could be something wrong or something not be trusted if a person is too friendly. Its probably everywhere but people are becoming more cautious and rightly so, who isn't to say that neighbour next door from Yemen sold his kids so he could have a bit of money in his pocket. Not that it has happened here but its happened elsewhere like in the mother country England back in the early 1980's. New Zealand is a friendly country and many of us do work hard for what we do. We are the sort that are not afraid of getting stuck in and working our arses off and we are not afraid of hard work. We enjoy a challenge and we enjoy striving for what we want. We may not always win but we always give it our best. 

New Zealand for all its worth is my home, its where I have come back to after living abroad in both Saudi and in Australia. Its where I am considering leaving this year to work abroad but its where my roots are, where my childhood started and where my adulthood began. I believe that every New Zealand is a proud person, proud of who they are and where they come from. It shows in major international events and it shows in our faces when we have achieved and if we came second or third, it also shows we are not sore losers either.