Hi week 10!
This week is Maori culture week so I thought it would be a good time to write this post! The Maori are the Polynesian indigenous people of New Zealand and they are a large part of the New Zealand culture. All throughout campus and New Zealand in general the Maori language is prominently used. On all of the buildings and the signs on campus, it says the Maori translation under the English translation for everything. When taking the bus outside of the city and they are giving announcements, the Maori language is used before English is used. In New Zealand, about 700,000 people are Maori out of the 5 million people total.
I have met a lot of people who are Maori and they are honestly the sweetest people ever. You can tell who is Maori because they usually have face tattoos or some kind of tattooed symbol on them to represent their tribe.
During Maori culture week, there were a lot of events on campus to honor this culture. There was games in Maori, little facts about the culture on flyers all around campus, and traditional Maori food was being served at the village green. From this I feel like I learned a lot about the culture here and I could tell it's really important to the people of New Zealand.
Besides the Maori culture, there's the Kiwi's of course! This is just what the people of New Zealand call themselves. The culture in general here is pretty laid back and calm. The Kiwi's prioritize friendships and being welcoming to others, so I feel like coming here has been an easy transition just because I felt so welcomed. The Kiwi's are really funny too - they are always laughing and making jokes. I don't think I've met one Kiwi that was in a bad mood.
There is a pretty big drinking culture here, especially on the weekends and during breaks. I am living in a freshman and international student dorm, so most of the people here have recently turned 18 and are now legally allowed to drink. On the weekends, everybody goes out to town and drinks in the dorms beforehand.
Another big thing here that I have noticed during group settings is afternoon "tea". During orientation, all of the international students were gathered together to have some afternoon tea together. I went and I just saw a lot of food, no actual tea, so i asked where the tea was. Apparently tea actually just means lunch, so that was good to know!
Here are pictures showing examples of the Maori language being used on buildings and signs!
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