in 07' i'll be going overseas for a year to study with AFS. AFS North Shore always has lots of meetings to prepare you for going away. i was at one of these, and they had all the hosted students (foreign students living here) to talk about their countries. i remember this girl from Latvia was real funny because she talked about all their weird customs, like jumping over fires and rolling in the snow after a sauna. these all seem pretty stupid, yet normal there. but then i thought, to overseas visitors, we must look pretty stupid too. just to note some examples, here are a few things that make up the NZ way of life.
in NZ, a heavily tattooed ass shows status,and bravery in battle. anywhere else, you'd be labelled a homosexual.
to greet a Maori traditonally, you perform a hongi, or an exchange of breath. you put your noses together and inhale the other person's breath.
rolling your eyes and sticking out your tongue is not a childish insult. its a very serious threat. during the land wars it was probably the last thing many british soldiers saw.
in maori culture the hairier your chest is, the braver you are considered. the Te Raupuraha Haka is a very famous and very respected war song and dance, although now it is just performed before rugby matches. here are the lyrics.
ka mate! ka mate!
ka ora! ka ora!
ka mate! ka mate!
ka ora! ka ora!
tenei te tangata, puru-huru!
na'a nei tiki mai whaka-whiti te ra!
a-hupane! a-hupane!
a-hupane ka-upane!
whiti te-ra! HI!
the bit i've highlighted means "this is the man, so hairy!"
according to legend, the sun moves slowly across the sky because the great warrior Maui beat the shit out of it using his grandmother's jawbone.
according to legend, Maui also fished up NZ from under the sea. he had no bait, so he repeatedly punched himself in the face until his nose bled enough for him to use.
unlike the awe-inspiring american bald eagle, our national icon is a bird called the kiwi. everywhere except here this is a name given to a fruit that resembles this pathetic little bird. it stands just over a foot tall, and can't fly. it is regularly eaten by things such as rats and ferrets. it can only lay one egg, because the egg is over half the size of the entire bird.
ceremonial battle dress for the Maori is a skirt woven from flax. no underwear. ceremonial battle dress for the pakeha is a skirt with tartan patterns on it. no underwear. makes you wonder.
the most respected men in the tribe wear long earings, feathers in their hair, and cloaks made out of feathers and animal furs. again, anywhere else you'd probably be labelled a homosexual.
i'm pakeha, and most people think the word pakeha means 'white man'. it doesn't. a Pa is a maori fortress which is built on hills and encircles a small village. we have a native parrot here called the Kea, and everyone hates it. if it gets near a car, it will slash your tires, pull your windscreen wipers off, tear off the sealant around the windows, etc etc, and then use these things to decorate its nest. if you put these two words together you get the word 'pakeha', which basically means 'man who steals from the Pa'. there has always been a long standing joke within the upper class white people here that maoris like to steal things. unfortunately they are all ignorant to the fact that that was how their forefathers got so rich in the first place.
i could go on, but this post is getting miles too long. but if you're still reading please share any stupid customs from your home country. i think it would be interesting to see which country or people practices the stupidest rituals.
in NZ, a heavily tattooed ass shows status,and bravery in battle. anywhere else, you'd be labelled a homosexual.
to greet a Maori traditonally, you perform a hongi, or an exchange of breath. you put your noses together and inhale the other person's breath.
rolling your eyes and sticking out your tongue is not a childish insult. its a very serious threat. during the land wars it was probably the last thing many british soldiers saw.
in maori culture the hairier your chest is, the braver you are considered. the Te Raupuraha Haka is a very famous and very respected war song and dance, although now it is just performed before rugby matches. here are the lyrics.
ka mate! ka mate!
ka ora! ka ora!
ka mate! ka mate!
ka ora! ka ora!
tenei te tangata, puru-huru!
na'a nei tiki mai whaka-whiti te ra!
a-hupane! a-hupane!
a-hupane ka-upane!
whiti te-ra! HI!
the bit i've highlighted means "this is the man, so hairy!"
according to legend, the sun moves slowly across the sky because the great warrior Maui beat the shit out of it using his grandmother's jawbone.
according to legend, Maui also fished up NZ from under the sea. he had no bait, so he repeatedly punched himself in the face until his nose bled enough for him to use.
unlike the awe-inspiring american bald eagle, our national icon is a bird called the kiwi. everywhere except here this is a name given to a fruit that resembles this pathetic little bird. it stands just over a foot tall, and can't fly. it is regularly eaten by things such as rats and ferrets. it can only lay one egg, because the egg is over half the size of the entire bird.
ceremonial battle dress for the Maori is a skirt woven from flax. no underwear. ceremonial battle dress for the pakeha is a skirt with tartan patterns on it. no underwear. makes you wonder.
the most respected men in the tribe wear long earings, feathers in their hair, and cloaks made out of feathers and animal furs. again, anywhere else you'd probably be labelled a homosexual.
i'm pakeha, and most people think the word pakeha means 'white man'. it doesn't. a Pa is a maori fortress which is built on hills and encircles a small village. we have a native parrot here called the Kea, and everyone hates it. if it gets near a car, it will slash your tires, pull your windscreen wipers off, tear off the sealant around the windows, etc etc, and then use these things to decorate its nest. if you put these two words together you get the word 'pakeha', which basically means 'man who steals from the Pa'. there has always been a long standing joke within the upper class white people here that maoris like to steal things. unfortunately they are all ignorant to the fact that that was how their forefathers got so rich in the first place.
i could go on, but this post is getting miles too long. but if you're still reading please share any stupid customs from your home country. i think it would be interesting to see which country or people practices the stupidest rituals.
Last edited by nzjafa (2005-11-16 18:59:47)