New Friendlyland
Posted by unbrand on 5 December 2004 | 0 Comments
Well, I’ve been in Wellington, New Zealand for a few weeks now and all I can say is Wow. There are a number of things that are really cool here, and a few not so cool. But just a few. So, in no particular order, here are the cool things about New Zealand:
- Food is cheap and varied here. The grocery stores have an extremely wide variety of food and in some ways more varied than in the U.S. Like a dozen different kinds of feta cheese. And all kinds of German bread that Sibylle digs.
- People are very friendly here. Many people will ask you how your day is going. And they expect a real response. Seriously.
- People honk their horns only to say hi to each other. Only once have I seen someone honk their horn for another reason, and that was to legitimately warn someone that they were about to do something dangerous.
- You can walk anywhere. Ok, this is something that’s particular to Wellington (and maybe a few other places, I dunno).
- “Good on ya.” I like this phrase. It means “good job.” But it’s more like the person who says it wishes you to be smothered in good.
- Culture of responsibility. It’s actually assumed here that you are an adult and can tie your shoes. Case in point: no personal injury lawsuits. The government (well, your taxes) pays for injuries and downtime from work. But the secret about the taxes is that they are not higher than in the U.S. when you consider the U.S. has state taxes and Social Security and …
- GST, or Goods and Services Tax. It’s the sales tax of 12.5% that is added to everything, pretty much, so it’s effectively hidden from you. When you buy something, you pay the price on the tag, you walk out the door. Done.
- No tipping unless you really mean it! If you pay for a $3 beer at a bar, you pay the bartender $3. After you finish your beer, you can get up and walk out. And they won’t chase you down the sidewalk for not tipping. When I just got off the boat in Tauranga we went to a bar that evening. The waiter came round, took our order, then came back a few minutes later with our drinks. I gave him $10 for our $9 order and said “That’s okay.” He came back a minute later with our $1 change.