Culture shock: Battle of the city’s edition

Thousands of Wellington School students and citizens march in the school strike for Climate. Photo: NZ Herald

Poneke, Wellington

Known for being the hub of Doc Martens, good coffee (more specifically, oat milk iced lattes), and jazz, Wellington has most certainly become known as New Zealand’s artsy capital.

Yasmin Kesry, first year environmental science student, found the change from Welly to Christchurch to be “a culture shock, for sure.” Kesry explained the inherent culture of Wellington to be “socially involved”, with emphasis put on being an upstander rather than a bystander.

Considered the ‘home of Parliament’, Kesry remembers being inspired by the people around her to challenge the current norms of society from a young age. She mentions that “going to a climate strike was totally normal when I was growing up.” Taking a stroll in the Wellington CBD, Kesry explained “literally, I could be walking down Cuba street and see a guy dressed up as a tree playing the saxophone, or like someone getting interviewed.”

Random pockets of creativity, street art, fringe theatre and rallies for teacher pay raises are all the rage, littering the streets of Wellington. In terms of self-expression, Wellington shows up. Kesry reiterates this, saying that “the norm is to be you, and to be expressive and unique.” Wearing fishnets, donning a cheese cutter hat, multicoloured skirt or even a lavalava are all seen as perfectly regular things to wear.

Kesry voiced her adoration for the inclusive culture, mentioning that “Christchurch seems to label anyone that is being mildly themselves as ‘a bit different’, which can be isolating.”

Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai, Lower Hutt

Heading the teeniest bit away from Wellington, first year psychology student, Isla McKay, is a proud citizen hailing from the mighty Lower Hutt. With the influence of Wellington bleeding into the Hutt, McKay makes insightful commentary about the dress code requirements when going for a night out on the town. She mentions that “Christchurch’s town attire requirements do not promote inclusivity.”

To enter many of the bars in Christchurch town, biological males are required to wear a collared shirt, pants, and dress shoes. For biological females, pretty much anything goes. The dress code leaves minimal wiggle room for allowing someone to dress according to their own gender identity or wear something that is a bit more “them.” This inherently gender normative narrative is something that has become firmly engrained into Christchurch culture. It could be about time to take a leaf out of Wellington’s fashion-forward book….

Rotorua

Heading up north a bit more to the Bay of Plenty, Rotorua is known for being the home of the Chiefs and for its chill and ‘go with the flow’, mindset. Rotorua born-and-breed engineering student, (sorry, we had to get ONE of them #tokenengineer), Jacob Snyman, comments on the community and sense of whanau that Rotorua seems to have, “it’s standard in Rotorua to be friendly to strangers, to say a random good morning on the street.”

Snyman mentions that it was common practice for his parents to throw barbeques for the entire street. This engrained culture of collectivism and emphasis on the “shared experience” paints Rotorua as more “focused on the collective good.” He believes this stems heavily from the Māori presence within Rotorua. When compared to Christchurch, Snyman loves the UC atmosphere, but does mention that, in wider Christchurch, sometimes the culture is more individualistic, which could be a consequence of the Eurocentric blueprint that Christchurch has been under jurisdiction of for a long time.

The Māori cultural immersion tour, hailing from Rotorua, perform at the Lincoln memorial July 23, 2017. Credit: New Zealand Herald

Tauranga

Still in Chief’s land, Tauranga is known for its sunny climate, and for being about 15 minutes from Tauranga’s way cooler, older sister, Mount Maunganui. Beach bum and recent Christchurch citizen Alex Thompson, BCom student, mentions that the “pace of life is just different.”

Tauranga/The Mount have a certain relaxed atmosphere to them, with a large amount of the inhabitants being of an older demographic. Unfortunately, with such a large presence of this older demographic, harmful traditional values still manage to marinate within the community. Thompson mentions that “the younger generation is more accepting” with schools starting to bring in more pride days and heroing diversity more within the classroom.

The older demographic’s conservative legacy still definitely exists, but there is a certain push for change in recent years. The CBD has lost a lot of radiance, with shops closing, the absence of live music and energy.

Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland

Taking a wee bit of a drive even further north to Auckland, Sophia Allwood, BSCI student, enjoys the diversity of citizens within the city, mentioning that a “large amount of diversity has stemmed from Auckland’s international connections.” Allwood loves how “ahead” the city is, being the “first place in New Zealand to have an opportunity.”

Upon arriving in Christchurch, Allwood struggled with the sometimes-lacking diversity within the city. Being from an Asian background herself, Allwood commented on the lack of Asian restaurants within Christchurch, recalling, “one time I was just a little bit homesick, and I was looking for something to remind me of home.” In terms of wider Christchurch, the population is quite white-washed, and sometimes, it can feel like there is not enough room for other ethnicities to feel included and accepted.

Ōtautahi, Christchurch

Now headed right back to Ōtautahi, Christchurch. Currently stationed as the Tumuaki o Te Akatoki at UC, Anna Pohatu has worked tirelessly to bring and create opportunities for other Māori students. She commented on the lack of external and governmental support for Māori people, mentioning that “our people are actually the people actually bringing our people better places.”

 Lots of the funding and opportunities that are formed come from the efforts of Māori people themselves. Pohatu comments that “in other cities, like Gisborne or Hamilton, they get the opportunity to…celebrate their culture in other communities.” Celebrations had within the Māori community need to be pushed to the forefront of New Zealand’s creative and cultural landscape. Pohatu also makes a further comment on New Zealand’s need to properly instil Māori culture into the everyday lives of New Zealanders, “if we can make TikTok normal, why can’t we make kapa haka and Pasifika dance normal?”

In mainstreaming cultural practices, traditions, traditional dance and speaking the native language more regularly, Te Ao Māori and Pasifika culture have the potential to become more normalised within New Zealand society.  

University is a melting pot when it comes to everyone’s previous backgrounds; everybody has a different story, background, and different city culture that they have previously considered their “normal.” Every city or hometown brings with them their own strengths and weaknesses. In comparing these cities to Christchurch, it can be interesting to see how the city differs astronomically in terms of creative culture and support for our diverse and marginalised communities. These comments about Christchurch’s culture does encourage us, government bodies and, indeed, the citizens of Otautahi to question… is it finally time for Christchurch to make some radical systematic changes?