New Zealand trip, and reverse culture shock.
Hello again, long time no blog! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years holiday season. Hopefully you all ate plenty and spent some time with loved ones.
I've just returned from New Zealand, where I spent Christmas and New Year's Eve, before flying back to Japan on New Year's Day. I'll recap what I did during my short visit home, and talk about some of the reverse culture shocks I experienced.
I arrived on the 23rd, and my parents, brother, aunt, uncle and cousins were waiting to greet me at Queenstown airport. It was really awesome to have a welcoming committee, and they had even made signs saying "Konnichiwa Hannah", which was a nice touch. Then my parents, brother and I began the one hour drive back to Wanaka. We stopped by my grandparent's house on the way home, and celebrated with champagne and snacked on my grandmother's famous belgium biscuits and Christmas cake. We arrived home at about 7.30pm, and I was reunited with my two cats. I also finally got to have a shower, very welcome after 15 hours travelling. Then the four of us sat outside and enjoyed the long summer's evening and caught up over more drinks and some dinner. Then I slept from about 10pm until about 6am. The time difference between Japan and New Zealand is only 4 hours, and I thought I would wake up later due to NZ being ahead of Japan, but I managed to get on New Zealand time fairly quickly. In the morning (Christmas Eve), my parents and I walked up one of my favourite walking tracks in Wanaka, Mt Iron. It was so great to see the view from the top again! Dad whipped up a big breakfast for all of us. I had missed his cooking so much, he's such a great cook! We then headed into town and had coffee at one of my favourite cafes, and picked up some last minute things for Christmas Day from the supermarket.
On Christmas morning, we took our boat out and went water skiing! I hadn't water skiied for a long time, so it was fantastic to be able to do that again. We then headed home and had breakfast, and started preparing for Christmas lunch. My grandparents arrived at around 11 and we opened presents and had a feast! It was such a hot day that we couldn't sit outside for too long unfortunately, but it was better weather than other parts of the country, which were experiencing flooding!
Boxing day was a really chilled out day as I wasn't feeling too well (I think the rich food from the day before may have had something to do with it). We did go into town though, and we walked along the lakefront. We also had dinner with some family friends, and it was great to catch up with them. They had made a pavlova for dessert, especially for me, which was nice.
On the 27th, we went into town in the morning and I bought some souvenirs to take back to Japan with me from the supermarket. I used to work at the supermarket in town, and so I know a lot of the staff there. It was nice to walk into the supermarket and see friendly familiar faces. They were all keen to hear how I was getting on, and it was really great to see them again. We then tried out a new cafe that had just opened in town. That evening, we went to a friend of my mum's for dinner, and I get along well with her and her husband, so it was good to catch up with them.
On the 28th, I conquered Mt Iron again, and then we took the boat out and had a picnic at our favourite spot on the lake, Stevensons Island. I got to go water skiing again, and it was nice to sit and read a book and just relax on the beach. My aunt and uncle have a caravan that they park at a camping ground near our house, and they were staying there that night, so we went there for a barbecue.
On the 29th, we had coffee in town with my aunt and uncle, and then I had lunch with my friend Ellie. I had caught up with her and her family on Boxing Day, but it was nice to have lunch just the two of us. I also went round to my grandparents place to see them again. That night, our old neighbour and her friend came to our place for dinner, and dad had cooked a lamb roast. You can't get more kiwi than a roast leg of New Zealand lamb! It was delicious.
On the 30th, we went on a bit of a road trip down to Cromwell (about 40 minutes from Wanaka), and had a look at the farmers market that happens every Sunday there. They have a wide variety of locally made cheeses, jams and more. We then continued on to Clyde, 30 minutes down the road from Cromwell, where we had lunch at one of our favourite cafes there. I had a cheese roll, and only South Islanders will truly understand how good these are! They are delicious. We stopped in Cromwell and had real fruit icecreams. If you know, you know. These are icecreams made with, you guessed it, real fruit. They have a variety of fruits you can choose from including strawberries, boysenberries, raspberries and mango. You can then choose if you want frozen yoghurt or icecream. They are so damn good!
On New Years Eve, we went over to Queenstown and did a bit of shopping. The area out near the airport has some great shopping now, and this is one place that had changed a lot since I'd been away. We went into the town centre for a late lunch, and being New Years Eve, the traffic was mental. It was worth it though because we went to, in my opinion, the best cafe in Queenstown, Vudu, for a slice of their famous carrot cake. We then went back to my aunt and uncle's place where we stayed the night as I had an early flight in the morning. It was a really chilled New Years' Eve with them and a couple of their friends.
So that's a quick recap of what I did on my trip, now let's get into a few culture shocks I experienced.
The first thing I noticed was that a lot of the time, people don't take their shoes off when they enter the house! In Japan, it's extremely rude if you don't take off your shoes when you enter someone's house, but in New Zealand my family and friends would walk around the house with their shoes on. I prefer taking my shoes off now personally!
Another thing I noticed was that people are more active in the outdoors in New Zealand, or at least in Wanaka. The walking tracks are so well utilised. I don't know if it's a city versus small town thing, or if it was the summer weather drawing people outdoors, but it was nice to see people out enjoying the environment and making the most of the walking tracks.
Another thing related to this was that when I was out walking, almost everyone said hello, which was so lovely! In Japan, if I'm out for a walk or jog, it's very rare for anyone to stop and say hello. Maybe it's a Tokyo thing? I also don't know if it's because I'm a foreigner or not, but people are a lot more reserved in Japan when it comes to talking to strangers, even just saying hello. I love how friendly New Zealanders are, even to strangers.
Eating out is more expensive in New Zealand! Going to a restaurant or cafe is much more of a treat for people in New Zealand because it's so expensive, whereas in Japan many people eat out all the time and hardly ever cook at home. This is one thing I love about Japan!
People wear jandals (or flip-flops, or thongs if you're an Aussie) everywhere! In Japan, if you wore jandals out and about people would probably give you funny looks, and it's not really acceptable. New Zealanders are very casual when it comes to footwear. Sometimes, bare feet is totally fine! New Zealanders don't really try too hard when it comes to fashion, unless it's for work, and that's something I love. I sometimes feel underdressed when I look around on the train and see how put together the Japanese women are. They're always immaculately groomed and look classy at all times, and that's just not me.
My hometown is about an hour away from any kind of decent shopping, and it also doesn't have a hospital! Of course, there are medical centres, but if you require any kind of urgent, major surgery you're probably going to have to travel to Dunedin, which is three hours away. In Tokyo, a hospital is never far away, and I have all the shops I could ever want on my doorstep. I do love the convenience of living in a city. I realised on this trip home just how isolated my hometown is, and how claustrophobic you can feel.
I loved being able to drive again! I was nervous the first time as it had been about a year since I'd last driven a car, and I wasn't sure if I'd remember how to do it, but it was like riding a bike! It came back to me pretty much straight away. There's something so freeing about hearing a song you love come on the radio and turning it up loud when you're in the car by yourself. You can't really do that on a crowded train! However, when you go out, you have to think about who's going to drive home. Someone has to be a sober driver, and I wasn't used to thinking about that. In Tokyo, I just have to make sure I don't miss the last train!
So there you have it, a recap of my trip home and a few reverse culture shocks! Wanaka is growing rapidly, but the people have remained the same. It really made me think about where home is. Is it Wanaka, New Zealand, where I grew up and where my family live, or is it Tokyo, Japan, where I live and where I have some great friends? I think I have two homes now!
Hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for a one year in Japan post coming up soon! Crazy stuff.
From Japan, with love,
Hannah. xx
I've just returned from New Zealand, where I spent Christmas and New Year's Eve, before flying back to Japan on New Year's Day. I'll recap what I did during my short visit home, and talk about some of the reverse culture shocks I experienced.
I arrived on the 23rd, and my parents, brother, aunt, uncle and cousins were waiting to greet me at Queenstown airport. It was really awesome to have a welcoming committee, and they had even made signs saying "Konnichiwa Hannah", which was a nice touch. Then my parents, brother and I began the one hour drive back to Wanaka. We stopped by my grandparent's house on the way home, and celebrated with champagne and snacked on my grandmother's famous belgium biscuits and Christmas cake. We arrived home at about 7.30pm, and I was reunited with my two cats. I also finally got to have a shower, very welcome after 15 hours travelling. Then the four of us sat outside and enjoyed the long summer's evening and caught up over more drinks and some dinner. Then I slept from about 10pm until about 6am. The time difference between Japan and New Zealand is only 4 hours, and I thought I would wake up later due to NZ being ahead of Japan, but I managed to get on New Zealand time fairly quickly. In the morning (Christmas Eve), my parents and I walked up one of my favourite walking tracks in Wanaka, Mt Iron. It was so great to see the view from the top again! Dad whipped up a big breakfast for all of us. I had missed his cooking so much, he's such a great cook! We then headed into town and had coffee at one of my favourite cafes, and picked up some last minute things for Christmas Day from the supermarket.
On Christmas morning, we took our boat out and went water skiing! I hadn't water skiied for a long time, so it was fantastic to be able to do that again. We then headed home and had breakfast, and started preparing for Christmas lunch. My grandparents arrived at around 11 and we opened presents and had a feast! It was such a hot day that we couldn't sit outside for too long unfortunately, but it was better weather than other parts of the country, which were experiencing flooding!
Boxing day was a really chilled out day as I wasn't feeling too well (I think the rich food from the day before may have had something to do with it). We did go into town though, and we walked along the lakefront. We also had dinner with some family friends, and it was great to catch up with them. They had made a pavlova for dessert, especially for me, which was nice.
On the 27th, we went into town in the morning and I bought some souvenirs to take back to Japan with me from the supermarket. I used to work at the supermarket in town, and so I know a lot of the staff there. It was nice to walk into the supermarket and see friendly familiar faces. They were all keen to hear how I was getting on, and it was really great to see them again. We then tried out a new cafe that had just opened in town. That evening, we went to a friend of my mum's for dinner, and I get along well with her and her husband, so it was good to catch up with them.
On the 28th, I conquered Mt Iron again, and then we took the boat out and had a picnic at our favourite spot on the lake, Stevensons Island. I got to go water skiing again, and it was nice to sit and read a book and just relax on the beach. My aunt and uncle have a caravan that they park at a camping ground near our house, and they were staying there that night, so we went there for a barbecue.
On the 29th, we had coffee in town with my aunt and uncle, and then I had lunch with my friend Ellie. I had caught up with her and her family on Boxing Day, but it was nice to have lunch just the two of us. I also went round to my grandparents place to see them again. That night, our old neighbour and her friend came to our place for dinner, and dad had cooked a lamb roast. You can't get more kiwi than a roast leg of New Zealand lamb! It was delicious.
On the 30th, we went on a bit of a road trip down to Cromwell (about 40 minutes from Wanaka), and had a look at the farmers market that happens every Sunday there. They have a wide variety of locally made cheeses, jams and more. We then continued on to Clyde, 30 minutes down the road from Cromwell, where we had lunch at one of our favourite cafes there. I had a cheese roll, and only South Islanders will truly understand how good these are! They are delicious. We stopped in Cromwell and had real fruit icecreams. If you know, you know. These are icecreams made with, you guessed it, real fruit. They have a variety of fruits you can choose from including strawberries, boysenberries, raspberries and mango. You can then choose if you want frozen yoghurt or icecream. They are so damn good!
On New Years Eve, we went over to Queenstown and did a bit of shopping. The area out near the airport has some great shopping now, and this is one place that had changed a lot since I'd been away. We went into the town centre for a late lunch, and being New Years Eve, the traffic was mental. It was worth it though because we went to, in my opinion, the best cafe in Queenstown, Vudu, for a slice of their famous carrot cake. We then went back to my aunt and uncle's place where we stayed the night as I had an early flight in the morning. It was a really chilled New Years' Eve with them and a couple of their friends.
So that's a quick recap of what I did on my trip, now let's get into a few culture shocks I experienced.
The first thing I noticed was that a lot of the time, people don't take their shoes off when they enter the house! In Japan, it's extremely rude if you don't take off your shoes when you enter someone's house, but in New Zealand my family and friends would walk around the house with their shoes on. I prefer taking my shoes off now personally!
Another thing I noticed was that people are more active in the outdoors in New Zealand, or at least in Wanaka. The walking tracks are so well utilised. I don't know if it's a city versus small town thing, or if it was the summer weather drawing people outdoors, but it was nice to see people out enjoying the environment and making the most of the walking tracks.
Another thing related to this was that when I was out walking, almost everyone said hello, which was so lovely! In Japan, if I'm out for a walk or jog, it's very rare for anyone to stop and say hello. Maybe it's a Tokyo thing? I also don't know if it's because I'm a foreigner or not, but people are a lot more reserved in Japan when it comes to talking to strangers, even just saying hello. I love how friendly New Zealanders are, even to strangers.
Eating out is more expensive in New Zealand! Going to a restaurant or cafe is much more of a treat for people in New Zealand because it's so expensive, whereas in Japan many people eat out all the time and hardly ever cook at home. This is one thing I love about Japan!
People wear jandals (or flip-flops, or thongs if you're an Aussie) everywhere! In Japan, if you wore jandals out and about people would probably give you funny looks, and it's not really acceptable. New Zealanders are very casual when it comes to footwear. Sometimes, bare feet is totally fine! New Zealanders don't really try too hard when it comes to fashion, unless it's for work, and that's something I love. I sometimes feel underdressed when I look around on the train and see how put together the Japanese women are. They're always immaculately groomed and look classy at all times, and that's just not me.
My hometown is about an hour away from any kind of decent shopping, and it also doesn't have a hospital! Of course, there are medical centres, but if you require any kind of urgent, major surgery you're probably going to have to travel to Dunedin, which is three hours away. In Tokyo, a hospital is never far away, and I have all the shops I could ever want on my doorstep. I do love the convenience of living in a city. I realised on this trip home just how isolated my hometown is, and how claustrophobic you can feel.
I loved being able to drive again! I was nervous the first time as it had been about a year since I'd last driven a car, and I wasn't sure if I'd remember how to do it, but it was like riding a bike! It came back to me pretty much straight away. There's something so freeing about hearing a song you love come on the radio and turning it up loud when you're in the car by yourself. You can't really do that on a crowded train! However, when you go out, you have to think about who's going to drive home. Someone has to be a sober driver, and I wasn't used to thinking about that. In Tokyo, I just have to make sure I don't miss the last train!
So there you have it, a recap of my trip home and a few reverse culture shocks! Wanaka is growing rapidly, but the people have remained the same. It really made me think about where home is. Is it Wanaka, New Zealand, where I grew up and where my family live, or is it Tokyo, Japan, where I live and where I have some great friends? I think I have two homes now!
Hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for a one year in Japan post coming up soon! Crazy stuff.
From Japan, with love,
Hannah. xx
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