It’s a small world after all…

Photo: us with the wonderful New Zealand Family who took us into their campsite where we learned new words, about NZ politics, the Mauri, and their upcoming trip to NYC and Washington DC.

We meet people from all over the world here in NZ and try to talk to some of them everyday.  The people of New Zealand are kind, intelligent, and generally very upbeat. We have also met people from China, Israel, Argentina, Chile, Italy, France, Holland, Canada, U.S, Australia, and the Czech Republic but the country most represented by far is Germany.

We asked Germans, Rob and Ulika, who are here on a year long work visa picking cherries for about $100.00 a day, why they think so many Germans visit NZ? They said that many younger people from Germany are here on year long work visas because they are easy to get in New Zealand.

Another German couple told us of a social policy in place in Germany that allows new parents to take paid maternity leave together for 2 months. Since it is summer in NZ during winter in Germany, we see lots of these couples in camper vans across the country brand new babies in tow.

Many of the people we have met here regardless of their nationality are on extended holiday.  Jens a plastics engineer originally from Germany, quit his job and has been traveling around the world for the last 13 months or so.  He has figured out a really economical way to travel too. He bought a car he can sleep in when he arrived in NZ and plans to sell it when he leaves. He stays in the extremely affordable Holiday campgrounds where he can use the kitchen, laundry, and bathroom facilities.  If he goes to a city, he stays in a hostel for the first few days until he can find something nicer but affordable.

Even though most of the people on the work visas are much younger, retired people and people in transition are also figuring out ways to travel for extended periods. It is not only liberating to be traveling, but enlightening.  To be with people from other cultures helps us feel part of something much bigger than ourselves and erases the world of politics and war connecting us to the wider network of genuinely good caring people populating the world.  No matter what race, we all love to have our pictures taken, we love to eat good food, love to feel connected to other humans, and we all, no matter what age, call or write our parents, if we are lucky enough to still have them, to share our exciting news.

  1. Jennifer’s avatar

    What a beautiful post (and picture to go with it). It is amazing that no matter the cultural, social, or political constructs, human beings are always human beings. At the heart of this, I think, is love. When I consider this, I think that love is not only a human condition, but a condition — an energy — that permeates and defines all life.

    I write this as my sweet kitty-cat sits on my desk, waiting patiently for some attention.

    Love you.

    Reply

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