Hello from New Zealand,
As today began myself and some others in the group decided to go and explore the Kelly Tarleton Sea Life aquarium. Our lovely tour bus driver told us it was a site to see so we decided to go and take a look. Before our excursion there we ate breakfast at the one and only Upland Cafe. I chose the french toast with caramelized bananas, maple syrup and bacon. My dish was truly delicious and fresh unlike some foods in the United States. I have noticed that the restaurants are small and only hold about 10 people inside unlike how the ones in the United States are very large and can hold a significant amount of customers. This leads me to believe that eating out and packing our food with preservatives is our biggest problem when trying to rid our citizens from obesity.
After enjoying our breakfast at the quaint restaurant we headed off to Kelly Tarlton’s Sea Life Aquarium. We were allowed to pet the starfish, watch the stingrays being fed, and we absolutely loved it.
The University of Auckland was a beautiful university that offers a lot of outside areas to commune. Their students don’t engage in much passed school work. So our usual student organizations and activities are not included here at the university. What we did find interesting was that students come together and hang out in common areas.
Before our cooking class last night we had a debriefing and talked about the things we have noticed that are different from the United States. For me the biggest aspect was the similarity of how the Maori Culture is shown to tourist and glorified for its beauty and used as a novelty just like some of the cultures we have in the United States. Instead of educating tourist and citizens in the United States on what actually happened in past histories we instead erase the struggle, the fight and the daily battle for survival due to oppression. We then turn around and embrace the language, clothing and “beauty” (tattoos, hair styles, head wear, and body types) of a culture because it’s “cool or looks nice.” I was fortunate enough to be able to converse with two people of the Maori Culture including our waitress at the Sea Cow [sea food restaurant] and a young man who sat next to me on the bus to Rotorua. The individuals I spoke with told stories of the Maori tribes and it was very similar to the struggles the Native Americans endured and how they were pushed away in various ways. Some include not thoroughly teaching the history in schools and no cultural representation in everyday life. The only difference between the Maori and the Native Americans is that the Maori won the fight years ago and continue to fight to have a place of importance in New Zealand. The Native Americans also fought but unfortunately were over taken by Europeans. The young man who sat next to me on the bus said something that hit me hard and will stick with me. He said, “You kind of have to adapt to make it and survive here in New Zealand. And that’s what I’ve had to do in order to set myself up to further my education and career.” This reminded me of how Blacks/African Americans sometimes assimilate in order to get a job or get further in life. Including changing hairstyles in order to be accepted at work, and code switching. Although this can be found in different cultures and nationalities to get further in the United States it has been on the rise for those who are black. I’d like to end my blog with a quote
“Don’t allow oppression to drive our world. Instead embrace differences that include more than just the beauty or ‘cool’ parts of a culture. (LaShuna Anderson)”
Leadership Engagement & Development (L.E.A.D.) 