Do You Wanna Dance?

If you've been reading this blog, you already know a fair bit about the All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby team. If you've heard of the All Blacks, you've probably heard of the haka (I mentioned it here). The haka, in a word, is awesome.

The haka is a traditional dance of the Māori and other Polynesian peoples. After the national anthems are played at international rugby games, teams are given the chance to perform haka as if preparing for war. It's been argued that this gives Polynesian teams an unfair advantage, which may be true. There really isn't an equivalent with which non-Polynesian nations can respond. But I love it. It creates an atmosphere unlike any other. The All Blacks yell, stomp, and glare at their opponents, and then the TV broadcast shows replays, giving every extended tongue its due. The pregame leadup keeps your mind buzzing; the national anthems might stir your heart or even your tear glands; but the haka makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck and forcefully tells you IT IS ON.

But here's what really gets me. Like any "new world" country, New Zealand has a history marked with conflict between European colonists and native peoples. The Treaty of Waitangi, an agreement between the Māori and settlers that was signed over 150 years ago, remains a hotly-debated topic. The same issues of apology, reconciliation, and restitution that are debated in Canada, the US (less often), and Australia (even less often, from what I've heard), are hot topics in New Zealand. But in spite of that familiar divide, every time the All Blacks play a match, pasty white farmer's sons stand up next to dreadlocked Polynesians and scream a challenge to their opponents in Māori.

There is no equivalent to this in North America. The traditions of native peoples are much less visible to us for a variety of reasons, and our emphasis on sportsmanship and broad participation would discourage war dances. But more broadly, the haka of the All Blacks is a symbol that unites multiple pieces of New Zealand's identity and makes something altogether unique. And awesome.

The video below is of the haka that the All Blacks performed before playing Australia in last year's world cup semifinal. Watch it through, then look back at 0:06 to 0:10. On the left of the screen is Ali Williams, a long-tenured All Black of English and Scottish descent. He's warming up by sticking out his tongue and rolling his eyes back, the facial expression that is key to the haka itself. At the same time, by being the big white guy that he is, he's neatly summarizing my point about how this dance is uniquely New Zealand. Thanks, Ali.

   

Kiwis and Coffee

Imagine a land of immense natural beauty and wide-open spaces, where farming is still a common occupation and gumboots are common attire in restaurants. As the work day comes to a close, men and women with strong, calloused hands, dust in their hair, and dirt-stained clothes meet up to unwind over a hot drink.

Now imagine that hot drink is a cappuccino.

Does that make sense?

Not to me.

New Zealand has a robust coffee culture and of course, plenty of Kiwis aren't farmers. But this country has an odd cross-section of coffee drinkers that is one of the weirdest things about it. North Americans are well-known for their disregard for "real" coffee - we like it watery and drink it by the gallon as we walk, or more likely drive, to work. Coffee is fuel. In Europe, it's almost the opposite - they drink it sitting down or not at all, and always in reasonable quantities. Coffee is an event.

Kiwis fall in between the two. Espresso-style coffee is the norm here, and most people know the difference between the various drinks, the most common being a flat white (known as café au lait outside the Antipodes). Most coffee companies offer barista training, and that can be a highly skilled position. In Wellington particularly, getting a job as a barista is difficult without a year's experience.

Outside of New Zealand's few large population centers, the espresso machine still dominates coffee. In the farming region of Central Otago, a local café owner made me a coffee as tasty as any I had in Wellington (but I'd go back for the pancakes). The café that I work in at the moment is beside a state highway, and plenty of truckers order large takeaway espresso coffees, usually with a couple sugars. In New Zealand that makes sense, but in North America that sounds like a bizarre joke.

But the people who really intrigue me are the older Kiwis, many of whom probably remember a time before espresso coffee took over. Most of them have learned to navigate through all the Italian words on the menu and figure out what they actually want, but the ones who don't stand out. Like the man who ordered a "flat white cappuccino," a drink that doesn't exist, and said, "I only wanted one," when I brought him a flat white and a cappuccino. Or the woman who asked for "a coffee," and when I asked her to clarify, she talked about how she used to get it out of a packet. And, just today, the woman who asked for a latté, and when I asked if she wanted sugar, replied, "Yes, sugar and milk too, please."

It seems to me that most of our customers just want espresso and hot milk in a cup. Perhaps that's why being a barista is, in practice, not as abhorrent as I thought it would be - there are very few coffee snobs in Arthur's Pass. But with my North American perspective, it's frustrating to watch people who would be perfectly happy with "a cup of joe" feel obligated to order something more complex. Especially since, for most drinks, after grinding the beans, running the shot, and steaming and pouring the milk, all you've added is air. 

A flat white with a fern drawn into the milk. Bonus points for presentation.

Basic intro to espresso coffees - we don't make espresso con panna or café breve.

Politics, Kiwi Style (Part 2)

This blog was originally meant as a replacement to mass e-mails that I sent to family and friends about my travels. For that reason, I have tried to write primarily descriptive pieces about the places I'm visiting at the moment, and kept touchy subjects to the side. But now that I'm staying in one place for a while, there aren't so many new places to write about. New ideas and opinions are always easy to find, however, and some of them might stir up debate - but that's not why I'm writing about them. It's because they're interesting. Here's one:

People frequently ask me about the differences I notice between New Zealand and North America, which is a difficult question to answer. It can be hard to remember what things are like at home, especially less tangible things, like political attitudes. But the recent Chik-Fil-A kerfuffle in the US reminded me. Chik-Fil-A is an American fast food chain that places a major emphasis on its Christian beliefs. The CEO recently made a statement expressing his opposition to same-sex marriage, and it caused an uproar. Several mayors issued declarations that the company was not welcome in their cities. Same-sex couples protested the statement by kissing outside Chik-Fil-A locations, while supporters demonstrated their agreement by eating there more often.

On this side of the Pacific, New Zealand's government is currently processing legislation to allow same-sex marriage. Civil unions are already legal, and common-law relationships are also much more common here than they are back home. There is some opposition to the bill being considered at the moment, but it seems as though it will pass fairly easily. However, Damien O'Connor, one of the opposed members of Parliament, recently faced a unique conflict – his own daughter publicly disagreed with him. In a posting on his Facebook page, she asked – politely – that he change his opinion. Was Dad angry? Apparently not. He praised his daughter's sense of social justice and replied: “Sometimes we disagree. And so it will be throughout New Zealand. We must respect one another's opinions but ignore the extremes from both sides of the debate.”

Maybe it's not a perfect parallel. But being in the news around the same time as each other, these two events reminded me of a major difference in the political cultures of the US and New Zealand - and, I'm slowly learning, between the US and almost everywhere else.

Here's the article about MP Damien O'Connor: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7450294/MPs-family-split-over-gay-marriage-bill.