Traveling Beans

Long Time Coming

Hi. I have been gone a while from the traveling beans blog...and although I don't have anything nearly as insightful and brilliant as most of my comrades, I do have some stuff on the brain. I apologize in advance for it's jumbled nature as there is so much swimming around upstairs, I can't type fast enough to get it down.

I've been here in New Zealand for nearly seven months now. And this country, despite its lacking size, has definiltey humbled me...as an American, as an athlete, and simply as a person. It has also inspired me quite a bit and introduced me to a lot of new paths to choose from.

First of all I've gotten an even better idea of just how obnoxious and arrogant Americans can be. That we're all so desperate to prove to everyone else and each other just how great we and our accomplishments are. I've been on a few little trips around both the North and South Islands, staying in hostels and meeting people from every walk of life. (This country is like a magnet for travel bums.) And everytime I've met an American I have been disappointed. Instead of finding some sort of interest in what he or she had to say I find myself removed, shrinking away from their trumped-up claims of greatness. Rarely do I meet anyone from my home country who is just happy to talk to me. Rather, once they realize I'm from the states, I'm accosted with a barrage of questions that seems more along the lines of a test. As if, they want to see if they've done more cool stuff down here, been more places, and have a more 'extreme' approach to life. And it's pathetic. I have met only two Americans who have been as gracious and lovely as the Kiwis...and both of them have been here for more than ten years.

On the crap side of this coin I recently met a guy from Washington State while tramping down south. Instead of agreeing with my thoughts about how amazing this place is and how lucky people are to come here, he goes on about himself and all the incredible mountains he's climbed, how he's almost died descending from peaks no higher than 1500 metres, how he'd biked from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South. When I asked him whether or not he had a job he scoffed at me stating that "there is no way I want to work here for like 4 US dollars an hours" (just so you know, any moron can get an hourly wage for at least 8 US dollars an hour). And despite the fact that I was pretty pissed about how condescending and closed-minded he was towards this country's social and economic scene I figured I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

So I took him into chatter about biking. And we talked about our bikes and the streets in Christchurch; ones that I ride up all the time and coincidentally ones that he rode up once or twice during his travels. And when I told him that I was familiar with and train on the same incredibly steep streets, he immediately changed his mind about how hard they were to "oh yeah, they're actually pretty easy hills to get up." Why couldn't he just admit they were hard? They really are DAMN hard climbs. Is it because I'm a girl or he wants to be the more hardcore tourist??

Finally, in one final effort to find some sort worthwhile reason to talk to this fellow American who had basically laughed away every single thing I had decided to do and openly expressed his supreme knowledge of how awful it is to work and live in NZ (something he's never even done), I mentioned other future travel plans to places like Peru and Italy. Maybe a fellow traveler would be glad to discuss the rest of the world..things we've not done yet. Alas no. Instead of responding with "oh that would be fun" I get "oh how lame, those places are so touristy now." Get stuffed mate.

Cue: End of conversation, Nicole walks away...and "no buddy I can't give you a ride back to Christchurch" (yes he did have the nerve to ask for a lift).

Enough to make me sick. He's not the only one...nearly every American (especially males..sorry guys) that I've met here have been so remarkably condescending towards me, my own adventures, and the beautiful culture that envelops this country. It's just plain gross and it got me asking a lot of my Kiwi friends what they thought about it.

And whether I've become more Kiwi that Yank, I don't know...but I do know that I was right in my assumptions. Many New Zealanders have found that most Americans seem desperate to prove themselves...to immediately explain just how great they are and all that they've accomplished. And this is why I've been humbled: in taking an outsider's perspective on the situation, I've noticed just how ugly it can be. How pathetic. And I've learned that instead of coming off as someone already on the defense, it's time to take the offense. To stop trying to prove myself to people and rather just act like, well, me. I've found it's a lot more fun, for everyone involved.

Second of all, I've fallen in love with this place. The beauty that spans these two tiny islands is something I can't even describe in words or pictures. But the most beautiful thing of all is that it feels like home. It doesn't feel like a place I'm visiting anymore. The earth seems to call to me. It's so accepting and welcoming no matter where I go. The rain forests of the West Coast beg to be explored. The lakes and rivers, some of the deepest blue I've ever seen in natural bodies of water, flow fresh and clean. No one wonders if they are clean or safe to swim in...you can drink the water for god's sake! The mountains look down on me, snow-capped and reflecting the sun, just waiting to be climbed. And the people...oh the people. Now that I've embraced this culture, instead of worrying so much about how I'm perceived, I've fallen in love with the people as well.

That all being said I think it's time for a change of plans.

I joked when I first moved here about never coming home. Then all I wanted to do was come home. Then I just focused on making it to September. Now? Well, it looks like I really may not come home for a while. I've already begun looking into extending my Visa, figuring ways to get home and back during Christmastime and debating whether I should sell my Jeep now or later.

Yeah, it's pretty weird. 9000 miles from home and I kind of found...well, home. Who knows what will happen, right? A lot can change in six month's time and I do miss my family terribly, but I don't think that my love for this country, these wonderful people, and the natural beauty that surrounds me each and every day will disappear anytime soon.

posted by Nicole @ 10:17 AM