Australia vs. New Zealand

zagor

In last couple of weeks since in New Zealand I was struck by really stark differences between Australia and New Zealand.

Well lets start with simple things. What are Australian national colors, what colors do fans on rugby match paint themselves with?
Well anyone who was ever in Australia knows the answer, these lively colors such as, white and blue; blue and gold; and green and gold. Yes indeed colors that reflect optimism and if you want happiness.

On the other hand what color do NZ fans paint themselves with? Well there are not many really there’s mainly one: BLACK. Sometimes there is exception with addition of another depressing color such as silver but black is pretty much all the way.
I mean there seems to be an obsession with black color. Teams are called All Black (rugby), Tall Blacks (basketball), Silver ferns (net ball), list goes on and on.

Take another example, in Australia you’ll see lots of comedy genre movies being shoot
Or otherwise movies that have very firm base in real life. What movies are shoot in NZ. Lord of the Rings for one. Great movie of course. But again it NZ seems to be place where dark sentiment rules. Hence a perfect place for it and not only because of its scenery.
I mean Hollywood producers are coming here to make orders for spooky costumes where U.S. based companies don’t have enough of ‘dark imagination’

Don’t take me wrong New Zealand is a beautiful place; one would say a paradise on earth if there is such a thing. But why does dark sentiment permeate so much of its national soul is something that really escapes me. Could be isolation from the outside world.

I don’t know, but what I do know that even my recent experiences while in NZ were marked by some of the spookiest things I’ve ever been through in my life. I never felt so isolated and alone EVER. And I don't think I'm imagining things. How does one explain that I don’t really know?
Even some events that I’ve been through in short period of time made me almost regret I came.

I'll really appreciate any input and explanation. Perhaps I’m missing something. Please help. Maybe that’s mainly the case with Auckland I don’t know but I’ll appreciate comments of anyone familiar with what I’m talking about.

I don't know even if I'm formulating my argument properly to make sense to everyone but I'm sure there are pople on this board who can explain some of it.

jwfacts

Interesting concept. I have travelled the world, yet never been to NZ yet, even though it is cheaper to fly to Auckland than to Perth from Sydney.

I am not sure what to think about 'demon experiences', but in all the islands around Australia there is huge fear of demons, witchdoctors and the dead.

penny2

Hi Zagor

I haven't been to NZ but I know plenty of Aussies who have and I've never heard a negative word about it. Sounds like some scary things happened to you though. Can you elaborate?

penny2

zagor

jwfacts,
No I'm not talking about 'demon experiences' LOL

I've just had succession or really strange things happening in a very short period of time not least of which was car accident in which I almost lost my head because of somebody making smart decision to start reversing in the middle of the road ...

And several other similar things I'd rather not talk about right now ....

But I know what you mean. I've been to NZ before and never noticed weird things. But after some of my experiences I started looking for some explanation...

Maybe I'm wrong, I could have been just a bad timing, but it was something that really bothered me.

bigmouth

Hi Zagor, I've been to a few countries around the world and I found out what weird is! ;)

The black thing is interesting. ( I wonder what 'black' people overseas think ? ) I may have got the history a bit wrong but I recall a story of a visiting Rugby team in the early part of last century coming to play a NZ team. The locals turned up in an array of colours and it was decided to dye the shirts black for obvious reasons. It seems that the tradition has just gone from there

However, the national soccer team is the All Whites and play in white, the Black caps, the cricket team wear white in tests of course and have variously worn beige (!), black and a greenish colour for one dayers. Generally we think the names given to national teams are a bit dopey!

I don't think we have the same cultural connotation of death and evil being 'black' over here.

I'm in a new movie here called Out Of the Blue and it's about a mass murder! We kind of like the macabre and weird here to offset the veneer of having a dry and laconic sense of humour. I suspect we are much closer to a British mindset whereas the Aussies are more American in their big, dry sunburnt country. They are perhaps bolder and don't mind pushing ahead.

By world standards we're a very young country. I recall that up until the mid-seventies, the bulk of visitors and immigrants arrived here by ship.

I live in the South island and the sense of space and lack of people jammed together is a real surprise to visitors.

Does that help?

Reefton Jack

With reference to wearing rugby jerseys in a black colour: Rugby always used to be a sport played only in winter. Wintertime,in New Zealand at least, means playing on sports grounds that range from being muddy, to being very muddy - through to being outright #^*$@y muddy! Add to that the fact that a rugby player ends up down on the ground much of the time, and it makes practical sense to wear a dark-coloured uniform. The name "All Black" was first given to the New Zealand Rugby Team on 11 October 1905. This term was an invention of an English newspaper, the "Daily Mail." However: Even that was evidently someone's typing error. According to Billy Wallace, one of the players in that team, another newspaper reported that the NZ team appeared to be playing like they were "all backs" -i.e.rather than a team composing of eight forwards and seven backs. Someone else saw the story and added to it - but somehow the statement 'all backs' ended up 'all blacks" - and the name stuck. Following along from that, other New Zealand sports teams have adopted similar names (The NZ Soccer Team, incidentally, is known as the "All Whites"). As for spooky experiences,or those that can only be explained by the supernatural,I have had a few of those - but that was while I was living in Papua New Guinea. Those are for another time, however! My observations,anyway. Jack.

zagor

Thank you guys for your replies, appreciate that a lot. BigMouth , that was a bit nasty connecting my comments with racism, you know damn well that was not what I meant, I spoke about gloomy and depressing frame of mind. Which to me at least explained some of my recent experiences in NZ, that's all. I was just trying to see if there is a deeper connection. Mind you I really love New Zealand , I said it and I meant it, Its truly a paradise on earth I think that says enough. Again to clarify my experience here had nothing to do with demonic or spiritualistic , hell I don't even believe those things. But they have a lot to do with dark frame of mind I've come across in a bit too many instances to count it as a coincidence. Which all made my last two weeks some of the hardest times I've been through in a long, long time.

But anyhow I was just searching for answer and didn't want to spoil reputation of NZ. To all, this is a great place and everyone should visit it at least once in their life.

juni

Thanks for the info about your country. Sounds like a very good place to live! We in the US hardly ever hear about New Zealand.

Though also there is so much negative news here. I wish there were set days that they could only report nice things about people, etc. That would be so refreshing cause I know there is a lot of wonderful people out there around the world.

Juni

bigmouth

Hi zagor, I had to re-read what I'd written to see how i offended you and believe me you got the wrong end of the stick! The limitations of a face to face dialogue I guess.

What I meant was it must seem odd to people who have black skin to hear of a predominantly white country calling themselves 'All Blacks'.

Whew!

misanthropic

Zagor- I don't know what else to do but to give you a big ol' hug. I know you've been through alot lately, things will get better (hopefully).
((((((((Zagor))))))))

Australia vs. New Zealand

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