Culture in Aotearoa was something I was the most interested to find out about. As I mentioned, I didn’t know much about the country going in. When I got there, the first thing I wanted to do was get to know the people and how they interacted with each other.
The culture seems to take a lot of inspiration from European countries, specifically the UK. Due to the British colonization of the entire country after pushing the Dutch colonists out, the place was colonized with the traditions of the British. Some tradition also comes from Maori culture, as the British and Maori worked hand in hand to rid the other colonists from the South Island. Due to this facts, the official languages of Aotearoa are English and Maori.
Religious tolerance in Aotearoa is incredible. There are laws in place that prevent religion discrimination, and atheists are included in that. Every town has necessary buildings/places of worship for their respective religions. The most prevalent religions include various forms of Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism and Buddhism.
There are many holidays in Aotearoa. Every religion has a public holiday for their biggest celebrations, and there are laws that permit members of the religion to leave work for comparatively smaller celebrations. For schools, a long winter break, 2 midterm breaks and a short summer break are necessary. National day is strange compared other countries. While other countries, take the United States for example, has a real sense of patriotism and loyalty to their country. While the people of Aotearoa care for their country very much, they don’t feel it’s any better or worse than other countries. They treat it as more of "just a place they happen to be from".
Race and gender is fairly diverse.
-40% European
-20% Maori
-10% Asian
-30% Other/Mixed
as for gender, it’s a little more toward the traditional, but it Aotearoa has had gender and sexuality laws in place since around 1980.
-45% Male
-45% Female
-10% Other (Transgender included).
As mentioned above, there is a good sense of Sexuality tolerance in the country. Same-sex marriage has been legal since 1980, and discrimination against the LGBT+ community hasn't been around for around 17 years. Most of the population is straight, but that doesn’t mean that there is a small amount of LGBT+ members.
For entertainment, the Aotearoa people find a lot of enjoyment in sports. They have a sort of rivalry with their neighbors over in Egania in the sports of rugby and cricket. It seems everyone has a favorite sports team, and they all watch sports together. On one of my days off of filming the show, I went out to a local bar. I walked in to find everyone surrounding a television, shouting at each other. Even though half of them were wearing different colours to the others, they all stood together and watched the match. I watched the match with them, even if I had no knowledge of the sport or the teams. When it was all over, the losing supporters congratulated the other team's fans and bought them a drink. It seems to me that the obsession with sports really brings the population together in a way most other things can't.
Of course, there are other things than sport. Along with having sports as a main focus, movies have been big in Aotearoa since the filming of a few Hollywood blockbusters in the late nineties to early 2000's. Over the country, there are multiple conventions a year to celebrate this culture. Music has been a passion of the population for a long time, with many popular local bands and annual music festivals. TV shows are also enjoyed, like most other countries. Most programs are international, but there are a few local shows.
Food is also very important in the country's culture. Along with quite a few different religious and traditional meals, the country has its own meals. While in most western countries, turkey is consumed at religious and traditional meals, in Aotearoa that is substituted with Lamb. This is both due to its availability in Aotearoa and its delicious taste.
The culture seems to take a lot of inspiration from European countries, specifically the UK. Due to the British colonization of the entire country after pushing the Dutch colonists out, the place was colonized with the traditions of the British. Some tradition also comes from Maori culture, as the British and Maori worked hand in hand to rid the other colonists from the South Island. Due to this facts, the official languages of Aotearoa are English and Maori.
Religious tolerance in Aotearoa is incredible. There are laws in place that prevent religion discrimination, and atheists are included in that. Every town has necessary buildings/places of worship for their respective religions. The most prevalent religions include various forms of Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism and Buddhism.
There are many holidays in Aotearoa. Every religion has a public holiday for their biggest celebrations, and there are laws that permit members of the religion to leave work for comparatively smaller celebrations. For schools, a long winter break, 2 midterm breaks and a short summer break are necessary. National day is strange compared other countries. While other countries, take the United States for example, has a real sense of patriotism and loyalty to their country. While the people of Aotearoa care for their country very much, they don’t feel it’s any better or worse than other countries. They treat it as more of "just a place they happen to be from".
Race and gender is fairly diverse.
-40% European
-20% Maori
-10% Asian
-30% Other/Mixed
as for gender, it’s a little more toward the traditional, but it Aotearoa has had gender and sexuality laws in place since around 1980.
-45% Male
-45% Female
-10% Other (Transgender included).
As mentioned above, there is a good sense of Sexuality tolerance in the country. Same-sex marriage has been legal since 1980, and discrimination against the LGBT+ community hasn't been around for around 17 years. Most of the population is straight, but that doesn’t mean that there is a small amount of LGBT+ members.
For entertainment, the Aotearoa people find a lot of enjoyment in sports. They have a sort of rivalry with their neighbors over in Egania in the sports of rugby and cricket. It seems everyone has a favorite sports team, and they all watch sports together. On one of my days off of filming the show, I went out to a local bar. I walked in to find everyone surrounding a television, shouting at each other. Even though half of them were wearing different colours to the others, they all stood together and watched the match. I watched the match with them, even if I had no knowledge of the sport or the teams. When it was all over, the losing supporters congratulated the other team's fans and bought them a drink. It seems to me that the obsession with sports really brings the population together in a way most other things can't.
Of course, there are other things than sport. Along with having sports as a main focus, movies have been big in Aotearoa since the filming of a few Hollywood blockbusters in the late nineties to early 2000's. Over the country, there are multiple conventions a year to celebrate this culture. Music has been a passion of the population for a long time, with many popular local bands and annual music festivals. TV shows are also enjoyed, like most other countries. Most programs are international, but there are a few local shows.
Food is also very important in the country's culture. Along with quite a few different religious and traditional meals, the country has its own meals. While in most western countries, turkey is consumed at religious and traditional meals, in Aotearoa that is substituted with Lamb. This is both due to its availability in Aotearoa and its delicious taste.