Wednesday, 4 July 2007

happy independence

Well, it's the Fourth of July, an American only holiday. Weird to think that after the next one, we won't celebrate one for a long time. Another thing I'll actually kinda miss - the patriotism here. Don't get me wrong, I cringe over and mock the "USA! USA!" chanters, and I abhor the whole "America is the best country in the whole wide world" attitude of so many here. But I am actually pretty patriotic. I get choked up every time I hear the Star Spangled Banner (the US national anthem). I vote. I watch baseball and American football (the Red Sox and the Patriots no less). I support our troops (though not the war in Iraq).

From what I've gathered, New Zealand is not so patriotic. Kiwis are proud to be Kiwis, but there isn't the same feeling of belonging as I sense here. It's probably a good thing, because at the core patriotism is just a "we're better than everyone else" attitude. Oh well, I'll let you know after I live there what the difference really is.


1 comment:

Marrisa said...

Hiya Kya

Well I am actually quite excited about the fact you are coming to Welly, I hope we can meet.

It will be interesting to see how you feel about NZ coming from USA. As a brit I have been through so many emotions involving how we 'fit in' but it just seems that NZ is a free country where people just go about their own business and if they can help someone along the way then great!

I love NZ, I hope you will too.