Why Suva should be top of your Fiji to-do list
Kiwis often overlook Fiji's capital, Suva, for their holiday but the bustling multicultural city is rich in history, flavour and worth stepping away from the deserted beaches for, writes Varsha Anjali
After buying some Indian sweets (lakdi mithai, if interested - it's sweet, savoury and great) from the market in
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Why Suva should be top of your Fiji to-do list
Kiwis often overlook Fiji's capital, Suva, for their holiday but the bustling multicultural city is rich in history, flavour and worth stepping away from the deserted beaches for, writes Varsha Anjali After buying some Indian sweets (lakdi mithai, if interested - it's sweet, savoury and great) from the market in
NZ Herald
4 days ago
- NZ Herald
Best things to do, see, eat and smell in Adelaide Hills, South Australia
On the hike from Chambers Gully to Mount Lofty, we all saw five kangaroos and an extraordinary 17 koalas, most relaxing on the tops of the trees. Photo / Ashley Swallow Kiwis love heading to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. However, far from these hot spots, the Adelaide Hills offers off-grid adventures accompanied by incredible food and wine, writes David Williams. Despite being only a three-hour flight away, I'm actually nervous about visiting our closest neighbours for the first
The Spinoff
4 days ago
- The Spinoff
Help Me Hera: How do I make friends with New Zealanders?
I moved here three years ago, and I've yet to make any local mates. What am I doing wrong? Want Hera's help? Email your problem to helpme@ Dear Hera, I'm not from New Zealand, but I've been here for almost three years. In that time I've met plenty of fun and charming Kiwis but haven't really made that many local friends. Often, I'll meet a Kiwi and it feels like we're connecting, there'll be shared laughter and interests, but afterwards it becomes impossible to hang out again – their schedule is full or my messages go unanswered. Either everyone is extremely busy or I am doing something very wrong. The strangest part is it's a small place, so I always see these people again, sometimes months later, and it'll be exactly like the first time, good vibes and lots of promises to catch up soon. I'm confused. I've lived in a few countries and this hasn't happened before. A Ukrainian friend told me that 'New Zealand is the friendliest unfriendly country in the world'. I think/hope they're wrong, but is there some kind of New Zealand rite to friendship that I'm not adhering to? How do you make friends here without joining a D&D group? Thanks, Nellie No Friends Dear Nellie, Ah, New Zealand, a country where you will never be short of acquaintances, but trying to make friends is like pulling teeth. First of all, my sincere condolences. You are playing on max level difficulty. Your situation, if you haven't already realised it, is one of the most common problems immigrants face when moving to New Zealand. Not a week goes by without someone, reeling from culture shock, posting on the New Zealand subreddit, saying they moved here for work a decade ago, and are yet to meet a solid group of friends. I can only apologise on our behalf and say, no, there is nothing wrong with you. Yes, we are just like this. I think a lot of the confusion stems from the fact that New Zealanders are, on the face of it, a friendly people. Tourists are often lulled into a false sense of security when they encounter a nation of professional chit-chatters, who are delighted to strike up a conversation, as long as it's not about anything deeper than the weather. Moving here is another magnitude of difficulty. Plenty of people have uprooted their lives to live their Lord of the Rings, lichen diverse, bungee-jumping fantasy, only to discover that many New Zealanders are all surface, and no depth. Perhaps this is a lazy caricature. But the truth is, most New Zealanders don't see our attitude as a cultural shortcoming. To outsiders, it's lonely and alienating. To many New Zealanders, it's simply comfortable. It's hard to explain our national psyche to outsiders, especially when you've never had anything else to compare it to. But I've met enough bamboozled immigrants to understand that we just don't have the same culture of friendship that other countries are accustomed to. I want to stress that you're not doing anything wrong. I'm sure there's nothing off about your technique or the way you're approaching people. It's not even that your New Zealand acquaintances are being insincere, or secretly dislike you. I'm confident there's nothing malicious in their refusal to accept your invitations, that they genuinely like you and are happy to see you. They would probably be surprised to hear you're confused and hurt by their reluctance to get to know you on a deeper level. Some people claim that New Zealanders are cliquey and stick with the friends they made in high school. Perhaps there's some truth to this, but I think it's more honest to say we have a lower tolerance for intimacy than other cultures. In some countries, it's normal to see your friends every other day. Many Kiwis I know would privately consider this to be nothing short of a nightmare. Obviously there are many exceptions, but I think this is the root of your problems. So, how do you survive here? The first thing I'd say is, don't take it personally. I'm confident this has nothing to do with your approach. That doesn't mean you should give up. There are plenty of people out there who don't live like a farmer in a Speight's commercial. But you'll have to work a little harder to find them. If I were you, I'd focus my efforts on seeking out and infiltrating groups of people who host regular social events, rather than trying to reform your average Kiwi. Find the people who throw the parties and cling on for dear life. If people don't respond to your invitations, don't take it as a slight. Invite them again. Persistence in this country means a lot and will eventually be rewarded. I know this is hardly a fair arrangement – the onus should be on New Zealanders to extend hospitality to others. But we're so bad at it that your best strategy is to simply take matters into your own hands and do the bulk of the initiating. People are often happy to hang out, but will do nothing proactive to make it happen. Don't take our apathy as an insult. Roll your eyes, and try again. Joining a club isn't a bad idea, especially if you can find a hobby that has a slightly more outgoing demographic of people. Team sports or volunteering for a worthy cause might be a good place to start. My last suggestion is to make friends with other immigrants who are missing that same sense of community and connection. This will hopefully stop you from going completely insane. Don't be discouraged, and keep trying. Making friends in New Zealand is like becoming a registered neurosurgeon. The bar for entry is high, but once you're in, you're set for life. Good luck!
