Continuing in our series of Migrant Tales, first hand accounts of the migrant experience of New Zealand taken from around the net.
Today’s tale first appeared on a closed expat forum. It was written by the American raised offspring of a Kiwi migrant who came to New Zealand to help out after the earthquake.
“Hello forum, here is part of my story. Thanks for taking the time to read.
I was raised in the US by a Kiwi Mother and and Scottish Father, but had never visited New Zealand. I had been planning a trip to NZ in 2010, when my family here in Auckland and Christchurch called me and told me about the earthquake in Christchurch. I decided, as I was already looking for jobs in NZ, and I wanted to see my family etc, that I would come to NZ to visit and help.
As a Contact Center implementation specialist, it is my job to assist with the rollout and management of new call centre operations. Basically help to set up a training and quality assurance program. I helped set up the emergency claim system that forwarded the different types of emergency to the different people dealing with them.
I applied for a position with a government organization as an emergency claims manager, and was interviewed for the position, flew over for the final interview, and due to my prior management experience and emergency centre roles, I was hired.
Let me just set up my mental picture of NZ when I arrived: I thought that since there was a MORE diverse culture in a SMALLER space, the people would be more accepting of outsiders, and less racists than, say, Texas.
I thought that since it was a smaller population, the populous would be more in touch with themselves, the surroundings, etc. More “enlightened.” This was my mindset as I entered the country.
In addition, I had never been exposed to alcoholism on any level. Alcohol was something that, in limited amounts, made for a great time, in my mind.While working for the government organization, many things came to light, mainly that the attitude in NZ is that, unless you get WASTED, you are “boring.” I found that I could not relate to anyone on that level. I came to see that people were openly racist, and xenophobic.
On my birthday, I decided to invite 3 other managers to my place for dinner and drinks etc. This was the beginning of the realization that it may be very hard to make friends. The night ended when one of the managers got so wasted they began to destroy my belongings, became very racist (towards myself, a caucasian) and I had to physically remove them from my house, and ask the others to leave.
They proceeded to stand outside and yell and curse and throw things.
These were people in their 30s and 40s… I am in my late 20’s, and I have not encountered this sort of behavior outside of high-school parties.
This same manager once showed up in the office so drunk after completing their shift, and going straight to the bar downstairs, they fell over and slashed their skull forehead open down to the bone, creating a lot of paperwork.
My preconceptions have been totally shattered, and I have become completely alone. The position with the government organization was supposed to be for only 3 months, but ended up being for more than a year, it was “casual” and we were released from duty. Never before did I think that I would lose compassion for people, but I have.
People in Christchurch were unbelievably ungrateful, and kiwis in general have no concept of how to deal with disaster. Most people demanded action within days, action that has been assessed will now take YEARS! People would refuse to speak with emergency representatives from other races.
I had to take a call where someone requested that they “speak to someone who was not BROWN…”
THESES “BROWN” PEOPLE WERE VOLUNTEERS IN SOME CASES, WHO WERE THERE TO HELP TAKE EMERGENCY CLAIMS!!!!!!Much of the feedback from the people we spoke with was NOT surrounding the claim process, but racist comments regarding how they want to talk to someone from their small, stagnant gene pool, and not an Indian.
The racism is disgusting, and extends even to cities hating other cities. The people are so small minded. Their country is the size of 1 state, yet they fight like city-states and hate one another based on geographic location. I am a NZ citizen, yet get treated like dirt cause of my US accent. Rather have an American accent anyway than be a small-minded person. Ignorance is rewarded.
Since being here:
-I have been mugged x3
-Had my car stolen and recovered x2
-Had everything in my house stolen
-Had my belongings stolen from WORK!!!
-Had my motorcycle attempted to be stolen, but when it was discovered it was chained, the would be thieves simply vandalized it.
-Had my family refuse to communicate with me as I will not participate in alcoholism with them.I have never felt so isolated and detached from the happy, vibrant and balanced human being I once was.
I desperately need positive, PASSIONATE people in my life, I feel like someone in solitary confinement, slowly losing my mind.Has anyone seen the movie “Idiocracy?”
That is what it feels like to live in NZ…”
E2NZ.org 
Absolutely agree withe the downright non existent of integrity and shame with many Kiwis. Absolutely have been through having your personal items stolen in a school or work office setting. Unbelievable they can open my drawer and steal my food inside, and some new coworker start their job by first robbing away my work credit and falsifying a big pile of documents to maliciously accuse me and without any relevant qualifications or ability end up using politics to serve as ecommerce manager of the country’s largest telescum. whether at school or at work, people cheat to sabotage your future and dont give you a fair go. the so called privacy law is of course not observed, and telescum or police are engaged in recording your communication activities, and act on eavesdropping to violate your freedom and legitimate rights such as approaching new employer or seeking legal assistance. well mannerism and pacificism was not encouraged or rewarded, and of course in the dog eat dog culture, the local whites gang up to demolish any legitmate entitlement of my position whether in employment or otherwise. they set and change the rules of the game as they see fit, and its all setup to exploit and slaughter you. dont be fooled by their nz cow and sheep or cutie countryside image! it is actually a wild nazi white devil infected place waiting to murder or rob asians or gay people! why do you have to confirm this reality and have a mental breakdown like me to have the whole life damaged and money drained? leave the criminals behind in nz and go back to asia! and alert the authorities so that they do their own ruthless rugby and rob themselves! why should we expose ourselves to their incivilities and risky having to have the trouble of calling police, seeking lengthy court battle, and outright disrespect from fellows? Not because we want their stupid milk and country scene! Our lives are much happier where we were, we dont need their thousand minor alteration versions of bodypump to have their mental control! We dont need all of their shallow friendship that is purely based on how much money they can take from you!
@To the original poster:
I can’t imagine what it must be like so physically close to the event, so here is my take on what happened with someone I knew:
Not having been through a quake in her lifetime (on the 22 February 2011 event), her aunt in Christchurch asked whether anyone had any advice.
I posted on her Facebook page for them to get together as much potable water as possible, go to an open area, and beware of puddles which may conceal fallen electrical wires.
I was met by her (the person I knew) angry instant-message denunciation: “could you please stop giving my family members advice. I find it insulting that you think they are so dumb.”
Conveniently, she went offline after that. And my post got deleted off her wall.
It wouldn’t surprise me if their “I’m an expert at surviving disasters” attitude comes from seeing (but not acting on) all the Civil Defence warning advertisements.
And of course the idea that an outsider _couldn’t possibly_ have any advice they could use (no matter how much actual experience and education they have), and receiving advice from an outsider is tantamount to admitting they are affected through being shaken by the event.
It’s the no. 8 wire attitude in action, that any planning is somehow worse than no action or wrong action.
Until you can leave, my only advice is for you to join a library and get out their movies.
‘Cause the world around you right now with the people who don’t understand you or want to interact productively, is something you have to get through without thinking too much about it.
And watch out for people telling you they have “special connections” or a “deeper insight” to help you acclimatise. It’s not possible to deal with people who are unreasonable.
P Ray, one of the more unreasonable acts during the Christchurch disaster was the heckling of the American Urban Search and Rescue Crews crews as they prepared to fly out from Christchurch airport.
See our blog American USR teams mocked and insulted at Christchurch airport for the full story :
US Rescue Team Searches for Christchurch Survivors
they are a bunch of ungrateful people, w/ calloused hearts, & broken souls
I feel for you, I really do, as expats from the UK living in NZ has been a nightmare, we too have been burgled, assaulted which resulted in my husband being hospitalized. We are ostracised because we don’t get drunk every weekend. Obviously we are heading home. Are you still on the South Island or have you venutured to the equally racist North Island?
If you ever need normal people to talk to and take coffee with, please be assured you are most welcome here as long as we are in this country.