We think we have been able to gain some further insight into the New Zealander.  There does seem to be less confidence in people here than in America, which has somewhat hindered innovation, but has also allowed the New Zealander to create a much more stable society.  The people here do lack encouragement to push further, but there is a general competence it seems with everyone we meet.  In America you run into so many people where you can’t help but thinking,  ”I can’t believe you remember to breathe”.   This competence has lead to a very pragmatic people, that have sense enough to think things through without blind ego leading the way.

The strong pressure to conform here seems to come from their English heritage.  In English literature the protagonist becomes part of society in the end where the American is the lone rebel.  It’s funny. We live at the top of Cuba Street, which is a little similar to Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn.  Every time we tell someone where we live they refer to it as the alternative area with a slightly negative tone of voice.  It is the place where kids play dress up while finding themselves playing Bob Dylan, Radiohead and Ramones songs on acoustic guitars, talking about communism and anarchy, while wearing skinny jeans, ponchos and leather, with dread locks, mohawks, and expensive hipster haircuts.  Which from our perspective, there is nothing that alternative about. It is just another street where ideas along with cd’s and t-shirts are sold, but although their rebellion may be recycled, the general notion on Cuba Street says the corporate capitalist doesn’t have a monopoly yet in New Zealand.  Which may be true, in that most of what is sold on Cuba Street is made here, and the New Zealander still maintains a relationship with his fellow man and doesn’t seem to harbor the loneliness of the American individual.

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