Adventures of a Girl

I got asked this question today, and didn't know how to answer. How do you wrap up quintessential kiwi in a thing, place or person? Pineapple lumps are kiwi, so are shrewsbury biscuits - but do they sum up all things kiwi? I think not. And why do I always think of food first? Why not the idyllic childhood on the streets - playing with neighbourhood children (cricket, skateboards, cowboys and indians) until sundown when our parents called us in for dinner? Or why not the barefoot summers spent near rivers and lakes? Perhaps the learning of Maori culture and history at school, the making of poi, the Kia Ora and Ka Kite Ano? What about Wellington beaches? The beehive? Cuba Street? Yum Cha on Sunday? Contours gym? The Basin Reserve? Westpac Stadium and the Hurricanes (rugby, not weather)? New Zealand music, dance, theatre.... or Outrageous Fortune? All of these things are kiwi and special. To me, at least. All of these things, along with my lifelong friendships, my memories of the places I've been, the streets I've walked and the comfortable, safe feeling of belonging. These are all the things that are kiwi to me, that make me kiwi, and make me very, very homesick.

Happy Waitangi Day.