Submitted by Alexa Perez-Krizan on the 2017 winter session study abroad program in New Zealand sponsored by the School of Marine Science and Policy and the Department of Geological Sciences….
Spending time in this country and exploring all it has to offer has allowed me to witness new cultural experiences. From moving from town to town every two days, we have been exposed to many different characters. The one common thing I have witnessed among most New Zealanders is that they consider the whole outdoors their playground. I do not think I have ever seen a park filled with people on a random Tuesday afternoon. They truly value family time and cherish the moments they have with one another. Most children in the U.S. would probably be on their iPad or iPhone while waiting for dinner or when they go out to a park, but the children here are always playing games and making up their own games to play. One hostel we stayed at had a cafe attached to it where we ate dinner, but many other visitors stopped by the cafe as well. One night, there were a ton of children playing in the grass, jumping up and down on the “playground”, which was only a wooden ship, but they made games out of it. They played tagged and they were laughing and enjoying their time outdoors instead of sitting at a table on a phone. I turned to one of my friends and we were in awe of the energy and excitement of the children here. It made some of the students stop and think, and then we also started to play with the children. We ran around with them throwing their hats into the air, playing tag and just screaming about. It really makes you think about living in the moment and not staring behind a phone, truly embracing the outdoors and the moments you have with your friends.