"Check your shoes before you step on to an airplane headed to New Zealand."
I heard the same cautionary line from one too many people when I announced I was heading to the land Down Down Under, and my curiosity was piqued.
Why were my shoes of such critical importance?
Then I learned that even a speck of soil on my soles would get me slapped with a fine of $400 once I landed in Kiwiland!
Ridiculous, I thought.
I soon found out that the 'ridiculousness' didn't end there.
My wooden bangles, my cane boxes, my funky seed earrings, my mum's homemade scones, none of these could be packed into my suitcases - for fear that they would introduce pests and diseases into the tiny island country.
I never knew my wooden bangles could be WMDs that could decimate an entire flock of sheep. Oh, the horror!
And if I did try to sneak in any prohibited item, I was warned the MAF would get me.
MAF? The Men Against Fun? The Mean-spirited Action Force? The New Zealand version of the bogeyman?
Turns out, the expansion is a lot less threatening than the abbreviation. MAF is just the sinister-sounding version of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry - the department that protects the country's natural resources.
But don't assume their bark is worse than their bite. These government officials mean what they say. If a scrap of what they deem to be 'goods that pose a bio-security risk' is brought in undeclared, you could face anything from a $100,000 fine or five years in prison! Whoa!
So I needn't say that I practically sterilised all my stuff before boarding the flight, and that 18 hours later, I was shaking in my shoes when I approached a MAF guy to show him a tiny little wooden jewellery box my mum had presented me.
The relief I felt when he smiled me through was almost comical.
However, a few days into my stay in New Zealand, I realised why everyone was so anal about foreign particulates being introduced into this pristine land.
Kiwis love their country, and not in the blase 'this is our motherland so we love it' way that we Indians do. They plain adore it, and are proud to call themselves Kiwis.
They've tried to put their stamp on everything - from wines to clothing to the language. I came across vegetables proudly labelled "Grown in South Island" - and they were flying off the shelves, leaving imported goods languishing in the supermarket aisles.
Even the humble burger has not escaped the 'Kiwi' touch!
Turns out, McDonald's realised they could boost sales by tapping into the Kiwis' strong vein of patriotism, and so they introduced the KiwiBurger. The addition of poached eggs and beetroots had Kiwis walking tall with pride as they munched on their favourite fast food.
Most advertisements on television extol Kiwi virtues, most businesses tom-tom the fact that they are totally Kiwi run, and the locals try their best to buy Kiwi-produced goods.
And why not? They live in a beautiful country that's blessed them with everything they could ever need.
And perhaps because they are such a 'young' country (one of the most recently discovered) and because they are small in size when compared to other countries, they don't want to be found lacking.
Some may call their obsession with all things Kiwi overcompensation, but I call it pride. We all need some of that when it comes to our homeland.
So I plan to clean my shoes thoroughly every time I board a flight to New Zealand. That's the least I can do to honour such a proud people and such a beautiful land.
I heard the same cautionary line from one too many people when I announced I was heading to the land Down Down Under, and my curiosity was piqued.
Why were my shoes of such critical importance?
Then I learned that even a speck of soil on my soles would get me slapped with a fine of $400 once I landed in Kiwiland!
Ridiculous, I thought.
I soon found out that the 'ridiculousness' didn't end there.
My wooden bangles, my cane boxes, my funky seed earrings, my mum's homemade scones, none of these could be packed into my suitcases - for fear that they would introduce pests and diseases into the tiny island country.
I never knew my wooden bangles could be WMDs that could decimate an entire flock of sheep. Oh, the horror!
And if I did try to sneak in any prohibited item, I was warned the MAF would get me.
MAF? The Men Against Fun? The Mean-spirited Action Force? The New Zealand version of the bogeyman?
Turns out, the expansion is a lot less threatening than the abbreviation. MAF is just the sinister-sounding version of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry - the department that protects the country's natural resources.
But don't assume their bark is worse than their bite. These government officials mean what they say. If a scrap of what they deem to be 'goods that pose a bio-security risk' is brought in undeclared, you could face anything from a $100,000 fine or five years in prison! Whoa!
So I needn't say that I practically sterilised all my stuff before boarding the flight, and that 18 hours later, I was shaking in my shoes when I approached a MAF guy to show him a tiny little wooden jewellery box my mum had presented me.
The relief I felt when he smiled me through was almost comical.
However, a few days into my stay in New Zealand, I realised why everyone was so anal about foreign particulates being introduced into this pristine land.
They've tried to put their stamp on everything - from wines to clothing to the language. I came across vegetables proudly labelled "Grown in South Island" - and they were flying off the shelves, leaving imported goods languishing in the supermarket aisles.
Even the humble burger has not escaped the 'Kiwi' touch!
Turns out, McDonald's realised they could boost sales by tapping into the Kiwis' strong vein of patriotism, and so they introduced the KiwiBurger. The addition of poached eggs and beetroots had Kiwis walking tall with pride as they munched on their favourite fast food.
Most advertisements on television extol Kiwi virtues, most businesses tom-tom the fact that they are totally Kiwi run, and the locals try their best to buy Kiwi-produced goods.
And why not? They live in a beautiful country that's blessed them with everything they could ever need.
And perhaps because they are such a 'young' country (one of the most recently discovered) and because they are small in size when compared to other countries, they don't want to be found lacking.
Some may call their obsession with all things Kiwi overcompensation, but I call it pride. We all need some of that when it comes to our homeland.
So I plan to clean my shoes thoroughly every time I board a flight to New Zealand. That's the least I can do to honour such a proud people and such a beautiful land.
1 comment:
Nice, liked it....
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