{"id":16230,"date":"2012-09-27T06:30:15","date_gmt":"2012-09-26T18:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=16230"},"modified":"2012-09-27T08:55:17","modified_gmt":"2012-09-26T20:55:17","slug":"a-view-from-here-a-view-from-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2012\/09\/27\/a-view-from-here-a-view-from-new-zealand\/","title":{"rendered":"A View From Here: A View From Aotearoa-New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>On September 15, submissions for the 5th and latest instalment of the The Aotearoa Blog Carnival<\/a> closed. The carnival is part of celebrating New Zealand literature and letters as part of New Zealand being the official guest country at the Frankfurt Book Fair<\/a> this year—which of course is happening 10-14 October, i.e. very soon: w00t<\/em> to all those Kiwis who’re going to be there! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

The theme for the 5th instalment of the Carnival is \u201cA View From Here\u201d<\/em> and as I said in my post of September 13<\/a>, I do feel there are many slants and angles into the theme. I have chosen to develop the post into four views, from the micro to the macro, centered on being a writer living in Christchurch, New Zealand: from my study, from Christchurch, from New Zealand, and as expressed through my books.<\/p>\n

The post on the view from my study (short and sweet ;-)) is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A view from Christchurch is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today I am posting the third view: —<\/p>\n

A View From Here: A View From New Zealand<\/h3>\n

As a New Zealander, I have always perceived our focus as a nation as being very much “out there” to the wider world. Part of that arises, I believe, from being a long narrow country in the middle of the “vasty wilds” of the southern ocean. Many think of Australia as being close, and culturally I feel that is still true: geographically though, it has never been true, except in terms of relativity to the rest of the world. People from other parts of the globe are often surprised to learn, for example, that London is closer to Moscow than either Christchurch or Auckland, New Zealand’s two largest cities, are to Sydney, in Australia.<\/p>\n

I believe that our geographic isolation, but also a corresponding interest in and attention to the rest of the world, is a defining part of New Zealand culture. We look outward and are very much migratory birds—flying north for varieties of OE (overseas experience), and in many cases living and working abroad for some time, but in many cases also eventually returning home.<\/p>\n

Examples of famous New Zealanders who have made the outward journey and not returned include:\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n