Domesticity in a global village

We chose New Zealand for its beautiful country, laid back lifestyle and English language (easier for finding paid work). We'd visited the country, did plenty of research and thought hard about what we wanted to achieve. But, nothing can prepare you for arriving in a foreign country.

As a foreigner in a strange land you seek out familiarity and luckily the global village can provide some of that. My lifeline to the wider world is on my desk top, laptop and if I want to pay the outrageous rates charged, on my mobile phone. The internet is a truly wonderful thing faciliating access to friends and family - email, webspace, Skype (when we get operational) but also provides that 24 hour access to all that is familiar from the UK.

As a domestic executive its been a frustrating time getting to grips with consumerism in NZ, or the lack of it. The greatest challenge has been finding replacements for those familiar brands or products from Waitrose, Boots, WHS Smith etc. To do so is all about readjusting expectations and trying new things. A major breakthrough was achieved when I reframed New World supermarket as the Waitrose of the southern hemisphere which when combined with Moores Wilson Fresh we can now source most of what we ever did get from UK supermarkets, although it is a bit pricier for some things. I am still baffled by why cheese is so expensive here - mental note to do some research on this.

As for other consumer activity - I still steer clear of most of the shops to be honest, I still find them unfamiliar and a little intimidating. If I do venture to Wellington I'll happily spend time in bookshops and kitchen shops as globalisation has been achieved here. One attempt at clothes shopping was just too much to bear and I've put that off for another day. Anyway, a domestic executive living in a one income family can't really go off for retail therapy like I used to!

There are other strange kiwi ways that I find intriguing - getting paid every 2 weeks, utility bills coming once a month and a complex parking culture that still scares the wits out of me after my earlier traumas of being clamped for being parked in the wrong place with the wrong ticket at the wrong time - enough said I think.

One thing that I think the rest of the global village could do with though is a touch of kiwi character. People are so friendly - I know its cliche but its true. It doesn't matter whether you are at the supermarket (where they pack your bags), the post office (where they measure your envelope to see if its standard size), the butchers (who always have what you want even if you can't see it) and the corner dairy (corner shop that sells everything that you might want when the rest of retailing has gone to bed) you will get added value in your shopping experience from a friendly kiwi serving you. They're genuine in their enquiry and ecstatic if you return the compliment by asking them things in return. This can of course be time consuming to strike up a friendship when you pop out for a pint of milk and the paper but nevertheless is an endearing quality that somehow makes you feel more at home.

For the fanatical e-consumers that Martin and I are, shopping on-line in New Zealand is a disappointment. There are few true online retailers and ranges are limited. But, this is probably because their whole retail economy is limited by the size and of the country and its distance from the rest of the world. Don't get me wrong, there's lots to buy but with few national chain stores and limited market there just isn't the choice that you get elsewhere.

Such is the clamour for new retailing opportunities in NZ, a new out of town shopping centre, Sylvia Park, opened close to Auckland last week bringing with it so much traffic that the main highways were brought to a stand still for hours - road chaos that made headline news and has kept the letter pages full of commentry since. The stampede to get there on opening day was because The Warehouse was giving away stuff at knock down prices. To keep things in perspective though, opening day was for 57 of what will be 200 shops with about 2000 car parking spaces. The doom merchants are predicting that the rest of the development will never happen because of the disastrous opening. It reminds me a little of when the Metro Centre opening in Gateshead in the early '90's - everyone said it would be a white elephant.

In gentile Wellington we don't have the landspace to create such mighty retail emporiums although Porirua (about 15km outside of Wellington) has a Mega Mall (a bit like the retail parks found in most UK towns) with a focus on home furnishings, white goods (fridges and washing machines), TVs, computers, other home furnishings and amazingly the biggest craft store you've ever seen (would be really exciting for my Auntie Barbara whose a wonderful craftsperson). 5 km closer to town there is Dress Mart, the kiwi answer to Bicester Village (not!). But, we do have a traditional department store in town which is due for a makeover to bring it into the 21st century (it needs to update by about 30 years) but is a much loved Wellington institution - www.kirkcaldies.co.nz -

My motto for consumerism in New Zealand is be prepared to be underwhelmed. But, I'm learning to love the small niche shops and independent retailers with a personal touch - so far I vote for www.unitybooks.co.nz (see what I mean about online retailing), http://www.kathmandu.co.nz/ (the official Treanor outdoor outfitters), http://www.oldbank.co.nz/ (mainly because they have very nice toilets and are conveniently located in the centre of town and is an ideal spot to meet people out of the wind and the rain).

Although consumerism hasn't reached its global reach peak in NZ you can't get away from Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Macdonalds and the like. We prefer the home grown kiwi versions of coffee houses, sandwich shops, pizza outlets etc. But, the whole foodie thing is another whole story for another day.

In short, we can consume all we want here in New Zealand but it takes a bit more effort to find it and buy it. Not a problem for a domestic executive with plenty of time on her hands. We have at least stop converting everything we try and buy into GB pounds and rather suck through our teeth at the outrageous prices in dollars. Also, the EPTPOS system means that you don't have to worry about carrying cash as every retailer uses them for cash or credit purchases (which is just as well as cashpoints are a like a rare bird in hiding when you get out of the main towns).

I never dreamed New Zealand would be a consumer metropolis but it doesn't stop me missing some of those familiar brands - its trial and error which can be fun but also expensive to make mistakes. By shopping daily at my local New World Supermarket (about 2 minutes walk) I can get all that I want without the waste that there invariably was from a weekly shop at home.

Yesterday when I popped to the butchers (1 minute stroll) I procrastinated over whether we'd have chicken or beef enchiladas for dinner, the young butcher lad said "so how are you then Julie, ready for the weekend...." you could have knocked me over with a feather. It was a quintessential kiwi experience - local independent retailer right on your doorstep with that personal service (and a cany butcher who read my credit card and remembered my name!).

This morning listening to Country File essential listening for prospective country folk(Saturdays, 7-8am, www.nzradio.co.nz), the big focus was on the Field Days - NZ's answer to the agricultural show. Here there were thousands of farmers on their annual pilgrimage to farming retail heaven. So with the kiwi dream about a few chucks and pigs in the country perhaps there is a future in country consumerism that I hadn't really appreciated and next year I'll be at the field days with the rest of the farming community for their annual retail therapy!