There were a few things I found surprisingly difficult to get used to. One was the Kiwi accent. It is very unique and has different vowel sounds than we use in the United States. I found myself asking people to repeat themselves multiple times and often saying people’s names wrong. I also had a hard time adjusting to the New Zealand dollar conversion. I had to constantly pull out my calculator for a while so that I did not accidentally overspend. By the end of my study abroad, this was a quick conversion. A third thing I had to adjust to was driving on the left side of the road. I never drove while there, but crossing streets was hard. I could not remember which way to look first, which was really dangerous! I made sure to stop and think before crossing the street and look both ways multiple times, just to be safe.
Some things around our house were a bit different as well. All the outlets had switches on them so we could turn them off and on. Even our stovetop and oven had a switch! Our bathroom was set up differently. Our toilet had its own room, and our shower had its own room as well. This was really convenient because all five of us could get ready at the same time in the morning. When I visited friends' apartments and houses, they were set up like this as well.
There are a few other keycultural differences. For example, you do not usually tip in New Zealand, whether in restaurants, hair salons or tattoo places. In the U.S., tips are expected because it is factored into people’s wages. They get paid less because they are expected to receive tips. In New Zealand, workers get paid a fair wage right from the start. Tipping is also seen as rude to some people because they are just doing their jobs, and it can start issues in the workplace.
