Posts by Jogging Solo
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@Joe
Islander pefers the Rousseauian swamps of a dubious yesteryear to the continued existence of thousands of her fellow citizens, regardless of their potential to make this world a better place? Have fun, but don't expect to be taken seriously.
Here Here!
@Emma
indulge in their penchant for ritual sodomy while dressed in 19th Century British naval uniforms on a full moon?
There is no way you're going to convince me that doesn't happen here.
If that's the case then - Here Here! It would certainly add to the enviable diversity of opinion & cultural practice that the city enjoys!
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Orang-orang Bali suka dan makan anjing juga. Tetapi mereka tidak menceritakan touris! Kemarin di Denpasar..
My number 2 chief hate in regards to Bali (after drunk Australians) is all the damn dogs everywhere. Especially around Ubud. I hope they eat them all before my next visit.
@Hilary & @just thinking
It's grand to hear that the Pier has been built in consideration of those who benefit the most from public spaces, eg. those "unsteady on their feet", the elderly with alzheimers, etc!
LOL.
I am, however, a little concerned that all those people with alzheimers who make such great use of social spaces may, ironically, suffer from improved access to it: being so easy to shuffle down, what's to stop them from all going over the end like lemmings, only to be urinated on by uncouth fishermen?
Perhaps the Pier should be cobbled in their interests? In a compensatory gesture, we could fence of the Square and tile it with sponge exercise mats, so that the city's elderly alzheimers patients - those "who benefit most from the use of public spaces" - can lurch around and into each other at will like bumper cars without breaking any hips.
In regard to Christchurch's class issues... I am going to play devil's advocate and argue that the existence of a self-conscious, self-appointed elite of old families with English surnames actively discriminating against people who missed the first four ships is a fiction. There is old money in the city, and the McKenzie's and co still for the most part rule the High Country, but I don't believe those families collude to oppress the rest of Canterbury as some of the posters seem to be suggesting.
...But then again, perhaps I am a disinformation agent of the double-barreled bourgeois, terrified that you may be all too close to exposing our secret underground club in the catacombs beneath Christ's College, where powerful genetic inbreds indulge in their penchant for ritual sodomy while dressed in 19th Century British naval uniforms on a full moon?
Christchurch serves a psychological function/purpose in the national consciousness. I wish someone would write a white paper on it.
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@Simon Anjing! Belum.... tapi kapan saya di Manado ... munkin.
@Just thinking Thanks. I really should read more ChCh history. Enjoyed McNeish's 'Mckenzie' recently.
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@Islander: No doubt they articulate it well. I'm not going to deny this is the case -- but I don't necessarily see it. To paraphrase Franz Fenon, if you live in a white context you don't feel your race like minorities.... Its probably the same re school background -- though I've never witnessed any friend of mine talking in negative terms about people from other backgrounds being no good or not socializing with people from different schools, etc. I'll take their word for it.
@Just Thinking: I haven't lived here for 6 years. I've really noticed a difference in the place. Sol Square, etc, didn't exist.
I'd like to read more about the Maori House/best suburbs thing. That sounds ridiculous - can you PM me a reference to that doc? Is it available online?
Lebensraum... yeh... that's kind of a sick joke.
I read in an article a couple of weeks back that the Brits built the gardens to keep the Scots at arms length. Sounds ridiculous but would be amusing (in retrospect) if it's true.
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@Joe
Bagus! Do you know where you can get a decent Rendang that does not look and taste like an Indian curry?
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Other provincials know full well they’re from Hicksville – people from ChCh think they live in a city. An English City (not British, or European, mind). Specifically, Home-Counties-1950’s-English, before mass migration from the New Commonwealth. They persist with the whole “first four ships” and “what school did you go to?” crap. It’s all designed to reinforce the social hierarchy, which is one based on a particularly narrow definition of ethnicity. You can be a wealthy neurologist living in Fendalton with all your kids at Middleton Grange, but if you surname is Gunasekera you (and your kids) will never hit the top rung
Last time I checked, Christchurch was a city, in New Zealand terms.... The second biggest in the country. It's certainly provincial in that it is in its own province and has its own character. A character misjudged by people who don't live in it.
It's the people outside Christchurch persist with "the first four ships" thing. People do still sometimes ask: "what school did you go to," I think, though I haven;t encountered that since I've been back. But then I'm an adult now. I think if someone asked me that now I would say laugh at them. The view of Christchurch as "Home-Counties-1950’s" is more commonly held outside the city, also. I've never heard anyone talk about it here. However people outside Christchurch often used to say things to me like: "People in Christchurch are so provincial and think of their city in 1950s-Home-Counties-1950’s terms".
I think that's just the prejudiced view of the city from other centres. A comparable view would be the Southerner's view of Aucklanders as Venal C-grade celeb obsessed dirtbags who think they K road is like a certain hip inner-city Sydney suburb, while it actually falls way short and is actually less of a city but a serious of Timaru size villages.
The surname comment is bullshit. There's some truth to what you are saying but that's more down to demographics than anything else... I don't believe that there is any economic barriers based on whether or not you have an English surname.
@Islander
There's the big farming families, for sure - they still exist - and water's scarce. Do you think there's something corrupt or some level of collusion going on between those families and the city council?
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the old boy culture
Keir -- people often talk about the old boy culture or the old boys club in relation to Christchurch. I'm curious, how do you see this manifesting?
Because, apart from having had some great teachers, I haven't got any kickbacks from having gone to a private school. In fact more often than not people roll their eyes and I feel embarrassed and try to avoid answering questions along the lines of "what school did you go to."
Maybe it's true of/in the business community, I don't know. I usually live overseas and am not involved in the business world.
Who knows, perhaps Christchurch is secretly controlled by a satanic-masonic ritual murder cult of private school boys who worship a giant owl and plot to oppress the rest of the populous? If so, I've never been invited to any of their meetings. :(
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@Islander
There is, absolutely a clear division between the lifestyles of the middle-class and the poor in Christchurch. But Is there not even more so in Auckland?
You say visible poverty is not a virtue. I agree. I was saying that calling middle-class Wellington city comparatively unified vs Christchurch while neglecting to mention the comparatively ghettoized poverty in Porirua down the motorway was a vice.
As for racism... I'm white, so I can't speak for Others. Asian friends of mine have suffered abuse, for sure. And I've several time myself heard boyracers yell out racial abuse directed at Asian people. It makes me feel ashamed and disgusted. Hopefully a growing Asian population and a bit of time will take care of that...
Christchurch does have more of an English character than Auckland or Wellington. People seem to get very upset with this, on the grounds that it is a throwback to the city's colonial past. To be honest, that attitude seems ignorant and foolish to me. Because you appreciate English style gardens, or Neo-gothic architecture, doesn't mean you support the colonial oppression of Maori. And I always think it is worth baring in mind that the vast majority of immigrants to the South Island were hardly whip wielding colonial oppressors of the Oxbridge ruling class. They were at best, farm laborers who braved the journey to improve the quality of life for their families, like successive waves of immigrants, whatever their origin. And at worst, coke-addled remittance men. That culture, often of English or Scots origin, came with the immigrants. And many preserved aspects of it, while adopting new cultural practices from Maori and other communities that immigrated here. And now we have a unique mix that still retains aspects of culture, but retaining, sometimes, an English flavor. I don't see what is wrong with that at all. And I don't think it's appropriate to view cultural practices that still retain an "English quality" in some way or form, as offensive, or as a reminder of economic oppression by subjects of the British Empire.
@Joe It has been great to see Riccaton turning into our very own China/Korea town. I can finally get some Soju and vege dumplings at decent prices whenever I want!
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@Keir
"No other city in the country has a public space equal to the botanic gardens.
Um, Cuba St?"
Ha - that's a good point, Ken.
Christchurch did not have, at least when I was growing up, anything like the cosy inner-city cafe district that Wellington City has. I think geography has a lot to do with that: Wellington is a lot smaller than Christchurch, and many people live within walking distance of the central city, unlike ChCh. However, ChCh is getting better in that respect, with the old seedy end of high street having been completely revamped. I refer to Poplar Lane, etc. Additions that have revitalized an old part of the city that otherwise could have been bashed down and replaced with office blocks. The next challenge is to try to get people to move into the city to live... there's a couple of developers trying to do that. Previous attempts have not worked well... here's hoping.
I can't recall ever seeing anyone with a Swastika on his face. I did see one in Wanganui, though -- a town by the way, which I think has the worst race-relations in the country.
Homophobia... I have a number of gay friends that are happy here... and there's more gay bars here than in Wellington... but if you go to the strip and start pashing your boyfriend some drunk dork/s might feel confused and threatened.
Waltham Sydenham Wigram Brighton-on-Sea Linwood Riccarton Spreydon.... Yes, they are all very poor working class neighborhoods in needs of some investment, robust ideas/development, and compassion.
Grim... btw there's a cool edge to that grim/gothic/colonial history/church of England thing.... Some of our best artists, like the musician Dudley Benson are embracing it rather than being embarrassed about it and creating some of the most original work around.
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Thanks Joe. And the Auckland Domain is lovely.... I may have gone a little overboard in order to make a point.