Through my stay, I have experienced some of the important days described below:

The Anzac day:

 I was quite surprised one day when going to town: I saw military personnel carrying bags for donations. In exchange they were giving a poppy… what is the relation between the military and the poppy, I have to admit I was quite amazed.

Here is the signification:

The Anzac Day ceremony is rich in tradition and ritual. It is essentially a military funeral.

Why poppies?

Poppies have an enduring association with Anzac Day, dating back to the 1920s. Throughout New Zealand, people of all ages wear a red poppy as a mark of remembrance for the men and women who have died in the course of service for their country.

The connection between red poppies and fallen service personnel has its origins in the Napoleonic Wars of the early nineteenth century; red or Flanders poppies were the first flowers to bloom over the graves of soldiers in northern France and Belgium.

It was in the same region - the Western Front - a century later that red poppies were once more associated with those who died in war.

Why is it called Anzac Day? 

ANZAC actually stands for “Australia New Zealand Army Corp”

New Zealand and Australia share a tradition of Anzac Biscuits. Both countries claim to have invented them, but Anzac Biscuits are similar to many other older biscuit recipes that are designed to produce crisp, hard and nutritious biscuits that keep well.

One of the food items that women in both countries sent to soldiers during the First World War was a hard, long-keeping biscuit that could survive the journey by sea, and still remain edible. 

Queen’s birthday

Why?

Many New Zealanders celebrate the Queen's Birthday on the first Monday of June each year, as New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with the Queen of the United Kingdom being the head of state.

What do they do?

Many people have the day off on the Queen’s birthday, because it is a public holiday, and it  is the official opening of the ski season. It’s held on a Monday so is part of a long weekend. The Queen's Honours list is released around the time of the Queen’s birthday public holiday. This list has hundreds of recipients, who are honoured and recognized for public service, from services to television to services to prisoner welfare.

However I asked people the meaning for them and they admitted that for them it was just a day off (work) and that they don’t do anything special. 

Waitangi Day

Waitangi Day is the national day in New- Zealand. It commemorates a significant day in its history. It is a public holiday held each year on 6 February to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document, on that date in 1840.

How do they celebrate?

I wasn’t here but I heard that it has nothing like  the French 14th of July.

Celebrations at Waitangi often commence the previous day, 5 February, where political dignitaries are welcomed and hear speeches from locals. These speeches often deal with the issues of the day, and vigorous and robust debate occurs.

At dawn on Waitangi Day, the Royal New Zealand Navy raises the New Zealand Flag, Union Flag and White Ensign on the flagstaff in the treaty grounds. The ceremonies during the day generally include a church service and cultural displays such as dance and song. Several waka (a kind of canoe) and a navy ship also re-enact the calling ashore of Governor Hobson to sign the treaty. The day closes with the flags being lowered by the Navy in a traditional ceremony.

In recent years, communities throughout New Zealand have been celebrating Waitangi Day in a variety of ways. These often take the form of public concerts and festivals. Since the day is also Bob Marley's birthday, reggae music is especially popular. Wellington has a long running "One Love" festival that celebrates peace and unity. Celebrations are largely muted in comparison to those seen on the national days of most countries. There are no mass parades, nor truly widespread celebrations. As the day is a public holiday, and happens during the warmest part of the New Zealand summer, most people take the opportunity to spend the day at the beach – an important part of New Zealand culture.

The culture of New-Zealand can be considered as a mix of different cultures.

Maori culture:

 Maori were the first people to settle here, around the 14^th century. They are originally from the Polynesian islands. They have their own mythology based on heroes and gods. Their life-style is particularly connected to the land and the sea. Communal living, sharing and living off the land are strong traditional values.

They express themselves through art and skills such as:

Haka: traditional ancestral war cry, dance or challenge. It is currently done before Rugby games.

 ta moko: a kind of tattoo but rather than being piercing the skin , it is carved into it

 waiata: this is the traditional music. It usually corresponds to folk music style integrated with poetry and dance.

Poi: a kind of performance art involving swinging tethered weights through a variety of rhythmical and geometric patterns. 

Western culture:

As NZ was colonized in the 19^th century by the British, the culture of NZ is mostly a mix of cultures. Moreover there ishigh cultural diversity as they are also a lot of Asian people who settle in New Zealand.

That is why there are not a lot of local specialties. The restaurants in Wellington for example are from all around the world, with maybe more from Asia.

The café culture is quite big here. If you ask people where  is a great place to go in Wellington, they will first tell you about the museums of course but usually they also talk about their cafés. You can find a wide range of different coffees or hot chocolates usually served with marshmallows.

There is also a famous dessert I should try which is the pavlova, a meringue-based dessert.

 To some people a mix of cultures can be considered as no culture at all, so the government really tries to promote Maori culture as the local one.

This year I did two different internships: one of one month in London at Oxfam and the other one, a three-month part time internship at Enjoy Art Gallery. 

The internship at Oxfam

What is Oxfam?

Oxfam is an organization originally from Great Britain, acting worldwide to find solutions to poverty and injustice.

They have three main points of focus: development work, which tries to lift communities out of poverty with long-term, sustainable solutions based on their needs; humanitarian work, assisting those immediately affected by conflict and natural disasters (at the time they were especially working on the Syrian case); and affecting policy decisions on the causes of conflict at local, national, and international levels.

They found different ways to support their actions. They appeal for financial and material donations. The Oxfam shops are a kind of unusual and interesting second-hand shop that is the organisation’s specialty.

What is the process?

      •          We collect cloth and object donations

•          We sort them between what can be sold and what can’t which is sent to countries in need 

•          The money from the sales and the donations is collected 

•          The money is sent to the headquarters 

•          The benefits are distributed between the shop for its maintainance and to Oxfam’s actions 

My tasks

I worked in one of the shops located at Angel station in London.

I had three different tasks there:

-deal with the purchases at the till

-sort the donations: the clothes that we sell have to be in perfect condition and respect a number of criteria

-shelving

-advising

What I learned from this internship:

-how a shop is run

-improved my English and adapted to different accents

-how the Oxfam charity works

-the English management processes

My internship at Enjoy Art Gallery

What is Enjoy art Gallery?

Enjoy Art Gallery was established in June 2000. This is a non-commercial artist-run initiative based in Wellington. 

Its mission is to generate and facilitate contemporary art projects in order to promote the discourse of contemporary art practice in all its forms.

How does it work?

An artist interested in exhibiting their work applies by describing their work and their motivation and every two week the art gallery choses an artist whose work will be exhibited. 

My task

My task was related to the second part of the gallery’s function: not the selection process but the exhibition one.

I was asked to

-facilitate the installation of the work

-welcome visitors

-answer questions about the artist and their  work

-give a report to the manager about the attendance and development of the exhibition

Here are some works of the artists I have promoted. 

What I learned from this internship:

-how an art gallery works and more specifically a public one

-the management processes in New Zealand

- how to analyze contemporary art

-how to promote an artwork

Victoria University is a public university that was created almost 150 years ago. It is the biggest university in Wellington and in New Zealand, with about 22,223 students. The university is also proud to have the highest grade in research in New Zealand.

They have many buildings all around Wellington and which one your classes are on will change depending on the classes that you are taking. The most well-known papers are in law, humanities and sciences.

The biggest campus is the Kelburn one that has just been restored. It now provides very friendly places to meet people, shops, places to eat, as well as very nice and quiet  places to study (there’s a great view of the sea from the library).

As I am taking four different papers I am used to going to two different campuses:

At Kelburn Campus:

 Economics

At Pipitea Campus:

International business

Management

Human Resources

Social life is a big part of  student life.

Thus you have as many clubs as hobbies: sport, religion, politics, languages, music… You can be sure to find one that suits you!

A lot of services are available for students in order to help you in your daily life. When you arrive they can help you to find accommodation, show you around Wellington, and help you in any procedure: visa and jobs as well as internships. Also there is a big service concerning jobs, internships and volunteering. They tell you as soon as there is something available that suits your interests and help you write your resume (the form is not the same in NZ as in Europe).

The student association is the biggest one, they have their own building and a range of different functions. During the no-stress week (the week before the exams) they provided free breakfast and free lunches to encourage you with your studies.

A big club gathers all the international students and organizes events to get to know them.

The teaching methods seem quite the same as those I have known at ESDES Business School: Each class has two hour lectures (“amphi”) once a week and a one hour tutorial (“TD”).

 Rotorua has always been a place I wanted to go to but due to the limited holidays I have had, I have never managed to travel around the North Island. Having a three day weekend was the perfect opportunity. So we decided to go there with my dear flatmate (my travel partner) and Evelyn, the American girl I went to the South Island with the first time

.

This region is a place where the turbulent forces that formed New Zealand are the most evident. It has one of the world’s most lively fields of geothermal activity and sits squarely on the Pacific Rim of Fire

We left on Thursday afternoon, hired a car (we are now experts in trip organization).  We had'nt book a place for the night but fortunately the woman from the car rental offered to do it for us! We understood why we had received a special offer for this car from the first kilometer: it was a miracle that we were reaching 100km/h!

Now the sun sets at 6pm so we didn’t see much of the landscape and went directly to Taupo.

The common response when I told people I was going to Rotorua was about the smell: this region is particularly known for its sulfur sources! They were quite right, what a wonderful feeling when you wake up!

Taupo also has its geothermal wonders, mostly hot springs. After a small walk we lay in one of them for quite a long time, it's so great to have a bath that never gets colder ;)

The first step in was quite difficult, the temperature was around 47°C! After a small walk in the town and around the lake we went to Rotorua. That was impressive, we could even see the hot steam from the road!

On the next day we went to Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland.  We could see all kinds of geothermal things. So amazing! Can you imagine seeing the water boiling in the ground, seeing yellow liquid, steam coming from the lakes, mud pools...?!

The mud industry:

We went there with a girl from South Africa… four girls coming from four different continents and gathering in a fifth one…

by the way we had a debate on the number of continents there are in the world. According to Wikipedia, my best friend, there are 4, 5, 6 or 7 continents depending on people’s view.

This park also has a geyser activated every day at 10:15am. In fact it is active around once a day at night or daytime but so that people can see it they activate it with soap at fixed hours: a real attraction!

I think that the sulfur, in addition to its particular smell also had soporific effect: we were so tired after this morning!

In the afternoon we went to a Maori village. Rotorua is one of the places where the Maori culture is the most highlighted.

Sulfur sources are everywhere and they are sometime used by Maori for cooking. I heard that it brings a very cool taste to the food! We finished our tour by walking along the lake where we could see black swans and a beautiful sunset!

(So many discoveries!) Quite nauseated by the sulfur, we decided to leave Rotorua  the next day and went to Tongariro National Park. This is a place very famous for the Tongariro Crossing, a six day tramp but we couldn’t see much as we only had three hours… The mountains are not particularly high but there is an active volcano, Ruapehu, the first time I got to see one with my own eyes!

At first we wanted to do a 2 hour walk but we were too lazy and went back to Wellington. 

Now, no time to think about travels for the next two months, the exam period is getting closer!