'NEIGHBOURHOOD' THEME Captions by Tariqa Satherley. Edited by Glenna Casalme. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2015 RELAXED MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES Te Tihi-o-Maru ` population around 40,000. It lies between what was originally a whaling port and fine South Canterbury farming country. I was born in Timaru. Dad was born in Timaru. Dad's dad was born in Timaru. But Mum ` she was born in the Kingdom of Tonga. She came here in 1973, and they had a census, and there was just one Tongan in Timaru ` her. And that was pretty much the story of my childhood. Up until about 10 years ago, 98% of the population were straight-up Kiwi. That's no longer the case. We'll meet a man whose South African father encouraged him to achieve against the odds. I was... probably about 13 years old when I found this in my dad's, uh, cupboard. I was like, 'Wow, this is amazing.' And it gave me a sense of hope and purpose in the sense that, 'Well, my dad can do this. I can do it as well.' Celebrate autumn in traditional German style. The people coming today are mostly Germans, but we have also Kiwis joining us, and it's always, um, an event that people are looking forward because it's something exceptional. Meet a woman who's relearned the Japanese crafts that she wants to pass on to her daughter. This traditional headpiece that you use for when you put kimono on. We can make them to your daughter. > Yeah. If I'm even gonna have one. (LAUGHS) > And discover how the community here has rallied to support people affected by the Vanuatu cyclone. They couldn't believe all these people had donated their time and` and the resources and all the goods to support Vanuatu. To know that even though we're so far away from home, that they have the support here and the love from the community they're living in. I'm Josh Thomson, and this is my neighbourhood. UPBEAT MUSIC RELAXED MUSIC Dad's family came to NZ from Scotland in the 1800s to make rope from flax, work the land and to prospect for gold. And I grew up here, on this farm just outside of Timaru. This is my dad. He's a retired engineer, which means he's constantly tinkering with stuff. What are you doin'? I'm carving a mould so that I can show you how to make diving weights out of lead. Good. CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC Dad met Mum in Tonga when he was working on Volunteer Services Abroad. They came back here to raise us kids. I guess Mum must have wondered what she'd signed up for at times, with no one in the district who spoke her language, shared her traditions, and her own family over 3000 K's away. Nowadays there's lots more PI people in the hood, but they can still feel like they're a long way from home, especially when disaster strikes. RELAXED MUSIC My name is Marley Regenvanu, and I was born in Vanuatu, in Port Vila. I've since moved to Timaru and living here with Rose, my wife, and our three children. These ones are of, um, when Sam was there in 2012. When the kids are around 10 years old, they go to Vanuatu, um, and they live with their grandparents and their, um, uncles and aunties. They go to school, um, and they have that period of time where they are immersed in the culture, which is our way of` of trying to get them to have a strong foot in` in both cultures. Um, is there anything in particular you're looking forward to when you go? Uh, just the snorkelling, swimming,... the sun. (CHUCKLES) The sun. After the cyclone, things will have changed a wee bit back there. It won't be, I guess, the Vanuatu that she's been exposed to in the past. Even to myself` When I go back, um, there'll be changes. Vanuatu has always had cyclones. I guess we've never experienced, uh, that` that magnitude of cyclone before, so weren't sure what to expect and the people of Vanuatu definitely weren't sure what to expect. So when we lost communication afterwards and the only communication we had was, um` was seeing footage on the media and hearing reports of, you know, this` this amount of people are dead and this, it was a very, um, hard time. Yeah, it was ve` It was very hard to see places on the news that you knew people who` who lived there or... To see those` those places destroyed and not knowing what happened to the people inside ` that was quite tough, that week. Luckily I had good support here, um, from` from Rose and her f` her family, and I knew that the, um` the seasonal workers were in the s` in the same boat. MACHINE RATTLES SOFTLY The workers that come over here from, uh, Vanuatu, they come over for about five months. Um, it's hard being away from` from their families, but they know that they're earning money that will support` support, um, not only their own immediate families but the wider communities back there as well. So we heard about the cyclone. We are worrying about our families back from Vanuatu. So we don't know how we gonna save them. Like, us, we are the fathers of the kids and some of the mothers of the kids. We wished we were with` uh, with our families, but it's sad that we are not in Vanuatu. But then we just pray that God will protect our families. After a few days of, um, feeling a bit shell-shocked, I suppose, which was, um` you know, for us here in a safe environment, um, was only a fraction of what the people in Vanuatu would've been feeling, um, but it` it sort of evolved over the next few days into thinking, 'What can we do to help?' PEACEFUL MUSIC 2600 is right down the back. 2600. Ended up being an entertainment evening, with a charity auction in it as well. I've gotta get 180. 180. How's the back? 180, 200. Just having the Vanuatu community there ` the ones th` the workers ` and for them to, uh, see the support in the community was a huge, huge thing. They couldn't believe that all these people had donated their time and` and the resources and all the goods to support Vanuatu. $280. Look at that print. 280. 280 bid... And it was important for them to know that even though we were so far away from home, that they had the support here and the love from the community they're living in. We managed to raise 27,500. I'm pretty proud of that. Um, and that was in a three-week period of time, so that was really good. Just shows how people really did care, um, for Vanuatu and` and the ni-Vanuatu that live here as well. This is just a wonderful effort by all of these lovely people that got together in Timaru for an auction, and I'm very honoured to be here on behalf of UNICEF to accept this. And I just know how much good work is gonna be done in Vanuatu because of this, so well done, everyone. Thank you so much. APPLAUSE RELAXED MUSIC The community have been wonderful in their support in terms of` of donation of goods, and so the two groups of seasonal workers who are currently in south Canterbury, their employers have organised containers. Right, uh, one more mattress. Down the end, tie a mattress. It's been wonderful to see that these containers are being filled, and` and all the goods just` just` they just seem to be` keep coming in. Well, there's almost a need for more containers ` they've got so much stuff. The seasonal workers have` have become good friends. They have provided a bit of Vanuatu for me here in` in south Canterbury, and` and it's good to speak the language again. (SPEAKS VANUATU LANGUAGE) And, um, I guess I'm a port of call for them if they need anything or they're not sure about anything in living in Timaru, as I've lived here for a while now, so I guess I know my way around a wee bit. Tim` Timaru people are good. They generally do get behind a good cause. Going forward, I think it'll make Timaru a very attractive place for seasonal workers. They'll know that they've got all that support here, so maybe` might be beneficial for` for everyone involved to have a few more over here. Well, it's certainly beneficial for me, anyway, to have a bit more of my countrymen here. BIRDS CHIRP LAID-BACK MUSIC (GROANS, SIGHS) I don't observe many cultural traditions, apart from when I go to family events, like weddings and funerals. That's when I learn probably the most about Tongan culture I can. I ask a lot of questions; I get dressed up in the traditional way and do pretty much whatever my aunties tell me to do. When my mum passed away, we celebrated her life in the Tongan way. We brought her back to the farm so she could be with the family, and people came from all over to` to be with her, talk to her and to sing to her. We even slept and ate beside her. SOFT ELECTRONIC MUSIC I got married on the farm too. On the first day we had a Palagi ceremony,... and the second day we had a Tongan wedding. My uncle called the kava ceremony, and we gifted a freshly killed pig to my new bride's family. My new auntie Diana had to slap the pig's bottom to test it for freshness. She did a stellar job. It's interesting some of the traditions children of migrant families choose to retain. Yuko Muirhead was born in Japan, but she's had to turn to the internet to learn some of the traditional crafts she wants to pass on to her daughter. INTRIGUING MUSIC Creativity is for my mind just to relax and maybe add some colours to your life. INTRIGUING MUSIC CONTINUES My children inspire me to create things for them. I was born in Japan ` Fukuoka. It was just like Timaru. Friendly neighbourhood; everybody knows everyone. I came here year 2000 just to study English. My mum and auntie was here before. And especially Mum said NZ is a beautiful country and I should come here. So I did. I didn't know anyone, but now we have about 15 to 20 Japanese in Timaru. And we have International Festival in November, and we have a Japanese stall and sell sushi and teach children how to, um, do origami. PEACEFUL MUSIC My grandfather painted, um, a lot of mountains and rivers. My grandmother carved wood. They used to give me little flower brooches. Yes, I think the creativity lives through me. GENTLE, FANCIFUL MUSIC This is called tsumami zaiku ` pinched craft, pinched flowers. And we have this square piece of fabric, and it's just like origami ` you fold them to triangle. It's easy, so Ellie can do it as well. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) GENTLE VIOLIN MUSIC We made petals to make one flower. OK, you can make a leaf. Timaru, compared to Japan, it is more relaxed. It's not much stress. Cos in Japan, it's all about competition. You have to have, um, exams or interviews to go to a private kindy. They can learn so much from the system here. They probably develop more creative mind in here, and not everybody will be same like in Japan. DAINTY MUSIC That's the flower made. It is traditional. It's traditional headpiece that you use for when you put kimono on. I never sew in Japan, because if I wanted something I always` I always could find it somewhere in the market. But moving to NZ, I couldn't find anything, so I decided maybe I can make those things I really want. I just, um, read books or the` mainly looked at, um, internet. It reminds me of my childhood and the Japanese culture I grew up with, and I just want to pass the... just beautifulness ` the beauty of Japanese culture to my daughter. When I grow up, I'm gonna make them too. You can make them to your daughter. > Yeah. If I'm even gonna have one. (LAUGHS) You will. > I'm gonna have boys and boys and boys and boys... Boys can do them too. > CHEERFUL MUSIC This is Japanese kimono, but called yukata ` the summer cotton dress. And this one, um, my grandmother made it for me, and I pass it on to Ellie. This is my favourite kimono. Um, I'm sure that my daughter would love to wear them every day, but they` they're a bit too precious, so maybe for special occasions. I want my kids to know the Japanese culture, and I think ` maybe not now but later on ` I want them to be proud to be Japanese as well. (CHUCKLES) I have two older brothers. This one here's a fisherman in Timaru. The other one's a plastic surgeon in Tasmania. They're both annoyingly good at their jobs and have both saved people's lives while on the job, whereas I tell jokes ` bad ones. But we can all drive a tractor; we all grew up in Timaru. SOFT ELECTRONIC MUSIC I guess our family was a bit of a curiosity to the rest of the good folks here in Timaru. But fortunately we had some good cards up our sleeves. Tongan culture revolves around feasting, and roast pig and umu smell good to anyone anywhere. Sharing food is a great way to connect with others, especially when you're far away from your family. So a traditional harvest festival, that's how the German community celebrate the way they would back home. PEACEFUL PIANO MUSIC My name is Roswitha Knoppel, and, uh, I'm actually called Rosie because Roswitha is, um, hard to say for people and it's not easy to remember. And I was born in Germany ` in East Germany. My husband, he is also from East Germany. That's my family in Poland. Again, me. When was that? That one here? Oh, I was about 19, 20 years old. Before I met my husband I was living in France. And I met my husband, and he` he wasn't that keen to come to France, so I said, 'OK, I come to Switzerland.' But we never really felt that's the final destination for us, and when he got job offer here from NZ, we decided to go and to try. It was a big adventure, but it was good. Yeah. We're still here, so we are not regretting it. (CHUCKLES) LAID-BACK MUSIC I'm coordinator for the Newcomers Network NZ in Timaru. I'm a migrant myself. I know exactly what they go through. It's not easy at all. On the surface it looks fine, but behind that, there are so many problems which, if you have never been in the situation, you can't imagine. We encourage people to keep up with their traditions because it's nice to see what their traditions are. Usually it's always very colourful and all this international food. And becoming a NZer doesn't mean you` you have to give up everything you lived before. Today we are organising with our German club the Autumn Festival, which, um, in German we call it, um, Neuer Wein Fest or Federweisser Fest, and it's, um... we have new wine. That's what we drink. LIQUID TRICKLES And usually we eat, uh, onion cakes with it. CURIOUS MUSIC The onion cake is easy to make. You take some flour, dried yeast, water. That's it. Some salt. Uh, you prepare the base. MIXER WHIRRS And you just mix it until it doesn't stick to the bowl any more. Federweisser Fest, it's celebrating, uh, the autumn time. And, um... Yeah, and that is quite common and famous. SOFT, UPBEAT MUSIC All ingredients, usually you have at home. There's nothing really special you have to buy for it. Or you use it once for a recipe, then they're stuck in your cupboard for 10 years. You can make it with carrots; you can put in sweet peas ` whatever you like to do. Just... No, not sweet peas. (LAUGHS) UPBEAT MUSIC Onion-chopping is quite a tough thing, because you're crying the whole time because you have to have nearly a kilogram. So it's a lot of work and a lot of, um,... crying. (CHUCKLES) But it's OK. These are really fresh and full of juice, so that makes you even cry a little bit more. So... But I was told it's very healthy. So... it's good if you cry from time to time. I was wondering where the onion cakes come from, because we know it; we eat it; it's tradition. It's because it's time of harvesting, so onions were available en masse and were pretty cheap. And this, um, salty baking goes well with the sweet wine. And it's all at the same time available for harvesting time. My mom was pretty impressed with me, because when I was at home, when I was young, I was not interested in cooking at all. Baking ` even less. I just did what I had to do to survive so... And over the time, I... I discovered how much better is food you prepare yourself. So, yeah, I quite enjoy cooking now, and my mom, yeah, can't believe it. (LAUGHS) She's still wondering what happened to me. So that is just my special Rosie's onion cake. UPBEAT MUSIC GENTLE PIANO MUSIC The people coming today are mostly Germans, but we have also Kiwis joining us ` friends who like German language, like to learn another language or just like to enjoy to eat and drink with us. HUBBUB And it's always, um, an event that people are looking forward because it's something exceptional. It is nice because you` you talk about your roots ` where you're coming from. Wherever you come from, you live in NZ, and even you become a NZer, you always have your roots somewhere else. And it's good to know and to talk about. I feel, um, at home in Timaru. I have to say we have a great community. It's not because I'm living here and I'm saying that. I'm really believe it. It's something special about it. I don't know what it is. I can't really put it in words, but once you have been here, you` you know what I'm talking about. DREAMY MUSIC Dad's uncle and grandfather were both chiefs of the Timaru Scottish Society. But oddly enough, my favourite memories of this place are playing housie here with my Tongan mum. UPBEAT ELECTRONIC MUSIC Tongan culture can be brash, loud and full of laughter. If you're speaking at a cultural event, you find out pretty quick if you're interesting or not, because heckling is pretty common. I think I've inherited some of that brashness and silliness from my mum's side, as well as my father's dry Scottish wit. ELECTRONIC MUSIC When I told my parents that I wanted to be a comedian, they were like, 'Oh, that's nice. But what do you really wanna do?' But they were always incredibly supportive and just genuinely happy that I was doing something that I loved. Local man Trevor Johnston believes that it's that kind of family support that can help someone turn their life around. GENTLE MUSIC I consider myself to be an African, but more importantly, a global citizen. AMBIENT MUSIC I would probably say I grew up in a humble environment. We grew up in a garage, um, six of us ` so my` the four children, my mum and dad. Under apartheid, the ruling white government in the '50s started segregating people, and I was categorised as a coloured. The coloured were marginalised or treated the same as black under apartheid, so, um, pretty difficult, um, situation growing up in that environment. SOMBRE PIANO MUSIC My dad was a fisherman, and he had, um... In the early days of apartheid, they confiscated a lot of boats. That happened to my dad. He had two boats that were confiscated. So... he was then forced to work as a labourer. So I had a strong sense there of injustice from the early age. As a teenager, I had very low self-esteem. I had no real sense of purpose. Um, I wasn't an outstanding sportsman or anything, so... Um, and I wasn't a high achiever at school either. So there was nothing that I could really sort of measure myself against. CURIOUS MUSIC I was... probably about 13 years old when I found this in my dad's, uh, cupboard. And I found this article, and I was quite blown away by the fact that I hadn't ever seen my dad like this. I always saw him as a sort of guy that went to work and came back quite late at night. And they were such dramatic photographs of this man hanging on the edge of this mountain by his fingertips. I was like, 'Wow. This is amazing!' And it gave me a sense of hope and purpose in the sense that, 'Well, my dad can do this; I can do it as well. I could go anywhere,' you know? 'I could do anything.' So, um, yeah, metaphorically, I could climb any mountain. SOFT UPLIFTING MUSIC I was the first in my family to go to university and then complete a degree. I don't think anybody expected any of us to graduate. So it was quite a` a big moment for our family when I graduated. I went and taught at a poor school for` in a really poor community overrun with gangs and drugs. In 1994, apartheid ended, so things had opened up. There was a programme on TV asking any South African who was interested in being selected for the South African Mt Everest expedition to apply. So I went through the selection process of... 15,000 applicants. And so I got selected as one of the two, and it was the ultimate dream. Highest mountain in the world, where some of the greatest climbers you ever heard had walked on it, stepped on it. I'd be walking in their footsteps. It was just.... (CHUCKLES) unreal. Didn't think I'd get that high. It was probably the most amazing experience of my life. Until you met me. (GUFFAWS) True. BOTH LAUGH Very true. My dad's really proud of me. Yeah, and it's` it's been quite inspiring for me. And, um, my own journey itself has been about trying to make a difference, trying to give back. Uh, I think I've always had that calling. Within Timaru, in the community, I coach young men. ...a couple of things about... And I'm trying to instil that sense of purpose, develop their self-esteem and confidence. I was very lucky to have a good father. I had very good mentors, very good people that were around me that helped me along the way and, um, a fair amount of luck, I suppose. The other one, uh, Rafa, you missed the... (CHUCKLES) Rafa's always a cheater, huh? There will always be that connection with South Africa and my past, but I'm always a future-looking person. I take the lessons from the past, but I carry those lessons into the future and try to pass it on to my kid and to my grandchildren, the people that are around me. AMBIENT MUSIC INTRIGUING ELECTRONIC MUSIC Timaru ` it's so cool, even the little blue penguins have moved here from Oamaru. I'm so proud to be from this place. It's safe, sunny and got the best damn Christmas lights in the country. Thanks for visiting Timaru with me. It's my home. SEAGULLS SQUAWK Oh, not here, obviously. This is the beach. That'd be ridiculous. Captions by Tariqa Satherley. Edited by Glenna Casalme. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2015