Captions by Starsha Samarasinghe. Edited by Tracey Dawson. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 (RELAXING MUSIC) Sydenham lies 2 K's south of Christchurch city centre, wrapped around Colombo St, the city's oldest and longest shopping strip. More than a quarter of the people that call Sydenham home were born overseas. That's more than the national average, and growing by the year. I was born in South Africa. My biological mother's heritage is Scottish, German and Indian. My biological father is Thai and Indian. And to top that, I was raised by adoptive parents who were classified as Cape coloured, basically mixed race. I often joke about being the poster child for multiracial families around the world. My husband and I moved to Sydenham when we first arrived in Christchurch. It's a very different vibe here to the one where I was born ` safe, tolerant and accepting. I'd like to share with you what I've come to love about my new home. In this episode of Neighbourhood, a man from Brittany shares what he loves about the place he was born. We are very proud of our culture, which is a Celtic culture. We are proud of our music. We love our parties. We love our food, crepes. And, yes, it's all about speaking Breton and enjoying the Breton culture. A local jeweller finds new ways to enshrine his Japanese heritage. I'm just making a ring at the moment, just inspired by the kimono. Just trying to make something wide and, sort of, the colour of the kimono that it's going to be. A Sydenham man rallies the community for Pride Week. We are smack bang in the middle of Christchurch Pride Week, so we've got a whole lot of different events. Condom packing runs once a month here in Christchurch. We thought we'd run one during Pride Week just to get everyone else involved and get some more people coming along. And a local foodie blends all the best of her cultural heritage in her cuisine. When you're eating a curry, you need to have everything in one spoon. A little of everything. And when you have them in your mouth, slowly chew them, and you're eating with your senses. I am Leigh-Anne Reeder, and this is my neighbourhood. (UPBEAT MUSIC) (RELAXING MUSIC) My adoptive parents were classified as Cape coloured ` basically, anyone of mixed heritage that can't be classified as black, white or Indian. South Africa seems very diverse from the outside ` a rainbow nation ` but it's anything but diverse growing up there. People like you to fit into a box. People would often poke at me and ask, 'What are you?' just because I couldn't be conveniently labelled. I often felt like a round peg being forced into a square hole. I really have my adoptive parents to thank for a strong sense of self in who I am and where I come from. Are you ready? (WOMAN LAUGHS) (TRADITIONAL BRETON MUSIC PLAYS) That is a very traditional dance. Very easy but very traditional. Doesn't sound easy. It sounds quite fast. (CHUCKLES) It isn't. I'm going to show you. I'm worried. (LAUGHS) (MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING) It sounds very Irish. It could be. It's Celtic. Yeah. I was born in Brittany, north-west of France, in a city called Nantes. It's culturally different. The culture is a bit more Celtic culture. And we have a different language too. We all speak French, but we have a language which is for Brittany called Breton. (BRETON MUSIC PLAYS) I guess, as a culture, we are very proud of our culture, which is a Celtic culture. We are proud of our music. And, yes, it's all about speaking Breton and enjoying the Breton culture. When you say traditional, how old is it? I don't know. Maybe 1000 years old. Oh, really? Yeah. Very, very, very old. Yes. And after, we have, like, there is maybe 20 different dances. Like I said, there is one where we are with your partner, just two and two. And after... in a group like that. Is it only done in Brittany? Yeah. Yeah. Well, for the Breton dances. Yeah. (RELAXING MUSIC) In the '50s, France decided to stop people to speak Breton for different reasons. So my grandma was worried and scared to teach Breton to my mum. So my grandma was the person I was speaking Breton with, and she'd teach me all these different recipes for the crepes and stuff like that. And we are very proud of our culture. So we are very strong on wanting to keep our culture alive. And so we create association and we fight for our language and to keep our culture alive, definitely, yes. The flag is called the Gwenn-ha-du, which means 'black and white' in Breton. It's a modern flag. They changed the flag a few years ago. The black stripes represent an area of Brittany where they speak Breton, and the white stripe is where they speak Gallo. And we have 11 stars or flowers called ermines. They represent the dukes, the 11 dukes who rule, who manage Brittany during the reunification with the French kingdom. My dad gave it to me before I left France to come here in New Zealand, like a present for 'be safe'. I can just remember where I'm from, where I come from and where is my family. (UPLIFTING MUSIC) I decided, after my degrees, I wanted to discover New Zealand. It was my first country on my list because I love outdoor activities, mountains, oceans. I wanted to learn a little bit more about the Coast to Coast of New Zealand. I fall in love with the country, fall in love with a lady. I got different jobs, and so I tried to get the visas, and I got my residency a couple of years ago, so now I'm a resident. I decided to start my own business making crepes. The first time I remember making a crepe with my grandma was... I think I was 8. For me, crepes have been the full way we celebrate something in Brittany, so it's going to be like, uh, like I'm going to meet with my grandma, I will go to a creperie for lunch. I think that she will be proud that I'm bringing something from Brittany. I really try to keep the recipe very traditional and artisanal. So the galette are made by hand. I'm not using a machine to mix the flour with the water. It's very important for me to keep this. My mum wouldn't like a crepe unless it's crispy and very thin. Are you saying she sends them back? Yes. If it's not crispy enough. My mum is a bit fussy about that. Every day, there's a bit of nostalgic moment where you miss your parents, your family, the culture. You never hear someone they don't miss Brittany when they're from Brittany, cos it's really particular. I want to keep growing the business with Sheena and keep training for the Coast to Coast of New Zealand. (PEACEFUL MUSIC) In South Africa, during the apartheid era, it was extremely difficult to be friends with anyone of a different cultural heritage. My family and I were best friends with a Caucasian family. I remember on a specific day, we had decided to go to the water park together. On arrival, the security escorted my family and I out because we were coloured. We were humiliated and embarrassed in front of everyone there. Those divisions still exist 23 years after the apartheid era has ended, and people still find it hard to accept that my husband, who is Caucasian, decided to marry me ` a person of mixed race. It's going to take a really long time for people to accept that love truly has no boundaries. Where I was born is not going to change, even how long I've been living here. It's more than half of my years been living overseas in New Zealand, but something we can't change is where we grew up and culturally what we have. Those kind of things, to me, is one of the most important things. My name is Koji Miyazaki. I was born in Oita in Japan. My parents used to do their jewellery and watch shop. He basically ran a jewellery shop. And my mum helped him and also, in her spare time, she used to do a little bit of jewellery designing as well for, like, a hobby kind of thing. I'm just making the ring at the moment, just inspired by the kimono. Other idea is I shouldn't forget my culture base. Quite often plants and trees and that sort of thing ` nature. I grew up in a small, tiny town. And here it's still got plenty of greens. It's just almost like the doors to the world, but it's the doors to my roots. We're in Sydenham now. We have moved into this location about one and a half years ago, which is great. I mean, Sydenham's becoming more and more artistic. These ones are based on the cherry blossom, which is, you know, a Japanese flower. I just love those cherry blossoms which is bunched together. They keep so much energy for whole year, and then just a short period of time in a year, couple of weeks, that's only the time they can show the best of their beauty. I live with Andrew. He works for Christchurch Art Gallery. He's now looking after the gallery design store. I only came out to my mother only two and a half, three years ago. I've been in the closet for such a long time, even though I've been together with Andrew for 21 years now. I told my brother about six or seven years ago` six years ago, I think. About six years ago. Five or six years ago, yeah. But first thing he said is, 'Don't tell it to my parents.' I probably was worried about... Mum. I don't want Mum to hurt herself... like her failure or something. That's probably the biggest reason. Now, I think, she's very happy. I think that she realised her son's happiness is based on that. And that she loves me. After 20 years, took Andrew to Japan. So that was really, really good. Your mum doesn't look so tall there. What ` with you standing next to her? (BOTH LAUGH) And that was at` ...the park. Yeah. On the way to... ...Nagasakibana? ...Nagasakibana, where Yoko Ono's work was, yeah? Yep. Yeah. The night, when we were just about to go to bed, my father just went back to his room and he changed his clothes. A little bit nicer than what he was wearing. And then he stood up in front of Andrew. He bowed deeply and says to Andrew, 'Could you please take care of my boy?' That was... That was something. Especially, you know, that kind of generation he grew up, which is really a huge respect kind of way he acted. Yeah. So that was kind of, you know... (LAUGHS) # Jesus loves you. # This I know, # for the Bible tells me so. # I remember my family home being full of singing and music. We celebrated cultural diversities. It was a place where love and kindness could flourish. As Christians, my parents believed that everyone was equal in the eyes of God and that anyone would receive a warm welcome in our home. Those are definitely the kind of values that I'd like to pass on to my daughter. (RELAXING MUSIC) In Asian culture, you respect your elders, you don't answer back, you just listen. So in a way it's good because when you stop to listen, you learn. So I've learnt a lot from mentors and people that I fully respect ` my grandmother, my assistant professor, Sisamon Kongpan. She's written lots of books; she's very respected. And every time, if I have a question, I'll pick up the phone and talk to her. The same thing when I call my grandmother. We talk about food. She's 101 years old, and she's still laughing and cooking. I was born in Bangkok, Thailand and at the age of 4 I left to go and live in Malaysia, Penang, with my parents. My mother remarried, and so that started my multicultural life. My love of food actually started from my mother not cooking. She cooks two dishes and I'm bored of it, so I started taking over the kitchen. I do have the gift to remember food from taste. And I also can duplicate a dish from watching someone cook, so I used to watch my grandmother cook. Her soy sauce pork is a classic, and I've been able to duplicate that, which I'm very happy. I had a Thai restaurant ` royal Thai cuisine ` it was called the Green Tamarind, then I had a French restaurant called Roses Are Red. We really did things well. We really did things properly. (RELAXING MUSIC) Currently my restaurant is in Sydenham and it's called The Asiatique. It's Peranakan food, and Peranakan food is a fusion between Chinese and Malay. I've been told by some fellow restaurateurs I'm wasting my time in cooking from scratch and making my own paste. 'You just need to make it look nice.' And I said, 'I have pride.' I love to teach. I love to teach cooking because, to me, I think I'm showing them the right way. Not that they're doing it wrong, because fusion means you can mix up, but I like to tell them and to share my knowledge of the food that I know. And when I see the interest in people, and appreciation, it's very rewarding for me. This is a Peranakan curry which I have had in Malaysia, and I learnt to make it later, when I grew up. A lot of dishes I would not have had interest to learn when I was younger, but as you grow out of homeland, you crave for it, so that's when you start wanting to learn to make it. (RELAXING MUSIC) When you're eating something, it's always good to eat them slowly and then try to understand the flavours. 'What is it?' you know? Slowly chew them and understand, 'OK, that's this flavour.' Then comes the aftertaste. It's our culture that when somebody comes to your house, we always ask them to stay for dinner. Actually, a phrase of King Rama V, he says, 'Whoever comes to your doorsteps must never leave hungry.' Have a taste. When you're eating a curry, you need to have everything in one spoon. A little of everything. And when you have them in your mouth, slowly chew them. And you're eating with your senses. Mmm. It was great. It was delicious. It was so cool to watch her make the entire thing right there, and just, those wouldn't be the tools I have in my own kitchen, so, yeah, inspiring. And thinking about tasting the flavours. I don't usually do that, so that's a cool way to look at it. I call my grandmother all the time. And sometimes I'm cheeky enough to tell her that I've adapted her recipe and it's better! (RELAXING MUSIC) When I was in my 20s, my birth mum wanted to meet me. She needed peace and closure, wanted to make sure that she'd made the right decision. At first, my adoptive parents were very protective. They didn't want me to get hurt. But eventually I met my biological mum. When she walked into that cafe, I knew exactly who she was. It was like a mirror reflection of myself. These days, I speak with my biological mum and adoptive mum quite often. They have actually become so close, a lot like sisters, which is wonderful. For me, family is so much more than just blood ties. It's about the people we love. (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) There are still certain people within the wider community that might have issues with LGBT people. I certainly probably wouldn't walk through the city holding my partner's hand. There are people that probably would have an issue with that and probably voice it. There are still certain times and areas that aren't safe. I am living in Sydenham. It's a great wee community. It's close to town, there's great cafes, and we've got the river down the road and gorgeous views of the hills. Yeah. It's a really, really lovely place to live. I'm adopted into an older Caucasian family. I'm the only little brown boy in my family. All my brothers and sisters are 6ft and white and loud. Yeah, my mum and dad, they used to run a foster home, so my father was a detective in the police force and my mother was a carer for Nurse Maude. They did a lot of community work and ran a family home and took in a lot of foster kids and, yeah, I ended up being adopted. My birth father is Japanese and my birth mother is Maori, so I don't really know too much about my heritage. Coming out was very easy for me with my family. They've been very supportive. It took me months to write them all an individual handwritten letter. And I told them all to go to Mum and Dad's one day, and so I threw them all a letter and ran out of the house. They all thought that I was either dying or had won Lotto. They were quite disappointed that I hadn't won Lotto, but they all knew that I was gay. And they were just really happy that I could finally come out to them. What I do now is I work for the New Zealand AIDS Foundation. I'm a community engagement coordinator. So my job, initially, is to promote safe sex through promoting condoms, doing HIV education. I work with a lot of young queer youth. And hearing their stories about how they've been disowned or they're not welcome to bring their partners to family events, it's quite sad, so that's why I got into queer youth work. And the work that I do with the community is because I know that not everyone has the supportive families that I do. (INDISTINCT CHATTER) We are smack bang in the middle of Christchurch Pride Week. So we've got a whole lot of different events. Condom packing runs once a month here in Christchurch, so we thought we'd run one during Pride Week just to get everyone else involved and get some more people coming along. Well, this is the first time I've ever done this. We're actually just` We're husband and husband. We're visiting the city from Golden Bay. We can just come along straight from work, or whatever we've been doing in the day, and catch up with your friends and doing something positive that's going to really help the community. And, yeah, it's just a real great way to meet people and, yeah, it's brilliant. It's getting condoms into places where they need to be. So, you know, at community type events, safe sex venues, all that sort of thing where, I guess, if people didn't have access to this, then their choices maybe different. So, yeah. (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) In New Zealand, we have around 2000 people living with HIV, but we have had an increase in HIV diagnosis. We don't see the '80s image of men gaunt, dying, because the medication is so much better. So people are living long, healthy lives with HIV. But it is still there, so we really need to make sure that people are educated around safe sex. We're at Dr Sketchy's. It's being held at Space Academy. There's a lot of drawing, there's some prizes to be given out. It's just about getting people together, having some fun, doing some art. Yeah, and just bringing the community together. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) And we've got a special award for the person who drew on the wrong side of their sticker. (LAUGHTER) Last Pride Week, I met two young guys who had just moved from Egypt because homosexuality is illegal in Egypt. They'd never held each other's hands in public, they'd never danced together in a bar. So these are the sort of reasons why Pride Weeks are really important, because there are still people that need support. Here's a badge because you've been so good at organising Pride Week. Here you go. You've earned your patch. Aw. Thank you. (CHEERING, APPLAUSE) Yay! (REFLECTIVE MUSIC) In all honesty, I think I feel more at home here than I did in my own country. (UPLIFTING MUSIC) New Zealand is so diverse, yet everyone we've met has made us feel so welcome and safe. It's absolutely beautiful being able to come to our local park and meet families from around the globe that call New Zealand home, to watch multiracial couples play with their children, and see people smile on them ` it's the world as it should be. Captions by Starsha Samarasinghe. Edited by Tracey Dawson. www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017