What are the three best things about your country?

[andyandy]

My three:

Number one. The BBC.

Number two. The NHS.

Number three. Democratic accessibility.

Number one, the BBC I really think is the best thing about Britain. A free media is absolutely essential to democracy and a media free of capitalist or proprietary constraints is actually able to serve the interests of the population in a way that free-market media struggles to do.

Number two, the idea of a national health service is fundamental to what I think that a government should provide, a protection of the weakest and most vulnerable in society. Whilst not perfect (but what is?) I think it genuinely provides the best of both worlds. There is a universal coverage for treatment, but an opportunity to pay for private health care if you feel inclined/have enough money to do so.

Number three might need a little explanation, I happen to be in London last week with a little time to spare, so headed off to the Houses of Parliament. After a brief security check I walked straight into a foreign affairs and defence joint committee meeting with two Cabinet ministers (Milliband and Hutten), and assorted MPs. I spent the next hour listening to our Foreign Secretary fielding questions from the committee about the current campaign in Afghanistan. This level of accessibility to the mechanisms of government I think is pretty remarkable, and along with the ability to watch any House of Commons or House of Lords debate, and with the recently passed "Freedom of information act" we genuinely do have a pretty accessible democratic system.

Now, I'm sure that plenty of people will disagree with my selections, or indeed with my reasons why. And whilst I'm sure that discussion of other people's lists will form a part of the thread, I'm more interested in just seeing a snapshot of how people feel about their country. So, what three things would make your list?

[Cain]

What's great about the United States (pre-Obama)

1. The American People and their for-profit spirit. Our entrepreneurial energy keeps the whole world going (socialist healthcare systems rely on our innovation, for example). I'm not counting the illegals, of course, because they're not Americans. Blacks and Asians are mostly OK though.

2. Guns. Makes all of the other Amendments and freedoms possible.

3. Our Military. It's the best, and we need a big one to protect all of our stuff. It is kind of outrageous how the rest of the world shirks its responsibilities, and we have to clean up messes, keeping everyone safe from dictators, terrorists, and now pirates.

I just hope we still have our freedoms four years from now.

[quarky]

walmart, pro-wrestling, cheerleaders

[IchabodPlain]

My three:

Number one. The BBC.

Number two. The NHS.

Number three. Democratic accessibility.

Number one, the BBC I really think is the best thing about Britain. A free media is absolutely essential to democracy and a media free of capitalist or proprietary constraints is actually able to serve the interests of the population in a way that free-market media struggles to do.

Number two, the idea of a national health service is fundamental to what I think that a government should provide, a protection of the weakest and most vulnerable in society. Whilst not perfect (but what is?) I think it genuinely provides the best of both worlds. There is a universal coverage for treatment, but an opportunity to pay for private health care if you feel inclined/have enough money to do so.

Number three might need a little explanation, I happen to be in London last week with a little time to spare, so headed off to the Houses of Parliament. After a brief security check I walked straight into a foreign affairs and defence joint committee meeting with two Cabinet ministers (Milliband and Hutten), and assorted MPs. I spent the next hour listening to our Foreign Secretary fielding questions from the committee about the current campaign in Afghanistan. This level of accessibility to the mechanisms of government I think is pretty remarkable, and along with the ability to watch any House of Commons or House of Lords debate, and with the recently passed "Freedom of information act" we genuinely do have a pretty accessible democratic system.

Now, I'm sure that plenty of people will disagree with my selections, or indeed with my reasons why. And whilst I'm sure that discussion of other people's lists will form a part of the thread, I'm more interested in just seeing a snapshot of how people feel about their country. So, what three things would make your list?

Maybe I'll come back to this, but for now - The Bill of Rights and Jazz (I'll think of a third).

Guaranteeing protection for those in a minority position was amazingly prescient for it's time, and even today isn't appreciated by everyone in the US. Without such protections, I would be surprised if America made it out of the first 50 years of it's existence.

Jazz. Along with the blues it's the first "American" music, the jazz age had a profound effect on the US's influence all over the world, and also influenced music in such an immeasurable way.

[Safe-Keeper]

Norway:
I'm a bit at a loss, to be honest. Bit irritated with my country and countrymen these days. If you asked me to name the ten worst parts of my nation and its people I'd have a lot less trouble:). But I can name a couple:

1. Freedom to roam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam#In_the_Nordic_countries): An old Nordic tradition. I can't imagine life without it.

2. High standards of living: Well, for most of us.

3. Secularism: Our very existence as a good nation to live in sneers at arrogant fundies who think the only non-religious countries out there are the ones that have gone to Hell in a handbasket.
What's great about the United States (pre-Obama)

1. The American People and their for-profit spirit. Our entrepreneurial energy keeps the whole world going (socialist healthcare systems rely on our innovation, for example). I'm not counting the illegals, of course, because they're not Americans. Blacks and Asians are mostly OK though.

2. Guns. Makes all of the other Amendments and freedoms possible.

3. Our Military. It's the best, and we need a big one to protect all of our stuff. It is kind of outrageous how the rest of the world shirks its responsibilities, and we have to clean up messes, keeping everyone safe from dictators, terrorists, and now pirates.

I just hope we still have our freedoms four years from now.I'm overheating my brain trying to figure out if that was wonderful satire or if you actually meant it:boggled:.

[Gord_in_Toronto]

<snip>

I'm overheating my brain trying to figure out if that was wonderful satire or if you actually meant it:boggled:.

-

Pardon him, Theodotus: he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.Caesar and Cleopatra, George Bernard Shaw :boggled:2

[Seismosaurus]

The best thing about my country is me.

[Gurdur]

I'm overheating my brain trying to figure out if that was wonderful satire or if you actually meant it:boggled:.


Satire, Safe-Keeper, satire. Really, you should keep people in mind more; that was Cain, and given Cain's posting history, you can bet a million dollars he was being very satirical indeed, and did quite a good job of it, though it was not quite dead-pan enough.

[RandFan]

Constitution
National parks
The people
Preference of coffee over tea is also a nice plus.

[moon1969]

The fact that my grandfather was from Karelia and when he and 400 000 people lost their homes after winter war on 1939 then my country didn"t do anything to help them. Those russians are great people when they forced everybody to hate those karelians who lost their homes. My country Finland has always trying not to make Russia angry. Russians probaly say that karelians were nazis or jews. I know I will never forget what the russians did to my grandfather on 1939.

[TexasJack]

Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll...As long as there's, you know, sex and drugs, I can do without the Rock and Roll.

[lionking]

Constitution
National parks
The people
Preference of coffee over tea is also a nice plus.

Can't argue with the first three, but coffee????? There would be countless Europeans (and a few Aussies) who would argue that that concoction you drink over there should be called coffee at all.:)

[Gazpacho]

walmart, pro-wrestling, cheerleaders
Mexico?

[gtc]

1) Promite,
2) Vegemite (particularly cheesymite scrolls),
3) both British and New Zealand varieties of Marmite are imported.

[normdoering]

walmart, pro-wrestling, cheerleaders

Say what?!

No... The best things are Keith Olbermann, Marilyn Manson and MIT

http://normdoering.blogspot.com/2008/11/ben-affleck-as-keith-olbermann-on.html

[D'rok]

1. Hockey
2. The Edmonton Oilers
3. Hockey
3(a). Peace, Order and Good Government

[RandFan]

Can't argue with the first three, but coffee????? There would be countless Europeans (and a few Aussies) who would argue that that concoction you drink over there should be called coffee at all.:) That's an entire can of worms I'm going to avoid for now. Now, about our beer...

[malbui]

1. Cheese
2. Wine
3. Bread

[quarky]

The sum total bio-mass of the U.S. is brag-worthy.

And the water. Water is a molecule to be proud of, and we pretend to own quite a bit, even if it keeps moving. The air in the U.S. used to give me a patriotic feeling, but I've since learned that other countries have been breathing some of it, and that wrecks it for me.

Still, U.S. cheerleaders are the best damn cheerleaders in the world.

[RandFan]

The air in the U.S. used to give me a patriotic feeling, but I've since learned that other countries have been breathing some of it, and that wrecks it for me.That's why we polute it.

[Thunder]

1. Our incredible commitment to freedom of speech.
2. Baseball.
3. Steven Colbert.

[Thunder]

1) Promite,
2) Vegemite (particularly cheesymite scrolls),
3) both British and New Zealand varieties of Marmite are imported.

Im sorry..but I simply could not let this go.

Vegemite is yucky. Marmite is the the bomb.

=)

[Bob Blaylock]

What are the three best things about your country?

My three:

Number one. The BBC.

Number two. The NHS.


Number one: Our government doesn't run the television industry.

Number two: Our government doesn't run the health care industry.

Number three: We're not the UK. Government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong is one of the major reasons that my ancestors left England, and then kicked your ancestors' butts when they continued to try to tell us how to run our country.

I would have to say that the very worst thing about my country is that too many of my countrymen are forgetting this vital lesson from our ancestors.

[gtc]

Im sorry..but I simply could not let this go.

Vegemite is yucky. Marmite is the the bomb.

=)

I only put it at number two out of a misplaced sense of patriotism. Marmite is vastly superior.

[CapelDodger]

3(a). Peace, Order and Good Government

A fine benediction :).

[CapelDodger]

Number one: Our government doesn't run the television industry.

Number two: Our government doesn't run the health care industry.

Number three: We're not the UK. Government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong is one of the major reasons that my ancestors left England, and then kicked your ancestors' butts when they continued to try to tell us how to run our country.

I would have to say that the very worst thing about my country is that too many of my countrymen are forgetting this vital lesson from our ancestors.

A good thing about my country being way more post-imperialist than yours is that we don't have your sort of issues. Past generations took the sting out of that. Heck, we've even learned to live with the Normans without making a big thing of it.

[CapelDodger]

2. Baseball.

WTF is that all about :confused:?

(Rhetorical.)

[CapelDodger]

1. Cheese
2. Wine
3. Bread

If I was asked what I most love about my time in France, that's exactly what my reply would be.

[andyandy]

Number one: Our government doesn't run the television industry.

Number two: Our government doesn't run the health care industry.

Number three: We're not the UK. Government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong is one of the major reasons that my ancestors left England, and then kicked your ancestors' butts when they continued to try to tell us how to run our country.

I would have to say that the very worst thing about my country is that too many of my countrymen are forgetting this vital lesson from our ancestors.


The best things about your country are negatives based on a postcolonial complex? The War of Independence was over two centuries ago, maybe it's time you got over it. ;)

[quarky]

The ass-kicking-ness of one's country, or ancestors is cause for celebration.

And so is the opposite, unfortunately.
The U.S. has Indians; drops the big one; and has McDonald's.
The best thing about my country is its utter confusion.

(its spicy)

[DarthFishy]

(South Africa btw)

1. The weather.
2. The amazing recovery from Apartheid.
3. The springboks :p
4. Biltong (no really, trust me, that IS probably the best thing)

[DC]

Switzerland.

1. Direct Democracy

we have direct influence.

2. Swiss TV

Pretty Objective news and not dependend on Companys. pretty much like BBC, but not that good in documentations.

3. Social Security

Lost your Job? Got health problems? well dont worry, you will atleast not end up on the street.

4. Respect, most people here respect eachother.

[Lothian]

Pubs
Real ale &
Pork scratchings

[malbui]

Pubs
Real ale &
Pork scratchings


Thinking back to the years I lived in the UK, I have to admit that my list for over there would be:

Country pubs
Traditional breweries
Chips on the way home

[Ocelot]

1) The Magna Carta and all that.
2) Everything good in The USA, India, Half of Canada, Half of Africa, Australia and NewZealand. You're our children we get to be proud of your accomplishments.
3) British comedy.

[Praktik]

1) the four seasons
2) Quebec chicks
3) relaxed weed enforcement

[Moon-Spinner]

1. The Right to vote
2. The Right to protest the results of the election
3. The Right to complain for 4 years until the next election (but only if you exercised your number 1 Right)

;)

[sinclairmcevoy]

The right to be left handed.
The right to be wrong.
Poutine.

[Darth Rotor]

1. Guns
2. Meat
3. Texas
(Hmm, I am being redundant there)
43. The Constitution

[quarky]

The right to be left handed.
The right to be wrong.
Poutine.

What's Poutine?

[PhantomWolf]

1) We aren't part of the US
2) We aren't part of Australia
3) We aren't part of Britain.

[Gord_in_Toronto]

What's Poutine?

Delicious!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poutine

[Ocelot]

1) We aren't part of the US
2) We aren't part of Australia
3) We aren't part of Britain.

Whose your head of state?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Elizabeth_II_greets_NASA_GSFC_employees%2C_May_8%2 C_2007_edit.jpg/118px-Elizabeth_II_greets_NASA_GSFC_employees%2C_May_8%2 C_2007_edit.jpg

[Cuddles]

1) Beer.
2) The NHS.
3) More beer.

[Ivor the Engineer]

1. Its moderate climate, stable geology and fewer dangerous or poisonous creatures than most other places on the planet.
2. Its wealth.
3. Most of its people.

[Undesired Walrus]

1: Its capital is one of the -if not the- most multicultural cities in the world, with over 400 languages spoken.
2: The South Bank.
3: Richard Dawkins.

[Darth Rotor]

1) Beer.
2) The NHS.
3) More beer.
When you put it that way, it's tough to top that combination.

[Ivor the Engineer]

1) Beer.
2) The NHS.
3) More beer.

If you swap 2 with 3, that list would be a typical Friday or Saturday night in the UK.

[Jorghnassen]

My country isn't a country, it's winter.

[El Greco]

1. The islands and their beaches
2. The nightlife
3. Lakis Lazopoulos (http://www.lakislazopoulos.gr)

[andyandy]

1. The islands and their beaches
2. The nightlife
3. Lakis Lazopoulos (http://www.lakislazopoulos.gr)

No one likes a show off :D

[CapelDodger]

1. Its moderate climate, stable geology and fewer dangerous or poisonous creatures than most other places on the planet.

Good point. It's easy to take this for granted.

So I'm up to two now:

1. We're post-Imperial enough to have got over it.
2. We don't get fragged by volcanos or earthquakes, nor do we get jumped by tigers or bit on the bum by some creep-crawly living in the dunny.

[CapelDodger]

1: Its capital is one of the -if not the- most multicultural cities in the world, with over 400 languages spoken.
2: The South Bank.
3: Richard Dawkins.

I don't see London as being part of the country. It's one of those cities that is a global-scale phaenomenon in itself. Like New York today, or Istanbul, Rome, Alexandria, Babylon in their days.

I've never felt entirely comfortable south of the river (long story), and Richard Dawkins (bless 'im) is a credit to his species, not just his country.

[gumboot]

Whose your head of state?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Elizabeth_II_greets_NASA_GSFC_employees%2C_May_8%2 C_2007_edit.jpg/118px-Elizabeth_II_greets_NASA_GSFC_employees%2C_May_8%2 C_2007_edit.jpg


The Queen of New Zealand is our head of state. And may her reign be long and fruitful.

Okay, for me:

1. Our geography.
Apart from being in love with our geographic wilderness and beauty (seriously, we have just about every climate you can imagine, all in one little spot), and apart from that geography providing me much of my work, I am grateful that I live in a country that's so isolated from the rest of the world. Granted, travel overseas is long and expensive, but we're kept safe from many of the woes that spill over borders and infect surrounding countries. I chuckle when I read the various threads in here and see comments like "You can't stop the supply of drugs to criminals" or "You can't stop the influx of illegal immigrants" or "you can't stop criminals getting hold of guns". You can if the nearest neighbour is 1200 miles away across a frigid stormy sea.

2. Our low population.
Seriously, if you're from a country where the population is high, or where everyone is crammed into a small space because most of the place is a wasteland (yes Australia, I mean you), you have no idea how awesome it is to live in a lush, fertile, sparsely populated country. I recently had the fortune of driving around some Indian advertising creatives from Mumbai here to shoot a commercial. It suddenly struck me just how lucky we were, as I observed my country through their eyes.

3. Kiwiana.
I can't think of any other way to describe it, but there's a distinct world view and attitude that marks New Zealanders, and it's something that inspires me and gives me warm fuzzies. We're friendly, not overly politicised or religious, we're hard working, we play hard, and we have a resolute "can do" attitude that ensures we make do with whatever is at hand. It's the attitude that put Peter Jackson at the helm of the largest film production in hostory, it's the attitude that has helped us to box well above our weight in virtually every sport we compete, it's what put New Zealanders among the top in the world in some many areas; space exploration, the development of nuclear weapons, medical science, arts, physics, social reform, environmentalism, and on an on. Not bad for a little country at the bottom of the world.

[ArmillarySphere]

1. The loveli lakes
2. The majestic moose
3. The wonderful telephone system

[Darkhole]

1. Water.
2. Dykes.
3. Pumps.
:D

[Charlie Monoxide]

The right to write lists without fear of persecution ....

Charlie (Liszt Listing List) Monoxide

[DanishDynamite]

It's prosperous, it's free and it's democratic.

[brodski]

Good point. It's easy to take this for granted.

So I'm up to two now:

1. We're post-Imperial enough to have got over it.
2. We don't get fragged by volcanos or earthquakes, nor do we get jumped by tigers or bit on the bum by some creep-crawly living in the dunny.

I have been jumped by a tiger whilst in England.

[Gord_in_Toronto]

I have been jumped by a tiger whilst in England.

So now you've outed yourself and I claim the prize -- you are Christopher Robin! :)

[CapelDodger]

I have been jumped by a tiger whilst in England.

You play rugby, perhaps?

[CapelDodger]

It's prosperous, it's free and it's democratic.

You've given me my third.

1. Post-Imperial enough to be over it.
2. Untroubled by geology and inimical wildlife.
3. It's preposterous, and yet it works.

[RandFan]

It's prosperous, it's free and it's democratic.Odd, I always thought it was "she's young now, she's wild now and she wants to be free". Shows what I know.

[D'rok]

Odd, I always thought it was "she's young now, she's wild now and she wants to be free". Shows what I know.

Yes! Number 4 on my list...TRIUMPH!

rRDS9AwDF6g

(I was a teenager in the 80's. So sue me)

[brodski]

You play rugby, perhaps?

Not since I was at school, but anyway I do mean an honest to goodness panthera tigris. I'll see if I can dig up the photos.

[El Greco]

No one likes a show off :D



Actually I'm not exactly proud that those are the three best things about my country :rolleyes:

[sackett]

1. The Bill of Rights
2. The mountain west
3. Buffalo

[CapelDodger]

(I was a teenager in the 80's. So sue me)

I could resent you for free.

By the 80's I was old enough to know people who can really play a guitar solo. So I resent nothing :).

[CapelDodger]

Not since I was at school, but anyway I do mean an honest to goodness panthera tigris. I'll see if I can dig up the photos.

The story would be enough. How old was the ultimate killing-machine that jumped you? Was it fully weaned?

[D'rok]

I could resent you for free.

By the 80's I was old enough to know people who can really play a guitar solo. So I resent nothing :).

Ooooo...Ooooo...those are fightin' words....Grrrr...:p

How about this for an 80's shred-fest? Cheesefactor = 10 (Or maybe even 11)

bNhw1Ln9g4o

That's only about half of the solo.

I miss my mullet.

And my muscle shirt.

And my muscles. :(

[brodski]

The story would be enough. How old was the ultimate killing-machine that jumped you? Was it fully weaned?

It was a male about 3 years old, so not quite fully mature- but close, oh and I was in the enclosure with the zookeeper and not in any real danger, but that rather undermines my point- doesn't it? ;)

[Crowlogic]

The best thing about this country? Right now Barack Obama. However Barack not withstanding its my passport. If the next four years are anything like the past eight I'm cashing in my citizenship and heading to Europe. I don't have a 3rd thing. That elusive 3rd thing is going to have to earn its place.

[sackett]

An aside:

Gumboot is the only En Zedder I've ever seen or heard of who'll admit that Aotearoa is outrageously, atrociously beautiful. I think he must be a mutant.

[PhantomWolf]

An aside:

Gumboot is the only En Zedder I've ever seen or heard of who'll admit that Aotearoa is outrageously, atrociously beautiful. I think he must be a mutant.

Honestly it depends where you look, but, hey, I'm from what is apparently the best city of its size category (up to 75,000) in the entire world (http://www.3news.co.nz/News/New-Plymouth-wins-best-place-to-live-in-international-awards/tabid/209/articleID/79316/cat/41/Default.aspx) so what do I know?

There are some very ugly parts, but also some incredibly beautiful. In reality we don't really have anything that no-one else has, it's just that we have all the beautiful stuff that everyone else has and it's in such a small area that it's incredibly easy to get to it all. In the morning you can be looking at perfectly round boulders with the ocean coming in and washing about you, then by lunch seeing majestic mountains rising out of still prefectly blue lakes, and then that evening get to watch the sun setting over over the Tasman while lying on golden sand. The next day you can cross the Strait, then drive along the coast looking at ranges then plains, to a nearly perfectly symetrical volcano, head north to glow worm caves and then inland to spend the night surrounded by mud pools and geysers before heading east to get to see the first sunrise on the planet coming up over the Pacific Ocean.

Hmmm, you know, perhaps us down there in God's Own Country truely are blessed and lucky.

[Architect]

Number one: Our government doesn't run the television industry.

Number two: Our government doesn't run the health care industry.

Number three: We're not the UK. Government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong is one of the major reasons that my ancestors left England, and then kicked your ancestors' butts when they continued to try to tell us how to run our country.

I would have to say that the very worst thing about my country is that too many of my countrymen are forgetting this vital lesson from our ancestors.


Jus a moment, I can see a poorly-informed potato product on your shoulder.....

[SisterSmile]

My top 3 for Belgium :

1. Our love for the "good life", which is found in our excellent food and drink, comfortable housing, reliable medical and social services, highly developed traffic and communications infrastructure. We are famous for our beer, chocolate and french fries, a dish actually invented here but wrongly named much to our dismise.

2. Belgians are critical of any form of authority, and laws, rules and regulations are not taken very seriously (tax evasion is one of the national sports).Though Belgians dislike discipline imposed upon them by superiors, bureaucracy, ideology or religion, they compensate by hard work and self-discipline making Belgium one of the richest countries in the world. Yet Belgium may well be one of the least nationalistic countries in the world.

3. Belgians are "open-minded opportunists", with a pragmatical attitude. They have a clear aversion towards moralizing, towards telling other people how they should or should not behave (an attitude for which they critize their neighbours in Holland), and they take "live and and let live" as the basis for their philosophy.

[PingOfPong]

1) Giant flags

http://www.worldrecordsacademy.org/biggest/img/largest-flag-1b.jpg

2) Modestly sized (but very cute) flags

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41OaO2tXLkL._AA280_.jpg

Do I really need a third one? Oh, all right.

3) Monster trucks

http://www.monstertrucks.net/images/bearfoot.jpg

[Alferd_Packer]

1. The loveli lakes
2. The majestic moose
3. The wonderful telephone system

A Møøse once bit my sister ...

[applecorped]

1.Barak
2.Hussein
3.Obama

[GStan]

The Bill of Rights
Las Vegas
Halle Berry

[Darkhole]

My top 3 for Belgium :

1Yet Belgium may well be one of the least nationalistic countries in the world.
Apart from Holland.;)

3. Belgians are "open-minded opportunists", with a pragmatical attitude. They have a clear aversion towards moralizing, towards telling other people how they should or should not behave (an attitude for which they critize their neighbours in Holland), and they take "live and and let live" as the basis for their philosophy.

Argh! Must be our Calvinian roots.:blush:

[gumboot]

An aside:

Gumboot is the only En Zedder I've ever seen or heard of who'll admit that Aotearoa is outrageously, atrociously beautiful. I think he must be a mutant.


Have you been?

I work in the film industry which means two things:

1) I'm very familiar with the scope of our natural landscapes
2) I've witnessed foreigners from around the world react to seeing our landscapes for the first time

Bear in mind these foreigners aren't tourists who've never stepped foot outside their own city. They're filmmakers who have traveled to every corner of the world to film beautiful landscapes.

There's a saying in New Zealand; our ancestors fled Europe to escape History, and were overwhelmed by Geography. It's hard, really, to explain just how dominating the landscape is in this country. It's not just a tourist slogan or a catch phrase, it's a fundamental part of what defines us. It's something that has oozed its way into the national psyche. It's dark, it's primordial, it's atrocious and vast and overwhelming. And it's uniquely ours.

You can feel our landscape. Crossing the endless sands of Karekare (as seen in The Piano), standing on the rim of Ruapehu and feeling that entire massive mountain vibrating beneath your feet, you can't help but be overwhelmed by how utterly insignificant you are. People talk about New Zealand being "pretty" or "beautiful" but they're mostly people who've only ever seen it in postcards (and sadly that includes a lot of New Zealanders). They're missing out on the experience of letting yourself go, letting the landscape swallow you up and put you back in your place. It is a special experience.

If you're familiar New Zealand cinema you'll recognise that dark forbidding tone that pervades even our most light-hearted stories. That's the land talking.

[DC]

My top 3 for Belgium :

1. Our love for the "good life", which is found in our excellent food and drink, comfortable housing, reliable medical and social services, highly developed traffic and communications infrastructure. We are famous for our beer, chocolate and french fries, a dish actually invented here but wrongly named much to our dismise.

2. Belgians are critical of any form of authority, and laws, rules and regulations are not taken very seriously (tax evasion is one of the national sports).Though Belgians dislike discipline imposed upon them by superiors, bureaucracy, ideology or religion, they compensate by hard work and self-discipline making Belgium one of the richest countries in the world. Yet Belgium may well be one of the least nationalistic countries in the world.

3. Belgians are "open-minded opportunists", with a pragmatical attitude. They have a clear aversion towards moralizing, towards telling other people how they should or should not behave (an attitude for which they critize their neighbours in Holland), and they take "live and and let live" as the basis for their philosophy.

you should have added School, Belgian Schoolsystem is the best i ever experianced.
Many prais swiss Education, i liked Belgian education alot more.

But the part i was was extremly Katholic. Because my sister was not a member of any church, she got alot troubles with classmates and also her teacher.

[funk de fino]

1. Declaration of Arbroath
2. Kilts
3. The many inventors my country has given the world that have changed people lives

[Damien Evans]

Have you been?

I work in the film industry which means two things:

1) I'm very familiar with the scope of our natural landscapes
2) I've witnessed foreigners from around the world react to seeing our landscapes for the first time

Bear in mind these foreigners aren't tourists who've never stepped foot outside their own city. They're filmmakers who have traveled to every corner of the world to film beautiful landscapes.

There's a saying in New Zealand; our ancestors fled Europe to escape History, and were overwhelmed by Geography. It's hard, really, to explain just how dominating the landscape is in this country. It's not just a tourist slogan or a catch phrase, it's a fundamental part of what defines us. It's something that has oozed its way into the national psyche. It's dark, it's primordial, it's atrocious and vast and overwhelming. And it's uniquely ours.

You can feel our landscape. Crossing the endless sands of Karekare (as seen in The Piano), standing on the rim of Ruapehu and feeling that entire massive mountain vibrating beneath your feet, you can't help but be overwhelmed by how utterly insignificant you are. People talk about New Zealand being "pretty" or "beautiful" but they're mostly people who've only ever seen it in postcards (and sadly that includes a lot of New Zealanders). They're missing out on the experience of letting yourself go, letting the landscape swallow you up and put you back in your place. It is a special experience.

If you're familiar New Zealand cinema you'll recognise that dark forbidding tone that pervades even our most light-hearted stories. That's the land talking.

I've had similar feelings in many parts of Australia. Of course, they were much more spread out than the NZ ones.

[Damien Evans]

1. The Outback. I love being able to drive for over 400 kilometres and still not have reached the next town. In fact, I'll expand that to The Coastal wilderness as well. It's not always remote but it is always beautiful.

2. Our way of life. I just love the Melbourne culture.

3. We're not New Zealand.



My Country, By Dorothy MacKellar

The love of field and coppice
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies
I know, but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of drought and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!

The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze…

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand
though Earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

[gumboot]

I've had similar feelings in many parts of Australia. Of course, they were much more spread out than the NZ ones.


This wouldn't surprise me. I could imagine the geography of Australia being as dominating as it is here. Perhaps that has a lot to do with our shared identity.

[gtc]

NZ is different to Australia. The Australian landscape (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springbrook_National_Park) reminds me of how enduring our country is, rivers that are millions of years old and mountains (hills really) that are all that are left of ancient volcanos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tibrogargan).

NZ gave me an impression of a landscape in flux. The hot springs, the glaciers, the volcanos and the evidence of earthquakes were really striking and I really appreciated learning about the land at Te Papa. It is also easier to see the transistions in landscapes to see the land changing from oceans to farmland to rain forest and hot springs to glaciers and snow capped mountains in the space of a few kilometres is incredible.

It is also interesting to see the plants and trees that are familiar and those that similar and those that are nothing at all like the Australian flora. New Caledonia was like this too.

[sackett]

NZ is my other native country. It has great beer and no game laws -- hell, that's got to be where my khwan hai comes from!

But I admit I've only been there in summer, if places like the Catlins and Dunedin ever have summer. I'm glad to hear that it has terribilita. So does Wyoming; I often speak of the beauty and terror of Wyoming, although I'm not always sure that my listeners understand. Now I see that they do.

As far as I know, Yeats was the first writer in English to link the ideas of beauty and terror, and he was just talking about a handful of rebels taking over a post office for a short time. I think he would have spoken sooner, and better and more fully, about a terrible beauty if he had ever stood on Arthur's Pass, or sailed Te Anau at sunset, or seen the fierce wind whip a ten-mile banner of snow from the summit of Cloud Peak in the Big Horns.

I would only differ a little on the darkness of New Zealand. Darkness? Once in the Southern Island I looked up into the Austral sky at night with a telescope, and I can swear confidently that the deeper I looked, the more stars I saw; and no darkness anywhere.

Well, I suppose the Coalsack is dark. You Kiwis should add it to your flag.

[Agatha]

1) Stephen Fry and QI (and the BBC in general)
2) The NHS
3) Country pubs, beer and a log fire in the winter with snow on the hills
4) Our inability to stop at three, unless quoting python films

[gumboot]

I would only differ a little on the darkness of New Zealand. Darkness? Once in the Southern Island I looked up into the Austral sky at night with a telescope, and I can swear confidently that the deeper I looked, the more stars I saw; and no darkness anywhere.



I think it's a psychological darkness, rather than a chromatic darkness. :) The New Zealand landscape looms. For films that capture the psychological mood I am talking of, I would recommend Vincent Ward's Vigil.

[Damien Evans]

NZ is my other native country. It has great beer and no game laws -- hell, that's got to be where my khwan hai comes from!

But I admit I've only been there in summer, if places like the Catlins and Dunedin ever have summer. I'm glad to hear that it has terribilita. So does Wyoming; I often speak of the beauty and terror of Wyoming, although I'm not always sure that my listeners understand. Now I see that they do.

As far as I know, Yeats was the first writer in English to link the ideas of beauty and terror, and he was just talking about a handful of rebels taking over a post office for a short time. I think he would have spoken sooner, and better and more fully, about a terrible beauty if he had ever stood on Arthur's Pass, or sailed Te Anau at sunset, or seen the fierce wind whip a ten-mile banner of snow from the summit of Cloud Peak in the Big Horns.

I would only differ a little on the darkness of New Zealand. Darkness? Once in the Southern Island I looked up into the Austral sky at night with a telescope, and I can swear confidently that the deeper I looked, the more stars I saw; and no darkness anywhere.

Well, I suppose the Coalsack is dark. You Kiwis should add it to your flag.

If you're referring to the above poem, it's about Australia.

There's nothing wide or brown about New Zealand.

[gtc]

There's nothing wide or brown about New Zealand.

The backsides of certain New Zealanders, however...

[gumboot]

If you're referring to the above poem, it's about Australia.

There's nothing wide or brown about New Zealand.



I think they're referring to my post about the psychological impact of the New Zealand landscape, the terribilita as they call it.

[gumboot]

The backsides of certain New Zealanders, however...

So true... I have seen backsides that would make Dorothy MacKellar weep.

[sackett]

Yeats? Oz? What? I was referring to Easter 1916: "All is changed, changed utterly,/And a terrible beauty is born." Good stuff, but it's not Ayer's Rock or Devil's Tower.

Yes, some parts of NZ loom all right. Doubtful Sound and, especially, Milford Sound sure to god loom over you. Does it impress you with Man's irrelevance? Yes! But that's why I insist that the darkness is really light!

Next trip, I'm continuting on to Australia. And Tasmania. Maybe the Nularbor too.

There's no place like home.

[Damien Evans]

Yeats? Oz? What? I was referring to Easter 1916: "All is changed, changed utterly,/And a terrible beauty is born." Good stuff, but it's not Ayer's Rock or Devil's Tower.

Yes, some parts of NZ loom all right. Doubtful Sound and, especially, Milford Sound sure to god loom over you. Does it impress you with Man's irrelevance? Yes! But that's why I insist that the darkness is really light!

Next trip, I'm continuting on to Australia. And Tasmania. Maybe the Nularbor too.

There's no place like home.

Unless you like people who have "special family relations", I wouldn't go to Tasmania.

[Crowlogic]

1. Blues Music
2. The Native Americans
3. P51 Mustang

[IchabodPlain]

Maybe I'll come back to this, but for now - The Bill of Rights and Jazz (I'll think of a third).

Guaranteeing protection for those in a minority position was amazingly prescient for it's time, and even today isn't appreciated by everyone in the US. Without such protections, I would be surprised if America made it out of the first 50 years of it's existence.

Jazz. Along with the blues it's the first "American" music, the jazz age had a profound effect on the US's influence all over the world, and also influenced music in such an immeasurable way.

3. Basketball