NZ in the 50s

New Zealand is a developed, industrial, modern nation. They have all the same convenient appliances and curent technology like broadband.
But in other ways, living in New Zealand reminds me of the 1950s in America.
It's quaint.

Here's some examples of 50-ish things I've noticed:



• My classroom key is a skeleton key. Do you know of any schools that still have skeleton keys and keyholes?


• In our house, there's only one outlet per room, except the bathroom which has 0 outlets.


• There's mom-and-pop little grocery stores every few blocks. They do good business.


• Even local communities' downtown areas are full of small mom-and-pop places. There's very few glossy chain stores with neon signs. Nearby, there may be a mall with name-brand stores, but the local shops still exist. Two suburbs over, there's a large video store amid their local shops and it looks out of place because it is too big and too modern and too illuminated.


• There's a couple of motorways (freeways) in the major cities, but once you get 15 miles out of town, there are just two-lane roads. There's no "Interstate 5" running the length of the island. Even the motorways within Auckland don't always connect. For instance, there's no motorway connecting the city to the airport. You have to drive on city streets. That would be unheard of for an American city of 1 million!


• There's still lots of one-lane bridges on these two-lane roads. Some of these bridges have traffic lights; others have yield signs. Oregonians, imagine Highway 26 from Portland to the coast with a few one-lane bridges. Or Washingtonians, imagine Mt. Baker Highway with a one-lane bridge over the Nooksack.


• Kids still walk to and from school (no school buses). And the community members call the school if any of our students are naughty on the way home. Last week, a boy didn't give way to a lady pushing a stroller, and she called the school. The Deputy Principal announced it at the next assembly. These kids are wearing school uniforms and representing our school, so he expects them to behave respectfully and they know it.