When I lived in Tokyo I was struck by how different my experiences were with Aussies and Kiwis.
Aussies - very loud, brash but very friendly. I had an Aussie roommate and when his Australian friends who also lived in Tokyo came over - the apartment got very loud and my roommate would lapse into codeswitching. Ordinarily he had a slight Australian accent. But when they came over - they pulled his actual self out of him and he quickly sounded like they did - working class. Also - they once drank every single beer in the apartment including mine. My roommate paid me for the beer but it was still sort of annoying.
Kiwis - chill, friendly but at least a bit reserved.
I realized my mental map was wonky. In my head I had changed reality so New Zealand was something like 50 miles away from Australia. When in reality it's more like ~1,000.
When I lived in Tokyo I was struck by how different my experiences were with Aussies and Kiwis.
Aussies - very loud, brash but very friendly. I had an Aussie roommate and when his Australian friends who also lived in Tokyo came over - the apartment got very loud and my roommate would lapse into codeswitching. Ordinarily he had a slight Australian accent. But when they came over - they pulled his actual self out of him and he quickly sounded like they did - working class. Also - they once drank every single beer in the apartment including mine. My roommate paid me for the beer but it was still sort of annoying.
Kiwis - chill, friendly but at least a bit reserved.
I realized my mental map was wonky. In my head I had changed reality so New Zealand was something like 50 miles away from Australia. When in reality it's more like ~1,000.