thoughts

Lets talk about bodies; the physical manifestation of humanity. As someone who did a cross between social and biological anthropology at university, I of course am extremely interested in the body, both from a social and biological perspective, and how these two things overlap to create the human experience of the body (which is different everywhere because culture, but you should know that). Being here for four months now, I have become aware of Japanese physicality, my own physicality in contrast, as well as how foreigners (including myself) pick up 'Japanese' physical habits or behaviours. These experiences, and differences, in experience range from the my perceived difference in expectations of how someone else exists in their body, such as when other foreigners display outwardly Japanese bodily behaviours, or the noting of obviously different Japanese bodily habits, the importance placed on certain bodily 'chores', such as washing hands, and how my own physicalit...

Japan is an interesting place from an outsiders point of view. There is a cultural narrative that Japan is this land of futuristic technology, whacky fashion and extreme politeness; cool Japan. And yeah, sure, it is kinda. I'm not going to write a whole post negating cool Japan, about how Japan still uses fax machines and bank books, how I can't show my shoulders for fear of stares of death, and not everyone here is super polite (drivers can be pretty aggressive here...) There are so many vlogs and articles chronicling how Japan is not the Japan you think it is, from many different perspectives, so I won't regurgitate that here. Instead, here are the more mundane things I've noticed about Japan in my two months that I've been here. Manhole covers are also really pretty and vary based on the city/town. This one was in Omihachiman. The first thing I've noticed, is that everything seems rusty. I'm not sure if that's because I'm now in the country...

Every so often, I stumble across ads on social media by the Health Promotion Agency targeting young women warning them not to drink if they think they might be pregnant. You may have seen them - the account is called 'Don't know? Don't Drink' and have appeared to me on Facebook and Instagram as sponsored content. For some reason, these ads make me feel uncomfortable; I can't quite seem to put my finger on it, but every time they come up I feel uneasy and a little bit frustrated at their continued existence. Essentially, the whole campaign is really hinged on the idea of not drinking if you don't know if you're pregnant. Being a cis-woman, honestly I can tell you that until that period arrives, I don't know 100% for certain if I am pregnant. Heck, I don't even 100% know WHEN I get my period. We're all aware of that one friend of a friend who continued getting periods and never showed the whole of her pregnancy until one day SURPRISE she have a b...

Being young pulls you in so many different directions. What should I be doing, what is my ‘purpose’, how do I get there? Searching out for this passion that we’re supposed to have for something. I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently, trying to live my ‘best life’ and squeezing all these things I need to do into what seems like a tiny amount of time. But it never feels like I get the things I want to do done, what is ‘squeezed in’ seems unimportant and distracts me from my real emotions. My job is basic and unrelated to what I want. I finished my MA last year, and it’s really getting to the point that I feel depressed and like a failure because I’m not more aggressively following my passions. ‘I should be writing more, doing more volunteer work. I should be more outspoken, and I should go to more protests and community meetings. What have you done? Deleted the facebook app? Wow /s.’ Let’s just ignore the fact that I have a job lined up living somewhere I want to live, in Ja...

Don’t get me wrong, I love my friends and family and the memories of Auckland, but our infrastructure is slowly sucking my will to live. Now I know, you’ve heard this sentiment one thousand times over this year. It’s an election year; everything that is wrong gets dredged up, and we’re all reminded of how much everything is an issue. But it’s so goddamn frustrating how there has been a lack of any meaningful change in how the city is planned. The way that regional and central government wants to deal with Auckland’s housing and transport issues is laughable. Lack of housing? Build settlements in Kumeu and Pokeno! Because that won’t further burden the snail race of the southern motorway. Need better train systems? Build a loop around the CBD, that will shut them up! There are so many things that I think Auckland needs to prevent it from seriously imploding within the next decade. We need to accept that we must build up and increase our housing density (sorry central Aucklanders...

This has been brewing in my mind for some time now, and what better time to share than Waitangi weekend. I am shocked, like so many others, at the recent (and past, let's not forget his behaviour on the campaign trail and even before) actions of the US president. Every morning I wake up and read the news, and for the past week I keep thinking to myself as the BBC news loads 'what does Donald Trump have in store for me today?' I am absolutely disgusted by his rhetoric, the idea of "alternative facts", the absolutely abhorrent refugee and migrant executive order. But then I think, 'well I'm in New Zealand. My life goes on.' And sure, that's true for me in my own little bubble. But then it also is completely false, because like it or not, what the US does has severe implications for the rest of the world. The mere event of his election gives credence to those in New Zealand who hold similar beliefs, an affirmation that the most powerful country in...

Recently I’ve been intermittently annoyed at the government. I mean what left-leaning young social sciences student isn’t these days, but recently it’s been this deep passionate annoyance at the inability of the government to say or do anything meaningful about child poverty in New Zealand . Any of you who know me will know right now I’m doing a masters degree in Anthropology on child dental health in Northland and wider New Zealand. ‘What does this have to do with your intro of child poverty?’ you may ask. Well, everything. And that’s why I’m so goddamn annoyed. Poverty makes everything suck. I mean, it is poverty right? But the thing is, poverty isn’t just the terrible experience of food insecurity, poor housing (or worse, no housing) and being unable to upkeep the daily necessities of modern life such as heating and shoes in winter or a functioning car. It also severely impacts dental health outcomes for children. It severely impacts so many places that seem, arguably, remo...