1 THEME MUSIC Captions by Catherine de Chalain. Edited by Faith Hamblyn. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016. UPBEAT MUSIC Torbay is a gorgeous little bit of beachside loveliness located on Auckland's North Shore. It is home to 13,500 residents, and the community is growing by the day, with the addition of 2500 new homes planned in the neighbouring Long Bay in the next decade. UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES My father is from the island of Mauritius, and my mum is Welsh, and after 20 years spent travelling the world, working on board cruise ships as an entertainment officer, I've decided Torbay is the place I'm gonna put down my roots. I'm just one member of a colourful community here, and in today's episode of Neighbourhood, we're gonna find out exactly what makes this place unique. We'll see the way treasured heirlooms still influence the life of a young Japanese woman. Even though I love NZ, I still in part of me miss Japan. Yes, I think it will never ever go away. A South African-born artist shares the inspiration she draws from her childhood. My parents were political in that they were very aware of what was happening, and they would do what they knew was the right thing, which was to treat people with dignity. We'll discover the way a long-term Torbay resident helps newcomers to the community. Every week is different. Um, there's no real set piece to it. We just go in, we make teas and coffees, we have homemade cake, and we just get into small groups and chat. And a man from Burundi passes on his recipe for success to the next generation. It is exactly like, um, how my mum used to make it,... so I obviously follow all and every single step. I'm Adam Goder, and this is my neighbourhood. THEME MUSIC GENTLE MUSIC Dad arrived in the UK in the '60s to work as a nurse. He was posted to a hospital in a small town in Wales, where he met my mum. She was just 17 when they married and had me. Dad was 11 years older. Now, Mum was one of seven. She was the only girl in her family of brothers, and not all the family were too thrilled about the union, if I was to be honest. Dad stuck out like a sore thumb in the small town of Carmarthen, and people would stare. But I guess it really wasn't the time or place where people celebrated their cultural heritage or embraced what it was about their family that made them unique. Torbay couldn't be more different. GENTLE MUSIC I was born in Kagoshima, southern part of Japan. When I came to NZ, I was 10 years old,... with my parents and my little sister. The reason we moved here was to have a really good education,... because, um, Japan was too busy for us to live freely,... so my parents wanted to give us the opportunity to choose our own life. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES I moved back to Japan when I finished university because until then, like, I didn't come to NZ by my own decision,... and I felt... um, I always felt I lost something,... part of me. I came from the... the samurai family. We are... Our family is... the root is, uh, of the samurai,... and, uh, our, um, house in home town is really,... um, traditional, um, samurai house, surrounded by lots of, um, old, um, historical,... um, yeah, uh, things, um, uh,... furniture and everything. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES This is the bowl we use for special... ceremony in New Year's Eve, and this ` um, we pour our special broth in this bowl. It's in our family for over 50, 60 years old, and it has the family symbol in the... on the back of the lid. It's the picture of two butterflies facing together. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES Even though I love NZ, and I... I live longer in NZ now, but I still,... in part of me, like, the base, bottom is Japan,... and, yes, I think it will never, ever go away. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES When I have this broth, the... the first thing... I see is my family's symbol... when I open the broth. Itadakimasu. Itadakimasu. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES This is my favourite dish. Everything is here. It reminds me of my home. Yes, I used to hate this broth, uh, when I was a kid,... but when I... when I grown up,... I see, uh, how precious is the... the family is. GENTLE MUSIC FADES ELECTRONIC MUSIC We decided to start our own coffee shop, Ark Coffee Company. Yeah, my sister asked me to design the logo, and the first thing that popped up in my mind was our family symbol ` the two butterflies facing together. This is fourth year now this year,... and, uh, well, the concept is about, uh, my sister roasting her coffee,... and me, I'm the artist, so I,... um, do all the art. ELECTRONIC MUSIC CONTINUES I meet different people at the cafe,... and so many people are immigrants,... from all over the world, and it is really interesting to... People talk about their own country, and, yes, they come to NZ in different reason, but they still... many of them still loves their own culture and country, and I'm the same, and... I always wanted to keep remember... and remind myself about Japan. ELECTRONIC MUSIC CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC Mauritius started out as a Dutch republic. It then became a French colony, the Isle de France. (LAUGHS IN FRENCH ACCENT) But it truly is a multilingual trading port. My uncle there speaks eight languages. But when Dad came to the UK, it was all about assimilation, so Dad never passed on any of his languages he spoke on to us kids, so all we ever knew was English. My grandmother from Mauritius, who came to stay with us, only spoke Creole and Pidgin French, so we had zero common ground. But I knew when she was cross, because she couldn't get to the drawer fast enough to get out the wooden spoon. I don't think you really need words for that or figure out what's gonna happen next. But I think it really hurt her, deep down, that she couldn't communicate with us in her loving and meaningful way or have a conversation with her daughter-in-law about life. Language can be such a great barrier ` or a bridge, especially when you're in another country, trying to get to know people. CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC My husband, Keith, spent his whole career as a nuclear physicist, working for the Atomic Energy Authorities. After he retired, that is when we decided to come here, with the whole intention of leading a wonderfully retired, relaxing life. One of our sons had already moved here, so we'd been out several times on holiday. And then we decided that we would come, and one of our daughters came with us at that time. Subsequently, all the others have joined us here, and we all live in Torbay. When we first came here we loved the weather (LAUGHS) first and foremost, how clean it is and the multiculturalism. Uh, the area we lived in in England, uh, was on the South Coast, and it was very white and middle class. And I just loved all the different cultures and nationalities here. It made life so interesting. I became aware that other immigrants were not as fortunate to have the family as we had, and an instance happened when a Korean lady moved in opposite me, and I` I made a cake and a card and went over and said hi, and, um, in subsequent days, we joined each other for coffee, and she said how lonely she was. English second language is very isolating, and it was because of her that I actually started the coffee group nine years ago. TINKLY MUSIC And so the coffee group ` the International Coffee Group ` was formed for people to come along, to be able to make friends, to be able to practice English, and we` we don't teach them. We're not a school of any sort, but we will help them with different things like explaining jokes, because plays on words are very difficult for English second language people to actually understand. Dan` Danny had told me you had bought a house. I think Danny very very, like, uh, love` everybody ` Mum everybody. (LAUGHS) They come along. If they're new to the area it just helps them connect with other people and make friends. We've got one lady this morning who has only been in the country seven weeks, from South Africa. How do you`? If you haven't got small children at school, where you meet at the school gate, how do you actually connect with people and start to interface with others and make friends? So this is the place to do it. I'm not really from China, but we do take Chinese tea in Malaysia. No milk. No. And no sugar. And yeah, and no sugar. Just... Leave the tea leaves in the`? > Yes. You just brew the` And they have different types of leaves. Every week is different. There's no real set piece to it. We just go in, we make teas and coffees, we have homemade cake, and we just get into small groups and chat. Anyone who's got a hobby will bring their hobby stuff along ` show and tell. We've all taken our wedding dresses along, our wedding photos, and shared them between the whole group, because we're interested in each other's lives. I like to make people feel at home, so it wasn't that I come here to, you know, uh, sort of, uh, get new friends or what, but I want to come here to be a friend for them. Because when I first came, it's tough when you don't have friends, so I know what it's like when you are new to a country. It's sort of like a` a sister. You grow alike as sisters, unite like sisters, yes. And you look forward to have a come together and ha` be` you know, have a` a chat with your sister. ALL: # Happy birthday to you. # Happy birthday, dear Carole. Oh! (LAUGHS) # Happy birthday to you. # Thank you. Hip, hip,... ...hooray! APPLAUSE, LAUGHTER UPBEAT MUSIC I think out of all the things I have done, the thing I am most proud of is the International Coffee Group. Um, it's a huge commitment. Every single week ` week in, week out ` making the cakes, going there, getting the chairs out, putting them away, and sometimes, you know, when you're getting weary at the end of the year, but it still carries on because some of those people, you know, that is a lifeline to them. PERCUSSIVE MUSIC Kids can be quite harsh and quite cruel. I mean, growing up on a council estate with 80 or 90 terraced houses and all the kids are white, and in the summer they really couldn't understand why your suntan would be so much better than theirs. I mean, I would be a lovely golden brown, and they would be bright red. My parents split up when I was in my teens ` round about 12,... and I just think their cultural backgrounds just proved to be a little bit too much. I left home at the age of 16 and I had my own flat by the age of 17, and that was tough ` you know, learning to cook, pay bills and survive on your own at such a young age ` but I was always drawn to show business and entertainment, and for 20 years I travelled the world working on board cruise ships as a cruise director, where I met my beautiful Kiwi wife, and she was a professional dancer in the shows. Sometimes throwing yourself into something creative can give you such a great perspective on life. GENTLE MUSIC This is my grandfather Frank Biggs' painting Palette Knife, and, um, it's the front path leaving the homestead, um, of the farm that... I grew up on and he purchased... when my dad was 6. I was born in South Africa, in a place called Graaff-Reinet, which is... just about centre, eastern Cape, semi-desert area ` lovely. My parents were political in that they... were very aware... of what was happening. And my mother speaks of it, she spoke of it this way. She said, 'We would sit and agonise at the fireplace, at the fire in the winter, for hours, 'as to whether we should go.' Because they weren't in agreement with what the then-regime was inflicting on the country. And so they agreed to stay... and give the next generation the decision to leave if they so wanted to. But that they would do what they knew was the right thing, which was to treat people with dignity and respect, which they always did. They were good people, my mum and dad. Yeah. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES We came to NZ in 1995 ` um, my husband and myself and our three children. MUSIC CONTINUES I think my work has changed quite a bit since I moved to NZ. MUSIC CONTINUES The light here is very different. The light in South Africa is clear, but it's not as crisp as here. I think where I was, too, even in Johannesburg there would be smog or dust. Dust, I think, would tone it, so you always had beautiful sunsets. You need dust in the air for your sunset, you know? My studio is a shared space,... which used to be a garage. And I now share it with my husband, which is not always very good,... cos I like listening to loud music, and he likes to be business-like when he talks on the phone, so I gotta turn my music down. (LAUGHS) MUSIC CONTINUES Coming from Africa, the colours of the rocks and the soil ` it's a bit... It's not as definite as Australia, but it's, especially where my family farm is, there's... there's subtleties, and, um,... but there is colour. I sometimes work by referring to drawings. And there would be something in the drawing that gives me the hint of... of where the work should be going. PERCUSSIVE MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUES Yeah, I think art does definitely run in the family, what with a twin sister who's an architect and an older sister who's a graphic designer and myself who's a painter and sculptor, so it's all very much here. That's Africa, for me. It's too obvious, I suppose, in many ways, um, but the colours ` it's all about the colours, and... I dunno. No, the textures. Yes, I` I like stripes. They're, um, very calming. PERCUSSIVE MUSIC CONTINUES I mean, there's a number of these that I think I've actually started on without you knowing it. I know. I` I think you've pretended not to notice` (LAUGHS) ...and just quietly fixed them up. Oh. Hey, when I was a kid I did that all the time. I think there's a lot of those old ones up there. PERCUSSIVE MUSIC CONTINUES It was from my first solo exhibition. Horses and the avenging angel, and... it was actually a very nice show. It reminds me of a documentary I was watching on cricket, where Chris Gayle talked about the significance of the Rastafarian colours in African culture. Oh, OK. Yes. He was saying the... the green is for the land itself, the gold is for the gold that was taken, and the red is for the blood of the people, so fairly significant, I think. Isn't that interesting, how the different generations take different takes? Yeah. Would my artwork be different if I had a different background? Yes, I would imagine it would. In fact, I'm quite sure it would. PERCUSSIVE MUSIC FADES TINKLY MUSIC CICADAS CHIRP CHILDREN CHATTER My dad has never been back to the island of Mauritius, but I was lucky enough to dock there one time on a cruise ship I was working on. I had a chance to catch up with my aunties, uncles and all of my cousins, but I never got to grips with how it must have felt for my father to leave his family so far behind. Now I'm the only one living on an island with my family so far behind. TINKLY MUSIC My commitment now to my two boys is to work hard and provide them with a loving, solid family home, and to be an active part of their lives. It's one of the most important things I'd like to pass down to the next generation. GENTLE MUSIC I was born in Burundi. It's, uh, this lovely country in, uh, central eastern part of Africa. MUSIC CONTINUES Life in the village was beautiful. You knew everybody in the village. People grew their own food. There was no such thing as a stranger in that village. Originally, I was a teacher ` I used to teach children ` and then, um, I also moved on to, um, working with, um, uh, conservationists. I worked at the Jane Goodall Institute. Jane Goodall is a primatologist, uh, who started doing research on chimpanzees back in the, um, very very early '60s. Oh, Jane is one of those inspirational people, and it was amazing actually to be associated with her work. And she's got her way of conveying a message to people who don't possibly understand, or who might resist in what she's about to say. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES I've got some of the photos, um, from Burundi, back in the days when I were looking after those orphaned chimps. That's me with, uh, Keza only a few months after we got him to the centre. That was... yeah, quite precious there. I think it was one of those things where you question yourself, 'What am I doing which can help, 'so that we can have a better 'environment to live in?' Looking after a baby chimp is like looking after a baby human. Uh,... perhaps even one step further, because they` you feel sorry. They've lost their mothers and their entire family, so you have to be there for them. So it was very very much like... dedication, 100%. Now, that's a photo of Keza when I visited, um, that sanctuary six years later,... after he hadn't seen me, and he recognised me and he came... um, came towards me by extending his hand,... and I also extended mine, and it was quite emotional right there. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES I left Burundi,... um, when I went to further... uh, to do more, um... to learn more about conservation, and I was fortunate enough to go to, um, the UK. In Burundi in the mid-'90s, there were lots of, uh, political unrest, and there was a civil war, and, uh, people got displaced. I was unable to go back, because of that prevailing situation in Burundi at the time, but I was also very very blessed to come to NZ,... and started, um, life in NZ. GENTLE MUSIC It is absolutely good to share the African culture with family and friends. Anything you can pass on in terms of culture, we really really have to keep working hard so that we can keep the culture alive wherever we are, because it's part of who we are. So, we're gonna make ugali, which is cassava flour. Now, cassava is, um, predominantly grown in the equatorial belt of Africa. It's a tuber, so it's been dried and grinded, and then made into flour. So the` What we're doing now is, uh, put the flour in here, and then once the w` we're gonna put in on, uh, boiling water and start mixing until it has its consistency ` until it's firm and ready, so it will look like a dough. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES You then start mixing. So we're kind of ready to mix. MUSIC CONTINUES And you kind of ensure that you don't, uh,... have too much heat in there. Essentially, what you're doing is, um, keep an eye on the consistency. Jaime Oliver-style, where you don't have the exact measurement. Throw this in and throw that in until you're happy with the consistency. And make sure that all the flour is thoroughly mixed and there's no lumps. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES It is exactly like, um, how my mum used to make it, so I obviously follow all, every single step. GENTLE MUSIC CONTINUES I live with my lovely family. I live with my wife, Rachel, and my daughter ` our daughter, Aisha. Mmm. That's delicious. Thanks, guys. Pleasure. Yeah. Uh, everybody has hopes and dreams, and mine is to really see,... kind of, communities looking after each after and looking... looking after where they live, uh, because we're gonna leave it behind, and it will be` it's one of those things. It will be an honour for the people who come after us to say, 'Oh, the people who were here before ` 'they actually did look after what we have, and we've got some sort of legacy to show.' GENTLE MUSIC TINKLY MUSIC Torbay has been a fantastic place for us to put down roots. I mean, I really like the relaxed atmosphere, the community feel, and we have fantastic neighbours around us. The summers feel endless and the beach is just glorious. It's wonderful for me to know that my kids are gonna have an amazing time growing up here, that no one's going to ever give them grief for being different, and they'll be part of a diverse and accepting community. Torbay ` it feels like home to me. Captions by Catherine de Chalain. Edited by Faith Hamblyn. www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2016.