10 LISTENER JUNE 1 2019
C
elebrating my husband’s
birthday, I hung New Zealand
bunting across our deck
before the guests arrived. It
fluttered brightly and looked new
because, although I have had it for
years, it had never been used.
I bought it in 2011, when New
Zealand was hosting the Rugby
World Cup, but I decided it was
impolite not to celebrate all the
teams, so instead hung bunting that
had every participating country’s
flag. Five years later, the
unopened bunting surfaced
from the detritus at the back
of a cupboard and I brought
it with us to the US.
My reluctance to fly a
New Zealand flag at home
has no American equiva-
lent. The Stars and Stripes
flies everywhere here.
Because Independ-
ence Day, July 4, is now
within sniffing distance of
retailers, American-flagged
everythings are on sale.
Alongside the apparel,
napkins and paper plates
sporting the flag, there are
cookies, ice-cream cakes and
even American-flag glow
sticks.
On a scale of enthusiasm
for celebrating the flag in
countries that have a choiceUS patriotism is
a thing to behold,
but the nation’s
sentimentality goes
only so far.
Hand on heart on sleeve
After a search
found a text tohis US girlfriend
saying, “I ammoving to be
with you”, he
was thrown out.A
N
TH
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N
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N
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AU
R
EN
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“No, it’s more like this: ‘My name is Michael Canine’.”
(that counts you out, North Korea), the US and
New Zealand would be opposites.
New Zealanders, I think, tend to sneer at the
sort of patriotism routinely displayed in the US.
Americans, for their part, might be astonished that
many Kiwis still mumble their way through the te
reo version of their anthem, not having learnt the
words.
I still marvel, as I did last week in the hot-dog
queue at the ballpark, that many Americans will
stop whatever they are doing, face the flag and put
their hands on their hearts when they hear their
anthem playing. New Zealanders would merely
seize the unexpected chance to get the next hot
dog.
These are cultural differences, and neither coun-
try is right or wrong, though having a flag you like
must surely spur more enthusiasm to use it. I voted
for change in our flag referendum and would still
prefer a different design, though I have surprised
myself by leaving the bunting up. It speaks to me of
home, although, with its Union Jack, it would also
speak of home to any visiting Brit.S
peaking of visiting Brits, the
case of a 24-year-old from East
Sussex who was questioned,
locked up and deported after arriving
in the US with a three-month ESTA
permit – used also by New Zealand-
ers – is salutary. The young man had
his phone searched, which revealed
a text to his US girlfriend saying, “I
am moving to be with you”. He was
thrown out of the US without having
technically entered it. He was also
banned for life from visiting the US
because, um, US Immigration can do
that, and so it does.
Every country has the right to set
its own rules about who may visit,
work or live in that country, and with
12 million illegal immigrants, the US
has a significant problem. However,
in assuming that everyone who visits
might secretly intend to overstay,
or that every Muslim might intend
harm, the US immigration
authorities can be ruthless
in their treatment of visitors
at the border. Their hostility
is at odds with the hospital-
ity of the country’s citizens.
Meanwhile, cycle touring
friends of mine from Reefton- that renowned hotbed
of jihadists – were facing
an arduous and expensive
visa process to visit us here
just because a few years ago
they biked through Iran.
In the end, they decided to
go to Europe, instead. This
must happen every day,
worldwide.
The US is big enough not
to care about the tourists
it loses, but it also misses
out on people-to-people
contacts, and that’s a pity
all round. l
BACK TO BLACK
JOANNE
BLACK
IN WASHINGTON DC