Other than the obvious size and population factors…

New Zealand is a much smaller country than the one I come from.

It feels that way sometimes, but in a good way.  You can still get access to all the services of a big country, but without losing the small “nice” feeling… Even in a big city of 1.2 million (like Auckland – New Zealand’s largest city), you run into people who you swore you saw yesterday or last week.

And then you realize that you actually did run into that person last week.

I know this can happen anywhere, and I’m known (by my wife and anyone who spends any amount of time with me) for running into people I know (from the past) wherever I am currently.

(That hasn’t happened here in Auckland yet.  But I’m surprised it hasn’t yet.)

Anyway, here are two places you can tell New Zealand is smaller than other places.

1. The library: Rather than a decimal system, where each book is arranged by a numbering system of some kind, (say the Dewey Decimal System), books are arranged here in order of the alphabet by author’s last name.  No problem, except that (Carrie tells me) in New Zealand, Mac is the same as Mc.  So if you’re looking for a book by Ian McEwan, not Rachel MacKewen, you’ll be searching through all the Mac’s to find the Mc you want.
   
   
2. Alphabetizing at Work: The perception amongst Kiwis (New Zealanders) seems to be that there aren’t that many businesses in New Zealand.In fact (the perception seems to be), few enough businesses that if a business sends in paper that needs to be filed, and let’s say that their business starts with M, you just put it in the “M” binder or filing drawer.  No need to file it under Ma, Mac, Mc, Mat (i.e. Matheson).  Nope.  Just put it in the M binder/filing.

   This would be a good system if it were actually true that there weren’t enough businesses in New Zealand to justify alphabetized filing beyond the first letter of the word.  But there are.

   There are (tens of) thousands of businesses that start with M here, and finding them in the current filing system is quite near impossible.  Another one that’s truly difficult, if not impossible: “The”.  Today, I was looking for “Auckland University” and couldn’t find it in the A’s.  In order to find it, I had to look it up by “The Auckland University.”

While it logically makes sense to sort a business who’s name starts with “The” into T, in practice it really doesn’t make sense to do it that way at all.

It’s fun to experience these differences in a work environment.  It feels like it’s been a long time (8 1/2 years) since I’ve been in a formal office environment, but I do remember what it was like when I worked at offices in the US.

I’m finding the overall workplace environment here friendlier.

New Zealand views itself as a small friendly place, and it really is.  At the same time, it is growing rapidly, with a huge influx of people from India, China, and many other parts of the world.

I hope that New Zealand can maintain it’s small and friendly feel as it rapdily grows from being a place where you don’t have to worry about organizing the “M” drawer.