Marmite

Do you know which black, dense, and gooey toast spread is well known to every English, Australian, and New Zealander, but completely unfamiliar to Russians?

It's Marmite – a yeast extract with a very intense salty, yeasty, beer-like taste that is used as a spread for toasts. Everyone here knows it, and they were surprised I hadn't heard of it.

It's a highly controversial product: you either hate it and think it tastes like shoe wax, or you love it.

It turns out I like it. My family hates it. My colleagues are evenly split. There are loads of YouTube videos of people trying it for the first time and filming their reactions – funny stuff.

Give it a try if you get the chance.

(Russian)

Accents in NZ

Before coming to NZ, I studied the Kiwi accent by subscribing to Kiwi channels on YouTube, a few Kiwi podcasts, etc.

When I arrived, it turned out that the Kiwi accent, in 90% of cases, is super easy – it’s just English with a few minor changes in the pronunciation of “e”. They say “tin” instead of “ten” and “dick” instead of “deck”, which is hilarious, and there is a funny sketch about it on YouTube.

And the real problem is not the Kiwi accent but all the other accents around.

Indians were initially hard for me to understand, but when I talked to them more, it got easier, and now it’s fine. They just have a few standard quirks in their pronunciation, and once you know them, it’s easy to understand them.

Chinese speakers are usually hard to understand – the hardest, I would say. They do not pronounce hard sounds at all; everything is very soft, and some words are hard to catch.

Japanese and Korean speakers are a bit easier, as they, like Indians, have their own style of pronunciation. Once you get the pattern, you can adjust.

Maori speakers, formally speaking, have no accent, as they are natives, but they have a rather special way of speaking, different intonations, phrases, and overall style of talking.

Samoans can be quite hard to understand at times; their accent is hard to explain. They often mumble.

English and Americans are the best – clean and pure language, just as I’ve gotten used to after watching YouTube and listening to podcasts.

South Africans sound very Russian. They also have a harsh “R” sound, and as English is their second language, they are generally easy to understand.

Irish speakers are insanely hard to understand. I know two of them, and I talk to them intentionally to improve my understanding of them. It’s still a challenge.

Europeans are easy to understand. They know English well, so it’s always smooth and straightforward.

I also know a few Sri Lankan, Egyptians, Iranians, and Afghan. They are vary depending on their English proficiency.

Russians (self-reflection) – sometimes I notice people listening more intently to understand me better, which is visible in their facial expressions. The Russian accent is rare, so not many people are used to hearing it. However, all English speakers seem fine with it – I’m easily understandable to them.

The conclusion here is – there’s no way to fully prepare yourself for living in an immigrant country like NZ, Australia, Canada, or the USA. It will be hard in any case. The only solution is to consume as much English-language content as possible: YouTube, TV shows, books, movies, games. This will help you adjust to the new environment faster.

And the last thing to mention is that I see patterns in how immigrants feel about the country depending on their level of English. Usually, the better they know English, the better they feel in NZ. There’s a strict correlation. So, in my opinion, language is the main skill you need to develop to feel comfortable in a new country.

P.S. I’m training my English right now by writing this post. And you are training yours if you’re reading it in English.

(Russian)

The best coffee

I’m a big fan of coffee. I prefer an Americano – just espresso and water, no additions.

Back in Russia, I tried all coffee beans available – from supermarket basics to freshly roasted ones. In every cafe, I’d usually order an Americano. Just to see how good it was - usually, it was bad.

And, of course, I tried all the coffee-focused places, like Starbucks (worse than average), its clones (sometimes better), and smaller takeaway chains (often better). I even visited Artemy Lebedev’s cafe specifically to try coffee there because he is known as a big coffee lover and advertised his coffee as the best in Russia. Indeed, his coffee is good and one of the best I tried in Russia.

Plus, I’ve tasted coffee in every country I’ve visited and tried many different ways of making coffee: espresso, V60, French press, Turkish coffee, etc.

So… I like coffee and have some data to compare. And I must say, the best coffee in the world is in...

(Continued in comments)

Minimum wage in NZ

Every time I mention in a YouTube video that the minimum wage in New Zealand is enough for a single person to live comfortably, and even save a bit, someone in the comments calls me a liar. No arguments, no figures - just a statement that it’s a lie.

So, let’s settle this once and for all and explain why I’m so sure about this. I made a simple calculation explaining all the maths behind my statement. All sums are after tax in NZD. The numbers below match those in the picture above.

1️⃣ The minimum wage in NZ is $19.5/h or $780/week, which means employers legally can’t pay less. Cleaners, checkout operators, hairdressers, construction labourers, and students flipping burgers at McDonald’s, etc., can’t earn less than this. The calculation is made for a single person - if there were two, they’d have double the income, meaning way more savings.

Now, to expenses…

(Continued in comments)

Just a nice picture I took on yesterday's track. The picture was taken from this point. It's cool to have such views around and the freedom to visit them whenever I want. A one-hour drive, and I'm there.

(Russian)

New video about the mentality of New Zealanders, the prisoner's dilemma, a society of trust, and how they differ from us.

MP3 version of the video above

A graffiti creation process that I photographed in Auckland city centre in April 2024. The artist finished it in just a month. The location is here. The man pictured on the mural is an MMA fighter, Israel Adesanya.

I’ll be walking there in my next YouTube video.

(Russian)

The second part of the video about mentality of New Zealanders

MP3 version of the video above

About Russians

It was only after coming to NZ that I understood how good we actually are, work-wise. By "we," I mean all the employees in Russia. I can speak for all construction-related fields in Moscow, but I believe the same applies to other industries and cities.

First of all, we work a lot. In Moscow, almost everywhere, people work from 9 to 18 at a minimum. These are the standard working hours, and they often extend to 20-22 if there's more to be done, or simply because that's the company culture. So, I was always confident I could call anyone (the client, the consultants, the suppliers, etc.) between 18 and 21 without any issues. In NZ, people work less. They typically start around 7–8 and finish by 15–16. Calling after 17–18 is considered impolite.

Secondly, we work hard. It’s not the case everywhere In Moscow, but in many companies, there is a highly stressful environment. I’ve seen people being fired in the middle of meetings. People often shout, insult, put pressure on, and threaten each other over various work-related issues. There were days when I felt so stressed that I couldn’t focus on anything in the evening – I kept thinking about work constantly. It all led to overworking too. There's much less stress in NZ and a lot more water cooler talk.

Thirdly, we earn very little. It was only in NZ that I realised how much working time is actually worth. The time of any construction specialist, from those with no skills to top professionals, is worth about 3 times more here. And this higher income actually allows people to buy more goods, as prices are only 10-20% higher on average. Some goods are cheaper. So, people earn more, not just in numbers, but in real terms. In previous posts, I compared utility prices and calculated how much a minimum wage can buy – you can check for yourself if you have doubts.

As a result, in Russia we work around 1.3 times longer (fact), 1.3 times more effective (my estimation), and earn around 3 times less (fact). That means we produce around 5 times as much output (intellectual, service, or physical) for the same amount of money and time. I think it is one of the reasons for the short life expectancy of Russians, especially men, who usually work more in Russia. Russians burn their lives at work.

When I came to a New Zealand company, I felt like a trooper, covered in blood from a fight, who had come to a kindergarten to play with plastic guns with kids. They were impressed that I could draft, calculate scopes, know Excel well, install and set up anything myself, understand scheduling, etc. In Russia, it’s quite standard for a construction manager to know these things, and it won’t impress people much. Here in NZ, many of these skills are standalone jobs.

Knowing all this, it’s sad to realise how good Russia could have been if all the fruits of labour of well-educated, skilled, and hardworking Russians hadn’t been stolen and spent on golden palaces, or even worse. Russia could have flourished.

That’s probably the saddest realisation I’ve had since leaving. I’m still shocked by how little people in NZ actually work, how much this "little work" costs, and how prosperous a country is if the wealth generated by society goes into the right things.

(Russian)

Communism

New Zealand is a multicultural country, and since moving, I’ve had the chance to talk to people from all over the world. These included my colleagues, friends, contractors, and sometimes just random people I met in Auckland.

So, now I have a much better understanding of how people actually live, not just in New Zealand but also in India, South Africa, America, the Philippines, Iran, Sri Lanka, Egypt, and other countries.

But not in China.

There are many Chinese people here, but when we discuss and compare our countries with colleagues in the office kitchen, the Chinese tend to listen quietly and avoid saying anything political about China - even those who have lived here for years.

I noticed this and, when there were no Chinese people around, asked my colleagues why that was. The answer came immediately – they are scared. As my colleagues explained, China has agencies that monitor and punish its citizens for discussing China abroad. This could involve direct punishment to the individual or indirect consequences for their relatives in China. I fact-checked it and found that it is supported by the media.

So every Chinese person I’ve met, even those who have become NZ residents and have no ties to China, has remained completely silent about their politics.

That’s basically all you need to know about communism and what life in China is really like.

(Russian)

The third part of the video about mentality of New Zealanders.

MP3 version of the video above.