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Why I escaped to New Zealand
"My poor country!" I seem to hear Franco Battiato’s song when Gianpaolo Grazioli explains why he left Italy.
Thirty-one, from Torre del Greco in the province of Naples, Gianpaolo has been in New Zealand for the last five.
He couldn’t bear to live any longer in a country adrift, torn by its bureaucracy, the Camorra and the Mafia. No way out. "I ran away,” he explains, “because the ruling classes that guide the boat is without a plan. There are too many incompetent and dishonest people. So many documents before you can start up a business! Here I feel as if I’m in paradise, even though I consider myself to be a political refugee, fleeing my country in despair. In New Zealand I have achieved my dream, along with my wife Annarosa and my son who, God willing, will be born in April. I don’t miss anything about Italy, I have my home, my work, and importantly, the internet. Enough of Italy! I cut off all links. My family still lives there, and they respect my choice.”
"It makes me angry,” he says “that because of devious public officials, our natural creativity and talent for design are being lost. New Zealand was the furthest away I could go, literally the end of the world. I came here some years ago on vacation, and I loved it. I stayed. I love New Zealand.
What in particular?
I love nature, the green parks, the sea, the Maori culture - I don’t know what the Maori language is like, we speak English! It's surely the second most beautiful country in the world. After Italy. I love the food, the milk, the fruit, the meat and fish. It’s all of fantastic quality. New Zealand and the land I call home, it will be the birthplace of my future child. This link won’t be severed easily.”
Fortunately, to soften his memories of Italy, there is ice cream. But more of that later. What are New Zealanders like, I ask him.
“Simple, permissive, tolerant and always smiling. The quality of life here is high, the space, nature, the beaches, the relaxed rhythm. It’s an oasis. Italians are welcome and respected.”
Any similarities with Italians?
“Not many. They are culturally very different, the schools teach different things, and they grow up differently. The sports are different. The Kiwis, as New Zealanders are called, die for rugby, which is a minority sport in Italy. The Italians love to dress well and follow the latest fashions, the Kiwis are twenty-five thousand kilometers away from the catwalks of Milan.
Do they have any flaws?
“They don’t really know how to cook.”
Gianpaolo lives in Auckland. “It’s chaotic, but also has a calm feel, there are endless beaches and virgin forests, it’s a city with on two seas, the Indian Ocean on one side and the Pacific on the other. The climate is pleasant, a bit like in Italy. Cooler in summer, and warmer in winter. New Zealand is an earthquake zone, they are more frequent on the South island, here nothing terrible happens. Whenever we can, we escape the cities, but I love Queenstown. It 's a small town founded on a lake at the foot of The Remarkables mountain range, where they filmed The Lord of the Rings. With a little imagination, you could say that it’s a small Cortina d’Ampezzo of the southern hemisphere. Wellington, the capital, is a beautiful city, but I prefer Auckland.”
And now we come to the ice cream. “I opened my ice cream parlour, Giapo, without much red tape. It’s been my dream all along. I learned to make it in Campania before becoming director of the Marina at Villa Igiea in Palermo. My ice cream is organic, genuine, Italian. The avocado, blueberry, strawberry and organic lemon are our specialities. There aren’t many Italians among my customers, it’s a meeting point for friends, social media types especially. In September of next year we are opening an outlet in Auckland Airport.”
What is the journey like?
“Getting to New Zealand from Italy is a twenty-four hour flight. There is no non-stop, we usually stop over in the Far East. Singapore Airlines is our favourite.”
Any message for Italians and Italy?
“There needs to be change. Italy has no plan for the future, it doesn’t use the resources it has. And I’d ask them to turn off the telly. Three Italians remain forever in my memories: Falcone, Borsellino and Roberto Saviano (the writer). Honest and courageous, as very few are. To Italians who want to come to New Zealand, I’d say what I say to my brothers: never stop dreaming. Dreams make us live. Anything can be a winning business idea, the important thing is to have courage and tenacity.”
Gianpaolo Grazioli