Anita Perkins: Researching the cultural identity of migrants
One of Anita’s earliest memories of Japan is a primary school study on the Sapporo Ice Festival. She did not suspect that 15 years later she would be experiencing Japanese winters in Niseko, near Sapporo.
Anita went to Japan upon completing her Honours degree in German and linguistics in 2005. She travels with her boyfriend, who is a ski tuner and professional skier, so each trip involves a lot of skiing. While there she spent a semester teaching English at a university in Tokyo.
“I’ve come to really love spending time in Japan,” Anita says, “The food and snow are amazing but I’ve really enjoyed developing friendships, learning to speak the language,and just seeing a different perspective on things.”
In March 2009 she completed her Masters from the University of Otago. Her thesis examined how people’s sense of cultural identity is formed when they go overseas. The research included many interviews and research of travel writings, with particular reference to German and Japanese immigrants in New Zealand, and New Zealand writers in Japan and Germany. She is considering starting a PhD in September.
Anita sees national identity as one of the most important issues facing New Zealand’s relations with Asia. “The attitude that some people have of belonging more to New Zealand than others needs to go,” Anita says. “While celebrating and acknowledging our ancestral history we need to recognise that all families here are migrants, from the first waka that came here from Hawaiki to now.”
Anita became involved in the Young Leaders Network after attending the 2008 Forum. This
year she has spoken at the Dunedin Principals’ Forum and organised the event ‘Asian Scarfies’ Experiences’ alongside the Dunedin cluster.
Currently Anita is working part time as a research assistant and has a publishing bursary for two articles about her MA thesis. Additionally, she writes for the young leaders section of the Asia:NZ website.
In the future Anita would like to work at a university. “I can see this as the kind of career that you could stay in for 30 years and not tire of due to the interesting combo of teaching, research and travel.”
