🇩🇪5 normal German Things That Are Considered a LUXURY in New Zealand🇳🇿 (part 2)

Hey guys, welcome back to my channel and if you're new here it is so great to have you. I'm Antoinette, a New Zealander living in the beautiful wine region of Lower Franconia, Germany. A couple of weeks ago I made a video talking about some regular everyday German things that would be considered a luxury in New Zealand and so many of you really enjoyed this video. I've so that's what I'm going to be doing in this video today. So I'm going to jump straight into it. Something that's considered pretty normal here in Germany but would definitely be considered a luxury in New Zealand is having solo panels on your roof. In more recent years solo panels have become a lot more mainstream in New Zealand so some people have them but they are definitely not as popular as they are in Germany. Here in Germany solo panels are a lot more common and easily accessible for the average family. In Germany solo panels are not just reserved for homeowners. Many landlords will install solo panel systems on their rental properties as an investment. New Zealand is known as Aotearoa, land of the long white cloud. Most areas of New Zealand get significantly more sunshine energy per year than Germany does. Yet Germany has one of the highest amounts of solo per capita in the world. Germany's success with solar energy can largely be attributed to supportive government policies including public funding, economic incentives, and Germany's deeply rooted environmental consciousness. Meanwhile New Zealand, despite having the ideal conditions for solo adoption, faces challenges with government incentives and cultural perspectives on energy. New Zealand is still growing its solar industry so prices are higher due to less competition. I will be jumping into the next point really soon so please stick around. I just want to take a moment to introduce you to today's wonderful partner, Zendure. Zendure is not just another tech company. 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Okay, so moving on to number two, something that is considered really normal here in Germany but would be considered a luxury in New Zealand is clay roof tiles. Most homes and apartment buildings here in Germany have roof tiles made of terracotta clay. In more modern homes in Germany, you'll see a lot of dark gray roof tiles, but they are made of the same materials as the terracotta roof tiles. They're just a different color. But for the most part, most homes, at least in the area of Germany where I live, has these terracotta roof tiles. If you're looking from a bird's eye view at the little town where I live, you will just see terracotta tiles for miles. And this is something very normal in Germany. And most people have these roof tiles, whether they own the home or apartment or whether they're renting. New Zealand homes are not typically built with traditional clay or concrete roof tiles due to a combination of factors. Metal roofs, especially long-run metal, are more common due to their durability, affordability, and ability to withstand New Zealand's varied climate activity. So my husband told me one thing that he noticed pretty soon after arriving in New Zealand is that so many of the New Zealand homes had these tin roofs, which he never saw in Germany. And to me, it was just something so incredibly normal. Even some of the really fancy homes in New Zealand have these tin roofs. Tin roofs on homes are just so typically Kiwi. And I just absolutely love the sound of rain on a tin roof when you're falling asleep. You just can't beat that. So you do see the occasional clay tiled roof in New Zealand, but it is something really rare and it would be considered a luxury. Some of the really expensive flash mansions in New Zealand have the European style clay tiles on their roof, but it's something really rare and it would be considered a real luxury. Initially, I thought this just all came down to the price of the tiles. It would cost a lot to import these tiles to New Zealand. But after researching for this video, I found out that the main reason we don't have these tile roofs is because they are super dangerous in New Zealand due to the earthquakes, the frequent earthquakes. So from a New Zealander's point of view, these clay tiles look really grand and expensive, but imagine being in an earthquake and having these really heavy, sturdy tiles falling on you. You just don't want that to happen. So it makes complete sense that New Zealanders would prefer a lighter material because of the risk of injury during an earthquake. So I think that is probably the main reason, but also the cost factor. Okay. So number three, something that is considered really normal here in Germany, but would be definitely considered a luxury in New Zealand is electric cars, like really fancy electric cars. Now I'm not saying that there aren't electric cars in New Zealand. In fact, according to my research in more recent years, they have become increasingly more popular in New Zealand, but you don't see a lot of electric cars and the people who do own electric cars are considered like the wealthy, the wealthy people of New Zealand. In Germany, on the other hand, so many people have electric cars. I would say on my street alone, there would be five families who have electric cars and it's just something that I'm so used to seeing and it's considered something really normal. It's not something reserved for the super rich. I did find out that a lot of people who have these really fancy electric cars are actually leasing their cars. So they're not actually owning that car. I'm not entirely sure how it works, but they lease out this car and sort of pay rent on the car for a certain period of time. And then they give the car back and swap it over for a different car, which they will lease, which I think is a really cool concept. Also in Germany, there's often more government support and incentives for electric vehicle purchases along with a more developed infrastructure. So basically New Zealand has a much smaller market in regards to electric vehicles because of shipping costs and import taxes. It's definitely far less accessible for the average person in New Zealand to have an electric vehicle. Okay. So number four, something I have mentioned quite a lot in my videos, but it is very appropriate for this video today. Something that is considered a luxury in New Zealand, but is really normal and just an everyday normal thing that most Germans have is double glazed windows. So in New Zealand, the average home, I'm not talking about modern, newly built homes, but the average older home in New Zealand has single glazed windows. And that is one of the reasons why New Zealand homes, I've talked about this a lot, but this is definitely one of the reasons why New Zealand homes can be so incredibly cold in the wintertime because they don't have decent double glazed windows. In Germany, most homes don't just have double glazed windows. Many homes have triple glazed windows. All of the newly built homes in Germany have triple glazing. You will never see a house in Germany that has single glazed windows, never. The New Zealand government have recognized that there is a need for double glazed windows, which is why all of the newly built homes have to have double glazing. But so many homes in New Zealand have single glazing. My mom recently actually had all of her windows replaced, her single glazed windows, and she only has double glazed windows in her home, which has made such a difference. Our home here in Germany has triple glazing, which is pretty standard. Most German homes, as I said, have either double or triple glazed windows. This is not a luxury. This is just something all homes have. Whether it's a government-owned housing complex or a mansion, every German home or apartment will have at least double glazed windows. Okay guys, so last but not least, something that is considered a luxury in New Zealand, but it is standard, something totally normal in Germany, and that is really good quality bread. So in New Zealand, we consider that white loaf of pre-sliced bread to be bread, and in Germany, this would be considered toast, not bread. It doesn't even deserve the title of bread, and most Germans don't even eat it. So in New Zealand, the average family will buy these loaves and call it bread, consider it bread, and yeah, it's just something normal in New Zealand. I have to say, I do not eat bread because I have celiac and autoimmune disorder, so I have to stay away from gluten, but the rest of my family are not gluten-free, and you know, they love the bread here in Germany, and the standard bread in Germany is this really dark, dense, really good quality bread, which is apparently incredible. Germany is well known for its amazing bread. In New Zealand, you are going to be paying so much for a good quality loaf of bread. This is something that you can pick up from your local bakery, but you can also pick it up from your local supermarket and discount supermarkets, and it's going to cost you a couple of euros, and in the supermarkets here, there are machines that can slice bread for you. It's really cool, and it's not going to cost you a lot to eat really good quality bread, but in New Zealand, to be eating this quality of bread every day, it's going to cost you so much. We do have some really great bakeries in New Zealand, but I would say, I'm not 100% sure, but I would say it would cost you about 10 New Zealand dollars to buy a really nice, good quality loaf of bread from a bakery, which is what you would get at a standard discounter in Germany. So it's definitely a luxury in New Zealand to eat this really nice, fancy bread, and in Germany, it is considered something totally normal. So guys, I have come to the end of this video. I really hope you enjoyed it. Before I go, I just wanted to, once again, give a big thanks to Zendure. If you're inspired by renewable energy solutions and would like to check out Zendure, I will leave more information in my video description below. Thank you so much for watching. If you enjoyed this video, then don't forget to give it a big thumbs up. It really helps out my channel. It helps to get my videos out there and noticed. 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