“It might be misinterpreted in a pub in Glasgow.”
UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson is over in New Zealand for two days as he looks to strengthen Britain’s ties with its former colony as the UK prepares for Brexit.
Kia Ora 🇳🇿 ! Welcomed to #Kaikoura by Maori elder Brett on my first visit to one of Britain's very closest partners pic.twitter.com/vnbEiEXsSB
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 24, 2017
Johnson was very thankful to the New Zealand people for the visit and thanked them for teaching him the Māori greeting.
He was extremely intrigued by the greeting which is called the hongi and it’s a tradition where people press their noses together like so…
“I think it’s a beautiful form of introduction, though it might be misinterpreted in a pub in Glasgow,” Johnson said jokingly comparing the greeting to some sort of Scottish headbutt.
However, Johnson went on to add that:
“This is the most mind-blowingly, mind-numbingly beautiful country that I have ever seen,” he said of New Zealand, adding it was the only landscape he thinks could do justice to the imagination of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of “The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which were filmed in New Zealand.”
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on the Maori greeting during his first visit to New Zealand today. pic.twitter.com/mINwW83fTf
— Rohan Smith (@Ro_Smith) July 24, 2017
Johnson is due to travel to New Zealand’s neighbours, Australia, on Tuesday.
He may have joked about the greeting being similar to a headbutt, but judging by the footage below, it’s hard to know if Johnson knows where you’re actually supposed to headbutt someone…
Clip via Jakemsf
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