As a German in New Zealand one thing you quickly realise when it comes to shopping is the difference in opening hours compared to Germany. This information might be a bit outdated but a as far as I can remember in Germany most shops are closed on Sunday. But on the other hand most shops are open until 8pm. Here in New Zealand most shops are open seven days a week but most of them close already at 5.30pm, which makes after-work shopping almost impossible. Sure, there’s always the weekend where you can do your shopping, you might think. But since after-work shopping is not really possible, everyone does the shopping on the weekends. As a result the malls are usually packed on Saturday and Sunday which makes shopping a pain. Personally, I prefer the German way. On Sundays I can sleep late and then during the week, when I’m in work mode anyway, I do all my shopping after work.

By the way, this is written by a person who hates shopping in general.