UK Foreign Secy jokes Maori greeting could start pub fight
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson likened a traditional Maori greeting, hongi, to a head butt while visiting indigenous leaders in New Zealand. He said hongi which involves two people pressing their noses together "might be misinterpreted in a pub in Glasgow". Boris is visiting New Zealand as Britain aims to strengthen ties with it in preparation for Brexit.
The British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, joked on his visit to New Zealand on Monday that a traditional M?ori greeting could be misinterpreted as a head butt in other countries.Johnson is visiting the South Pacific nation for two days as Britain looks to strengthen its ties with its former colony amid a broader reshaping of Britain?s global relationships as it prepares to leave the European Union. Topics on the agenda include trade, foreign policy and international security.He visited the South Island tourist town of Kaikoura, which was struck by a magnitude-7.8 earthquake in November that killed two people.Johnson thanked townsfolk for looking after tourists, including 200 Britons, who were stranded in the town after the quake and for teaching him a M?ori greeting called a hongi, in which people press noses together.?I think it?s a beautiful form of introduction, though it might be misinterpreted in a pub in Glasgow,? Johnson joked, in a reference to a head butt.Pleasure to show Boris Johnson around Kaikoura this morning. He thanked the community for looking after British tourists after the quake. pic.twitter.com/KWthaApDOgJohnson said it was his first visit to New Zealand.?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 ?he Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which were filmed in New Zealand.Johnson was described by the New Zealand media as the eccentric ?flamboyant, blonde tousled-haired former mayor of London?. Johnson is due to travel to Australia on Tuesday.Associated Press contributed to this report