A new New Zealander awarded citizenship in Dunedin yesterday, proudly marked the occasion by putting her new national affiliation on display.
Dunedin Dental School secretary Helen Martin, from Cornwall, had a fern and koru design shaved into her hair for the citizenship ceremony in the Skeggs Gallery.
''I got it done because I feel so passionate about New Zealand and becoming a New Zealander,'' Mrs Martin said.
''It is an honour and a privilege.''
Mrs Martin and her husband, Ian, moved to New Zealand nine years ago from Falmouth, Cornwall.
''There are just so many opportunities here and it's such a great way of life, the way life is lived here. It's a really good work/life balance.''
Mrs and Mrs Martin were presented with a native hebe ''to represent the putting down of roots in your new home'', by Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull yesterday.
The couple joined 36 other people who became New Zealand citizens at a citizenship ceremony performed by Mayor Dave Cull at the Skeggs Gallery in Dunedin. Others becoming New Zealand citizens yesterday were: Aisha Abubakar (Nigeria), Bin Affendi (Malaysia), Neil Ewan Barr (Britain), Chit-yee Chan (Malaysia), Katherine Marguerite Dixon (Britain), Natasha Farhad Contractor (India), Issette Jennifer, Steven Howard, James Paris and Molly Issette Crighton (Britain), Deepa Darshika Groundar (Fiji), Gundula Guldner (Germany), Paul Stephen, Jo-Anne and Emily Louise Henderson (Britain), Sarah Amanda Candice Hexamer (Britain), Karen Rebecca, Jeralynn Kimberly and Jachary Keith Joseph (Singapore), Garry David Keirle (Britain), Young Soon Kim (Korea), Tenoch Izel Vanessa King (United States), Jonathan Robert Krause (Brazil), Tzu-Ping Kuo (Taiwan), Katie Louise Linington (Britain), Robert Antony Mitchell (Britain), Helena Yasmin Page (Britain), Aditya Raina (India), Maximilian Johannes Joseph Stroomer (Netherlands), Christine Elizabeth Thomson (Britain), Tiffany Danielle Gagliardi Trotman (United States), Liya Tukhvatulina (Russia), Mia Watkins (Britain), Lorraine Betty May and Atholl Gavin White (South Africa) and Sung Bin Yoon (Korea).
