Hello. :) I was reading the Times when I realized that no one ever writes an article about the country that they live in (except the U.S.A. and Canada, of course). The country that I live in is a small one with a population of about 4 million. It is off the southeast coast of Australia, and is... (drum roll ;)) New Zealand!
Not many people that I speak to on Whyville have heard of New Zealand, and most think that it is part of Australia. New Zealand is like many countries; we are very economical and we get along with most other countries. There are 2 main islands that make up New Zealand; the North Island and the South Island. The capital city of New Zealand is Wellington, which is placed right on the bottom tip of the North Island. The town that I live in isn't a very big town and has around 10,000 people in it. Auckland is the biggest city and has some of our famous landmarks, such as the SkyTower, RainbowsEnd (think a small version of Disneyland) and the Auckland Harbour.
New Zealanders are well known for our sports. You'll never meet a kiwi (not the fruit, Kiwis are what we call ourselves, after the native bird) who doesn't play any sports, or hasn't played any for their school. The favourite sport amongst the girls is netball. As most Australians would know, we are very competitive when it comes to netball and we are often battling it out for 1st place with Australia (even though we usually lose by 1 goal :P). The most popular sport amongst the guys is rugby. Rugby is like American Football except without all the big padding (our kiwi guys are real men ;)).
The native people in New Zealand are called "Moaris". They have their own language, called Moari, of course, and are basically treated the same as us white people. "Kia Ora" is the Moari way of saying hello.
The weather here is also completely different to that in the northern hemisphere (where the U.S. and Canada are). When you have your winter, we have our summer. When you have your summer, we have our winter, and so on. So when the winter solstice comes on Whyville next, it will be my summer solstice. When it is 2.30 pm on a Whyville Saturday afternoon, it is 6.30 am here on a Sunday morning! So, while you're enjoying your afternoon snacks, I'll be in my bed catching some Zzz's! ;)
Not only is the weather different here, so is the schooling. When you turn 3 years old, you go to Kindergarten, or Play Centre. When you hit the big 5 you go to Primary school and become a J1 (Junior 1). Then, when you're 6, you become a J2, and when you're 7 it becomes Standard 1 through to Standard 4 when you are 10. After Primary school, you go to Intermediate school for 2 years and that is called Form 1 and Form 2. Once you become a teen you go to the big kids' school, College or High School (over here they are the same thing). In College/High School you go from Form 3 to Form 7 (Form 7 is when you are 17). Then you leave and go to a University or find a job.
And so this is my country, New Zealand. The land of the long white cloud... also known as Aotearoa (A-o-te-a-roh-ah). The country full of daggy sheep and the country sides 10 minutes out of town.
This is bethy88, proudly supporting her country, Kapai! ;)
