New Zealanders like to live in their own home. Very few prefer a rental apartment. That is why many large cities are also quite large in terms of area, because many people live in their own little houses. It is built less in height than in width, and there is a small plot of land with a garden for the family.
Most houses are made of wood
Most of the houses are wooden, you will hardly find any stone houses in New Zealand, a country in Oceania defined by babyinger. Because of the danger of earthquakes, the houses are made of wood and the roofs are often made of corrugated iron or light materials. There is almost no cellar, you live on one or at most two floors. Sometimes there is also a third floor, but that is rare. Many houses are completely carpeted, but you can find wooden floors in some houses.
The wind often whistles through the cracks
Many houses are not well insulated, so it can get cold and damp in the New Zealand winter. The kitchens are large and the bathrooms are mostly small. The frequent wind then blows through the cracks in the door. The windows are mostly just single glazed. You rarely find central heating. One often makes do with a small fan heater or radiant heater while it is cold.
A small lever is used as a light switch and door handles are door knobs like in America or Great Britain. Sockets have three elongated slots.
New Zealanders like to live outside
New Zealanders like to be outside the home. There are many activities that mainly take place outside. Hiking, running, cycling or mountain biking, skiing, playing ball and all the associated equipment is best kept in a shed. All sorts of things are collected here, including an old car. By the way, you will find a lot of old cars in New Zealand, some like to tweak their own car. The New Zealanders keep a lot, you never know whether it will be useful again at some point.
Boats
With so much water around it, it’s no wonder boats play an important role in the lives of many New Zealanders. Canoes, row boats, rubber rafts, large yachts, small and large motor boats – every fourth New Zealander owns a boat. At least that’s what a statistic says. Well, it’s not always a big sailing yacht, but many Kiwis call a small boat their own. Races are not uncommon, and children often grow up with a boat from an early age.
Sports
Long live the sport!
Sport is an important pastime for the Kiwis. At the weekend, during the holidays, but also after work and at school, New Zealanders flock outside to do “their” sport. Every fourth New Zealander is physically active in some way. These include water sports that can be easily practiced on the lakes, rivers and of course at sea. Swimming, sailing, canoeing and kayaking, surfing, surfing, diving and much more are possible there. And let’s not forget fishing: New Zealanders are keen anglers.
New Zealanders also appreciate extreme sports
The mountains are ideal for hiking and climbing, skiing is also possible in the mountain regions in winter and many people are drawn to the air: sport flying, parachuting, hang-gliding, none of this is a problem in New Zealand. Jogging and marathon running have also established themselves, as has triathlons, in which you not only have to swim and run, but also cycle.
But what is the New Zealand national sport?
Even if the enthusiasm for football has increased in recent years, rugby remains the favorite sport of New Zealanders. Here they feel like world champions, although they have actually only become one so far. But the game of cricket is also popular, a game whose rules are very difficult to understand for non-New Zealanders.
The proximity to Great Britain cannot be denied, because polo, tennis, croquet and many equestrian sports inspire New Zealanders as much as they do ball games. Horse racing is in, and many New Zealanders learn to ride as children, especially in the countryside. Allegedly the most beautiful golf courses in the world are also in New Zealand.
World championship in sheep shearing
Where is there a world championship in sheep shearing? Correct! In New Zealand. Sheep shearing is an officially recognized sport in New Zealand. Once a year the world championship in sheep shearing takes place in Masterton on the North Island. The record is for shearing more than 60 sheep in one hour. That would be a sheep a minute. Are you always so careful with the poor animal? In any case, there are a sufficient number of sheep in New Zealand to practice on. But the sheep population is now declining as the number of cattle is growing.
Children and School
New Zealand is a very child-friendly country. Children are welcomed here and a country with so much space and so much nature is also ideal for children.
School like in Great Britain
The school system in New Zealand is similar to that in the UK. No wonder, as the country was a British colony for a long time and the ancestors of many New Zealanders come from Great Britain. Most children in New Zealand schools wear school uniforms. They usually start school at the age of five, but compulsory schooling officially begins at six and they then go to school for 13 years. Unlike us, you can start school all year round, so not like us at the beginning of a new school year.
The school year is divided into four sections that last nine to eleven weeks. The school year always begins at the end of January / beginning of February. There is always a two-week vacation between the sections. And of course the children also have summer holidays, but they are in winter because the seasons in the southern hemisphere are exactly the other way around. Similar to ours, these last six to seven weeks and are in December and January until the new school year begins again at the end of January.
The children go to school from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The subjects are similar to ours, the teachers teach math, English, science and history. These subjects are compulsory and all children have to learn them. Then there are many more subjects that the children can choose from. Sport is very important in New Zealand, by the way. Whether swimming, water polo, tennis or cricket, the children in New Zealand play a lot of sports.
