Sources I've used

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Rugby_World_Cup

http://snl.no/New_Zealand

I'm going home!!

Guess what, I’m already on my way home… Now you are thinking that I’ve been here for 2 days and I’m being sent home by the police or something, but you’re wrong. I just haven’t had any time to write while being here. So I will now write the biggest happenings during the trip right now, because I got plenty of time because I’m on the plane to LA!

So the first thing we did after arriving at our hotel was to sleep, because the time was 11 p.m. so we had to try to get our sleeping routine to “New Zealand life”. We had a lot of jet lag that night. I think I slept for 2 hours or so.

But next day we went on a tour around Auckland, just to get a little known with the city. After that we went to an information lecture. There we got informed about some culture about New Zealand and about their flag. And as I understood, their flag got a blue base which represents the Pacific Ocean and the sky. In the upper left they got an “Union Jack” which is the flag of the United Kingdom. The reason for that is the earlier relationship with Britain (NZ was a British colony). The four stars in the flag represent the “Southern Cross”

The next day we went on a bus trip to Wellington, which is the capital of New Zealand. We drove through Tauranga which is a decent big city. The reason we went there was to get an impress of the Māori culture, but also to relax at the beach. Because there aren’t any other place New Zealand where you can sunbath and swim in good temperature and good environments. So we had to wake up early so we could stay some hours in Tauranga. In Tauranga we ate the national dish which is called “Lamb and mutton”, which simply enough is the meat of domestic sheep, which is pretty ironical when you think of that its ca. 47 million sheep (13 times the population). Later we went to the beach and relaxed for 2-3 hours before we went back to the bus and sat our course to Wellington.

Approximately 9 hours later we arrived in Wellington. We were going backstage on a “Herbs” concert which is a “NZ” band. We went backstage as a part of the journey. The group consists of both Maorian and white members. The group was established in 1979 and play reggae. I talked for a while with an earlier member of Herbs named Joe Walsh. Joe Walsh said that he accidently joined Herbs as a part of a tour with a group called The Party Boys. Walsh said thank you to the group Herb after teaching him to stop using drugs and alcohol on a daily basis. When Walsh left he gave us 6 tickets for tomorrows rugby match between New Zealand and Australia!

The next day we woke up after the concert, it was awesome! This day we was going to a rugby match; New Zealand vs. Australia in the world cup in rugby. This is the semi-final in the cup and the team which win will go to the final playing against France. These were my reactions after the game:

The game is over, New Zealand have beaten Australia 20-6 and is in the final! And what an atmosphere it was during the match!! I’m not a rugby expert, but I will say that New Zealand were superior. Also I was a witness to the All Blacks doing the “Haka”, really entertaining!

Now I’m going to fall asleep and wake up in LA in some hours. This travelblog is over… NOW :)

Second plane.

I've just changed plane at "LAX" Los Angeles International Airport. We had a 2 hours break at the airport so I went to a newsstand and grabbed everything i could find about New Zealand. There I found a New Zealand newspaper called "New Zealand Herald" where I read a lot about a big current event in New Zealand, namely the world cup in rugby. New Zealand isn't just the best rugby nation but also the host country.

I've never been to a rugby match before, but I think it sounds really interesting and fun. IF I'm going to a rugby match I want to see New Zealand play. Not just because of the mood in the crowd, but because I want to see "All Blacks" (The NZ rugby team) perform the "Haka" which is a war dance with maorian orgin.

Off to New Zealand!

I’ve waited for this day to come for a while now! I’M GOING TO NEW ZEALAND!! Well, it’s not on a vacation but it’s on a language journey along with some friends and some people I just met! We’re going to Auckland in New Zealand, but we have to change plane in Los Angeles. I live in Houston so it’s a decent long trip to Los Angeles, but the flight to New Zealand is going to kill me…

So I have received a brochure on the flight that contained some facts about New Zealand, and it really seems as a very nice country! It’s a country in the south east pacific ocean. New Zealand’s nearest neighbor is Australia, which is 2000 kilometers away. As you may guess, New Zealand is an island, but not just one, because the country is divided in two islands, the northern and the southern island. I’m going to Auckland, which is the capital and is located on the northern island.

Another thing which was written in the brochure was about the New Zealand culture. I later found out that New Zealand really got a special and interesting culture, since the indigenous people who first settled on New Zealand was Polynesians. (Kind of like neighbors, Polynesians=common word for indigenous groups in the south east Pacific) The Polynesians became later, and kind of “founded” the Maori culture.

But now I got interrupted by the flight attendant who gives me lunch. I throw with some pictures!

Plastflaske

Stadig flere og flere kaster plastflasker i restavfall i stedet for å pante, eller kildesortere. Problemet er at brennes, og når plast brennes, skader det miljøet. Dette er en negativ trend som virkelig har slått til siste årene, og det må stoppes nå!

Han skrudde opp plastkorken, løftet flasken rolig opp mot munnen, helte i seg vannet, helt til «bunnslammen» passerte drøvelen. Deretter skrudde han på plastkorken og kastet flasken i en voldsom fart mot søppelbøtten. Han bommet, gikk bort til der flasken lå, plukket den opp og kom over et dilemma; to søppelbøtter. «Restavfallbøtta» var halvfull og «plastbøtta» var tom. Så dermed gjorde Alfred som alle andre, og kastet plastflaska i restavfall. 

Av Einar og Erik.