男子举重69公斤记录:新西兰的风俗 用英语

THERE USED TO BE A COMMONLY USED PHRASE among New Zealanders that described their basic attitude toward life - "She'll be right, mate." There is less complacency today, but there remains a sense of optimism. New Zealanders are positive about being New Zealanders.

FAMILY LIFE

Tamily life in New Zealand is changing. Although the traditional nuclear family still predominates, there are now de facto couple families, single parent families, and a few homosexual couple families. The divorce rate is increasing, but so too is the number of people remarrying. This often results in the blending of two families. Women are having children later in life. Many couples choose not to have children and those that do, have fewer: one - child families are now the most common.

ON THE MARAE

The Maori believe a marae is their "standing place," a place where as a family they know they belong - in a sense their "home." The marae is a social place of hospitality where food and shelter are offered, but it is also a place of strict protocol. Women have a special role on the marae. Visitors assemble outside its gates and await the karanga , or call to enter, which is always made by a woman. A female leader returns the karanga on behalf of the visitors. She then leads the visitors in a slow procession onto the marae, calling as she goes.
Very important visitors to a marae are ceremonially challenged. Traditionally this was to establish whether visitors came in war or in peace. The challenger ( always a man ) makes fierce faces and noises, swinging a taiaba, or spear - like weapon, at the visitors to show that the warriors are ready to defend themselves if necessary. A small carved xchallenge dart is placed on the ground before the visitors arrive in peace.
Once visitors are in front of the meeting house, a powhiri, or5 welcome, is given by elders, both men and women. The powhiri serves to ward off evil spirits, giving visitors safety as they move onto the marae. Those who take part in the porhiri are protected by the tapu of the marae. Tapu is a purely Maori word associated with Maori spiritual beliefs and means "sacred" or "holy." When the Maori people declare something to be tapu, for example the ground on a marae, then it is necessary to approach this area according to prescribed ritual. Many Maori believe that to ignore tapu will bring sickness or even death.
After the welcome speeches are make, women sing a waiata, or song. The last visitor to speak lays a koha, or gift, on the ground. Today the koha will often be money, but tribes used to give food. When all the speeches are over the visitors can greet the hosts with a hongi. A hongi is a traditional greeting of Maori people. The pressing of noses during the hongi mingles the breath of two people in a show of unity.

EDUCATION

School is com[ulsory from age 6 to 16, but nearly all children begin school at 5 and many continue until age 18. The government partially funds an array of early childhood service providers, all of whom are independent of the government: these include play-centers, kindergartens, and Maori language "nests." After three years at secondary school most pupils take the School Certificate Examination. This can be in any number of subjects up to six and the student is credited with a grade for each subject. Many students stay in school for another one or two years, gaining higher qualifications to allow them to attend a university.
Private schools are partially funded by the government and charge student fees to cover their costs. Privately owned schools can also be integrated into the public system and receive funding. Integration has mostly been used by Catholic schools, some of which successfully serve the poorest areas in the cities. About 8% of school students attend integrated schools, and 3% private, fee-charging schools.
Educational achievement by Maori people has not kept pace with that of other groups, but alternate programs are being studied and tribes are given assistance to develop their own education plans. A limited number of schools that teach mainly in the Maori language are funded within the state system.
The Correspondence School is a world leader in distance education. It provides courses from early childhood to adult part-time students who wish to continue their basic education. Many students in isolated rural areas receive their education through the Correspondence School.
New Zealand has seven universities, with some 100,000 students. All the universities are publicly owned but run by independent councils. Thee are also some 25 publicly owned polytechnics that teach mostly lower-level courses, although some also issue degrees. Some 100,000 students attend the polytechnics. There are vfive colleges of education offering courses in teacher training. New Zealand secondary schools, polytechnics and universities accept many tuition paying foreign students.

THE WORKPLACE

There are now about as many women employed in the professions of law, medicine, and accounting as there are men. There is equal pay work, but not always equal opportunity.
Many young people leave home around the age of 20 and live n apartments with their peers. This is often necessary in order to be near their place of workparticularly for those growing up in rural areas. Over half of those commuting to work go by car; less than 5% travel by bus or rail.

CITY LIFE

Ney Zealand cities are not places where heavy industry dominates the skyline. Modern high-rise office blocks specially designed to withstand earthquakes rub shoulders with sculptured buildings of interesting design and hundred-year-old pubs.
The area around Wellington, for example, has often been rocked by earthquakes; the city sits on a major earthquake fault line. Many of the city's older buildings have been replaced by buildings specially constructed to withstand severe quakes. As a result, Wellington boasts the most modern skyline of any city in New Zealand.
Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch are cities of wide ethnic diversity and culture. This is evidenced in the huge variety of restaurants, street cafes, and colorful street-markets.
Shopping malls provide convenient one-stop shopping and places in which to stroll. Large supermarkets have displaced many small grocers, greengrocers, and butchers, but the local dairy continues. Usually managed by Indian families and open until late in the evenings, these small corner shops crammed with dairy products, ice-cream, cakes, confectionery, flowers, and magazines are still in demand.
Although inner city apartments are becoming popular, most city dwellers still reside in spacious houses with gardens in the surrounding suburbs. The economic divide is not as marked as, for example, that of New York, but the gap between the rich and the less-well-off is evident, particularly in parts of Auckland where there are large pockets of poorer Maori and Pacific Islanders.
Poorer neighborhoods in New Zealand are dominated by individual low-rise state housing. The facilities are adequate, although the neighborhoods are rougher and the schools less desirable.

RURAL LIFE

Life in the countryside and the small towns is community-driven. Entertainment is less passive than in the cities—country people have to create their own fun and they are very good at it. Social activities revolve around clubs, the local church, the local pub, and the marae.
The community hall is a focus for important birthdays such as a 21st, which is still celebrated in style. There are country balls, barn dances, shows shearing competitions, and many other activities.
New Zealand farms are highly efficient. Unlike farmers in some other countiies they are not heavily subsidized. There are 70,000 farms in New Zealand, the largest of which is 444,000 acres (180,000 hectares ); the average size is 610 acres ( 250 hectares ). Farms range from those raising livestock, such as sheep, dairy cattle, and deer to those involved in intensive horticulture, including wheat, oats, barley, maize, linseed, and potaotes.
Farmers also grow fodder crops to feed their herds. There are farms specializing in citrus fruit, kiwifruit, hops, tobacco, avocados, and many other fruits.
For those living in remote areas such as the high country sheep stations that nestle under the Southern Alps, the whole family is involved in tending Correspondence School. Many go on to attend a boarding school in the cities for their secondary and vocational education, Not all young people return to work the family farm.
Helicopters are used extensivelty today to spray insecticides over cropsl to drop poisons for noxious animals, and to bring fencing and other supplies into inaccessible country. There are more helicopters used in New Zealand per capita than anywhere else in the world.

WEDDINGS

Many people choose to make their wedding vows and have their marriage blessed in a church (including Maori people, whose church is usually on the marae). Others have a simple ceremony in the office of a registrar.Contemporary young couples sometimes select a more unusual location, such as a snow-covered mountain top or a sandy beach.
Nowadays there is no set format for the wedding service-couples can decide for themselves how they want to express their vows to each other. Another break with tradition often occurs at the weddin reception following the service, when the bride chooses to be one of the speechmakers. Taking photographs is a very important part of the wedding and couples choose a variety of backgrounds, both unusual and traditional. After the photography session, the feast, cutting of the wedding cake, speeches, and often a dance, the newlyweds depart on their honeymoon. If the couple can afford it this might be a romantic holdiday on a pacific island.

FUNERALS

The Maori believe a body should not be left on its own after death. The family will usually collect it from the undertaker and place it on the marae where it can be watched over by relatives and friends until burial. To help relieve their emotional pain, Maori will often leave the doffin open so they can touch the body and weep over it. At the funeral service, speeches are made directly to the body in the belife that the spirit does not leave the presence of the body until the burial.
Some Pakeha also bring the body home from the undertaker for two or three days before burial. Others prefer to visit the body at the mortuary in the few days leading up to the funeral. A funeral service is usually held in a church of the deceased's religious denomination or in the undertaker's chapel. Hymns are sung, prayers are offered, and eulogies are given by relatives and close friends. The body is then either cremated or buried in a graveyard, which is usually just outside the town or city.