New Zealand and Australia

New Zealand and Australia

Australia is a country in Oceania situated south of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The country is the worlds 6. largest on the basis of surface area and there are 21,3 million inhabitants settled there. The name "Australia" is derived from the Latin word "Australis", meaning "southern". People associate the country with kangaroos, the Great Barrier Reef and their wild nature. The indigenous people from Australia is named Aboriginals.

New Zealand is an independent state in the south-west of the pacific ocean. The Maoris called the country for Aotearoa, which mens "The long white clouds land". The Maoris are the indigenous people from New Zealand. The capital of New Zealand is Wellington. Most people associate the country with hunting, kiwi birds, their landscape, lakes and animals. Their landscape is similar to the Norwegian landscape.

During the first world war, there was a division called "The New Zealand and Australian Division". This was created  under the battle of Gallipoli in 1915. At the commencement of the was, New Zealand did not have enough infantry battalions to be able to form their own division, while Australia did not have enough to form a second division, so the countries separate brigades were set together. After Gallipoli, the Australian 4th brigade were transferred to" the newly formed Australian 4th division", while New Zealand formed their own division, "the New Zealand Division".

Both nations adhere to secular common law legal systems acknowledging the rule of law; and the
separation of powers.

Politically the two countries have got a good relationship, but the relationship between the individuals are a little bit more tense. It is like the relationship between Norway and Sweden. A Norwegian would have been offended if someone had thought that he or her was Swedish  The people are not suppressing each other, men they are laughing of each other, such as we make fun of Swedes by telling Swedish jokes.

What I think of America

WHAT I THINK OF AMERICA..

I have earlier written a little about America in general but in this post, I will focus on what I think of the country.

Almost every individual have different opinions about the USA. Starting with agreeing or disagreeing with their politics, their way to handle crises, economy and other huge and important things. I can confess that I have never been interested in neither of the cases. I think it is hard to write about what I think (or even think about what I think) about the whole continent because it is so big. Also, I think about the 50 United States of America when I think about the country, not the whole continent.

Anyway, there are different things I think of when I hear the word "America". The first is the famous singer and entertainer Justin Bieber. He is from Canada which is another country but is now living in America. He was also discovered in America.

I don´t associate Justin with America just because I like him, but because his name is a very global name that people talk about. But Justin Bieber is not the only musician from America. Different other singers like Eminem, 50 Cent, Rihanna, Beyonce, Chris Brown and further are popular singers from America today. We have also been globally influenced by the music from the states. Country, rap, and blues are music genres that we can relate to the great country.


Beside music, the Statue of Liberty is one of the things I associate with America. The statue is a symbol for peace, and I have seen it in many contexts since I was a little girl. The statue is placed in the mouth of the Hudson River, in the harbor of New York.

New York is one of my favorite places in America as well as California. I have never been to the states, but I am dreaming to go there. In New York I can imagine lots of people, extreme shopping possibilities and cosy cafe visits. Times square is a world famous area in Manhattan, New York. This is the only neighborhood in the city prohibiting tenants to install exterior neon advertisements, which made ​​the place into a spectacular icon for the city of New York years ago. This is also the place to be at New Year´s Eve.

I associate America as the country of possibilities. It is known for it´s large film industry and most of the worlds biggest superstars was discovered here. Such as Sylvester Stallone, Julia Roberts, Kevin Costner, Orlando Bloom and Leonardo DiCaprio. In Los Angeles, California, there is a district named Hollywood. This place has since the early 1900s played a key role in the film productions, partly because of the favorable light conditions, better weather and a more varied landscape than New York. Many people move to the USA to live "the American dream".


As you can see, there are lots of things that comes to mind while thinking of America. Some other things than already mentioned are american football, fast food, hamburgeres, obese people, skateboarding, celebrities, shopping, relaxing and nice weather. I can only think of beautiful things when dreaming of the country, and I think this is because it´s huge influence on the world.

Furthermore, I associate both President Barack Obama and earlier presidents with America. Obama was actually the US´s first black president. I think this is amazing after so many years of racial segregation (also known as Apartheid). This went on from the early years of the USA´s history until late in the1900´s. America was also implicated in world war 2, which lasted from 1939-1945. They played a big role in the war and wound up ending it by bombing Japan with the first atom bombs.

Last but not least I will mention technology. America is one of the top greatest countries when it comes to the development of technology. They have brought Apple products to the marked which is in my opinion the best thing ever made within this topic. They have sold it through the globalisation and when we asked my class at school who owned a Apple product, 25-30 people  said that they did.

If it was not for the technology, the globalisation and science, I would not had been able to write this blogpost at my Apple MacBook Pro right now. I have also come to the conclusion that I like America, and I love the USA.

- Ingeborg