Australia and New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand

My research question for this topic is: How are Australia and New Zealand’s trade relationship today?

First of all I can begin with some facts about Australia and New Zealand.
Australia, or the land down under, as is also is called, is the six largest country by areal in the world. The biggest city is Sydney, but the capital is Canberra. English is the official language of Australia. The reason English is spread all the way is because of the English colonization around 1901.

New Zealand on the other hand, consists of two main islands and several smaller islands. New Zealand is also the world's most geographically isolated countries. Its nearest neighbor Australia is 2000 km away! The capital of New Zealand is Wellington.

So, to try answering my research question which I wrote in the beginning, I can first mention that Australia and New Zealand share many foreign and trade policy objectives, although there are some differences of outlook and operation. So New Zealand’s relationship with Australia is very important, it is actually the most important one for the economic, social and the security reasons. “Australia is New Zealand’s largest single market and its strongest trading relationship.  The bilateral relationship is underpinned by free movement of people between the two countries, by regular contact  at the political level, by close defense ties and b y a range of interlocking agreements."(www.nzembrassy.com)  

So to sum up,Australia is New Zealand's largest single market and its strongest trading relationship.

Sources:

 -Wikipedia, 09.05.13. Australia. www.wikipedia.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia
- New Zealand and Australia. http://www.nzembassy.com   http://www.nzembassy.com/australia/relationship-between-new-zealand-and-australia/new-zealand-and-australia 
 -Wikipedia, 04.04.13. New Zealand. www.wikipedia.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_zealand

What I think of America

This week we were given the task to write down what we think of America! First of all, I must say that the first I think about when I hear the word America is the USA, shopping and fast food.  

 Personally I think the whole imagine to America is based on the sweet-life in the USA. As a result of this, the poor and hardworking areas in the continent get forgotten from the world map. Many years ago I thought the USA was a country by itself, and this is what I mean when I say the other courtiers get forgotten. Since I have only been in a few states in the USA, it is hard for me to say something about the other countries in America, but the picture below explains the world from USA eyes! By my opinion, the world sees America on the exactly same way…

"The attitudes toward American popular culture vary dramatically by age around the world. In 19 of 20 countries, there is a double-digit difference on this question between those under age 30 and those 50 and older."(http://www.pewglobal.org)
Due to fact above, is it the young generation that develops the big demand after the USA. It is said that the USA is the best country to live in, and I think it is the young generation that is behind this claim. They seek the sweet- life in the USA which they have seen in all the thousand different television programs that shows and describes how beautiful life is in the USA. As a result of this, the demand after visiting and moving to the country increases. After my opinion, American culture has a lot impact on the great popularity of the United States. On the other hand, the USA has a lot of great education programs that are really popular around the world, and this is also something that drags all the young people to the big cities in the USA such as New York. There are thus many different reasons why the U.S. is so popular and there are many different people who are coming to America to find happiness. 

 

When poor and desperate people hear about the good opportunities in USA, many illegal immigrants travel to the country, which immediately results to bad living standard, and people begin working illegally. They often take 3D-job (dirty, dangerous and demanding) and they are often being blackmailed by the employer.  They are traveling from the ashes to the flame, hoping to make a lot of money. When things did not go after the plan, they end up as beggars on the street, and the different between rich and poor are very big and clear in America. So when people say that the U.S is the best country to live in, they are naturally talking about those who are living the sweet-life in the U.S. After my opinion, I think that for the poor people, U.S must be one of the worst countries living in.

 So to sum up, my own opinion about America is that some countries is getting forgotten from the world map, which often is the hardworking areas which suffer from poorness and maybe a lot of criminality. I also think that the U.S.A is a little bit cocky about them self. Despite this, I really liked the U.S.A when I was visiting some states last summer. The people over there are so friendly and accommodating and in addition, I really liked the climate and the shopping opportunities!

Sources:

 www.pewglobal.org June 13,2012. Global Opinion of Obama Slips, International Policies Faulted. http://www.pewglobal.org http://www.pewglobal.org/2012/06/13/chapter-2-attitudes-toward-american-culture-and-ideas/ (Downloaded 06.05.2013)

www.google.no https://www.google.no/search?q=america&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.46226182,d.bGE&biw=1092&bih=533&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=no&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=5fOJUeaYNvGN4gSHyYGQDw#um=1&hl=no&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=how+american+view+the+world+map&oq=how+american+vi&gs_l=img.3.0.0i19.2033.9294.4.10848.23.19.4.0.0.0.69.977.19.19.0...0.0...1c.1.12.img.BGek6-s2noI&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.46226182,d.bGE&fp=f51ebbe81dca3819&biw=1092&bih=533&imgrc=IK58kZ1SpmpmBM%3A%3B3rffjgsZ39DU8M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcboard.cprogramming.com%252Fattachments%252Fbrief-history-cprogramming-com%252F1974d1037718960-really-how-americans-view-world-map.gif%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fcboard.cprogramming.com%252Fbrief-history-cprogramming-com%252F28940-really-how-americans-view-world.html%3B1237%3B624 (Downloaded 07.05.2013)

Wales

Wales is a country that is a part of The United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain.
The Flag of Wales, which you can see down beneath, consists of a red dragon on a white and green field.

Cardiff is the biggest city but also the capital in Wales. However Cardiff is only the tenth biggest city in the whole UK. Wales has six cities. In addition to Cardiff, Newport and Swansea; the communities of Bangor, St Asaph and St Davids also have city status in the United Kingdom.

The form of government is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. London is the capital city. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are the four constituent countries that belongs to the UK.  The dark blue area on the map is Wales. 

Welsh language is spoken by around 562,000 speakers, and 19.7% of the population in Wales speaks Welsh, but 14.6% considering them to speak the language fluent.  

In 2011 Wales had a population around 3,063,500. Since Wales is one of the wettest countries in Europe, Whels weather is often cloudy, wet and windy with warm summers and mild winters. 

As I said before, Wales is a country which is a part of the United Kingdom. And In the House of Commons – the lower house of the UK government – Wales is represented by 40 MPs (of 650) from Welsh constituencies.
Wales is been divided into 22 council areas since 1996, for the purposes of local government. And these areas are responsible for the provision for all local government services, including education, social work, environment and road services. 

I have never been to Wales, but last summer I and my family went to England, more directly to London. That summer was my first time in the UK, and to be honest I did not have many expectations. After a day in London, I realized the main different between London and my hometown, Bergen. The people over there are so much more friendly and accommodating than I'm used to. This was something I had heard a lot about, but I never thought that the different would be that big between the people.
 We did not have many days in London, so we spent much of our time on shopping! But as a result of that I got to know the many shopping streets in London, and how many people which visit London on the same time. That number must be incredible high. Of course took we the red busses which drive us through London, and saw all the popular places, such as Big Ben, The Palace of Westminster, London Eye and the Tower Bridge. To summarize I really enjoyed London, and I’m sure that I would enjoy the rest of England and the UK as well. The city was so beautiful and I recommend everybody to visit London for shopping and sightseeing.

5 fun facts about Wales in the end:
- The letters K, Q, V and Z do not appear in the Welsh alphabet at all.
-Mount Everest was named after Welshman Sir George Everest from Gwernvale, Breconshire.
-All the statues surrounding Cardiff Castle are of animals.
-Wales is the land of mythical Kind Arthur.
-Wales is believed to have more castles per square mile than anywhere else in the world. 

My sources are: 

http://www.google.no/imgres?um=1&hl=no&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=CSRKMlf3lOOBAM:&imgrefurl=http://www.publicservices.ac.uk/index.php/findings/a-first-overview-of-programme-findings&docid=uKLFxjEVr4ri-M&imgurl=http://www.publicservices.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/researchers_map.jpg&w=982&h=1145&ei=Q2z2UPmIHNP44QS63YHoDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=706&vpy=105&dur=1175&hovh=242&hovw=208&tx=128&ty=104&sig=114131773188009956167&page=1&tbnh=143&tbnw=123&start=0&ndsp=34&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0,i:93
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Wales_2.svg
http://www.1stcontactenews.co.uk/featured-news/20-interesting-facts-wales/

Analyze of the film The Help

Film Facts:
The film title is The Help, and the film was produced in 2011. The nationality of the film is American/United States.
Name of the actors are: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Jenney, Jessica Chastain and Thomas Newman. The director of the film is Tate Taylor.

www.wikipedia.no Nov.26 2012

Genre:
I would say that the film falls under the genre drama and a little big under the historical genre.

Setting:
Setting is where and when the plot take place, and in this film the setting is in Jackson, Mississippi and it takes place in the early 1960s.
In the opening scene of the film, we are in one of the main characters house, Aibileen, where she was answering questions asked by Skeeter. She was answering questions like: Where and when was you born, did you know as a little girl growing up that you one day would become a maid, if she ever dreams about being something else, and how it feels like to raise a white child while your own child is home being looked by someone else?

Plot and Structure:
I would say that the most important sequence is when Skeeter interviews the black maids, because here we get the real information about how these maids was treated by the white ones and how the feel about the situation they are living in, and I think that is the main reason of the film, to get to know how they were treated so we can see the big different between the black ones and the white ones. 
In the beginning of the film we see a scene where Skeeter interviews Aibileen, which we also see later in the middle of the film.  So the film begins in media res, and after this scene the film is in chronological order.
The first scene in the film is some foreshadow, because in the film we wonder if the maids agreed to be interviewed by Skeeter, but since we already have been showed that Aibileen answer some of Skeeters questions, we know that at least she will be interviewed later in the film.             

Theme:
 I will say that the main them is racism, racial segregation and to be heard. One example of this is when the one white woman buys an out toilet for her black maid, because she thought that they had different diseases. Another example is when another white woman fires her maid when she catches her maid using her toilet. This theme is very similar to the theme and plot in the short story: The toilet by Gchina Mhlope. The last example is that Skeeter also wanted to help the maid being heard and hopefully end the racism and racial segregation.
 

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Help_(film)

The Midwest

It is 12 states that belong to the Midwest, and they are: 
 Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. 
















The therm Midwest has been in use since the 1880s to refer to portions of the central U.S. 
A variant term, "Middle West", has been in use since the 19th century and remains relatively common.

Chicago is the largest city in the American Midwest, and the third largest city in the entire country. 
 Illinois is the most populous of the states(12,869,257 in 2011) 
Major cities include, Chicago (Illinois), home to the 44th US President, Barack Obama, Detroit (Michigan), the automotive capital of the world and the Twin Cities: Minneapolis and St. Paul, (Minnesota). 

The people of the Midwest are often considered conservative, but also friendly and open. They are known to speak their minds when occasion calls for it. There are some nicknames for the people living in the Midwest, and some are:  yokel ,country bumpkin, hayseed, chawbacon, rube, redneck, hillbilly, and hick.
Yokel is a derogatory term referring to the stereotype of unsophisticated country people. 





Rust Belt, Bethlehem Steel, PA
Originator: Danny the MCL


The eastern part of the region used to be the industrial center of the country, the so-called “steel-belt”, but after several of the factories were closed down or relocated to other areas, the area saw large unemployment and was re-named “the rust-belt”. The situation is now improving due to the new high tech industries that are being set up.

It is no coincidence that this region is referred to as the nation’s "breadbasket", as there are so many big farms here. In Minnesota and other states west of the Mississippi, the flat prairie landscape stretches out and seems to go on indefinitely. Some of this land made for excellent farmland. 1862, millions of Europeans settled here, many Norwegians settled in places like Wisconsin, Minnesota and North and South Dakota.

 I took this pictures on my way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota this summer. There was a lot of wind mills everywhere, and large arabel fildes where they among other things cultivated as maize and wheat. It was also sunflowers as far as the eye could see.   

Sources: 
http://ndla.no/en/node/4467?fag=42&meny=2041
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokel


I found my pitures at : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Map_of_USA_Midwest.svg/350px-Map_of_USA_Midwest.svg.png 
and 
http://ndla.no/sites/default/files/imagecache/Hovedspalte/images/Bethlehem%20Steel,%20PA%20_Danny%20MCL_ccnc.jpg

Facts about USA

The United States of America. I think this is the most awesome country in the world. We all know that the capital is Washingtong D.C, and that it is here the preisident live in the White House with his family. It has recently been a new election, which Barack Hussein Obama won. The biggest city is New York, which I belive are every girls dream to visit, but California is the most populated state.

A few fun facts about the Untied States of America:
-California grows more food than any other state
-The smallest state has the longest name
-It is the coutry that produces most movies and series in the world
-The world's highest roller coasters are located in Ohio
-Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other 49 states put together

Here are some things I think about when someone says USA to me:

A lot of tall bilindings and many people every where. When I was younger I thought that everyone  who lived in USA was rich and famous.


I start to think at food, and not healthy  food, but fastfood. USA is know for the people being heavily overweight.

And in the end I think of basketball


I don't know why, but when I think about sports in USA, my mind always ends with basketball.
There are of course many more thinks I think of, but these are the first things that I get on my mind.

I found my pictures at:
Basketball:
 http://www.google.no/imgres?um=1&hl=no&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=yzwn9yn1PAj4NM:&imgrefurl=http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/spacescience/basketball/&docid=Vm4ZFhXVwJubNM&imgurl=http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/143/cache/basketball_14306_600x450.jpg&w=470&h=300&ei=HQ-gULnFDciG4gTOs4H4Cg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=157&sig=114131773188009956167&page=1&tbnh=133&tbnw=217&start=0&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:82&tx=71&ty=85
Mc'Donalds:
http://www.google.no/imgres?hl=no&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=2VPhSxLAgFOriM:&imgrefurl=http://veganlogy.com/2012/09/05/mcdonalds-worlds-pure-veg-outlet/&docid=OqQsVMIw8T8k_M&imgurl=http://veganlogy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/McDonalds-new-logo.jpg&w=900&h=870&ei=WhSgUImvLPH44QS98YGYBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=983&vpy=182&dur=391&hovh=152&hovw=157&tx=108&ty=114&sig=114131773188009956167&page=1&tbnh=138&tbnw=143&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0,i:107
New York:
http://www.google.no/imgres?num=10&hl=no&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbnid=4JqwMyX4_YuJ2M:&imgrefurl=http://www.aerialexposures.com/&docid=RIv4-9s-fX4bMM&imgurl=http://www.aerialexposures.com/320X240-1-NYC3130.jpg&w=320&h=240&ei=ABSgUJG_Iu754QT7m4HAAw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=246&sig=114131773188009956167&page=2&tbnh=144&tbnw=212&start=17&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:20,i:142&tx=126&ty=95