søndag 12. mai 2013

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

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tirsdag 7. mai 2013

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)

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lørdag 19. januar 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: 
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