About New Zealand
New Zealand is located in the southern hemisphere, southeast
of Australia. It is a predominantly rural country composed of two main
islands: the north island, which is home to New Zealand’s largest city,
Auckland, and capital, Wellington, and the south island with its
dramatic alpine scenery. While most of its 3,600,000 inhabitants live in
cities, New Zealand is truly an outdoor lover’s paradise. Its compact
geography has allowed it to develop into one of the world’s leading
destinations for ecotourism. Bungy jumping, rafting, kayaking, caving,
scuba diving, paragliding, innertubing, fly fishing, hiking, and
mountaineering are popular pastimes and are readily available to the
eco-adventurer. New Zealand is a member of the Commonwealth and a
parliamentary democracy. The United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II is the
head of state, and the head of government is a leader of the majority
party. Cabinet members are chosen by the parliament. Agricultural
products such as lamb, beef, venison, fish, milk, cheese, berries,
honey, apples, kiwifruit, wool, flowers, and wine account for more than
half of its exports. Mining and forestry are also significant industries
in New Zealand, and tourism is now the single largest earner of foreign
currency. The Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, have a rich
oral tradition of creation legends and adventure stories. Many of the
country’s prominent artists use Maori motifs and symbolism in their art,
and the traditional Maori dance, haka taprahi, is performed to great
effect before international rugby matches involving the popular national
team, All Blacks. The Academy Award-winning film, The Piano, and the
internationally acclaimed film, Once We Were Warriors, both had Maori
themes. However, the blockbuster Lord of the Rings trilogy, filmed on
location throughout New Zealand and directed by Peter Jackson, are
probably the films familiar to most Americans. New Zealand is known for
its ceramics and hosts the annual competition for the Fletcher Challenge
Ceramics Award.
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New
Zealand
Educational System
Education in New Zealand tends to be more specialized, and students
usually concentrate on one or two subject areas. Generally speaking,
there is less inter-disciplinary coursework than you find in the U.S.
system. The typical New Zealand student may take straight business and
management courses while you might want to take business, psychology,
political science, and physical education. As an exchange student, some
of the restrictions limiting course selection across disciplines may be
eased so you can choose courses from a variety of subject areas.
University education is usually comprised of lectures and smaller group
tutorials that highlight certain aspects of a subject while students are
expected to use independent reading and research to explore the broader
elements. Fieldwork may also be an integral component to some courses.
There is greater emphasis placed on final exams, presentations, and
papers than in the U.S. Reading assignments are often extensive and
professors may assume that, in addition to your assigned reading, you
are reading widely on your own to further learn the subject matter. You
will be expected to present well-argued papers and presentations. Weekly
quizzes, monthly tests, and regularly scheduled graded assignments may
be nonexistent. Thus, your final grade may come down to how well you did
on your papers, class presentations, and final exam. courses and they
would be entering these courses mid-term.
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