Tena Koutou katoa
Ko Graeme toku papa
Ko Christine toku mama
Ko Elaina ahau
No reira, Tena Koutou,
Tena Koutou, Tena Tatou
Katoa.
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Recently, I have been on a holiday in Fiji, and I am going to tell you the difference between being in Fiji at a resort, or living here in New Zealand, than actually living a proper Fijian life. I have learnt most of this in a tour that I went on, called the Shell Village Tour, where I learnt how Fijians actually live. It’s not always the relaxing sunbathing, drinking out of coconuts, and fun swimming you are expecting. In fact, it’s a lot different.
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For one thing, in the Shell Village, they do not have water in the taps the way we do. They rely on rainwater to fill up their taps, which can make life difficult for them, as it does not rain often. They also cannot bath or shower because it would waste their precious water. They would have to bathe in the ocean. Then when you are at a resort in Fiji, you would be provided with some litre bottles of water which you can refill at the bar when you need to. Also in a resort, there is water in the taps, chlorinated so you can shower in it and brush your teeth with it, but you cannot drink it, unless you want to be vomiting and feel very sick.
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At a resort in Fiji, there would be a few restaurants and bars to go to for your meals, but if you were living in the Shell Village, that would be different. You would not be able to just walk to a restaurant and order a meal like you could at a resort, you would have to make your own meal. Food in daily life for a Fijian is sometimes Indian, as some Indians live in Fiji. There would be chili peppers, bread, rice, vegetables, curries, and tea.
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Now for the school. At the Shell Village school, the field would be hard to play on, as it is not the nice lush grass that we have on our field, but it is dry and spiky grass. In the Shell Village school, there is a sign, telling the students everything they need to know about what they are supposed to be doing, with things like “Theme: Faith” written on it. There are also many signs with mottoes written on them like in front of the library “Lives Change At Library”, which is much different to what we have here, at our school.
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I think Fijians are very happy living their lifestyle in the Shell Village, as they have a nice school, good food, and usually enough water. I’m not sure if I could live with that life though - extreme heat in the summer is too much for me!
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