Drinking in Britain

What drink do you think is the most popular in Britain? Tea? Yes, but actually beer has longer history than tea and have been loved by many British people. It is said that beer and wine are the oldest alcohol and have already made in Mesopotamia civilization; however, they cannot make much wine in Britain due to climate condition; therefore, beer became very popular. After Middle Age, they even brewed beer in a monaster. People in Middle Age would often drink beer with bread to get nutrition out of beer. Cider, made by fermented apple, is also a famous alcohol beverage. Especially teenagers like to drink this because this taste is really sweet and easy to drink, but you have to be careful that this is still alcohol and not to drink too much.





Gin is not really common alcohol compared to beer, but there is an interesting fact in history over Gin. In 18th century Gin, which was poor in quality, was imported to Britain from Netherland, and it became popular and was drunk among many people. Especially those who lived in slums drank in order to prevent from coldness. As the results some people got issues, such as alcoholism, health problems, which caused a lot of troubles. Due to these incidents, the law in order to restrict Gin took effect in 1736 and 1751. This law made situation better; However, Gin abuse became serious again in 19 century. The big pub, called "Gin palace" was crowded with people who were crazy about Gin, and even kids went to the pub. Again, because of this serious situation, alcohol prohibition law was made and enforced. Queen Victoria also tackled this problem and soothed this situation.






Pub is derived from "Public House", which has been really popular among British peopele. Even small village has pubs. They talk and socialize themselves, drink, and eat so called pub menu like fish and chips. One of the funny thing about pub is its name. Probably the majorest name is "Red Lion". "King's Head" and "King's Arm" are also major ones. Some pub's names are very strange. For example, "The Bucket of Blood" and "Nobody Inn". Each name of pub has its own derivation. Pub is strongly connected with life of British people.


Reference
Deguchi, Yasuo. Kobayashi, Akio. Saitou, Takako. The 21st Century Encyclopeadia of British Culture. Tokyo: Tokyo shoseki, 2009.

Feedback toward Final Reports by Classmates

I think all of reports are nice, but especially I like reports by Azusa, Miki, and Mitsu. The thing I like about Azusa’s report is that she is comparing New Zealand English and American English. For example, “toilet” is formal word for British English; however, it’s considered too direct for American English, and I also like her structure. It’s easy to see and understand.

I also think Miki’s report is good. The pictures of endangered birds really help me and interest me. Especially, I was so surprised at Moa, which is extinct. I did not know even there was such a huge bird. Plus, I think the description of each bird is very understandable.

Although these reports I mentioned above are good, Mitsu's report would be my best. What makes his report different is that he put the index at very top, which facilitates to follow the content of the report. His description is detailed and clear, and the layout is also easy to see. Oveall his report is fantastic.

Natural Disasters in New Zealand's History

New Zealand is famous for its beautiful nature. Probably most people imagine New Zealand’s very calm and peaceful circumstances, such as beautiful mountains, Blue Ocean, blue sky, and nice weather, but it had some terrible natural disasters in history. I will introduce you the terrible natural disasters ever happened in New Zealand.

According to website, GNS science, about 10,000 to 15,000 earthquakes occurs in New Zealand each year, but most of them are too small to be felt. 100 to 150 quakes are big enough to be felt, which means only one percent of earthquake can be felt. On average, New Zealand can expect several magnitude 6 earthquakes every year, one magnitude 7 every 10 years, and a magnitude 8 every century.

Earthquake

Wairarapa Earthquake happened in 1855 close to Wellington and is known as the most powerful earthquake ever happened in New Zealand since systematic European colonization began in 1840. This earthquake altered the landscape of Wellington. Even though magnitude of earthquake was huge, only five to nine people are estimated to have died; one person is known to have died in Wellington because the city had been extensively rebuilt following the 1848 Marlborough earthquake using mainly wooden structures. The earthquake was associated with the split of about 150 km of the Wairarapa Fault.











Napier Earthquake happened in 1931 whose center is 15km north of Napier. The magnitude itself is less powerful than that of Wairarapa Earthquake, but casualties are much more than Wairarapa Earthquake. Death toll includes 161 people in Napier, 93 in Hastings, and two in Wairoa. Thousands more were injured, with over 400 hospitalised Napier and Hastings were devastated with this earthquake. The earthquake caused a dramatic landscape change around Napier. The most noticeable land change was the uplifting of the Ahuriri Lagoon. The lagoon was lifted more than 2.7 meters, which resulted in draining 2230 hectares of the lagoon. Currently there are farmland and the Hawkes Bay Airport around the area. After the earthquake, many buildings built during the 1930s and 1940s were heavily reinforced. Napier architecture is regarded today as one of the finest examples of Art Deco in New Zealand. Hastings was also rebuilt with many Art Deco and Spanish Mission style buildings.



Volcanic Eruption

The active volcanoes in New Zealand are all part of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, such as White Island, Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu. White Island is located in Bay of Plenty. This volcano is continuously active, and 70% of this volcano is under the water, which makes this is the largest volcano in New Zealand. Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu are all located in Tongariro National Park. Tongariro’s volcanic activity is currently limited to geothermal features, such as warm ground, steam and gas emissions, and hot springs. Ngauruhoe erupted last in 1975. It takes about 3-4 hour walk from Mangatepopo carpark, but since this volcano is active, you should approach the crater carefully with experienced and equipped parties.Ruapehu caused the worst damage by lahars on December24th in 1953. At this time, the train bridge was destroyed, and the train fell from the bridge, caused 151people to death. Recently it erupted on September 25th in 2007, and three people were injured.

Eruption of Mt. Tarawera in 1886 is very famous. This eruption killed over a hundred people. The volcano is surrounded by many lakes created or altered due to eruption in 1886, such as Lakes Tarawera, Rotomahana, Rerewhakaaitu, Okataina, Okareka, Tikitapu, and Rotokakahi.There used to be Pink and White Terraces located on the edges of Rotomahana near Rotorua, but hot mud, red hot boulders and huge clouds of black ash caused by eruption of Mt. Tarawera passed through Lake Rotomahana, which completely destroyed and disappear Pink and White Terraces, and buried several villages of Maori and European. This place used to be considered a natural wonder until it disappeared, and also Pink and White Terraces attracted many tourists from Europe in the early 1880s although New Zealand was not so accessible at that time. They actually could bathe in the water of Pink and White Terraces.. Interestingly on May 31 in 1886, a phantom war canoe whose outline was ghostly, appeared across the waters of Lake Tarawera in the morning mists. Strangely no one had such a canoe around the lake, and not only one witness saw that but also some other people saw the same canoe. Maori people thought that this was omen that something bad would happen. 11 days later, Tarawera erupted.

Tangiwai Railway Disaster

This event itself is not actually a natural disaster but caused by a natural disaster. On Christmas Eve in 1953, the train carrying 285 passengers crossed the bridge without knowing that the bridge was damaged due to lahars from Mt. Ruapehu and fell into the river, which led to 151 passenger's death. At that time, this tragic event was the 8th worst railway disaster in the world.







I mentioned horrible natural disasters happened in New Zealand's history, but don't worry! These disasters are pretty rare! As I said in the opening, New Zealand is really famous for its nature and nice to stay. Why don't you visit New Zealand sometime?

Treaty of Waitangi

This treaty was made on February 6th in 1840 between British and Maori in Waitangi, which is located in North Island. It is said that this treaty is the first one in New Zealand.

Why Was it Needed?

By 1839, it is believed that over 2000 pakeha lived in New Zealand. As lots of pakeha settled in New Zealand, the trouble between pakeha and Maori happened, mainly over trading. British government thought some kind of treaty was needed to prevent from false trading done by Maori, and they also wanted to protect the interest for them.

What Was Agreed on That Treaty?

Maori approved to give their interest to the Britain. Instead of that, Maori was guaranteed to own capital, and they also got the citizenship as English. British first got northern part of New Zealand, then claimed South Island belonged to Britain since it was first found by Captain Cook from Britain.

Controversy

The translation from English to Maori for treaty had some mistakes. For example, there was no word for “sovereignty” in Maori; therefore, Henry Williams used the word, “kawanatanga”, but actually the word means closer to “governance”. Due to the difference of the understanding, Maori thought that all lands belong to us, meanwhile British thought that New Zealand was colony of Britain.

What Made People Go to NZ?

New Zealand is composed of a lot of different ethnic group. How did they come from? For what?

Most people came to New Zealand from Britain. They had little chance to become rich in their country, so they came to New Zealand for self-betterment.

Their voyage took about 4 months or more depending on the weather. It was very hard, and there were not enough foods and fresh water in the ship. It was very uncomfortable to be in the ship, and illness spread rapidly through the ship, which caused many children's death.

Gold rush is another reason that many people started to settle in New Zealand, especially gold rush attracted many Chinese to settle in New Zealand.

Introduction to New Zealand

As you know, New Zealand is located in southern hemisphere, and made up of several different ethnic groups. Majority is European, and the others are Asian, Polynesian, African, Maori, etc.　Maori is native settler, whose culture is distinctive.


The climate of New Zealand is warm, and there are a lot of activities to do in New Zealand, such as scuba diving, bungee jumping, and sailing.