Following directions to the Dunedin Botanic Gardens - only 3 students got lost!

Phoebe dreams about becoming an accountant

When I was young , I dreamed many kinds of jobs.

I wanted to be a doctor, a teacher, a librarian and so on.

But I decided my dream when I was student in high school.

I want to be an accountant.

5 years from now… I will be 27 years old. Oh my goodness.

I don’t want to get older. Anyway, in the future I might work at a company as an accountant. Sometimes It will be stressful and there will be a lot of responsibility. But I’m sure that I will enjoy my job.

If I get married, I will need more time for house work. Probably, My mother or my mother in law will take care or my children

-Write about your future career path and ideal job after you have left the UOLC

During the UOLC , I’m going to test a TOEIC exam. According to the result, I ‘ll decide my plan. If I get a good score, I will go back my hometown. Unless I get a bad score, then maybe I will study English more.

Once I have left the UOLC, I’m going to study my major again.

Jenna would like to own a beauty parlour

When I leave the UOLC.I will own a beauty parlor. I will choose the most popular beauty culture before I engage some beauticians. It will be a good relaxed place. I think I will be busy. But I will be happy because I like doing that. I will promote sales by advertising. Women most like going to beauty parlor. I will know many friends at my beauty parlor. I like life of freedom. When it is running normally. I will tour for a few years. When my family and friends have a birthday, I will be able to give them my beauty parlor voucher. I won’t spend choosing presents. When I feel tied, I will have a massage at my beauty parlor. I will take good care of my skills and health.

Steven and his parents have different ideas about his future career

My parents really hope I will be a doctor. That is a great job because it is well- paid, secure, and requires people skills. It is also a hard career. You need responsibility to care about patients, and it is very stressful. Doctors need a high degree on their life. People usually want to be a doctor but they always fail. The study is full of challenges. The University of Otago is the best school to study Health Science, so my parents hope I study hard.

In fact, I do not want to be a doctor. I think that is so boring! It also gives me much stress and competition. It will make me crazy. I prefer fashion designer to doctor. When I was 15 years old, I liked fashion. The designer plans thousands and thousands of clothes and shows. That is amazing beautiful. Indeed, I want to design wedding clothes. I dream I will stand on the stage and show thousands of people my clothes one day. It will be come true.

Now, I have to study English first. After that, I will go to Foundation Year. So that is a long time to decide which subject I can learn.

Jamie would like to be a tour guide

What do I want to do when I finish university? Some people want to be a doctor. Some people want to be a basketball player because they are good at sport. Some people want to be a teacher because they like teaching children. I want to be a tourist guide in my country, because I love traveling very much.

I hope my dream come true. In the next 5 years, I am going to study commerce at university, firstly I have to study hard in the language center and pass the exam to Foundation Year this year and I will try my best to pass it in 2011. Then I am going to study at university in 2012, if the world destroyed, I will stay with my family and not need to study. If everything is ok, I won’t waste any time, I will cherish life. I am going to spend 4 years to study management because my father is hoping i to become a manager. After university, I will do something that I want to do. Like go back to my hometown to be a tourist guide.

I hope I can be a good tourist guide, I want to show more and more tourists my city’s culture and views. I know I have to be very well-organised and have very good people skills. I will try my best to do everything and focus on details. Tourist guide is not only a career but also a good chance to communicate with people. I will bring my happy feeling to every tourist.

This is my future and my ideal job.

Fayez is planning to do a master's in HR management

Many people have wanted to achieve their ambition, so they have to work hard and strive. Therefore dreams will come true.

In the beginning I would like to inform you that I’m going to do a master’s degree in HR management. I will study hard until I pass an IELTS exam. If I don’t, I will change my program to English for Otago, it could be a good opportunity to go to university. After that, once I get a master’s, I will try to get a Phd. at same section.

When I come back to my lovely city, I will try to find a good, comfortable job at the most popular company in my country, Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil and Refining Company, because they well paid, they provide a lot of courses, they have a promotion system and there are a lots of opportunities to travel abroad.

Finally, I’m really like to be Human Resource Director, but I can’t predict what I will do in the future.

Mariam would like to be a pharmacist

In the future I will finish my study at university. I think In the future I will be very different before now. I will be more responsible, patient and perceptive. Probably I will be living in a flat or house and definitely I will be able to drive car.

My future career will be pharmacist, God willing. I think it will be a nice job and you will learn people skills. I will be able to work with many kind of people, and that's exciting. Also, It is well- paid. I think it will be a secure job for me.

Zainab would like to study interior design

After I finish my study at a UOLC I’m going to Foundation Year, then I will

study interior design at university. I choose this subject because I found it suits my personality and I’m interested in design. Also I like colors, I like how I can mix them up and create something new.

When I finish my university study in five years, I think I’ll continue my study and get a master’s degree, or I will find a good job to work in a designer.

If I want to do this job I have to be creative. I would like to work with an architect in a big company, in any country, not necessarily in Saudi Arabia.

Tim has a lot of goals for his life

In the next five years, I should finish my studies. I will spend a whole lot of time on my studies until I graduate from university. Maybe, it will take me 3 or 4 years. In the last year, I will train to be a teacher. Indeed, I will study business in university, but I won’t be a businessman straight away. I will enjoy at most two years to teach knowledge to children in high school. It will be a huge achievement in my life that I can achieve. Of course, to be a teacher is one of my dreams.

After finishing my teaching, I will make a company as a businessman to earn money for my other dreams. For example, I will go to the South Pole if I have money that I earn by myself. I will have the experience of people skills because I will teach for two years. I will be able to run the company easier than if I had had that experience. This is a plan about my life.

Andy wants to go to the University of Otago

Everyone knows that different people have different dreams. So as for me, I have my own dream which is to be a student of University of Otago in five years. Even if it is difficult for me, and then, my ideal job is to be a successful businessman.

You know, my English is very bad so the first thing I should do is learn English better. Whenever and wherever it is important to learn English well because you will use it at anytime, so from now my plan is passing the English test and go into the University of Otago

In addition, the next thing I want to say is that I want to be a successful businessman .In fact ,earning more money is not what I need , on the other hand, I just want to learn more experience through doing my work and then I will give my money to some people who need help or who are very poor . This is what I want to do.

Shinsuke wants to travel before he starts a career

I am writing about my future 5 years from now. I hope that I will have been a teacher at elementary school or I will have gone to somewhere abroad. Before I become a teacher, I am planning to go to England and America for several years as soon as possible. I want to meet people in many countries. However, there is a problem, which is that I do not have enough time and money because I am a student and I have to study at university in Japan. So I need to work to earn enough money to go abroad while I am a student. I do not know whether I can do it or not. I also think that I can stay there for no more than a year, but I will try to do it.

In fact, going abroad itself is not necessary to be a teacher. While I am abroad, my classmates at university will be studying for an exam to be a teacher in Japan. They could say that I must study for the exam, but I do not think so. I can be a teacher until I am 35 years old, but I will not be able to go abroad if I become a teacher as soon as I graduate.

Ayana wouldn't mind a job which uses English

Someday, I want to get married with someone. I want to be a wife. But before I get married, I will probably get a job. I’m studying English now. So I would like to get a job which uses English. I also want get married with a man who is from another country. I may have children. I will make meals for them. So I am planning to learn cooking. But, I don’t know and understand in the future. I just want live now!!! I don’t want to think about the future. Because I don’t know when I die. Maybe tomorrow?? Maybe next week??? So I just want to arrive now. And my dream is to spend an ordinary life. I also want to do a lot of things which I can do now.

Kayo is thinking about becoming a flight attendant

I’m thinking about my future 5 years from now. I think I will probably become a stewardess in the future, but I can’t speak English very well therefore I must study hard by myself in here. Actually, I always use Japanese after school with my friends I think the most important things is speaking English for me. I have to speak English with Kiwi people. Fortunately, I have a lot of kiwi friends so I’m trying to talk each other with some kiwi friend after school. When I was a high school student, I want to become a teacher because I really like children, but I couldn’t go to an educational school. This dream was until I was high school student. Then I take economics at university in Japan. When I was second year at university, I changed my plan. This story is until now.

Anyway I just have to study hard in here and I can be successful in the future. This is my future career path and ideal job plan.

Song Loc would like to become a manager

My father decided that I should become a businesswoman because my father has a company in Vietnam. He wants me to go back to Vietnam and help him to work after I finish studying but I don’t like that. I think I would like a job like a manager. I can study mathematics very well. I’ll study management when I go to university. I also really like to cook. When I was a child, my dream was to become a chef but I thought because I was a girl, I didn’t want to work in a kitchen.

I think I’ll to back to Vietnam when I finish studying. I will buy a restaurant and manage it. If I live in New Zealand and get married I’ll be a manager in a supermarket or a restaurant.

I am studying at the UOLC. I think I should try to study well. It’ll be helpful to me when I study at university.

Jerry comes from a famous medical family

I am a current student in Otago University Language Center. This course could offer me a pathway to Otago University. Because i want to study Health Science First Year in the university then aiming to the medical school here. I understand this could be a very hard job for me, however if you never try then you will not able to achieve your dream. Because i comes from a medical family in China. My grandfather was a famous doctor in local hometown, due to this family pressure i will do my best in university. I hope i could run my own medical clinic in New Zealand after my graduation in university. In my further future, i wish my clinic and myself could give more people better health and life.

Economics and a career in banking is Keita's career plan

At first, I want to guess what I will be doing 5 years from now. Maybe I will work for a bank in my country. But it is really difficult to choose a job in Japan, because nowadays, there has been being a recession around the world, so I suppose if I have no qualification when I’m looking for a job, I won’t get the job I want. I have got a qualification about related bank work. But I guess it is not enough for finding a job. So I will study about economics to improve my skill in my Japanese university after I will go back to my home country. Though recently, the TOEIC test is very important to find, I will study English as well as economics. Finally, if could choose working for company or not working, I will choose not working, because I hope to keep the present lifestyle forever. But I realize that I have to work for myself and family, so maybe I will seriously look for a job.

Saho is keen to become a Japanese language teacher

After I have left the UOLC, I have to continue my university studies in
Japan. After I graduate from my university, I’ll get a job. I need a lot of money, because I’d like to study abroad in a foreign country. My dream is to be a Japanese language teacher for
foreigners. I have to learn about many things. I need some knowledge of the
education. It is so difficult how to teach Japanese for students. I am so
ashamed to say that I don’t know much about my country’s history, culture, people, language and so on. First I should learn about my country again. If I don’t do it, I won’t be able to explain about Japan. There is no specific qualification to be a Japanese teacher, but maybe I
’ll try to get some qualifications. For example, TOEIC, some language certificates and the teacher’s certificate. I have already got some qualifications, but it is not
enough. So far I have met some Japanese language teachers. Also I’ll visit a Japanese language teacher at the University of Otago. Then I’ll be able to ask about her job. It is such a good experience for me. Now I’m nineteen years old, so I have some opportunities of doing a lot of things!

Tony is aiming for a double career

I am Tony and I am a student now, if some people ask me what career I want to do in 5 years. I think I will tell them I want to be an engineer or a businessman. Do you know why I want to be an engineer? Because I was an engineer years ago and I looked after a lot of cars for almost 4 years. The other reason why I also want to be a businessman in the future is because I know I won’t like doing the same job all my life, so I also want to be a businessman.

In 2009, I decided to study at school again, so the story about me starts in 2009 in NZ. When it comes to education, I think the majority of people believe that education is a lifetime study, because I saw a lot of older people also study here. I am going to study a NZ diploma in business when I finish my language at the language centre. Maybe I will be doing the both jobs in 5 years.

Noha has had an extensive working life so far and more is to come!

Today I would like to write about my plan for the future.
My writing will be in two parts, the first one will talk about my education and courses, and the other one will be about my ambitions.

Let's get under way. I've got a Bachelor's degree in microbiology with a good score. After that I trained as a lab technician for four months at Maternity and Kids Hospital - Government Hospital - and also I've got a training certificate, also at the same hospital I attended short course about blood disease.
Next, my last job was a teacher. I taught at the primary school, but I really hated this job, in that I couldn't connect with the children very well.This is my achievement.

Let's move to another section. This year I hope to complete my study at the language centre. Before that, I would like to get IELTS exam at the end of July, and I wish to get a high score.Once I finish IELTS, I will go to the university next year. I'm planning to do a Master's degree at the laboratory. When I get it, I'm going to get special training and qualification at any hospital to improve my skills, because I'm looking to work there. I'm really into work with small things you can't see like Bacteria.

Finally, as soon as I go come back to my country I will search for a good and comfortable job at big hospitals or at laboratories at King Abdul Aziz University.This is my ambition.

Phoebe admires a physicist

I admire Stephen William Hawking.

*Brief biographical details

He was born on 8^th January 1942 in Oxford, England.

He graduated the University of Oxford in 1962 and he studied physical science at the University of Cambridge.

He has had ‘Lou Gehrig’s Disease’ since 1963 and the doctor diagnosed he would live only 1~2 years.

He started studying astrophysics and setup many new theories.

*The person’s achievements

He discovered that black holes should not be completely black, but should emit radiation and eventually evaporate and disappear.

He has twelve honorary degrees and he is the recipient of many awards.

And he was published many books.

*The kind of person he is

He is a physicist. So I think he is a clear-thinking person and he has talent .

*why you particularly admire him

He has never given up and has never lost courage although he has a bad disease . And finally he succeeded his part.

So I respect and admire him. I will make an effort to achieve my dreams like him.

Does Faisal look like his brother? what do you think?

Most people have families and everyone in the family has different personalities from each other, in this topic I will tell you about my middle brother, his name’s Fahad. He has a good personality and also has good achievements for study and sport, but in this point, I’m completely different from my brother about many things, for example, sports, He likes football so much but I do not like it, and I like taekondw but he is not interested in it, However, he looks like my grandfather but my looking like my uncle. People say he likes a funny person and friendly.

He studied with me a similar at university but a different manager degree, by coincidence, my friend said to me I met your brother he had not met him before! I asked him how, he told me: I knew him because he looks like your smile.

Zainab's teacher trusted her

When I was about ten years old, I used to go to my school on foot. One day when I was walking in the morning, I saw a girl in the street. She was standing in the corner of a building beside the school, I didn’t know what was she doing!! I left her and continued on my way to school. After three classes, in the break, a teacher came to me and start talking, she asked me: did you come to school on foot? I said: yes she asked me: did you throw the garbage in front of the school?

I was surprised when she asked me and I said: no not me, and I started crying, and I didn’t now what to do. She took me to her office and told me that Sara that girl I saw her beside the school told her I threw the garbage, and I told her that when I came to school I saw her in the corner of the school but I didn’t now what was she doing. Then the teacher was kind with me and told me: I thought sara threw it, sorry about that, and I will tell her mum about that.

After that I hate that girl, and I was happy because the teacher believe me. That girl is bad and malicious.

Song Loc admires someone who puts his family first

When I was 18 years old, I met a friend. His name is Long. Nowadays, he is my boyfriend. Long is from a rich family in Ho Chi Minh City. He has a younger sister. His father is a businessman and his mum is a housewife. He studies well. When he studied at high school, he was a good student of chemistry.

After he finished year 11 in Vietnam, he came to New Zealand. He has been studying at university. He cooks very well. He can cook many Vietnamese foods. I think he could look after himself when he left his family. He has a difficult nature but he is very friendly, he talks so much. I remember when I met him. He talked with me about his family all the time. I really like to talk with him but sometimes he is like my teacher.

Long told me " I will try to work hard and will make a lot of money because I have a sister, she is very young. I think I’ll do something that is helpful to her" I saw he loved his sister so much. I believed and thought he can do anything that he said.

Fayez admires a man with strong principles

He was born in Makkah {Saudi Arabia} in 1952, he completed primary and high schools in his home country. After that he's been to India to get diploma in accounting, then he's been to Pakistan and he's got a Bachelor’s also in accounting. He has been working as an accountant at Saudi Arabian airlines since 1977. He has been married for 39 years.

Achievements: • In 1990, he began his own business with a small shop selling different types of fabrics, it was considered a high quality shop and very expensive in those days. Now this small shop has become a big company to import & export fabrics in my city. • From 2005 to 2008, he participated in the National Products Gallery and sponsors classified as fifteenth at the retailer’s section.

The person I admire is my father, he’s a kind man who is always welcoming, easy going, patient and at the same time he’s got very strong principles, especially with bringing up children and education. For example, every day neighbors come his house to have a cup of tea and sometimes to have dinner. In addition, he likes family meeting and I think a lot of family parties are happened at his house. Finally, related to the above mentioned reasons I admire my father, and I'm really missing my parents.

Zainab's hometown is a port

My city in the Middle East, in the Arabian gulf, it is near the border with Kuwait and Iraq. In my city we have seaport. We have in my city lots of sandy beaches, lots of shopping malls, street markets and many different kinds of restaurants like we have Indian restaurant, Italian restaurant and much more.

My city is a little bit crowded, it is busier in the weekend than in the normal days. My favourite places are beaches, I lke to go there to relax and forgot all the bad things and of course I’m in love with shopping malls, I always go there to by clothes and shoes.

There are a lot of things that changed now, like the traffic. There is much more traffic than before, because of that we have many accidents and many people died, this is bad thing. But also we have a good thing which is the shopping malls, now we have lots and lots malls.

Jamie admires Yao MIng

Do you know who I admire? That’s Yao Ming. He is the tallest man of Chinese basketball players. Yao was born in Shanghai, on 12^th September 1980. Yao is a famous sport star. He looks like very tall and strong. He is dream of many Chinese and he is also the first successful player who joined the NBA to play basketball.

Yao started playing basketball for the Shanghai Sharks as a teenager. He won a championship in his final year. He entered the NBA, and selected by the Houston Rockets.

The reasons why I admire him are that he is hardworking, kind and patriotic. Firstly, Yao was not good as others in NBA but he worked hard to improve himself. Now he is much stronger than before. Yao is also studying English in his free time. He has a private English lessons which improve his listening and speaking. You know, secondly, Yao is a “Charity Angle” who donated money to the “HOPE PROJECT” to help children in poor areas. A powerful 7.8 earthquake hit Sichuan in the southwest province of China, at least 30 thousand people were killed. Yao donated $100 million to people in the earthquake. Thirdly, from many years ago to now, the relationship between China and Japan is a sensitive topic all the time. A Japanese car company wanted Yao to accept a car advertisement. They would give Yao $20 million dollars. Yao just said “NO” and for no reason.

That's why I admire him so much and I dream to be a great person just like him. He is proud of China.

Zainab misses her mum's cooking

My mom was born in the 1960s, she has got fair skin, she got married when she was 14 years old, and she had her first child which is my older brother after one year of marriage, and now she has three sons and four daughters including me.

She is very good at cooking, I’m in love with her dishes, and I miss them very much L, every day when I call her she tells me that she will makes for me what ever I want from her dishes, I’m looking forward to this day. I learn every thing from her, she teaches me how to cook, how to be polite with people, how to be honest, and to never ever lie.

She always prays for me, and always gives me support for my study. She also makes me excited to study and get what ever I want. I admire her because she teaches me every thing, and she gives me all the things that I need, I can’t live with out her, I love her much more than you can imagine.

Mariam admires her country's leader

Sheikh Jabir was the Prince of Kuwait. He ruled Kuwait for 25 years from 1997 until his death 2006. He was the third son of his family. His father was the Prince of Kuwait from 1920 until 1950. Sheikh Jabir was born in Kuwait in 1927. He grew up in Area called Sharg it lies in Kuwait city. He started his early school at Al-Muabarkya School and Al-Sharqeya School. The first job for ! him was the Minister of Finance and Economy. In 1977 he became the Prince of Kuwait after his uncle died. I admire Sheikh Jabir very much because he was very kind, jental, humble ,always happy and smiling. He was the person who helped Kuwait to be free when Iraq attacked Kuwait in 1990. He went to the U.N. and make a speech that moved the world. On 15/1/2006 Sheikh Jabir died. When he died all of Kuwait was sad. I will never forget him and I always will remember him.

Steven admires his father, who loves books

My father was born in Beijing. Now he is 46 years old. And he was an engineer. My father’s family was very poor when he was child. It was a big family because it was make up of five girls and a boy. That boy was my father, and he always ate less because only he was the only boy. And my grandmother told me my father often borrowed books from neighbour or he found newspaper in a rubbish bin. It was a difficult life.

When I was a child, my father always went out. I always asked my mother where my father was going to, my mother gave me the same answer every time, she said he made money for you. At that time, I really did not understand my mother what she said because my family was not poor and not rich. I just thought that was joke.

When I decided I would go to New Zealand for university, my father spent a lot of time on me. And he told me he made money in order to for me to have a good future. Until I came here, I knew it was very difficult to make money. You had to do something that you did not want to do for your boss, you had to solve some problems between the workmates and yourself.

My father is a very facetious person. He spends a lot of time to read all kinds of books. He usually tells me about many different cultures or interesting things from books. I want to be a man like my father.

Tim admires Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan was born in 1954. His original name is Chan Kong-sang, it means he was born in Hong Kong.

His parents lived in Hong Kong, to work for the French Consulate. Since his parents worked for the French Consulate in Hong Kong, Chan spent his childhood on the consul's residence in the Victoria Peak District.

In 1960, his father immigrated to Canberra, Australia, to work as the head cook for the American Embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School, to learn by Master Yu Jim. Chan trained hard for the next decade, to become good at martial arts and acrobatics. Eventually, he became part of the Seven Little Fortunes. It was the beginning of his career.

Jackie achieved his first huge success when he starred with Chris Tucker in the 1998 cop action comedy Rush Hour, grossing $130 million in the United States. This film made a star of action in Hollywood.

Shinsuke is inspired by a funny childhood friend

There is nobody I admire right now. I don’t know the reason, but it is true. I never think that someone is an especially great person for me. On the other hand, everyone inspires me. There are many people I could admire. For example, my friends, my parents, my grandparents, my younger brother, my cousins and my teachers, I can’t count them. Each of them has no less than one good thing, and also has no less than one bad thing. That’s why that I think everyone inspire me.

So this topic is difficult for me, but now, I am writing about a person who is one of my friends and I met him when we were children, who were 7 or 8 years old then. He was born on tenth October 1990, in Kasugai where is the same as me. After we start going to elementary school, we became friends soon. He is honest, kind and very funny!!!! I think he is the funniest person of all the people I have ever met. So most people like him, I also admire his character very much, but unfortunately most of girls haven’t loved him because his jokes are a little bit dirty and he is very shy in front of girls!!!! I hope more girls realize that he has a good character.

Shinsuke says Toyota is a place

I am writing about my hometown, Kasugai, in Aichi. It is a big city, but it is not as crowded as Tokyo. I think it is the third biggest city in Japan. Of course, the biggest one is Tokyo and the second one is Osaka. Aichi is famous for TOYOTA, that is a car company. It comes from the name of an industrial city in Aichi.

There are no beautiful beaches, no famous buildings and not so many shops, but they are not bad. I like Aichi very much because it is not noisier than Tokyo and more peaceful. I haven’t felt inconvenience. It is comfortable to live there.

In Kasugai, there is a small mountain near my house. It is much smaller than Mt. Fuji, but I prefer the small one. It makes me relaxed. I used to go there for many times when I was child. I don’t know its name even now, but I miss it now.

Phoebe talks about the past and present in Korea

In my country, Korea, the traffic is much worse than before.

There are many cars in a road and highway. Many people die and get injured because of car accidents. Also in korea the shops and high buildings are much better than before. The highest building has 63 floors.

My city is Chinju. Chinju is located south of Seoul, and near Pusan which is second biggest city in Korea. Chinju is on the ‘South River’. It has a big dam and fortress. Many tourists visit to see them. In October, a festival of light is held. A citizens make a light, a lamp with paper written with their hopes on it. And they float them on the river. The people enjoy a night market and wish their hopes. Chinju is a educational city similar to Dunedin. There are five universities in my city and many students live in the city. So sometimes it is noisy around universities. But It has more clean air and water than Seoul.

You should go to ‘Chinju fortress’ before you die ^^

Jenna says Yantai has some beautiful beaches

I am from Yantai in China. My city has a population of about 6,470,000. The location of this city is in the east of China. My city is famous for many things. The weather is great and there are four distinctive seasons. My city has some beautiful beaches. There are very clean. People like swimming in the sea. Some people swimming in the winter. There is famous for seafood. It is delicious. There is a lot of fruit. Apples and cherries are the favourite fruit of people in my city. My city has more storied buildings than before. The historic buildings are popular with tourists. There are some spectacular mountains. In their free time, some people like going for mountain climbing. A part of people usually go for a walk for about two hours. But a part of people spend all day at the mountain. They go for a walk with food. It is fresh on the mountain. Some people like shopping. My city has some fashionable shopping malls. We like clothes which we can buy on these shopping malls. I spend all day for shopping without getting tired.

Two rivers flow through Tim's hometown

My hometown is a historical city called Yangzhou. It is located in the southeast of my country and south of Shanghai. It has a population of at least 5,000,000. It was one of the richest cities nearly 600 years ago, but now there are many cities which are much richer. It won a prize for the best living environment for humans from the United Nations.

The Jinghang River and Long River flow through my city. Over time, because of the rivers, the place has rapidly developed from a small town into a thriving city. So it has a large population and is very noisy. My city was described by a lot of poem, I think it’s a romantic city.

For me, the best thing is that my city is very near some lakes. There is beautiful scenery at the city edge, and is the visitors’ favourite place. Many poems mention these lakes, so they are famous in China.

Steven says there's heaps to see in Beijing

Hello! I am from Beijing. Beijing is the capital of China. It is located in the north of China. It is about 14,000,000 km from New Zealand. It is near the border with four provinces. Do you know the 2008 Olympics Games? It was held in Beijing.

However, there are many changes in Beijing. More and more industrial areas were set up so that a lot of pollution was there. Beijing has its own customs, such as the Beijing dialect, the Beijing opera and so on. The most important festival is Spring Festival. Thousand and thousands of people celebrate it. There are many trains linked the whole city, and many shopping malls in Beijing. It is so busy!

Beijing is a cosmopolitan city because many fashion designers come there. And Beijing has a long history. It is about 4000 years. And so much heritages in Beijing, like Tian’an Men Square, the Great Wall, the Summer Palace etc.

Now, Beijing has more traffic jams than before. It is larger than before, because the government expanded the area for build factories. It is busier than 10 years ago. Too many high buildings were built in the city centre. Beijing is a modern city in China.

I am studying in New Zealand, I am planning to go back to Beijing when after I finish university. So I will study hard in order to go back as quickly as possible. I like Beijing!

Song Loc was born in Ho Chi Minh City

I want to tell you about Ho Chi Minh City. It’s the biggest city in the south of Viet Nam. It’s above my City, where I was born. Ho Chi Minh City hasn’t got many rivers, but it has a big harbour because Ho Chi Minh City has a great business centre. Near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam has an underground system of tunnels. The Vietnamese built it in 1948 when Vietnam fought with France. Its name is Cu Chi. It is about 200km.

Ho Chi Minh City has a lot of markets. It attracts many tourists. In the centre, you can buy something at a shopping centre and walk around buildings. You can see people street venders.

Ho Chi Minh is a busy and noisy city. But it is exciting for everyone in Vietnam because they can study or work very well there. It is the most popular city.

I think Ho Chi Minh City is a good city for people who want to make a lot of money and like noise. I hope you will travel to Ho Chi Minh City when you come to Vietnam.

Jamie's lovely hometown

My hometown is Nanjing. It’s in the south of China. It’s capital of Jiangsu Province. As the capital city of ten dynasties in Chinese history, it’s referred to as one of the “Four Ancient Capitals” in China. Nanjing is a modern and busy city. It has a long history. There are many big supermarkets, beautiful gardens and good factories here. It is very easy to go shopping. You can see big trees and nice flowers. There are many restaurants in the city center . Many visitors come here to enjoy it. My hometown is a historical place. Famous for a long history, people come here to visit the Confucius Temple. This temple shows us the ancient Chinese exam system and now many people come here to express Confucius. My favourite place is XuanWu Lake. Everything here is full of mystery and it’s a romantic place for young people dating. There are many trees surrounding the lake. It suits the city’s style. You can walk with your lover around the lake. There’re a lot of changes in recent years in Nanjing. Three years ago, Nanjing was a very dirty and crowed place. It was a mess and many traffic jams everyday. Now, the Nanjing city council to built underground system. Last month, a new underground was built. It’s a very nice and fast way to go to work, school or go shopping. There are many gardens and free equipment for people to do exercise. Every morning I get up and I go out jogging, there are lots of flowers and plants. Nanjing is a good place to visit, it is both a historical place and a modern city.