Houses in NZ

Houses are very important for us, because we live in our house and we go back home everyday, so they ought to be comfortable for us. This paper researched houses of Auckland and Kumamoto. There are some differences between houses in Auckland and houses in Kumamoto. Those differences are due to climate, customs and so on.

In Auckland houses, are there many rooms? Are the houses cold in winter? What should people do when they take a shower in Auckland? There are many things that we should know about Auckland’s houses. To answer these, questionnaire was taken of 24 students about their host family’s homes.

Section 2 of this paper will show about houses in Kumamoto, concentrating on new things about Japanese-style houses. What do people usually have in Japanese-style houses? What do people usually do in Japanese-style houses? Section 3 will talk about homes in New Zealand. Finally, this paper will discuss differences and similarities of houses in Auckland and Kumamoto.


First, most Japanese-style houses have tatamis. They are Japanese-style mat which are made of straw. Because of tatami, we don’t feel cold in winter, and we don’t feel hot in summer. People feel comfortable by tatamis. Tatamis can also be a measure of area in a room. We can know how large a room is easily. These are good points of tatami. One bad point of tatami though, is that straw can get on people’s clothes when they sit down on the old tatami.

Some Japanese houses have a kotatsu (a low, covered table with a heat source underneath) in winter. It makes us warm, so many people like it even cats in Kumamoto. But some people don’t like it, because it is too warm and comfortable, so they feel sleepy, then they sleep in the kotatsu. If you have to do some things, you should not enter it.

All people sleep in beds in Auckland, but some people sleep in futon in Kumamoto. They have to put futon down on a floor every night, and they have to put away it every morning. Futons are healthier than beds, because beds are too soft for people, so it is bad for their back. Futons are also cleaner than beds, because we tend to neglect cleaning of beds, but we can clean a futon and a sheet easily.

Most Japanese houses have a lock on the door of the toilet and bathroom. We sometimes knock on the door when we want to enter the room. If someone is in the room, it is locked. It is normal in Kumamoto. We usually close doors of all rooms in Kumamoto.


There are some differences between Kumamoto’s houses and Auckland’s houses. However one similarity is that in New Zealand, we have to remove our shoes before entering my host family’s house. Surprisingly, it is the same in Japan, even though we may think that New Zealanders enter their house with their shoes on, but according to my questionnaire, many Auckland people don’t remove their shoes, so my host family’s house was special in Auckland.

Also according to my questionnaire, most Auckland houses have carpets in all the rooms, so people were not cold without shoes in winter in Auckland. My room doesn’t have a heater in Auckland, but there is a heater outside of my room open. The next room is a study room. Almost always we keep the door of our room. My room also has a thick carpet. Those things make us warmer.

Second, my host family’s house has many bedrooms, because there are many people; father, mother, 2 brothers, 1 daughter, 4 students and me when I stayed in the house. According to my questionnaire, many houses have many rooms in Auckland, but in most houses, there are only one or two televisions there, so if we want to watch television, we stay together in one room. In Auckland, 40% of the houses from my questionnaire don’t watch television in dinner time. We enjoy our conversation at dinner. Also, if people are in their room, they don’t close the door of their room in many Auckland houses. They always open their room door except when they sleep, so they can talk whenever they want to talk someone.

Third, my host family’s house has 3 bathrooms. According to my host mother, she needs them, because she has 3 children and some students to study in New Zealand. We usually have one bathroom in Japan. Also, there is no bathtub in my host family’s house. Japanese people usually take a bath, but they can only take a shower. However, according to my questionnaire, most houses have a bathtub in the bathroom. Besides; water is very valuable in New Zealand, so we have to take a shower a little time. According to my questionnaire, many bathrooms don’t have a key in Auckland houses. If the bathroom’s door is closed, no one comes in there.

Finally, according to the questionnaire, most New Zealand husbands cook dinner at home. It is very good thing, because many Japanese husband don’t housework. Also, most houses have a dishwasher in New Zealand. It is useful for us, because we don’t have to wash dishes. Surprisingly, most New Zealander don’t rinse after wash pans or dishes with washing-up liquid when they don’t use a dishwasher in New Zealand.


This paper found some interesting differences between houses in Auckland and houses in Kumamoto. People have tatami and kotatsu in houses of Kumamoto, but people have carpets in houses of Auckland. People have futon in houses of Kumamoto, but people have beds in houses of Auckland. People close doors of rooms in houses of Kumamoto, but Auckland’s people don’t close doors except when they sleep in their house. People have a lock on the bathroom in houses of Kumamoto, but people don’t have a key for any rooms in houses of Auckland. In fact, some houses don’t even have bathrooms. The way of washing dishes or pans is also quite different.

This paper has found some amazing things about Auckland houses. There are many differences between houses in Auckland and houses in Kumamoto, but both of them have good points.

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August 7th

Today is Yuki’ s birthday!!!!! I sent an email for her. She is my BEST friend! :-)

By the way, we went to Kelly Tarlton’s today. Kelly Tarlton’s is an aquarium! I like it. When we entered there, there smelled. But there was pretty good! I saw a lot of fish and stingrays. Stingrays were soooooo ugly! And big! Then I took little train to see some penguins with Natsuki. The train was very exciting! We saw many penguins, but we couldn’t take photos. They were very lovely! :-) They were very clearly pregnant. They can swim, but they didn’t swim at all then. I thought they were freezing, because I was freezing too! We could enjoy very nice time. Then, we looked around the aquarium.

(138 words)

August 6th

Today, I went to school at 8:30. I walked in bush every morning. It is very natural. I feel very good every morning, but I sometimes feel lonely at noon. Walking is very healthy so I will walk to school everyday. There are a lot of trees, river and some bridges.

(51 words)

Sky Tower! August 5th

Today, I went to school by bus at 8:30. We went to Sky Tower. Sky Tower is the highest tower in the southern hemisphere. When I saw the Sky Tower, I was very surprised at it. Because it was very tall! I took many pictures of it. We went up to the tower. The view from the tower was splendid. We could see around the Auckland. It was great. Sea was large! Sky tower has some clear windows on the floor, so we could see under! It was very fearful, but I enjoyed very nice time in Sky Tower. I want to go there again at night. It must be beautiful view at night!

(114 words)

August 4th in Unitec!!!

Today, I went to school at 9am. I went on foot, so I was very tired. It took me 40 minutes. When I met my friends, I was very relieved, because I don’t have to speak English! Of course, I like English. But I think New Zealand’s English is very difficult. I don’t understand what they say…I want to speak English more. So I will try to speak it more!

In Unitec, I took a test to divide 2 classes. It was easy first, but I was very sleepy and I didn’t have enough time to answer questions. So I could not write all. Then, we made a country in my class. We had to make an unique country, so we made a “Sky Country”. It is very strange country. People eat birds, clouds races, snow ice cream and drink rain. People speak “Sky English”. Do you know “Sky English”? :-) This language is very easy for you. We have to put on “sky” before a word. For example, you want to say “hello”, you should say “Sky hello!” in this language. It is so funny! People look like angels in this country. People have wings, and they can fly! They live in sky, of course. It was very interesting class! At 4pm, our class finished, so we have to go home. I went home by bus. It was first time to take a bus, so I was very nervous. I met my friends, Keiko and Mari at bus stop. It was lucky for me. They told me how to ride a bus. The bus stopped in front of my house. It was very very near! Today, I ate curry in dinner. My host father cooked it. He said “I’m best cook!” He is very funny man. I love him. The curry was different of Japanese curry, it tastes OK! I had homework from my class, so I asked international students in my house. One is a German girl whose name is Sophia, another person is a Brazilian boy whose name is Daniel. Both of them are 16 years old and they can speak English very well! I envy them. They helped me my homework.

(365 words)