Day 9: Meet my Family

30/12/2016.
Day 9 - Week 2

Today you are going to visit a local family. The size and the composition of families vary a great deal from country to country. In places like Japan, Canada, Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Germany, families are typically quite small. Most parents have 1 to 2 children and once children grow up and get married they usually live separately from their parents. This is not the case in the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, Malaysia or in Chile. In these countries, the families are often larger and members of the extended family live together for most of their lives. Scroll down to ‘meet’ a typical family from Canada.

Canadian Family

This is my family - the Williamsons. We’re a pretty typical Canadian family. When I was younger we lived in a small town (Almonte) in the province of Ontario, Canada. Approximately 5000 people live in Almonte. It is located 30 kilometres from Ottawa, the capital city of Canada.

My family is currently made up of five people. My dad, Ron, is on the left-hand side of the picture. He is married to my mom, Leslie (she’s the one in the blue dress). My parents have been married for 35 years! Together they had two children, Leigh (the one in the wedding dress) and me, Rachel. I’m the one in the black dress. In this picture my sister, Leigh, has just gotten married to her fiancée, Andrew (he’s the one in the grey suit!). This picture was taken in July 2012.

Activity 1

Now that you have met my family it is time to think about your own family. On your blog tell us about your family. How many people are in your family? Do you have any brothers or sisters? What are their names?

Answers:

In my family it is quite a small family because it is just my mum Katea, my dad Taniela and myself Mikaela. I have no sisters or brothers except for my half sister and half twin brothers who are younger than me that live in Wellington. About my family we live with my grandma ( my mums mum ), Afu and my cousin Lily.

Activity 2

Some families are very large and some are very small. Some of the smallest families are found in China where parents are allowed, by law, to have only one child. This is quite different from countries like America (U.S.A.) where some families have as many as 19 or 20 children. It is rare but it does happen!

In America, there is actually a family with 19 children who have their own television show called ’19 Kids and Counting.’ All 19 children have the same two parents (Jim Bob and Michelle) and every single one of the children has a name starting with the letter ‘J.’ The oldest children is a boy named Josh and the youngest is a girl named Josie. Amazing!

If you’d like to see a small clip from the show, follow this link: 19 Kids and Counting

Imagine that you were one of the Duggar children and you had 18 brothers and sisters. What do you think it would be like to have so many sisters and brothers living with you in one house? On your blog please tell us what you would like and what you wouldn’t like about living in such a large family.

Answers:

What I would like about living is such a large family:

I would like having company around and it would be different for me because I have never lived with siblings. I also would like having an older sister and brother or being an older sister.

What I wouldn't like about living in such a large family:

I wouldn't like having to listen to babies crying and toddlers having a tantrum moments.

Bonus Activity

Choose a family member and conduct a short interview. In the interview ask them five questions about themselves:

1. What is your name?
2. Where were you born?
3. How many siblings do you have?
4. What is your favourite thing about living in New Zealand?
5. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Why?

Post the answers on your blog.   

Answers:

I have chosen my cousin to interview and these were her answers:

1. What is your name? - "Lily".
2. Where were you born? - "I was born in the Auckland hospital".
3. How many siblings do you have? - "I have two brothers".
4. What is your favourite thing about living in New Zealand? - "Spending time with my family".
5. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Why? - "I would go to Tonga because I wanna see how the animals are".