Profile
Nationality: New Zealander.
Hobbies: Netball (I play for a club); reading; seeing friends; swimming at the beach; riding horses; cooking; sewing; writing drama and generally having fun.
Talents: I enjoy a lot of sporty things, but this does not mean that I am good at them. I am good at English, vocabulary, writing short stories. Otherwise, I am a good cook, OK at drama, good at drawing and art.
Favorite Books: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Whom do you most admire? My uncle.
Favorite Possession: Other than my pets—my photo album. It holds heaps3 of memories.
Do you help with chores at home? Yes. I hang out the wash, set the breakfast table, cook dinner sometimes, and clean my room.
Do you use Internet? I rarely use the Internet except for schoolwork.
Where would you most want to travel? Argentina4, probably, as they have such a lovely culture that is so different from New Zealand's.
What comes to mind when you think of China? Cantonese music5.
...and the United States? The White House.
...and France? French restaurants.
What do you talk about with friends? What is happening; at the moment, our school drama production.
What do you want to know about other girls your age? What their schooling is like, since it probably differs from country to country.
Meeting Kiely
Kiely lives with her mother, brother, and sister in a house in Whangaparaoa, which is a suburb of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. Whangaparaoa is a cove6 with a harbor, white-sand beaches, and beautiful sunsets. In early autumn, Auckland, which lies far north on New Zealand's North Island in the Southern Hemisphere, is still warm and tropical7. Nevertheless, on most afternoons it gets cloudy for an hour or two. As the clouds gather overhead, they transform into one thin long white cloud, reflecting the landmass below. In fact, the Maori8 name for New Zealand, Aotearoa, means “Land of the long, white cloud.” White-sand beaches run for miles in downtown Auckland, which is laid-back9 with an eclectic10 charm. Kiwis are out, dressed casually in T-shirts and jeans, selecting oysters11 at shops along the beach. Little children run about barefoot and carefree.
Kiely has been a vegetarian12 since she was just eight years old, when she decided to stop eating red meat. I ask her why she decided to become a vegetarian. She says it is hard to explain why. “Basically I didn't like eating the flesh of other creatures.”
Kiely has her photo album with her. She shows me photos of her huge family. Kiely's mother has 8 siblings and Kiely already has 18 first cousins, not to mention all of the second and third cousins, aunts and uncles.
In her spare time, of which there isn't a lot, Kiely likes to write creative stories. She recently won a short story writing competition for all of Auckland. She was invited to attend a conference for all of the finalists13, where she met the New Zealand prime minister!
What I Most Want the World to Know
I most want people around the world to know what I am thinking. Because if people around the world understood each other better, there would be less misunderstanding, less suspicion, and fewer quarrels, and then the world would become more peaceful and happy.
If I Could Be...
I would love to be an Olympic Medalist in the future. I enjoy most sports, but if I were to win an award in the Olympics, I would prefer it to be in equestrian sports14. I would choose this not only because I like horseback riding and have a competitive spirit, but also because I would like to do it for my country.
Becoming the prime minister is the second best option, but I don't think I'd enjoy it because of all the responsibility of having to look after my country and decisions to keep it going. It would definitely15 be a hard job. I would also not be able to have my normal everyday life anymore or be able to spend a lot of time with my family and friends.
1. Whangaparaoa 范嘎帕劳鳌半岛,位于奥克兰北部,是著名的旅游观光胜地。
2. snapshot n. 快照；缩影
3. heap [hi:p] n. 大量，许多
4. Argentina n. 阿根廷
5. Cantonese music 广东音乐 Cantonese
adj. 广东话的；广东人的
6. cove n. 小海湾
7. 此句意为：在南半球新西兰北岛最北部的奥克兰，初秋依然是热带气候。
8. Maori adj. 毛利语的；毛利人的
9. laid-back adj. 悠闲的
10. eclectic 多种的；兼收并蓄的
11. oyster n. 牡蛎
12. vegetarian n. 素食者
13. finalist n. 参加决赛的选手
14. equestrian sports 马术运动 equestrian
n. 马术
15. definitely adv. 无疑，必定
16. isolated adj. 孤立的；隔离的
17. Polynesia n. 波利尼西亚（中太平洋群岛）
18. nostril n. 鼻孔
19. beak n. 鸟嘴，喙
20. sniff out 发现，寻找
21. trek [trek] v. 艰苦跋涉
22. facility n. 设施