(Including your last name is important because that tells the people you are introducing yourself to who your family is!) Try comparing it to how we introduce ourselves in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (ʻO wau ʻo Emily Lau, ʻO Emily Lau koʻu inoa) - does it sound similar? What are the differences?
Just like Hawaiʻi, Aotearoa is a very diverse place. People have immigrated here throughout history for lots of reasons, many of which are similar to the reasons that people immigrated to Hawaiʻi. Sometimes it's because of incentives from the colonizing government (the U.S. in Hawaiʻi, England here in Aotearoa), sometimes it's for a job (on the plantations in Hawaiʻi, in some factories, for example, here in Aotearoa). More people continue to move here now, too (just like me!) As a result, there are lots of different languages that people speak that they have brought with them, like Chinese, Hindi, Sāmoan, and Tongan. What languages do you speak? How did you learn them?
The New Zealand dollar (NZD, $) is the currency used here. Right now, $1 in New Zealand is worth about 56 cents in the U.S. That means, if I pay $15 for lunch here in New Zealand, that's only $8.39 in the U.S.! Can you figure out how many New Zealand dollars $1 in the U.S. is worth?
Unlike in the U.S., taxes are normally included in the price listed for food and things, so what you see is what you actually pay. Tipping is also not expected. All of this means that everything is a lot cheaper than in the U.S., especially compared to Hawaiʻi!
