The Great War Exhibition

When: Sun 10 Jan, 9:00 am- 6:00 pm

Mon 11 Jan, 9:00 am- 6:00 pm

Where: Dominion Museum Building, 15 Buckle Street, Wellington

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information: Admission Free

The journey is rich in personal stories which tell of the great experience of the battlefields and the hardships at home during war-time New Zealand. The visitors will experience the desperate horrors and the victories of the human spirit that were part of the Great War.

Kaipara Coast Plants & Sculpture Gardens

When: Sun 10 Jan, 9:00 am- 5:00 pm

Mon 11 Jan, 9:00 am- 5:00 pm

Where: 1481 Kaipara Coast Highway (SH16), Auckland

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information:

● Adults: $10.00

● Children 5-13 (under 5, free):$ 5.00

● Groups 10: $ 8.00

● Over 60 & Students (with ID): $ 9.00

Come and enjoy a relaxing art and garden experience. Sculptures are for sale and the display changes completely ever 12 months with the new exhibition opening in December each year to give you a fresh experience each time you come.

Dream Works Animation

When: Sun 10 Jan, 10:00 am- 6:00 pm

Mon 11 Jan, 10:00 am- 6:00 pm

Where: Te Papa, 55 Cable St, Wellington

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information:

● Adults: $ 15.00

● Children & Students 3-15 (with Student ID): $ 6.00

● Children under 3: $0.00

The exhibition features over 400 items, including rare concept drawing, models, interviews, and original artworks. Adults and kids can get creative with real animation tools, and soar above the clouds in the Dragon Flight experience from How to Train Your Dragon.

Balls, Bullets and Boots

When: Sun 10 Jan, 9:00 am- 4:30 pm

Mon 11Jan, 9:00 am- 4:30 pm

Where: National Army Museum, 1 Hassett Dr, SH1, Waiouru

Restrictions: All Ages

Ticket Information: Door Sales Only

The exhibition explores the impact the cruel reality of war had on colonial sportsmen and their loved ones as they were transplanted from the rugby fields of home to fight.

    Mrs. White lived in a town of England. Her husband died three years ago and one of her children worked in the capital and the other three lived in another town. Her husband didn't leave her much money and she had to live a simple (简朴) life. Sometimes her children went to see her during their holidays, but they stayed with her for only two or three days.

    One winter morning the old woman got up early. She was going to buy some food in a shop. And when she came out, she found there was much snow in the street. She had to sweep it away. And suddenly she found a dying dog at the comer of the house. She picked it up and took it into the house quickly. She put it near the fire and gave it some milk and bread. At first the poor dog ate nothing and that afternoon it drank some milk and three days later it was all right. Now the old woman found it was a beautiful dog. And she liked it very much and took it everywhere she went. A week later she went shopping with her dog. At a bus stop a young man was eating fish and chips. The little dog became very excited at the smell of the man's lunch and began jumping up at him.

    “Do you mind if I throw it a bit?'' asked the young man.

    “Not at all,” answered Mrs. White.

    Having heard this, he picked up the dog and threw it over the wall.

    Saturday, March 24th

    We have arrived in the hot, wet city of Bangkok. This is our first trip to Thailand. All the different smells make us want to try    the    food. We are going to eat something special for dinner tonight. The hotel we are staying in is cheap, and very clean. We plan to stay here for a few days, visit some places in the city, and then travel to Chiang Mai in the North.

    Tuesday, March 27 th

    Bangkok is wonderful and surprising. The places are interesting. We visited the famous market which was on water, and saw a lot of fruits and vegetables. Everything is so colorful, and we have taken hundreds of photos already! Later today we will leave for Chiang Mai. We will take the train north, stay in Chiang Mai for two days, and then catch a bus to Chiang Rai.

    Friday, March 30th

    Our trip to Chiang Rai was long and boring. We visited a small village in the mountains. The village people here love the quiet life—no computers or phones. They are the kindest people I have ever met. They always smile and say “hello”. Kathy and I can only speak a few words of Thai, so smiling is the best way to show our kindness. I feel good here and hope to be able to come back next year.

    Whether in the home or the workplace, social robots are going to become a lot more common in the next few years. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.

    While household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions than mere tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows them to respond more appropriately to the user.

    The Jibo robot, arranged to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn't just deliver general answers to questions; it responds based on what it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.

    Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have potential applications in everything from education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.

    Fellow Robots is one company bringing social robots to the market. The company's "Oshbot" robot is built to assist customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product's location in the store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the customer is shopping for.

    The more interaction the robot has with humans, the more it learns. But Oshbot, like other social robots, is not intended to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees. "We have technologies to train social robots to do things not for us, but with us," said Breazeal.

    I can proudly say that last year I broke the record for the oldest person in the world to ride a roller-coaster. I'm 105, but I feel younger. Even the doctor agrees I'm in good condition. I'm a bit deaf and my legs feel weak, but they are the only issue.

    I rode the Twistosaurus at Flamingo Land, which spins you round quite fast. I didn't choose to go on that. I'd have preferred a really fast one that went upside down. But I was told I couldn't ride something like that, because my blood pressure could drop and I might have some danger.

    I wasn't nervous — I don't get frightened of anything. I was securely fastened, so I knew I wouldn't fall out. The roller-coaster ride went on for three or four minutes, and it couldn't be a better experience. And I raised a lot of money for the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance fund, which was fantastic.

    People were saying I'd got a place in the Guinness World Records. Later, someone came to present me with the certificate. I had it on the wall in my living room, with another one that got a year earlier.

    My record-breaking ways really began a couple of years ago, with the ice-bucket challenge. It turned out that I was probably the oldest person in the world to do it, and the video was very popular. After that, I stared to think about what else I could do to raise money for different charities.

    I'm not sure if anyone admires all the fun I'm having. They just say I'm daft and that's about it. But I've had many good days and many exciting times. I've had a really good life. I don't think I've wasted any of it.

I was ever bullied badly when I was in high school. One kid in particular would try to make me feel worse in every way he knew. For example, he would throw stuff at me constantly, hit me on the head, punch me, call me ugly and stupid, make fun of me and, of course tell me he would beat me up if I ever fought back. It was like his daily mission. And it was my daily mission to just get through the day. What could I say? It made my world very small because that was my main focus—just surviving. Everything else fell by the wayside. Unfortunately, that included any form of social life. So not only was my world tiny, but it was very lonely.

    Looking back to that time, which was about 11 years ago, my biggest mistake was not bringing anyone into that world of mine. I was too proud and embarrassed to get help. I would rather not face the fact that I needed help because in my mind, that would mean that the bully had won. It would also mean that I was weak.

Let me just say this—-bullying someone is a weak choice. The only reason why they come after you is that they don't think you will do anything about it. Does that make anyone strong? Absolutely not. Be stronger. Reach out to a parent, a teacher or a friend for help. Simply admit that you are struggling and need help.

    You can put it like this: Somebody who is weak and trying to build himself or herself up has chosen to do that by putting me down. The only reason why they are doing it is that I am nice and I haven't done anything about it yet. Well, I am through putting up with this. I have basic human rights that they are trying to take away to feel better and that is just not OK. How do I handle this the right way? I don't want the pain cycle to continue and I don't want to become someone I don't want to be.

I will close by saying this—-I am not just surviving. I am just enjoying my life. I graduated from college with honors, by the way. You don't have to wait to live. Do something today.