Hello friends! It's time for Window on the World. We love to travel to new places each week. Today we will learn more about Papua New Guinea and the interesting people who live there. Papua New Guinea has been inhabited for about 50,000 years. People came from Asia and other neighboring islands. Melanesian is the word used to describe people who are from Polynesia and Asia. The population is about 4,302,000 people. There are about 700 distinct languages spoken there but English is the official language. Melanesian Pidgin is widely spoken. It is made up of English, German and some island words. You could probably learn it easily because there are only about 1,800 words. If you were to meet someone from Papua New Guinea, they might say to you "Yu orait" it means 'How are you'? You could then say "Mi orait. Na yu?", it means I am alright, and you?, Wow...imagine that! Now we know a little Melanesian Pidgin.

Families are very important in Papua New Guinea. Relatives often live near each other so they can help one another. They especially enjoy sharing meals. Respect for elders in the family is very important. Younger family members often take care of aging parents.

Children in Papua New Guinea begin school at the age of 7. Primary school includes grades 1 to 6 and secondary school includes grades 7 to 10. Some older students may go to grades 11 and 12. Some even go on to technical school, teacher's college or university.

The people like to relax by enjoying many past times. Most like to sit and talk or play cards together. Sports are played in school, especially soccer. Other sports include basketball, volleyball, and rugby. Boys and men enjoy hunting with slingshots and bows and arrows.