New Zealand 2

The two islands of New Zealand occupy about 103,000 square miles, but the city of Chicago sits on 234 square miles. One doesn’t need a degree in statistics to see that Chicago resembles a cattle yard compared with New Zealand.

Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand. If you count the population of Auckland and its suburbs, you’ll reach a figure slightly more than a million. And almost all those people live in single-family houses.

I didn’t get out my yardstick and measure the square miles of Auckland and its suburbs, but I saw the entire area from both the ground and the air, and it’s larger than Chicago.

On the other hand, although Chicago may be more crowded than Auckland, it has one major advantage. My hometown has two major-league baseball teams. Auckland has none.

New Zealand 1

I recently returned to the USA after a visit to New Zealand. I found many things of interest during my visit, but I failed to notice one thing until I returned. Everywhere I’ve gone in the USA, I’ve found the crush of humanity overwhelming.

New Zealand occupies two islands across the Tasman Sea from Australia. About three million people live in New Zealand, a figure close to that of Chicago, my hometown. Nothing in the country of New Zealand could ever prepare anyone for Chicago.