Samoa is moving the International Date Line and will become the first country in the world to receive the sun instead of the last one. When you cross the International Date Line going east, you go back one day. When you cross going west, you add another day.
Samoa is situated around 171 degrees latitude in the Western Hemisphere. The International Date Line follows 180 degrees, but not exactly. It bends a little in places.
Samoa used to be the first country to receive the sun but in 1892, it changed because it traded with Europe and the US in those days. These days, Samoa trades mostly with Australia and New Zealand. The problem is that when it is Monday in Australia and New Zealand, it is Sunday in Samoa and most Samoans are in church. It is hard for them to do business on that day. When it is Friday in Samoa, it is Saturday in Australia and New Zealand when most businesses are closed. This will change tomorrow – Friday. There will be no Friday. Instead it will be Saturday, the last day of 2011. Perhaps they want to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
However, American Samoa, which is east of Samoa, will not change. It will be a day behind.
In 2009, Samoa changed from driving on the right like the US and Europe, to driving on the left like Australia and New Zealand. The change did not cause too many problems. Listen to September 7th 2009 to hear more about this change.
Grammar
used to – Samoa used to be …but
“Used to” is used for something that happened in the past but not today. It is often followed by “but” e.g. I used to go to X school but now I go to Y school; I used to play the piano but now I don’t. Can you make your own sentences using “used to … but”?
Vocabulary
around 171 degrees – about, approximately, close to
latitude – lines running north and south of the globe. Longitude is the word for lines running east to west.
bend – not straight
hemisphere – half a sphere; a ball is a sphere, the earth is a sphere. It is more common to talk about the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere because the equator is the middle point. The Western Hemisphere starts at Greenwich in England and includes all the area east of that point to about 180 degrees latitude.