Information about Fiji life

This is the 4th year since FBI started ESL program!
So there's not enouth information about Fiji.
Please read this information before you leave your country. Then prepare.

The official language in Fiji is English, which is spoken normally between Fijian people and Indian people.
In Fiji, English Speaking Policy is strictly kept in kindy and Elementary school and Children are educated well, Almost all of the people except small children are billingual. They can speak not only English but also their mother tongue.

Currency of Fiji is Fijian dollars（F$）,and Fiji cent（F¢）. F$1＝F¢100,F$1＝about 0.7US$（2007/Jan）.You can exchange to Fijian dollars at Airport or in Town normally.

It is warm throughout a year, the average temp, is 23～28℃, humidity is around 80％.
There's rainy season（Dec～Apr）and dry season（May～Nov）, but especially in the west side, it doesn't rain so often because of trade wind. It's so comfortable.

You don't have to bring a lot of winter cloths, because it's warm throughout the whole year. But sometimes it's a little bit cool in early morning or at night. So it's better to bring a sweater or Long shirt or something of that kind.

It's not good to wear clothes which expose your body. Many fijian people are strict Christians.Take care of your clothes when you go to Church. And it is prohibited to take off your clothes and be naked on the beach.

Running water is consumable.But in Islands, running water is salty, so in many cases bottles of water are prepared. Normally, you can get a bottle of water anywhere. 。

Fijian people like to drink, but they don't drink so much. It's not by religious reason, but because they can enjoy themselves without alcohol.

In town, there are Bars and Pubs where you can drink. Please take care not to be too drunk.You can not fight with a giant Fijian guy. The 2 popular beers are "Fiji Bitter"and "Fiji Gold", and Rum which is called "Bounty".

「Benson ＆ Hedges」「Rothmans」「Pall Mall」 and other British Cigarettes are popular. And it's expensive compared to the Prices in Fiji(1case,20 pieces=2Ｆ$）.
There's also Fijian cigarettes, called "SUKI", it's made by rolling tobacco leaves in rope shape. It seems as if it is illegal, but it's legal. It's so strong so please take care when you try it.

You cannot buy 100% fruits juice at the supermarket, so it might seem so strange to you.

You can get Pineapple juice or Mango juice at the Market, but usually Juice is made by certain powder."POPS" is the most popular juice among Fijian people. They drink "POPS" during dinner, especially people who don't drink alcohol by religious reason. Try when you go to Fiji!!

In Fijian homestays, they eat Fijian dishes and Indian homstay, Indian dishes.
There are cafes and restaurants near school. We recommend "Continental Cafe" in Nadi town.German chef cooks pizza or cakes here and the price is cheap.

But if you want to stay longer, it's better to cook by yourself. You can get a lot of fresh meat and vegetables at market for cheap price.It's nice to invite your friends to dinner and have a party!!

If you want to eat Fijian dishes, the only way is to go to restaurant at hotel or ask a Fijian friend to invite you to dinner.There are no Fijian restaurants in town. However there is one between the school and Nadi Town.

Traditional Fijian foods include Cassava and dalo roots,boiled or baked fish, and seafood in LOLO(Coconut cream). Meat is fried and accompanied with the dalo roots and rourou(boiled dalo leaves) in lolo.Kokoda is a popular traditional dish made of raw fish marinated in coconut cream and lime juice.

There are a lot of restaurant like French,Italian,Germany,Portuguese, and so on. Pizza and Pasta, Hamburger are popular, and also at supermarkets you can buy western food which are imported from Australia or Newzealand.

Half of the restaurants in Fiji are ones of Indians. Curry dishes are so good and cheap. You can enjoy real Indian curry easily. Roti(a type of flat bread), rice,cassava can be eaten with curry at the restaurant. Indian sweats are also nice!!

There are some Japanese restaurant,like 「Hamacho」 near the school, 「OHRA」 and 「Daikoku」. But the prices are not so cheap, it cost about 10Ｆ$ for lunch. The taste is so nice, which makes you forget about the prices.

In town, many restaurants have signs "Take away". At those restaurant you can take away for cheaper prices.Almost all of the restaurants are those of Chinese or Indian, but there are some of western. Fijian people make use of those restaurants a lot.

Many Koreans live in Fiji, especially in Nadi area, so there are nice Korean restaurants where you can enjoy Korean food for reasonable prices! Fijian pork is so delicious, it's like razorback! Korean food is so popular among internatinoal students.

There are also ethnic restaurants, like Thai restaurant, Vietnam, Mexico. Dishes are so nice but are expensive a bit.

In Nadi campus, the canteen sells lunch in school, whereas Lautoka campus students can use the Canteen(Place you can buy lunch) of Elementary school in the same premises. You can have lunch for around 2F$.

Electricity power is 240Ｖ、50Ｈｚ and the type of socket is the same as Australia or Newzealand which is called "O" type. If you want to bring PC or other AV stuff, please check whether you have to bring the appropriate socket and transformer.

If you want to use internet or email, please make sure whether the provider support service in Fiji.

If you stay longer, you can get E-mail account in Fiji by Provider in Fiji, but it takes long to get one. So it's better to use Free email service like hotmail or Yahoo mail. There are Internet cafes near the school or in town.

If you take international drivers liscense, you can drive in Fiji.

You can rent a car, for 16F$ per day. You will definitely feel good when you drive around under nice weather conditions.

But you have to take care not to make accident like crashing bull or horse which goes around. If you stay more than 6 months, you can get drivers licence in Fiji.

Bus and Taxi are the main transportation in Fiji. You can get on bus for 30F¢～60F¢ in same city. From Nadi to Lautoka, it costs about 2F$. When you ride on taxi, it's better to negotiate before you ride. To go to an Island, you have to get on boat or Ferry.

Mini bus is like stagecoach. You can get on mini bus at any bus stop where you ask where this mini bus goes. You have to tell the driver where and when to get off.
You have to pay to driver by cash. Some drivers don't have change so prepare to have some change. Fare is 50F￠in Nadi.

Raise your hand and stop taxi. When you get in, tell driver where to go. Some drivers don't have enough change, so please try to have change with you. It costs 7～8F＄ from airport to town.

We don't prepare student insurance, so please apply for international insurance before you leave.

If you are in a situation that you have to get documents from hospital or police, to get insurance refund. FBI staff can help you. So please let us know at that time.

There is a big new hospital in Nadi. As a matter of fact, in Fiji you can get checked by a doctor for free. The only thing you need is money for medicine in public hospital. If you are seriously sick or ill, FBI staff can help you. If you applied for an insurance, you can be possibly checked cashless with insurance card.

You can get a lot of things in Fiji, in town like Nadi town or Lautoka town. There are big supermarkets or department stores. And also in some stores, you can negotiate how much you pay. Try and get a discount on the items you buy!

The limit of amount you can bring without paying tax is, 220g for cigar, 500g for cigarette. 2 litter for wine, 4 litter for beer. It is prohibitted to bring animals, Plants, and creamery. Stuff will be taxed when you sent to Fiji if the stuff is more than 400F$.

You can exchange at bank in weekdays. Also you can exchange at hotel or airport. The rete is more than that of bank though. At Nadi international airport there is a bank which you can use for 24 hours a day.

There's no custom to pay tip. When you have special service, you can pay tip. Usually Fijian people give food or something to express appreciation. When you are invited to a Fijian home, take Dalo or Icecream, which delight fijian people.

Credit card is available at many places like hotel, good restaurants and supermarket. Visa and Master cards are most useful. American express or Dinners club,JCB are also available at some places.

Theare are many banks. Biggest bank in Fiji is "Westpack Bank", "ANZ". It's better to exchange currency at a bank, not hotel because of the higher rate.

You can use ＡＴＭ service anytime you want. You can use international bank card or other card, which has sign of "PLUS" or "Cirrus". It's better to bring international bank card for your safety.

In both towns, Nadi and Lautoka, there are big post offices, where you can also get phone cards. Some travellers buy Fiji stamps as souveniors, because they are beautiful.

In Fiji, people send parcel or letter to P.O.Box. For students who go to Namaka campus, send to "P.O.Box 11065 Nadi Airport Nadi Fiji", For students who go to Lautoka campus, send to "P.O.BOX 5783 Lautoka". FBI staff go to post office and deliver letters or parcel notice to you twice a week.

It is restricted to bring animals, plants, foods. Some foods like ham and sausage are prohibited to bring into Fiji.

You can send letter or parcel from or to Fiji by EMS(Express Mail Service). But it's expensive so please care about fee for EMS before using it.

There are a lot of public phone booths. You can get phone cards at supermarket or other shops. You have to have this phone card to use public phone. Also you can use the phone card with phone at home.

Fiji is Peaceful country, but if there's any problem, don't hesitate to report to police. But Fijian police are never quick. FBI staff can help in case but understand that point.

Mobile phone is getting common in Fiji. Most popular company is Vodafone. Many people use Prepaid type. Cheapest one costs around 100F$. You can also send e-mail.

We recommend as souveniors, "Sulu"traditional cloth people wrap around waist, or Tapa cloth, Shirts of Fiji national Rugby team.

It's also nice to bring back Kava and tell friends how to drink Kava. You can buy souveniors at duty free shop in airport or in town. You can also get good souveniors at the market in Nadi or Lautoka town.

"Yaqona", otherwise known as Kava, is an infusion prepared from the root of Piper methysticum, a type of pepper plant. It holds a place of prominence in Fijian culture- in the time of the old religion it was used ceremonially by chiefs and priests only. Today, Yaqona is drunk socially as part of daily life, not only in villages but across different races and in urban areas. People drink this Kava until the dawn, which makes us unconcious of time.

Different from alcohol, It is said to be good to drink Kava as a diet. You are offerd a drink from a bilo(half a coconut shell) . Clap once, accept the bilo, say "Bula" and drink it all in one go.

Clap three times in gratification. This is the way they drink Kava. It's better for health than alcohol!?

Fijian people like music very much. Bus drivers turn on the radio in Bus, and you can listen to vivid music in bus. Many young people like American or British pop music, and also Indian pop music. They of course listen to Fijian pop music, which heals your heart if you listen.

You can buy brand stuff for cheap price because Fiji don't tax on import goods. But there aren't so many kinds of goods. You can see a lot of cosmetics or diet food, but a few of watch, accessories and clothes.