The Japanese Crown Princess admires Tina's greenstone earrings Hostess at Expo ‘70 by Tina Ngaparu My job at Expo 70 was with the New Zealand Government, as one of 14 hostesses. We had various jobs to do and took turns — I sometimes escorted people through the Pavilion, was on duty at the film ‘This is New Zealand’ to answer any questions, and also appeared on radio, T.V., and visited schools telling the Japanese about New Zealand. There were 35 Japanese girls with us, who also escorted visitors and sometimes interpreted for us. My working hours were from 9.30 a.m.-3.30 p.m. or 3.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. A chauffeur driven car would call at the apartment for the hostesses and take us to the Pavilion. These cars were provided because the Japanese trains were always extremely crowded and one had to push hard to get in and out. The V.I.P.s I remember most were the Crown Prince of Japan and his wife, who were such charming people. I dressed in Maori costume to welcome them and the Princess showed tremendous interest in the greens lone earrings I was wearing and the bone tiki I had round my neck. Before going to Japan we had four weeks' preparation in Wellington, learning about the job and how to speak Japanese. Prior to this I had been taking lessons in Japanese for four months and found that being a Maori helped considerably, as the pronunciations are similar. As well as hostesses, there was a big staff of people involved in the restaurants, several technicians, and public relations staff. We all lived in a huge apartment complex which housed about 3,000 people from 75 countries. We lived harmoniously together and learned many things from each other. We sampled different foods, and on getting together during our days off, learned many different customs. As for Expo itself, the Russian and American Pavilions were the most popular. Canada had a large Pavilion, and although New Zealand was smaller in size it was about 5th in popularity, especially the Geyser Room where people could eat New Zealand food in the peace and quiet and were able to relax in the cool. At first it was very cold, and our fine wool suits were not warm enough. But later on, the temperatures soared and I found it very tiring with the humidity. We had to have lighter uniforms made, but even these weren't light enough and outside our air-conditioned pavilion, apartments and even the cars, we became quite uncomfortable. On New Zealand Day, the Pavilion was closed down, except for showing V.I.P.s through during the morning. At 2.30 I took