WHATI/LAC LA MARTRE - Voices from the other end of the globe questioned students in Whati last week, and they wanted to know about Justin Bieber.

The Grade 10 social studies class at Mezi Community School set up a live video conference on Wednesday afternoon so they could see and talk to another social studies class at Christchurch Girls' High School in New Zealand, where it was already Thursday morning.

"When we heard them laughing, all of our class started laughing," said Whati student Charlene Tsatchia.

School principal Blair Hagman, who previously taught in New Zealand, said the two schools co-ordinated the video chat for the first time this year as a way to expose students to different cultures and geographical locations. Despite a few connection-related delays, each class took turns asking questions. In New Zealand, the students asked questions such as how long winter lasts, why groceries are so expensive, "what is Canada's legal driving age and how many cars are there in your town?" and "do you know Justin Bieber?"

Over in Whati, the students responded that yes, they knew the Ontario-born teen singer's music, but they didn't know him personally. They found out whether the New Zealanders liked wearing school uniforms - some didn't mind and at least one detested them - what the country's official languages are and what the students liked to do for fun.

Whati student Frederick Romie said he still wanted to learn more about New Zealand, including the price of milk, and he said he would like to visit if he had the opportunity.

"They could learn a lot from us about our culture, our relationship to the land and our individual identity," he said.

"We got to talk to people from halfway across the world with just one click of a button," he added. "From my point of view, it makes the world feel smaller because back in the day, hundreds of years ago, if somebody from where we are wanted to talk to somebody from New Zealand, they would have to travel years and years."

Seventeen-year-old Fiona Alexis had a pressing question on her mind during the conference.

"The thing I really wanted to know was if there were any aboriginals living there," she said, explaining that she ended up learning a bit about the Maori tribe, indigenous of Australia.

"Learning other people's cultures was a whole new experience for me," she said. "It was fun."