Oh I remember so well... Actually, I was the first to get one here.
I got my v1 on Christmas '04, and me and my friend fell in love with Tamagotchies! She got one too, few days later. We LOVED them. They got babies. Ahh.. <3 What a wonderful vacation... Other people here didn't really have v1's, but when v2's came out, more people had them. Actually all of my friends had one, and I got to get one as well. :3 Good times.
(I was 9 years old [in the 3rd grade] when I got my v1, and 10 years old [in the 4th grade] when I got my v2)