I spent the last week in Hanmer and it was beautiful. It was cold and snowy, not a typical way to spend July. We had to take a ferry across to the South Island, it was about 3 and a half hours, but it was a really pretty trip. The map below shows the route the ferry takes.

When we got to Hanmer it was freezing, about 30-35 degrees the whole time we were there. This is a picture of the mountains on the road up to Hanmer.

This is a picture from the Main Street in Hanmer looking at the mountains. The next is a picture of the whole of Main Street from the hill where our house was.

And of course SNOW!!!

The big attraction of Hanmer are the hot pools, they have a huge complex built around them that you can go to. But you can also find natural ones. In the picture are some that we found right along a river.

and yes for the record it was about 28-29 degrees and snowing, and that is a dude in his swim trunks lounging in the hot pool.

On the way back from the hot pools we went on a really quick hike, it was about 20 min off the road and there was a sweet waterfall.

The whole thing felt quite magical.

Now I am back in Wellington, and my mom arrives in just over 12 hours, YAY! Then we hit the road for a mad dash around the North Island. On the agenda: Lake Taupo, Napier, Rotorua, Bay of Islands, Rivendell, Hobbiton, Auckland, and whatever else we can squeeze in:) But, till then one last picture from the South Island.

Part 2 – Everything Else

The first part of my recap was all the school stuff, this is what I have managed to squeeze into the weekends.

Te Paupa

Te Paupa is New Zealand’s national museum. It is in the heart of Wellington and is really an amazing museum. It reminded me of the Seattle Science Center but bigger and with more culture. Plus it was completely free to get in which is always a plus.

This was from a huge display of all the native animal species in New Zealand, it was built around a huge tree house for kids to climb in and play around.

This is a recreation of a Marae, which is a Maori meetinghouse. Obviously this one is a bit more colorful than what you would normally find. But it was incredibly ornate, and each of the Maori tribes donated a carving.

Rimutakas

The Rimutakas are a mountain-ish range that runs along the Hutt Valley on the North Island. Last weekend we went for a drive through them, this is also where they filmed the Rivendale scenes for Lord of the Rings.

Stonehenge

One weekend I made my way over to Carterton where they have built a modern day Stonehenge, which is built to work in the southern hemisphere. The whole place was fascinating, the guide talked about the connection between mythology and the stars, and science and the stars, and navigation and the stars; pretty much how kick-ass stars are.

The coolest part of Stone henge was the giant obelisk in the center that tracked the movement of the sun over the course of a year. It also tracked the zodiac signs, and the seasons.

Up next: I leave on Monday for Hanmer in the South Island for a week in the snow:)

Part 1 - The School Stuff

I can’t believe it’s been three weeks since my last blog, things have been moving so fast. Here is part 1 of the recap:

Two weeks ago I had my observation, and it was awesome. My supervisor came in to observe one of my classes; normally the class she came to observe can be a bit of a handful. But luckily I have gotten to be good friends with their homeroom teacher, and she gave them a “pep talk” before my lesson so they were on their best behavior. It was an amazing lesson, they were a year 9(grade 8) class and we held a class debate. They really got into it, and even debriefed themselves after. After that I just had one week left of teaching, and it went really well, the students gave me a send off, and some of the teachers had a lunch celebration for me. The only thing that marred the whole day was that I was ridiculously sick with some horrible New Zealand cold virus.

This last week I have had off to visit other schools in the area, and my favorite by far was Discovery elementary school. I visited a year 1/2 split and a year 7/8 split, I have yet to see anything more adorable that a little 5 year old with a thick Kiwi accent.

And that about wraps it up for my school stuff. I’ve completed my internship and now all that is left is exploring New Zealand. YAY!!

The Highs and Lows of NZ

So, it’s been a while since I’ve posted to the blog so here is a summary of the highs and lows of life in New Zealand.

Highs:

Getting my nerd on at the Weta Cave. The Weta Workshop is the company that produced all the props and materials for Lord of The Rings, Avatar, The Chronicles of Narnia, and District Nine. The story behind the Weta Cave is that people kept showing up at the Weta Workshop wanting to see props from the movies. But most of the props and technology is cutting edge and they didn’t want any trade secrets getting out. So due to demand, Weta Workshop built the Weta Cave, which has a handful of props and merchandise to deter people from wandering into the Workshops. In typical Kiwi fashion the Cave is very understated and completely un-promoted. There is one small street sign showing you where to turn, and even then you have to meander down a road to get there. It could easily be a huge theme park or museum type building, but instead it is a low-key shop, which is staffed by Weta employees.

Lows:

There really aren’t many lows. The only low I’m dealing with right now is the temperature. This morning it was 22 degrees in Upper Hut (the city where my school is), and miserably cold in the classrooms and hallways. There is no heating in the corridors during winter, and all the doors stay open for “safety reasons.” I can literally see my breath as I walk down the hall to class.

But life continues. I have two weeks of teaching left; I can’t believe how fast time is flying!

Truth There is Balance in the World

After posting about my wonderful lesson with the year 9 class, the next day I did that same lesson with a different year 9 class and it bombed hard. Really hard, painfully hard. Thank god for long weekends, this Monday is Queen's Birthday. Which is odd because her actually birthday is in April, but New Zealanders celebrate it the first Monday in June; they're an odd breed down here.

I did manage to go for a hike and take some pictures of the area around were I live...

I tried to go up even further to get a better view but the trail turned a bit muddy...

Teaching Grammar with Blackalicious

I just had a great day at school, I am exhausted but sort of exhilarated as well. My associate teacher was sick today so I took all her classes, on my own. It was awesome, ironically my favorite class is also the group that gives me the most trouble. But today they really got into the lesson. We were learning about rhyme and alliteration, so I played them Alphabet Aerobics by Blackalicous (click here to listen). They were really into it, they had to find all the examples of alliteration. Then they split into groups and were each given a tongue twister to read to the class, then they made their own. At the end we had a speed race to see who could read theirs the fastest. It was really a cool lesson. What I love about this class is how social, enthusiastic and creative they are. What drives me crazy is their wild behavior, which I think comes from the fact they are so social and creative. What I have learned is that group work is the key, plus a little hip hop never hurts;)

Hug a Ginga Day!!!

So today was Hug a Ginga Day, Ginga being slang for Ginger which in and of itself is slang for someone with red hair. Only in New Zealand it isn't pronounced Ginga like the food, rather Ginga with a soft g like in gum, and rhymes with ringa. And there is a big debate over whether it was offensive or not. What this meant for us at school was crowd control when six students would charge a red head and try and hug them. You know there is a lot I like about New Zealanders, but sometimes I still just don't quite get them.

In addition to being Hug a Ginga day, today I finished my fifth week at school, I am now over half-way done with my internship and it feels like I just started. Most days this week I didn’t get home till almost 6pm, it was really hectic, and I think it is only going to get busier. But here is a bit of a break down of the last week.

Last weekend I went into Wellington and toured the houses of Parliament. It was really interesting to see how the New Zealanders have mixed British and Maori culture in their government. Below are some pictures of me in front of the parliament building with my cousin Tyler.

On Sunday I went tramping (hiking) through a native plant reserve. It was really beautiful. I found it similar to hiking in Washington, but just different enough to not be too familiar. It’s like hiking in Washington but with a splash of tropical foliage mixed in.

The rest of the week was pretty much more of the same: sleep, school, plan, eat, sleep. Although, the weather has turned here so there have been wicked rainstorms that have caused flooding all over New Zealand.

On Thursday night I went out with some teachers from school to a quiz night at a pub. First we stopped at a fish and chip shop to get dinner. It was the greasiest little shop; it was just a front counter with a long bin of deep fryers behind it. Each order was put in a basket and fried up all at once. For $6 I had the best, lightest, least greasy fish and chips I have ever had. And to serve it the woman just dumped it on some newspaper sprinkled it with salt and wrapped it up chips and all. Delicious!

The quiz was really fun, I was happy to be able to contribute to the American themed questions and the music questions, the New Zealand and the sports questions I wasn’t so helpful with. Here is a sample of the questions I can remember, some I knew, some…not so much:

1. What is the name of the rock song that starts with “Out here in the fields, I work for my meals”?

2. What band got their name from a Muddy Waters song?

3. What sports team is the highest paid in the world?

4. Inner City Pressure by Flight of the Concords is a parody of a song by which 80s band?

5. In which city are the Spanish steps located?

6. Who is the all time highest scoring All Black (New Zealand’s National Rugby Team) player?

7. What country is closest to where the titanic sank?

8. Name the four main characters from Sex and the City?

9. Where did Tiger Woods finish in his first match back after his sex scandal?

10. What band has a song called “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town”?

Bonus questions: Name the 10 body parts that are only three letters long(not including bum, ass, tit or pit)

Name 10 countries whose names are four letters long.

I hope you enjoyed that, how did you do?

That about sums up my week, the tentative plan for the weekend is lots of prep work for the upcoming week, and maybe a side trip or two depending on the weather. Cheers!

Ready Steady Cook and Mufti-Day

Last week the school had a Mufti-day. Mufti is what they call regular clothes, so it was basically a free dress day. The students regularly wear uniforms, so this is their chance to wear whatever they want. They pay two dollars, which goes to the student government. It was really weird to see the students in regular clothes, I had quickly gotten used to students being in their uniforms. It was crazy because there was a serious difference in behavior from the uniform days. I'm quickly becoming a huge fan of school uniforms.

The other big event last week was Ready Steady Cook…

It was so much fun, and that wasn’t just the wine talking;) Ready Steady Cook is a British cooking program where the chefs are given a shopping bag of ingredients and then have 20 minutes to make dinner; they also have a communal pantry to use as well. (You can YouTube it if you like, it’s quite good) Anyway, we were given an hour and used the schools food technology rooms. My group was given steak, a leek, a red pepper, pineapple, couscous, a bag of apples, and a giant candy bar. So we ended up making a beef and veg stir-fry with couscous, apple crisp, and chocolate dipped pineapple. Then at the end we all had a big communal dinner, it was awesome!

More pictures to come...

I know it has been a while since I posted, but things have sort of fallen into a routine now and there hasn't been much to say. Although, this past weekend I did go to a rugby match, you really can't leave New Zealand without seeing a Rugby match, it is the national sport after all. We went to see the Wellington Hurricanes at their last home game. It was a come from behind victory so it was very exciting. It was also freezing, we layered up quite a bit.




I now can say I have a fair understanding of the rules of rugby, the problem is that in New Zealand you have Rugby Union (called simply Rugby) and Rugby League, and they have different rules. But I think I have a basic understanding of both. Up next: Cricket :)

I woke up Saturday to a grey drizzling mess outside. The plan had been to explore the neighborhood but that idea was quickly shelved. Instead I went to see Iron Man 2 with my 12 year old cousin, I'm not quite sure who was more excited:) After the movie, which was amazing, I went home to work on some lesson plans. When the weather cleared up Michelle (a friend of the family who is staying with Alana and Tony) and I went into the city to have dinner. I was really excited to finally get to walk around the city. I can't wait to go back and explore it a little more during the day. This picture is of the main restaurant and theater area. What I like about Wellington, is that for a big city it is quite relaxed and low key, but still vibrant.

And they have a Paramount theater as well.

Sunday was freezing cold, but I woke up to the sounds of a crackling fire. Most homes in New Zealand don't have central heating so they use space heaters when a room gets cold, and a fire when you want to warm the whole house; and man does it work! Even though it was really cold, it was quite beautiful outside so I decided to explore the neighborhood I will be calling home for the next two and a half months. Here is a picture tour of the neighborhood...

This is the house where I am staying...

and the street I live on.

And a wee little pond down the street from my house.

The neighborhood, calledWhitby, is built on a cliff along this bay

It really is quite beautiful here

Finally when I returned home I thought it would be a good idea to do some laundry. One of the many things I love about the Kiwis is their environmentally conscious nature. Why use a clothes dryer when you have a perfectly good fire to dry your clothes, no electricity necessary!

“I was completely gobsmacked!”

I have officially made it through the first week of my teaching internship! Here is a bit of a run down of my past week, in the future I will try to be better about posting more regular updates.

Monday: Monday was my first day at Heretaunga college, and it was a whirlwind. Classes run from 8:50 till 3:15. I arrived around 8am in order to meet my cooperating teacher, at this point I still didn’t know who my CT was or what classes I would be teaching. All weekend I had been quite nervous, but finally being in the school I was mostly excited. My CT turned out to be not only the head of the English department but also a great fit for me. She is laid back, slightly scattered, super funny, and really cool. She has 4 classes, two of which are the same prep, so if I take over her full load I will only have 3 preps to do. I could go on for pages about the craziness of my first day, but the biggest thing I am going to have to get used to is the timetable (schedule of which classes are when). In the US you have a set schedule for periods 1-6, so even though the schedule might differ based on the school or the day your 2nd period will always be the same class, say 10th grade English. Here it is a bit different; you have a set layout of periods 1-5(called spells). Every day is the same schedule, but while on Monday your first spell might be level 9 English, on Tuesday that class might be your 3rd spell. Some days you might have only 3 classes with 2 free spells, other days you might have all 5 spells full. It’s quite interesting but also very confusing, the advice given to me was “Don’t lose your timetable!”

Tuesday: I met the rest of the classes my CT teaches. By the end of term I will be taking over all of her classes. These include a year 13 English class, which is similar to a grade 12 class in the US, a year 12 communication class which is an applied English class, and two level 9 English classes which are the equivalent of 8th grade English. I am excited about the range of levels I will be teaching, it will definitely keep me on my toes. I got home a bit early today so I thought I might go for a walk and explore a bit, but the weather had different ideas.


Wednesday: Today I shadowed a level 9 class to get a better idea of different classes at the school. On their timetable today was English, Health, German, Science, and their form class, which is essentially a homeroom type class. What I found most interesting was the form class. On Wednesdays form class is used half for assembly time and half for house meetings. There are four houses in the school, and they compete against each other for points. At the house meeting they were organizing students for upcoming challenges including a Fear Factor type competition and a Ready Steady Cook (a British iron chef-type program) competition.

Thursday and Friday: The rest of the week went smoothly, I still am mostly observing and helping students one-on-one. Here, as promised, are some pictures from my ride to school.

The first part of the drive is going through rolling hills with sheep everywhere.


Then it becomes very dense greenery sort of like in washington but with palm trees peppered throughout.



Not too bad for a ride to work.