Last Day in Mellons Bay

Last night I had a fabulous home cooked kiwi dinner with Ness, the organizer of this segment of my trip and her family. Before dinner,  we stopped to pick her daughter up from Netball practice which is considered the most common women's sport in NZ. It's a lot like basketball with a little team handball mixed in. Something we'll definitely have to try this year in my class!

For dinner, We had amazing roasted lamb with mint jelly, vegetables,  and pavlova for dessert (they refer to dessert as pudding). You honestly haven't lived until you've had pavlova (or chocolate covered hokey pokey- see last picture,  or hokey pokey ice cream).  It's kind of like a merguine cake with whipped cream,  fresh kiwis,  and chocolate on top. Absolutely delcious!!

I chatted for hours with Ness and her family about the upcoming stops on my trip,  New Zealand and American differences and plenty of other topics.  I was fascinated to learn all about the common practice of New Zealanders going on an OE,  or overseas experenice to travel and live in other countries.  It is fairly common for young people to finish college, work for a few years to pay off debt and collect some money, and then leave NZ for a few years travelling the world. Many kiwis travel for a 2-3 years all over before they settle back home to start a family. Sounds like a fabulous idea!

Mellons bay is a very affluent area so it made sense when almost everyone I met had travelled around the world but furthermore I learned that New Zealanders really value other cultures and make a constant effort to travel becuase they live in such a small confined country. Ness and her husband explained that most kiwis really do live for the moment and spend their money when they want on what they want and worry less about saving then we do. Overall, it was such a wonderful night with a great family and I'm excited for our future plans to come back to visit and take a trip to Figi!

During the morning today I observed a PE teacher at Pigeon Mountain Primary which is in the same area as the schools I've attended this whole week. This school was similar to Mellons Bay besides having a PE "Specialist" who serves as a reliver to the homeroom teacher every other week. We played some soccer in the morning and then moved on to gymnastics later in the day.

Somehow it has taken me until today  to realize that kiwis are not keen on wearing shoes (they are keen or saying "keen" though : ). During the past few days I noticed some kids walking around barefoot but assumed there was a reason behind it. Today, the kids came running out on the wet field barefoot to play soccer and I knew something was up. Turns out, many New Zealanders really don't wear shoes too  often,  in fact,  they arent required in most public places (restaurants etc.). The rest of the day I started noticing how everyone was barefoot!

I also enjoyed learning about the school's ESOL (english as a second language) program. Currently,   the school is hosting 30 Korean students through their ESOL program.  Each term,  the schools hosts a set of about 30-40 korean students for about six weeks- many of whom live with host families in the neighborhood. It seems like such an amazing experience for both sets of students!

After school, I had a great sushi lunch, stopped in a candy store (they call all candy lollis) to grab a few necessary items and headed down to Hamliton which is the third most populated city in NZ (keep in mind there are about 4 million total in the whole country so imagine the opposite of the DC/Baltimore Metropolitan area in terms of traffic and crowds and that's what its like everywhere here.

During the evening here in Hamliton I visited a information center to get a little feedback on my upcoming adventures. The woman who assisted me was super friendly and helpful!   Upon leaving,  I asked for the best way to get towards the botanical gardens which were not far from where we were. The woman seemed a little uneasy and started to explain how the sun would be setting soon and it might not be the best idea to travel there at this time. She quickly cut herself off and said something like, "oh well you're from America so you can probably handle yourself in a dangerous situation like that." Obviously I took her original advice! I'm not sure the people over here have the best perception of America. 

Tonight I had an outstanding meal from a restaurant in downtown Hamilton. I've been waiting for the right time for fish and chips and  this was definitely it! 

Tomorrow I head down to the Waitomo caves for a five hour adventure including abseiling,  rafting and climbing through glow worm caves. I'm psyched for this experience! !

Bucklands Beach Intermediate School Visit

I have to start off by saying that I'm writing this sitting on the beach over looking Half Moon Bay which is right off the coast of Auckland and feeds into the Pacific.  Still in the dead of "winter"  and it's about 70 degrees with the bright sun setting over the water which is easily warmer than it was in Cape Cod a few weeks ago. It's no wonder Kiwis are viewed in such a happy light. .  If I lived here I wouldn't have a complaint in the world!

Today I had another fabulous day of school observations as I attended each level of schooling throughout the day (primary,  intermediate,  and high school). I started my day at Mellons Bay Primary and sat in on a Year 1/2 class ( k-first graders). There are some combined classes like this in the school which helps with categorizing students based on age.

Before the class began,   the teacher asked the students to guess where I was from... answers that included Africa,  England, and Australia :) The morning meeting confirmed that all young students are in fact the same-  very curious..  lots of questions at every opportunity! During class, a student shared his "All About Me"  poster as the students practiced writing sentences.  First they wrote a sentence about what they liked about the poster and then they wrote a sentence about what they liked about the student who was presenting. I enjoyed the teachers positive behavior method where students were given the okay to put up a frog or lily pad next to their name when they had behaved especially well.  It was a clever way to quickly and efficiently reinforce positive behavior without disrupting the class.  Next we travelled to the multipurpose room for PE where the students participated in the gymnastics stations that we discussed yesterday.  It was a great lesson that I  diligently collected the plans for and will definitely be using back at Calvert.

After morning tea I headed over to Bucklands Beach Intermediate School which holds about 600 students in Year 7 & 8 (12/13 year olds). I received a quick run down of the PE/ Health and Sport curriculum from the Sport Director (AD) Stacey K (great name!). She explained that they try to integrate the subjects as much as possible and showed some of the detailed lesson plans that they use. Her role is more of an admin for sport and she's responsible for planning out all PE and Health lessons and delivering them to the homeroom teachers to use.

I had the special opportunity to help out with a school Cross Country race which was held at the nearby high school (called McClans College- I snapped a picture of their uniforms for comparison).  They have a few of these races throughout the year for students to improve their fitness- an idea that I'm hoping to bring back to Calvert!

The views from the high school were incredible! ! I was stationed on the course near the soccer fields and could not stop taking pictures and basking in the beauty of the view of the bay. The kids did great job with the very hilly course that was almost 4k.

Tonight,  I'm having dinner at Mrs. Elliott's house - the teacher who so graciously planned my time here in Mellons Bay. I'm excited for some authentic NZ food and a chance to chat with her family about the remaining stops on my trip.

I included a few pictures of houses around here to give everyone an idea of why I need to save about a million $$ to move back.  Hopefully they'll reverse the recent law banning foreigners from buying property by the time I'm rich!

Mellons Bay School Visit

Today, I began my school visitations starting with Mellons Bay Primary which is a school located about 30 minutes south east of Auckland. This visit was especially important because my entire idea of travelling to NZ stemmed from a visit to Room 19 at Mellons Bay. Here's the back story:  during senior year of college when most of us were student teaching in Salisbury and Ocean City,  one of my roommates (Jaime) came to Mellons Bay for her 6 week observation. When Jaime returned,  she couldn't say enough good things about New Zealand,  the school,  the kids, and most importantly her mentor teacher Mrs. Elliott. When I had the idea to travel over here,  I contacted Mrs. Elliott who welcomed me to visit and even set up observations of nearby schools during my stay.

Well I finally had a chance to see what all the excitement was about and I'll have to say that my expectations were exceeded.

Today was the first day of school after their two week holiday. Schools here work like a year round school.  They have about 6 weeks off from Christmas- February to mark the end of the school year.  When school starts back in February,  the students attend for about 6 weeks and then have a two week break which is the pattern that continues throught the year- sounds like an idea we should adopt in the US :)

Mellons Bay educates students ages 5-11 and they are grouped in classes based on their year in school. For example,  today I was primarily with a year 4 class which was composed of 8 & 9 year old students. In NZ,  you start school the day after your fifth birthday so students start at any time throughout the year in Year 0. After they complete that part of the year and get acquanited,  they start year one. 

The school is essentially a series of buildings that contain two or three classrooms all of which open to the outside. Traveling to the library or another classroom means running outside to get there which solves the common problem in schools of talking in the halls. Teachers here teach through the day besides morning tea and lunch- meaning the teach all special subjects within their homeroom class.  The entire school has morning tea (basically snack/recess)  and lunch at the same time. When the time comes,   students walk outside and find a space on the blacktop or playground to eat. There are a few teachers who monitor the school and eventually the students have time to play. 

During reading and math,  the class (28 students) is broken up into groups based on ability.  The teacher works with one group at the time to review concepts and answer questions. While this happens,  all other students are focused on their work which was located throughout the room. I've never seen such a large group of students on task with little reminders from the teacher.  It was outstanding!

I had some great conversations with the students about what to do in New Zealand,  the differences between American English and Kiwi English, and what American schools are like. Their idea of American schools included mean teachers yelling at students to be quiet all the time! I explained that our school and teachers are similar then at Mellons Bay and they were relieved. We discussed some differences in our language- here are a few of them:
Braids= plaits
Vacation= holiday
Trash=rubbish
Napkins=servittes
Bathing suits=togs

In the afternoon I helped out with Year 0 classes in their first day of gymnastics. Each term the entire school completes the same sport/  activity for PE and each team takes a turn supplying the lessons.  The kids were split into teams and I helped explain and demonstrate their gymnastics stations.  Watching the little 5 year olds in PE made me really miss my Calvert kids!  They are just so cute at that age.

I was so impressed with the organization of the class,  and how everyone seemed to be on task the entire time.  Students worked at their own speed, in their own ability group and had help when needed. Additionally,  the whole school had lunch and recess for over an hour with about 5 teachers to supervise without any issues.  No injuries,  no arguing, no tears.  Everyone seemed to find something to do and enjoy themselves.  Students thrived with the freedom they had during this time to play how they wanted with anyone in the school. As a whole,  the students were very independent and sweet! And their accents were as cute as I anticpated them to be :)

Tomorrow and Wednesday I'll be visiting other schools in the area.  I've never visited a place like Mellons Bay- absolutely beautiful! ! It's like a beach town where every area is surrounded by the bay/water.  The houses are amazing!  And the towns have cute shops and restaurants. My hotel is beach front,  two stories, with a kitchen and king size bed ( a major upgrade from my hostel in Auckland!) . The last two pictures are views from the hotel... I'm already considering staying another night :)

Auckland Day Three

Yesterday was my last day in Auckland and I'm happy to say I finished my bucket list for the city.

I took a ferry to Devonport,  which is a town across the harbour from Auckland in the North Shore. Devonport is a super cute town and is the main naval base for NZ. Upon arrival,  I hiked up Mt. Victoria and enjoyed beautiful views of the city and surrounding suburbs.  It was amazing!  After,  I stopped in town for some sushi and delicious chocolates that were made in house.

I attended my second rugby game between the Vodafone Warriors and Melborne Storm. This league is technically a little lower level then the previous game I attended but it was definitely not obvious.  The stadium was a similar size (very big! ) with tons of intense fans. Coincidentally,  I sat next to a guy wearing a Steelers hat- I set him straight :) During the game,  they honored a player for being with the club for 10 years which I thought was amazing,  especially for a rugby player. I shared my excitement in attending a big time rugby game with many people over the past few days,  all of which expressed a huge interest in American football which I thought was great.

Next, I drove up two hills that offer great views of the city. One Tree Hill (not the TV show- one of my favorites!) got its name for the single tree on the giant hill. Unfortunately,  it was cut down by an "activist"  as I was told, but the views were still great!  Mt Eden offered some fabulous views as well and had a very interesting crater in the middle (see pics below). I officially took about 50 pictures of the skyline - just so beautiful!

I ended the night with some amazing calamari and an early bedtime. I don't know how,  but I'm still managing to sleep 10-11 hours a night... not a trend I can afford to continue when this wonderful trip comes to an end.  In the morning,   I left Auckland and my German roommates and headed to my first school!

Auckland Day Two

Yesterday,  I made a big dent in my "NZ Bucket List." I climbed the Auckland Bridge, jumped off the Sky Tower, and went to a Rugby playoff game. All were such exciting adventures!

The Auckland Bridge climb is a two hour guided walk under and over the biggest bridge in NZ (it is much smaller than the Bay Bridge to put it into context). We wore hemlets and were attached to the bridge during the whole climb so I felt safe. Many of the people go up the bridge and bungy jump from it which we watched up close. I'd be lying if I said that didn't make me wish I jumped too!

The bridge was built in the 50s and is the primary way to reach the North Shore of New Zealand. Upon its opening,  it was clear they should have made it wider so within a few years they expanded the four lane bridge to eight. The outlying two lanes on each side are called "clip ons" (sound safe??) because they are only supported by attaching to the side of the pillars of the original bridge. Due to earthquake threats, they had to make sure the bridge had some give so it literally moves up and down with the weight of the cars. We were under the bridge learning about this and feeling the sway of the cement wheb our guide told us that the bridge can move up to one meter in 30 seconds!! Once we got above the bridge we had the best sights of Auckland and the huge marina which clearly shows why this city is dubbed the "city of sails." It was beautiful!  (these pictures will be up later)

Next I walked up to the Sky Tower for my jump. This is called base jumping because you land on the ground rather then get pulled back up like with bungy jumping. I went up with a girl who was over from Sydney on business. She'd been bungy jumping and sky diving but was still very scared! I felt fine until I leaned over the edge right before the jump- my heart was pounding. It is a 192m jump that lasts about 11 seconds- very exhilarating!

I failed to mention that throughout the day I was in a hunt for rugby tickets. Apparently, there was a huge playoff game for the Super 15 league but I was having no luck finding tickets. On the bridge climb,   I met a super friendly couple who was going to the game and eventually they were able to get me a ticket.  It was so nice of them to go out of their way so I could see this awesome event.

The staduim was huge!  Not as big as our football staduim but a very large venue with tons of crazy fans. It definitely reminded me of a big Ravens game because people were cheering the entire time. The game was between the Waikato Chiefs and Christchurch Crusaders- both of which had a handful of All Blacks (even Richie McCaw!). The game was intense and in the end the home team (Chiefs)  won 20-19. At the stadium they serve drinks, American hot dogs and fries outside of the stands but not to worry if you want to stay in your seat-  they have someone walk around to sell donuts in the stands... but that is all. Very interesting if you ask me! 

I had a great talk with the NZ couple that got me the tickets about differences in American and Kiwi culture. My favorite topic was our tipping system which they posed some good points about!

I got home pretty late and was exhausted. Today is my last day in Auckland and I'll be attending another local rugby game and taking a ferry to Devonport which is an island across from the harbour.

Cheers! 

Auckland Day One

Today I made a lot of progress in the "growing up and figuring things out on my own"  part of the trip. I able to successfully go through customs (they had to wash my boots before I brought them into the country), pick up my car, get NZ $$ from a bank, and drive my car into the city.

I'll have to admit my mom was right in suggesting that driving on the wrong side of the road "might be tricky." Basically, it's terrifying. You have to turn on your blinker with your right hand,  put the car into drive with your left,  and manuver through many round abouts at high speeds trying to remember what side you should be on. Luckily,  I got a lot of practice driving around Auckland when I was searching for my hostel and now my car is now parked for the weekend.

After I checked in, I took a long walk around the city. I checked out Queen Street (the main drag of the city), sat by the harbour, and went up in the Sky Tower. I got talked into doing the Sky Jump off the tower (NOT bungee jumping) by a 10 year old girl who was on her way up to jump herself and signed up to do that tomorrow. I'm also climbing the Auckland Bridge in the morning.

Opinions of the city:   
It has been very lively today because schools are on holiday - they go year round with 2 week breaks every few months. I wonder how flexible businesses are with this set up and if parents are able to take off when their kids have a break.
It's "winter" here but many people wear winter coats and hats even though it's 60 degrees. I'm personally loving life and will take this temperature over 100 and humid any day!

I have already met a ton of interesting people! Two gentlemen I met today are on a month trip to film a Zales Diamonds commercial, met a few Canadian girls, met a guy from Atlanta who moved here because he's obsessed with rugby, and met a nice family from Wellington. I love the kids accents so much! They sound super cute and I can't wait to see them in school next week.

My roommates are 19 year old German girls who are spending a year working in NZ. They are busy now finding work and seeing the city.They explained that it is popular to take a year off after high school to travel before attending college. One of thre girls lived in Nashville for her senior year and had travelled just about every where in the world!  She loved how many special subjects we have in the US and explained the course load in Germany: everyone takes math,  German,  English and another language of their choice.  Then the choose to be in the science track or language track and pick courses according to their track.  She said that sports are not very popular and they do not have school teams like we have in the US. 

It's 2pm now and I'm wondering if it is too soon to call it a night. I could use a good 15 hours of sleep especially to prepare for my exciting day tomorrow.