Motueka

On Monday, I arrived at Motueka High School for another school visit. I found this school because it has a reputation for its stellar outdoor education program. The school is similar to the others that I visited: groups of classrooms that open to a court yard or field.

The day began with an All School Assembly. While they didn't sing, they did have students give out awards, explain upcoming events and offer some words of encouragement for the upcoming term. Two students read the well known story of the farmer and the mule. I pretty much have this story memorized from high school volleyball- the moral is: "shake it off and step up." Great words to live by.

I met with the head of the department, Mr. Wheeler and we had a great conversation about his past and the current state of the program at Motueka. He explained how the outdoor ed track is used primarily as an alternative for students who are not so keen on their studies- the program allows a different type of student to succeed in school. It also attracts a huge international population, as many as 40 students a year in a school of roughly 600-650 students. The fees for international students go right to the school and help offset a lot of program costs. Mr. Wheeler expressed that this really helped with the success of the program because the principal appreciates the draw of the program to these students and therefore supports it.

We discussed the layout of the schedule and how day trips and overnight adventures are sorted out through the school. Later this week, the Year 13 (12th graders) are going on a three night trip into the mountains. For the older classes, they try to go on an overnight trip each term.

The school has a shed full of equipment for use of the students which is helpful for enrollment. Similar to PE classes in NZ,  a few days a week are spent in the.classroom while the rest are set in the practical setting.

In the afternoon, I took a walk to the local iSite, which is becoming almost a daily task for me. The iSite offers hundreds of maps, brochures, and a few nice people who help sort out your travel and book your trips. I made plans for the Abel Tasman Coastal Walk which is a popular series of walks in New Zealand's must popular National Park. I also made a plan to climb Fox Glacier later in the week. After, I took a long walk along the water. The layout of the land is amazing here: beach, vineyards and mountains all in a row.

I got back to my hostel and had a super fun night with a great group of people. There is a couple from Belgium- a school teacher and immigration officer. There are four guys from Argentina who are working here for a few months before they finish their year abroad with a two month trip around south east Asia. Finally there are two guys from the Netherlands who previously worked as accountants but got bored with it and decided to take a year off, and a German guy who is taking a break from university. There is a kiwi staying here for the week because he is taking part in some sort of sky diving extravaganza where he jumps 17 times this week (insane). His stories about travelling are amazing and he was truly confused about how I was only here for a month. He urged me to get a work visa asap and live a little! I also chatted with Korean man who is staying here for a few weeks. In very broken English he explained his very tough life story in South Korea-very interesting and sad. Now he refers to me as the tall American girl :) The Argentineans didn't believe I am from the states because I apparently don't look like an American (I think that's a good thing!)

We celebrated one guy's 27th birthday with cake and ice cream and had a fun night talking about the differences of our countries and stories about our travels.

It won't let me upload photos again- bummer.