Things I'm Getting Used To

A lot of things are very different here than in America that I thought were really weird. Luckily I am finally getting used to things being different. I’ve been writing them down as they come and compiling a list. Here is what I have come up with so far.

1. Spiders are in every corner.
2. Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosy. It does not exist
3. Driving on the wrong side of the road.
4. Having switches on every plug. You have to turn them on before things will work. I still forget to do this.
5. Catching the bus every morning.
6. Everything is in the metric system. I still don’t’ like this one.
7. Getting asked if I'm an American
8. Having two buttons on the toilet. (One is a half flush, one is full. Don’t’ ask me why you would only half flush a toilet.)
9. Wearing the same clothes over and over. 
10. Being a day ahead of everyone I know. 
11. Paying for internet and using it sparingly. I don’t like this one either.
12. Wanting every bar of chocolate I see.
13. Wishing I had ice cream with me constantly.
14. Getting sunburned in five minutes. I never get sunburned back in the states and the sun seems to love me here.
15. Benadryl does not exist. 
16. Constantly feeling wet. Thanks humidity.
17. Drying my clothes on a line.
18. Not having fabric softener.
19. Never knowing where I am.
20. Hearing the cool accents all over the place, but everyone asking me about mine.
21. Seeing a lot of diversity. The primary school I’m in has 26 different languages! What?
22. Taking showers at night. Kirsten and I can’t both take showers in the morning because the shower takes hours to drain.
23. The shower takes forever to drain.
24. My bed moving drastically whenever I move. (My mattress is basically on a cot.)
25. When somebody talks about their "partner" it doesn't mean that they are gay. 
26. People never wear shoes. It's more of an option. 
27. Everything is recycled! This is super hard since I have never recycled a day in my life and now its mandatory. 
28. Rubbing alcohol is almost non existent. 
29. When crossing the street looking right then left then right again. 
30. Maori words used in everyday language. 

Powhiri

Today we were officially welcomed into the country of New Zealand and into the primary schools by Ranoui Primary School. This welcoming ceremony is called a powhiri (remember “wh” together makes the “f” sound).  This was probably one of the greatest experiences I have had while being here in New Zealand.

The powhiri a central part of Maori protocol, is a ceremony of welcome involving speeches, dancing, singing and hongi.

This custom frequently takes place in the workplace to welcome new staff and important guests, at schools, sports and leisure clubs, and at significant occasions or ceremonies, such as a building dedication. 
Basic powhiri include the following elements:

The first part is called the Karanga. Immediately when we got onto the grounds of the school we were told to take off our shoes because due to tradition. Then we waited until two young girls started giving us our call of welcome. As they were giving us this call they were holding hands and the other hand that was not being held was shaking. (I’m not sure what this symbolized but I’m sure it means something since all of the women did it when they sang and gave their call.) Then we began to walk slowly into the main room (we weren’t allowed in until a certain time of the ceremony). As soon as we got in the students (learners) began singing for us in Maori welcoming us. This was absolutely darling. The most precious part of the entire thing was when the students all sang the national anthem in Maori and then in English. It almost made me cry it was so amazing. When the whole group stopped singing their was 2 boys that stood and spoke in Maori. It was so cute because you could tell that he was so scared but he did a great job.

 You can kind of tell that the students are shaking their hands

This is an actual video from the powhiri of the children singing the national anthem.

The second part is called the Whaikorero. This is where each party gives a speech in Maori. The male representing the females gives the speech. Chris, our directors husband gave this speech. His speech followed the form of a Ko Au Tenei.

Ko________taka Ingoa (my name is…)

Ko________taku maunga (my mountai is…)

Ko________taku Whenua (my land is…)

Ko________taku Moana (my ocean/water is…)

Ko________taku awa (my river is…)

Ko________taku marae (my home is…)

Ko________taku iwi (my people/family/tribe/ethnicity is…)

Ko________taku waka (my ship/mote of transport is….)

Ko________me________taku Matua (…are my parents)

Ko________taku ingoa (my name is…)


Kia ora koutou katoa (greetings to you all)

After Chris gave his speech we participated in the Waiata. This is where the group sings after the male representing them finishes their speech. We sang the song Te Ahora. Here is a video of us practicing our song while we were still taking classes right after we learned it.

Once the song has been sung the Koha takes place. This is where the dominant female representing the group visiting gives a gift as an expression of thanks.

The last part of the actual ceremony is where we all did the Hongi. This is where they physically welcome the visitors. We shook their hands and then we pressed our foreheads together and our noses touched. This signifies the jointing together of both groups. 

To signify the end of the powhiri there is a meal shared together called the Hakari. We did this as part of their morning tea. It was so good. There was everything from chocolates to spinach puffs, to pizza to cream puffs.

This is a picture of all of the principles from the different schools hosting us BYU girls. Rob Taylor (my principle) is the furthest to the right.

First day of School! First day of School!

Colwill Elementary school now has 4 new additions: Kirsten, Emily, Kirsten and I! Today was our first day as practicum students and in my classroom. I thought last semester was crazy because we didn’t know what grade we were going to be teaching until a few days before. That’s nothing compared to this semester. We walked in the school this morning and still didn’t know! We got directed to classrooms and then were told what grade we were in. It was a very different experience than teaching in the states for many reasons.

•  I am a teacher in years 1 and 2. Yes, I meant 2 different grades. The schools combine the grades together. This is how its broken down, 1 & 2, 3 & 4 & 5, and then 6 & 7. Anyways, so years 1 and 2 are ages 5-7 so basically kindergarten and a typical 1^st grade class. I’ve decided I’m not a huge fan of this because you have students at both extremes. For example, in my class I have a boy who is 5 years old and cannot speak English, another boy who doesn’t know the alphabet, and then another boy who is 7 years old and is reading at a 3^rd grade level. I don’t know how you can teach the same material to the students when they are all at such drastic stages. Any idea?
• I have two different teachers in the classroom with me. For the first part of the day is Ms. Kahn and for the second half of the day I work with is Ms. Whitehouse. These teachers are so different from each other its crazy. I don’t know how the students can handle such a change because it was even tricky for me. The first teacher likes to yell and the second is the complete opposite. Let’s just say I really miss Mrs. Davis back at Old Mill Elementary in Heber.
• About half of the little boys have rat tails for hairstyles. Not attractive.
• Shoes are considered more of an option, even with the teachers.
• The schools have morning tea and afternoon tea (lunch). Morning tea is at 10:30-11:10. The students all eat a snack from their lunches and then they go out to play. While the students are playing the teachers all go to the staff lounge and they have tea/coffee or for us Milo (basically a hot chocolate but slightly different). Then afternoon tea is from 12:45-1:30. The same thing happens except we eat lunch instead of make tea/coffee/milo unless you really want another energy booster. 
• Everybody has morning tea, recess and lunch at the same time.
• All the students eat lunch in their classrooms and then they have to sort their garbage from their lunch in the appropriate recycling bins. One is for the worms (the garden), plastic, and paper. 
• They incorporate Maori into it every chance they get. 

Now, our principle is quite the character. His name is Mr. Taylor AKA Rob. He has a very interesting appearance. Not somebody that you would picture as a principle. He has hair that is slicked back with bangs that I'm pretty sure he curls and then he adds a little bit of icing on it, otherwise known as bleach. Then he has an earring in his left hear that is pretty sparkly. That's not all you see, he also has some serious bling on his fingers. On both ring fingers he has huge rings with perfectly filed fingernails. Then comes his attire. He wears black skinny jeans with black squared off patent leather shoes with buckles, and a checkered button up shirt. Basically he looks a little something like this with the extra things I've added in.

Yes, this is Gru from Despicable Me. There is so much resemblance its crazy! 

Room 14, my class is absolutely darling! Like I said I'm in a year 1&2 class which has ages 5-7 in it. Its so strange that they have this wide of a range in one class. My students come from all over the world, not just New Zealand. I have one student who is from Iraq, two that are from Tuvalu (this country is actually sinking!), one student from the Cook Islands, a few from Samoa and Tonga, a handful from New Zealand, and believe it or not...one from Kansas! It's pretty funny she is the only student that has a generic name; Sarah. 

I throughly enjoy being called Miss. Even while walking around on duty during lunch (afternoon tea) the children walk passed me and without fail say, "Hello Miss!" in their cute little accents. It was even better when I was being introduced to my class and they all said, "Kia ora Miss Taylor!" with huge grins on their face anxious to meet me. 

Also, while on duty during lunch, I had a little girl come up to me and ask my name and if I was from America. I told her my name and said that I was from America. She looked at me quizzically for a moment and then asked me without hesitation, "Miss Taylor, do you know Justin Bieber"? She was quite bummed when I said know but she went on to tell me how she owns all of his CD's, two t-shirts and a poster of him. She might be slightly obsessed. 

I'm so glad to be back in a classroom and see the children's happy faces. You can't help but beam when you have those little eyes smiling back at you. Needless to say, elementary education was meant for me. 

Stake Conference

I was so excited for church today. After a long week it is so nice to hop in the car (we usually have to walk) and go to church. It was especially nice today because it was Stake Conference. The stake president seems so kind and genuine and the speakers were great.

One of the topics that was focused on was faith in our trials. The high councilor that gave the talk was fantastic. He emphasized over and over again that when you have a trial, there is a process to go through to overcome it. It's not an overnight thing. Pray and read your scriptures and it will pass. This talk immediately made me think of a mormon message. It is really wonderful and is full of great reminders. Watch it. 

Another talk I thoroughly enjoyed was about keeping your marriage strong. I think this applies to all relationships. A little while ago I saw this other mormon message that was darling and I hope you watch this one too! 

Happy Birthday To You!

This weekend was Kirstens birthday weekend! She’s 22! WOOHOO! This is what we did to celebrate her wonderful day of birth!

Friday

On Friday we had a whole day planned at Takapuna Beach. We had finally figured out the bus routes so that we could all meet at Takapuna at 1:00pm and we were ready to go! We got to the bus stop and headed towards Westgate (where the bus is required to stop). Emily and Kirsten were on the other bus next to us with their favorite bus driver Tua. They insisted on taking his bus and they convinced us to hop busses. Little did they know the bus route Tua was driving was not a direct route to Takapuna like our bus that we got off of was. We ended up taking a very scenic route to Takapuna. We drove through all of downtown Auckland and even crossed the bridge. Meanwhile I was having a mini panic attack because we were supposed to be meeting Mikaela and Amanda at the bus stop in Takapuna at 1:00 and it was 1:15 and not even close. This wouldn’t be bad if Mikaela and Amanda didn’t already have a really hard time figuring out the bus system and didn’t have a very complicated bus route everywhere. We eventually got to the beach and it was so sunny and a beautiful day. It was lucky because as soon as we found a patch of grass in the sun, Mikaela and Amanda had just arrived and found us! Thank goodness.

Then Phyllis took Kirsten, Mikaela, Amanda, Austyn, Alisha and I out to dinner to a restaurant called Valentines. Valentines is a big time buffet here and it was delicious! It had foods from all over the world that were sure scrumptious. My favorite thing was the spicy chicken curry, but that might just be because I’m a huge fan of Indian food. After the main course, there was dessert. This is where you could say, everyone lost their self control. We seriously had an entire plate full of all of the desserts. We just wanted to try them all. Is that so wrong? They were all mouth-watering good. I had two favorites: a chocolate roll with cream in the middle (looks like a pumpkin roll) and powdered sugar on top, and the second was a mini pavlova filled with cream. There is only one word to describe it: YUMMY!

Saturday

Thank goodness for free days! We got to spend another day at a different beach! I can’t help but laugh a little when I think that I am at the beach and almost everybody else is in Provo and it is snowing. Anyways, we went back to Orewa Beach. We went there the first weekend here in New Zealand and it was pouring rain so we were all excited to go back to the beach and actually enjoy it.

Reece, one of the YSA, took Kirsten, Kirsten, Emily, Mikaela, Amanda, Atti (a girl that lives with his family) and I to the beach. Sarah, Brittany and Micah were already there. They live with Reece’s Uncle.

I have decided that boys don’t like to just sit there on the beach or just wade in the water. They have to be doing something. Well, at least Reece does. This was actually a great change. He taught us all how to play cricket, which has become one of my new loves. Then, we played a very intense game of Rugby. This was not an ordinary rugby game; it was full on tackle in the water. This was so much fun and I even have battle wounds! Once we finished this game we immediately jumped right into playing a game of volleyball. This was when I could really feel the heat, literally. My shoulders started burning. Then I realized I hadn’t reapplied any sunscreen in between our crazy games. I lathered up the sunscreen, but it was too late and the damage had been done. Lets just say I’m the color of a lobster, with a really intense bathing suit line. I even have a line from where my earrings were.

*It's definitely more red in person. If you saw it you would probably die.*

Afterwards we (along with Sarah) went to get dessert because we were in dyer need of some dessert after the buffet..PSYCH! We went anyways and it was so worth it. The place we went to was called The Chocolate Boutique in downtown Auckland. I got something called Death By Chocolate. It was deadly...delicious. Basically it is chocolate ice cream, chocolate mousse, and then chocolate syrup. It was definitely my chocolate fix for the day. Thank goodness I shared this with Mikaela or else I would have eaten the entire thing by myself.

Because Reece spent the entire day doing things that the girls wanted to do we went back to the Sorenson’s (where Emily and Kirsten live) and watched the Dark Knight. Lucky him; he got to spend an entire day with 7 girls.

Temporary Home

February 8

Our little excursion ended today, which was a bitter sweet thing. It was a blast to travel around the south island, but it is also nice not to live out of a backpack, a little alone time and to be back to something in a routine.


You know how when you're on an airplane and you never listen to the safety protocols? Well New Zealand Air has found a way to make sure that you listen. Whenever comedy is involved you are bound to pay attention. On every flight we have been on with New Zealand Air they have played a specific video and I have finally found it!

You have got to watch it. You'll die laughing.

Enjoy!

Now That Was Epic

February 7

Recently, we have seen a lot of different sights from popular movies, so it was only appropriate to see one last sight on our last day in Christchurch. We went to Castle Cove. Castle Cove is where the final epic battle scene of the first Chronicles of Narnia was filmed. Let me tell you, it looks exactly like it does in the movies and it’s so easy to pick out what happened where by just looking at the cove. It was pretty neat to be at another sight of a movie that was so recognizable.

Here is a video clip of the battle scene from Narnia. Skip to 5:25 and see what you can pick out! 

Afterwards half of the group went to Adrenaline Rush Forest. This place was pretty awesome. Basically it is a place that has ropes courses that increase in difficulty and height with each level. Out of 6 levels I made it through 4 of them.

These courses were quite the test of my slight fear of heights. Not only did we harness ourselves into each of the obstacles but the obstacles wobbled, stretched, or rolled. It came as a surprise to me that I could still do the splits! Thanks Adrenaline Rush for the nice stretch. Even though I came out with bruises, scratches, layers of skin gone, and rope burns, it was an absolute blast!