im in christchurch. let the adventures begin!

big adventures!

hey friends!

the time has finally come - school break is upon us here in NZ and i am getting ready to go on my south island adventure. i am taking the Magic Bus and doing everything i possibly can to get the full NZ experience! you only come here once, right?! so i wanted to keep you all filled in on my whereabouts so here's the low down.

check out this website for details....http://www.magicbus.co.nz/main/productDetail/index.cfm?productID=7

I am taking the Southern Discovery Tour. I will spend 12 days touring the most beauitful place in the world. i will start in christchurch on monday and go from there. i will be traveling to kaikoura, nelson, greymouth, franz josef, queenstown, dunedin, and tekapo. on this trip i will be doing a bungy from the orignial invention spot, swimming with dolphins, whale watching, seeing yellow eyed peguins, climbing a glacier, going to mt cook, hot air ballooning, and much much more. watch facebook for picture updates. i will be able to write frequently bc i will have some internet access at the hostels, but i am not 100% sure how often i will keep up, but just check in when you can.

love you all and cant wait to tell you all about these crazy adventures!!!

lingo

ok. im still learning the lingo here...

togs = bathing suit (even if it's a one peice, it's togs not tog)
singlet = tank top (not a wrestling outfit)
sweet as = cool (this one is tricky. i got really upset at one of my classes bc i thought a kids said "sweet ass")
motorway = road
round about = intersection where you dont have to stop, only yeild.
give way = yeild
lollie = any form of candy, not just those with sticks attached
eh = to be used at the end of EVERY sentence. means yeah?, you know?, right?, you agree?, etc.
aussie = austrailia
footie = soccer
to flat = to room with or share an apartment with (this is often a co-ed thing here. strange)
flash = anything fancy or classy. a very nice compliment to give
nappie = diaper
more to come im sure....

cultural transmission...

today in my year 9 social studies class i had a bit of fun.

i told the kids that part of the reason i came here was to be apart of cultural transmission...me learning about their culture and in turn me teaching them about mine. i have done a great deal of learning abotu kiwi and maori culture, so i thought id return the favor....

so i taught them how to...
- call the dawgs - after some practice i will video tape them and put it up here. that should be some quality entertainment.
- use "bless her heart" correctly
- correctly pronouce Y'all
- figure out what an Uga is

lessons for later...
- correct pronouciation of the word Georgia...Jawja.
- what are grits.
- why everythign Orange is awful...gators, tigers, vols, etc.

oh the educators daily stress...what important knowledge i have to impart to these minds....

this is good

i love you more than the miles that seperate us...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC49Fd-a7D8

See the pyramids around the Nile
Watch the sun rise
From the tropic isle

Just remember darling
All the while
You belong to me

See the market place
In old Algiers
Send me photographs and souvenirs

Just remember
When a dream appears
You belong to me

And I'll be so alone without you
Maybe you'll be lonesome too

Fly the ocean
In a silver plane
See the jungle
When it's wet with rain

Just remember till
You're home again
You belong to me

Oh I'll be so alone without you
Maybe you'll be lonesome too

Fly the oceanIn a silver plane
See the jungle
When it's wet with rain

Just remember till
You're home again
You belong to me

hola amigos!



i hope you are well. the past few weeks have been a bit of a blur; i have become really thankful for this blog - an archive of my advenures here.



i realized how quickly time is passing by today as i began to realize i am quickly approaching the end of week 4. that puts me at about 1/3 of the way done with my trip! yikes.



this week has been very strange on account of a few new changes:

1. 2 of my classes are taking exams for a week and a half. this means i lose 2 of my 4 classes that i teach. this leaves me with a great deal of free time... I thought this might be a welcome thing, but have since learned that my mind tends to wander homeward when left with idle hands. i am learning that i need to have an undivided heart (thanks erin!) here so that i can fully enjoy this blessing. it doesnt mean that i dont or shouldnt miss home...just that i want to be all here. it's strange to want to be in two different places at the same time.



2. i am preparing to be observed by someone from the university of auckland. her name is jenni jongejan (pronouced yawn-ee-yawn...). i dont really like being observed - i feel like i have to perform more than teach. this observation will come and go quickly.



3. i am learning more about the class i am enrolled in for uga stuff - man the amount of work that takes is incredible. the e-portfolio thing is going to take years to create!!!!!



4. i am finding community!!!!! Ruth is a girl who goes to the church i was telling you i found (at least i think i told you abotu it...if not...i found a church!). she lives about 10 minutes from my house in Mareatai. we got to grab some food together and go to a home group/house church/small group thing on tuesday. it was so good to be able to fellowship with some believers. they were so nice to welcome me into their homes and their study. i was amazed at how the Body of Christ really worked : ) I know that i had jsut met these people, but b/c we are part of the Body together we are brothers and sisters and we acted like it. it was a really beautiful thing. i was humbled to be a part of it and really thankful for the blessing of community. i am learning how important it truly is. we are not meant to go through this life alone and i now think it would be near impossible and absolutely miserable if that were the case. Praise the Lord that he blesses us with friends that we can share life with, share dreams with. He has proven Himself faithful over and over on this trip. I cannot wait to see what's in store as my trip continues.



5. reading. amazingly, i am finding some time to read here. this pace of NZ life is about half that of the US (erin and blake, i feel your pain about having to adjust to this...it's tough, isn't it!). but one thing that is able to happen b/c of the slower paced life is a good reading almost every day. i am reading Humility by cj mahaney; passion and purity by elizabeth elliot; redeeming love; reason for God by Keller. very very good stuff in here. i have also had really amazing chances to dig into the Word. this is precious time and i am so thankful for it.



6. I AM GOING SKIING THIS WEEKEND!!!!! check out mtruapehu.com to see some of the slopes i will be going down (hopefully not falling down...). pics will be up soon : )



time to go.... love you all : )



oh - make sure to cheer on the Dawgs!

hey guys! hope you are all doing well.

this weekend i got to go to a masquerade party! it was really neat. i will try and post pics soon for you all to see. i also got a chance to drive here for the first time. not quite as scary as i thought it would be. b/c you are still in the middle of the road (the driver's seat, that is) it doesnt feel as strange. one weird thing about the roads here are "roundabouts". these are 4 (or more) way intersections where you dont stop you just "give way" or yield, to the person on your right, then enter the roundabout and merge int othe road you want to go on. it is very strange, but it keeps the traffic much lighter. nice.

i have found a church!!! eastview baptisr. it is actually next door to my school. there is a girl named Ruth who goes to the church who lives out my way. we will be meeting and grabbing some food together tomorrow (tuesday). this is such good news and answered prayer! i really miss being able to go to church on a normal basis and this will also give me a chance to meet more people my age! hooray for some community!!!

sorry this is short (although for some of you it might be a relief not to read a novel here). but now i am on my way out of school and home for the day.

love you all : ) GO DAWGS

KIA ORA!!

Kia Ora!
Have I told you what that (kia ora) means? It means hello, or more directly – are you in good health? It is the traditional Maori greeting. I have been able to use it a lot here. I think everyone gets a kick out of hearing it said in a southern accent.

Since I last wrote…
I was invited to go to a poferi (that is phonetically spelt…no clue how you are supposed to spell these Maori words…). It is a traditional greeting ceremony. Our school – Botany Downs, is hosting a group of French exchange students from a place called New Caledonia. The school performed this poferi for them and invited me to come along for it. Part of the ceremony involves a honge – (pronounced hong- ee). This is when two people lean in close to each other and touch noses. It shows that you are comfortable enough with this person to share the same breath with them; you have accepted them into your inner circle of friends. So all the people already in the inner circle line up and you have to honge (touch noses) each person and say Kia Ora to everyone. I LOVED this! It was such a neat ceremony to see and take part in. Some of the girls from the school performed traditional Maori songs and did a great job too. It was a very cultural morning : )

What else…I have been teaching for almost 2 full weeks now. I only teach the light and bright subjects like Nazi Germany, Civil Rights Movement, and South African Apartheid – so no worries…lots of fluff here! Just kidding. It is a lot of hard work, but I am enjoying teaching! This is good news because I was nervous about actually putting into practice everything I have been learning was a little scary, but it is working. I am still finding it strange to be a part of a school class in Athens that I am not present for – I feel a bit out of the loop. But thankfully, I have really good instructors at home who are working hard to keep me up to date and in the know about school stuff. They are truly lifesavers.

Weekend Adventures…Well, this weekend has been like no other! It started off with a Saturday night mid-winter Christmas dinner with the school staff. Apparently in NZ it is tradition to have a cold weather Christmas dinner. According to them, no one really enjoys having Christmas in the summer, so they choose to celebrate Christmas twice a year. Everyone gets together at some point during the winter to get into the Christmas spirit. It felt very strange at first to walk into the fully decorated staff lounge in the end of august seeing twinkle lights, decorated trees, and hear Christmas carols. But soon it felt very homey. Everyone was in the Christmas mood! I had my first glass of mulled wine. I don’t exactly know what makes wine mulled, but whatever it was made it taste quite lovely! It was potluck (except the ham which was bought) so Christine and I made some brownies to bring in – they were a hit too! Everything seemed very “normal” at our Christmas dinner until it was time to break out the party gifts. It was only then that I learned about an authentic New Zealand (and apparently English) tradition called Christmas crackers.

Now these aren’t meant to be real crackers; they are supposed to be toilet paper rolls stuffed with small toys (a whistle or toy ring perhaps), a joke that is not funny{ (really…you’re supposed to put bad jokes in there) – no worries crew…our official 3 jokes were gladly told to the partiers and they loved them}, and a piece of candy or gum, and a noise maker/popper. Now Botany’s social committee was on a tight budget this year so they had to get creative with their Christmas crackers. Instead of toilet paper rolls, we actually used real saltine crackers and put in a joke, an andes mint, and a popper in between the crackers. Then we tied the crackers with ribbon and then put glitter on the crackers (clearly the herpes of all arts and crafts! …see Demetri Martin on youtube if you are confused about that joke).

While making these crazy things in assembly line fashion (on Friday night) I had NO idea about the Christmas cracker tradition and simply thought that the entire social committee staff had lost their minds. It was Friday so this wasn’t too far from true, especially after reflection time. Once I asked for some clues as to why were decorating saltines everyone realized I was out of the cultural loop and filled me in. These kiwis are nutty, friends. Just plain nutty!

Speaking of interesting things going on at school….in NZ it is not illegal for adults to bring alcohol onto school property. This means that occasionally a teacher will have a glass of wine with lunch. This is VERY strange for me to see; very out of the ordinary. It also means that on Friday’s the entire staff shows up in the staff room for “Reflection Time”. This is time for the teachers to unwind after their week and enjoy a glass of wine together…on school property. I am still not over the shock of this one. But nonetheless, not a bad thing for a Friday either.

I played soccer for the first time ever! A group of (mostly guys but some girls too) teachers gets together every Friday afternoon and plays indoor soccer. I was invited to play, so I came along (mostly to give everyone else some good laughs). I had NO idea what to do (this seems to be a trend lately ,eh?) other than chase the ball then quickly pass it along to someone who knows what to do. We wont mention the fact that I forgot to bring my tennis shoes so I played barefoot. But I don’t think I did too poorly. In fact, one of the teachers came up to me today and asked me how long I have been playing soccer…I must have fooled him! It was a good game and I will be playing with the group each Friday! Hopefully I will be even better with shoes on this week.


Weekend Adventures went really well this time around! I found a friend at school – another teacher named Charlie – who is in kind of the same position as me. He is from London and is only in NZ until the very beginning of December, so we have about the same amount of time here and want to make the best of our weekends. We decided to take our first day trip Sunday to a place called Piha on the west coast of the north island. It is truly one of the most majestic places I have ever seen in my life. It is also one of the most dangerous beaches in NZ because of the extremely rough surf and tide. There is even a show called Piha Rescue about the lifeguards at the beach. My facebook has pics if you would like to see.

Charlie and I only got lost a few times and I even navigated and didn’t let us end up in Beijing or something – so mission accomplished! We spent a few good hours in Piha and then it was off to another adventure – an Auckland Warriors Rugby League game. Rugby League is quite different than Rugby Union (so I am told…dad, maybe it’s like grecko and freestyle wrestling…). Either way it was rugby and I thought that was cool. We stood fence-side for the first half. That was neat seeing the players close up – they are HUGE!!!! We saw the 2nd half from the stand (we might have snuck up there, but I’ll never tell…). Great game, and the Warriors won. They are off to the championship game this weekend. Charlie and I were clearly the good luck charms! Hey – pray for Charlie; he is not a believer and it looks like we will be spending time together in the car. We had some good conversation this past week, let’s hope that I get a chance to share the gospel with him. What an awesome thing that would be, if Charlie came to know the Lord through this trip!!!!!!!!

This week I am booking my 2 week adventure on the south island that I will be taking the last week of this month. I am hoping to watch the All Blacks game tonight somewhere, and then who knows what this weekend hold as of yet… We will have to wait and see.

The week has been off to a great start. Got my package from my parents in the mail – what a great surprise!!!!!! I loved it. Thanks so much for all your prayers and thoughts. I love you all very much. Drop me a message, comment, or facebook post and let me know how you are doing. That’s all for now. Cheers : )