Time to Say Goodbye

Today is my last day at Wakaaranga Primary! Gosh 12 weeks really went by fast. My students are working on language right now, Katie is on release so there is a substitute in the classroom so I am taking a break to update before cross country and morning tea :)

This weekend was amazing! Friday night I just hung out with Jodi, went on a nice walk and watched a bunch of friends. It was nice to have a chill night after such an active day at school! I observed Ludwigs class and we played dodgeball, the girls begged me to be on their team so I played! haha then I grabbed my class for the last 15 minutes of the school day and took them outside to teach them red rover! They had never heard of it and had a BLAST playing! Of course I played with them and had more fun with them than I ever had. It was cool to just see the smiles on their face, laugh with them and just relax for the end of the day.

Saturday Jodi, Amy and I took a little adventure to the hot water beaches! I tried to go with the girls a while back when we visited the Coramandel Penensula but we missed low tide and were incredibly unsuccessful haha come to find out we were also in the wrong location. So this time there were tons of people there and we wiggled our feet in the sand to find the warm water and stake out our claim of beach. As the tide went down we battled the waves to dig a nice big hole we could all 3 lay in. It took us about an hour of digging with a "spade" (shovel) and our hands and we finally had a nice big hole- but the water was luke-warm haha. The people next to us had water so hot it was nearly boiling so we combined pools to equalize the two. This was pretty successful and we layed in teh 4 inch deep water and sand for a good bit. Our pool neighbors were a couple, one from Ireland and one from Scotland! They were really awesome. We gave them advice on where to go the rest of their time in NZ, I felt like such a Kiwi! After we were content with our hot water beach experience and were plenty warm, we headed out just as the sun was setting. It was absolutely incredible- so beautiful. OH! I nearly forgot! When we arrived at the beaches earlier in the day we were still a bit early for low tide so we went to this art gallery and Amy got me a Greenstone! I just got the straight one called a "drop" that represents strength, unity, independence and pride. I am beyond excited, it is really cool! :) Then we stopped at a little cafe for some lunch and coffee, which was so yummy.

I ended up driving home because Amy drove there and they were surprised with how well I could drive here! And I was thinking that I myself am surprised at how easily I crossed over to the left side of the road :) haha I've gotten so used to it actually, that it might take a bit of adjustment to get back to the right side when I get home!

I got all packed up yesterday! It went a lot quicker than I thought it would but I still have WAY too much stuff. Either Amy is getting some new clothes or I will see how much it is to ship some of it back home. Amy and I finally got to do the Jungle Walk- it was SO beautiful!

 Dinner tonight with all the Waka teachers! I am so excited to get a chance to hang out with all of them one last time and say goodbye :(  Then tomorrow I am staying home to finish packing, Im going to go on a nice long run/walk to say goodbye to NZ and then after dinner tomorrow Amy will take me to the airport for my 9:30pm flight back to the US of A!

Friends and Family back home- I will see you soon! This has been an incredible experience I will remember forever.

Home is Where the Heart Is

They say "Home is where the heart is"

If this is true, I now have two homes. I have come to absolutely love this place and my heart lies in so many different places and things in New Zealand. At the same time, being in another country for 3 months, away from family and friends has shown me how blessed I truly am and how much I love about my home in America. These two beautiful places have their unique character, people, and places that have allowed me to fall in love with both. I am sad to leave this one love, yet estatic to finally be back to the other. Life is about change, growing and learning... and I feel I have experienced all of these things in the beautiful country.

Lauren, Alix, Jodi and I ventured into Auckland for Lauren's birthday and their last weekend in NZ! We went to Soul for dinner and had a blast in Auckland at the viaduct that night. Saturday we took the scenic route home, got some chinese takeout and went to Amy and Brett's to hang out. My Mema sent me the BEST care package so we dove into that! Inside were various American packages of muffin mix, brownie mix, cookie mix, cupcake mix, frosting, chocolate chips, sour gummie worms and tons of other stuff!!! We were all estatic and treated ourselves to Velveeta Shell Macaroni and Martha White muffins :) Later we made cupcakes :) We relaxed, had a spa, watched a ton of friends and played Cranium! Alix and Jodi beat us by a hair both times. Bummer. Afterwards we ordered pizza from Pizza hut where their large is litereally just bigger than a personal pan pizza. Fail. Naturally we went out for yet another spa and then came in to bake cookies! haha It was a big day of relaxing and eating and just enjoying New Zealand with our American food, American TV show and American game haha. What's a girl to do?

Alix and Lauren headed out this morning and I had to say bye to them! Next time I see them it will be back in America! Later this afternoon I worked on my application to Cobb County for various teaching positions. I submitted the application and now just have to wait. Who knows what will come of it, but say a little prayer I am able to find some sort of job when I come home!

I did just find out that my portfolio is no longer due when I return home but is due the 18th. (I come home the 24th) So now I am in a predicament to either pay a ton of money to FedEx it in or email in what I have and hope it is enough. It is frustrating that this information was just told to us, but there is not much else I can do about it at this point, so we will see what happens! I just want to get my diploma in August, there is no reason to wait until December to get my degree when I will be done with everything in one week. Whew! We will see what happens!

That is all for now, one week and 2 days until I fly home! Time certainly flies by!

Waka Waka

One week and one day down! One more week of full control, a week of relaxing in the classroom and taking on a few lessons, and then I go home!!

Today was such a fun day at Waka! We had two teacher birthdays today- 50 and 60 years old! (We make a big deal about the decade ones) so we had cake at morning tea and then a little party after school today with everyone. It is so cool to me that the teachers, staff, principal, EVERYONE gets together to socialize at this school. And although I think NZ might be better about this than the US, I must say Waka is very special for it. I love socializing with everyone and just hanging out. I feel like I have one big group of friends at school and I think few people can say that. It branches across all grades levels, subjects, and even beyond just the teachers, the staff and substitutes as well. If Waka were anywhere in America I would be knocking down the door to teach there for sure. I hate that it is something else in that huge list of things I will leave behind when I leave New Zealand in two weeks. It really reminds you what matters in life. I was talking to Ian (The Assistant Principal) today at the little party about NZ schools compared to the ones I have experienced in America and he said "Well you know, we stand behind the belief here at Waka that stressed out teachers make bad teachers. If we demand this and that of them, yeah they might have good reports and polished lesson plans, but they won't be effective in the classroom". Wow. Now I realize this is not a end-all-be-all to teaching because yes, there has to be accountability, but it was so refreshing to hear him talk about his teachers with such confidence, knowing they are all doing what needs to be done without a pile of paperwork to prove it. I pray that American schools can look more like this. I know I would work 2 or 3 extra weeks a year to have that 20 minute morning tea and an hour for lunch each day. It makes the day so much less stressful and the teaching so much more effective. The students are in shape due to all their exercise and when they are in the classroom, they are more focused for having that free time in between. It is a beautiful system and who knows, maybe one day I will be the principal of a charter school and can implement these same things (because Lord knows they will never happen in a public school! Unless of course I become the Secretary of Education...hmmmm)

Anyways, off my soap box...tomorrow I have my lecturer observation and evaluation from the University of Auckland. Katie and I have worked together to create a ballin' lesson plan, so I hope the kids behave and it all runs smoothly! :)

This weekend into Auckland to celebrate Lauren's birthday and send them off! Carolyn, Alix and Lauren all came to NZ a week before me and so they will be leaving a week before me as well. Then next weekend we are having a Waka party at Amy and Brett's to celebrate one last time before I leave! Cheers to so many celebrations for new chapters in life!

Plan-Teach-Plan!

The second week of my break was well spent in the sunshine (I actually laid out for a bit)! I did a bit of running, eating and a TON of planning. Alix, Lauren and Caelyn got back from Queenstown Saturday and so of course they came over to hang out at Amy and Brett’s! We laid around, watched a movie and then went over to Alix’s for an amazing dinner! They spent the night with me and Sunday we went out on PJ and Carlene’s boat (Alix’s host parents). We sailed under the Auckland Harbor Bridge and saw someone bungee jump from underneath the bridge!  That afternoon we went to Botany for some shopping and ice cream J

Monday I was back to school for my full control! It is amazing having control of the classroom for an entire day, it flows so well and I feel so much more in tune with what the kids are doing. It is definitely very tiring and takes a lot of work, but it’s so rewarding. We are doing a unit on energy- renewable vs non-renewable resources so this week we focused on wind energy and solar power.

I can’t believe I have completed almost an entire week of my full control and go home in less than 3 weeks! Time is really flown by and I have had such an amazing experience. This was a short post but the past 2 weeks have been all classroom, teaching, students, lesson plans…  J

Bridge Climb, Opera House and FOOOOD

Time to document our time in AUSTRALIA!

Friday night we were off to the airport wayyy early only for our flight to be delayed from 9 to 1am, then we entertained ourselves through 2 gate changes and another 2 hours of delays by playing “Password” until we finally boarded our plane around 3am. Needless to say we were a bit upset we paid for a hotel room in Melbourne that we didn’t arrive to until 6am.

We only let ourselves sleep a couple hours because we were anxious to explore the city! We went to the first in our string of cafes we would be eating at for the rest of our meals that week. Our first stop for the day was Federation Square where we caught the free tram around the city to the Queen Victoria Market. We spent quite a few hours roaming the isles of Australian boomerangs, hats and scarves, jewelry and other local ware. We ventured inside to the meat, cheese, bread and fish markets and picked up some wine, cheese and crackers for our lunch later!

That afternoon we spent some time relaxing at the hotel trying out our local cheeses and wine before we were off to a cute tucked away Italian restaurant on Degraves street. Later we found a live band at a bar who sang Sweet Home Alabama and Sweet Caroline when we told them where we were from!

Sunday we ate at Time Out, a café in Federation Square that as a group we would hit up 3 times in 3 days… its embarrassing but it was SO good! Because of the weather we decided to hit up the closest mall where Alix talked us into buying $20 movie tickets to see Harry Potter in 3D. The next show that wasn’t sold out was at 6:40… little did we know that the mall shopes closed at 5pm. So we had an hour and a half of sitting and waiting to see a movie we weren’t crazy about seeing that we had already paid 3 times the normal movie ticket amount for… haha Lauren and I just made it comical to get through the night. After all was said and done, the movie wasn’t too bad and it was a nice chill night.

Monday, our last day in Melbourne, we started off the day with breakfast on Degraves street which is just as cool in the day as it is at night, the cafes overflowing onto the pedestrian-only streets. Then we had to sneakily check out of the hotel we booked for 3 but fit 5 in, and had to rent lockers for our bags… Lauren had a bit of trouble with her huge bags haha. Later, we figured out the bus system to get us to Bridge Street for some shopping and I was able to find the infiniti scarf I had been looking for the whole time! Back to federation square we took a little stop into ACMI a moving picture museum that was actually pretty interesting. We then (of course) had Time Out again for lunch and ended up sitting there for about 3 hours waiting on the rain to go away. Then off to the airport for the second half of our journey- SYDNEY!!

We arrived in Sydney late Monday night (luckily our plane was only delayed 10 minutes!) We met Caelyn at the apartments we were staying at, she always went ahead of us to check out the situation before we got there haha. (She is Alix’s friend from high school) The apartment was quite spacious and had an incredible view of Sydney from the 21^st floor!

Tuesday we walked around Darling Harbor in the clear and sunny morning, the only one we would have in Sydney unfortunately. The weather went downhill fast and stayed that way the rest of our time there L Nevertheless we were off on another adventure!  First we went to the Wildlife zoo and saw Koalas and Kangaroos along with the most dangerous spider in the world (Michael you would have freaked, I had goose bumps the whole time!) We learned a lot about Australian wildlife and I have to admit it’s a bit scary. Next was the Sydney Opera house for a tour and we ended up buying tickets for the show Faustus that night, ate dinner at their swanky restraint (with the coupons that came with our tour) and went straight to the show in the pouring rain! Faustus was interesting… a little dramatic, very artsy and a bit racy, but overall an enjoyable experience to actually be able to see a show at the opera house!

Kangaroos! She came over to spoon with him!

Darling Harbor

Mama Koala and her Baby!

At the Sydney Opera House!

Wednesday we were up and at em bright and early to go climb the harbor bridge walk! It was an incredible experience! They suited us up and walked us out on these cat walks 100+ feet in the air where you can see through the floor, all the while hooked to a line from your harness. Then we were inside/under the bridge before we climbed right up the top, over traffic, hundreds of feet in the air! I don’t do well with heights so I was pretty proud of myself, and it was so worth it. The view of Sydney was priceless. Afterwards, the girls we really disappointed they didn’t get our cute tour guides number, but what can you do. Carolyn didn’t go to save money for Skydiving in Queenstown, so we met her at the Warf for lunch.  The rain picked back up so we spent about 30 minutes at an information desk deciding our next move, on our way to a museum, we got distracted by a mall and some dessert.  We had plans to go to Bondi beach and take a cocktail cruise but the pouring rain put a bit of a damper on things, so it was a pretty chill night.

At the Top of the Bridge Climb!

View from our Appartment!

Thursday was our last day in Sydney so what did we do first? Eat. At Waterfront Grill in Darling Harbor. We sat there for about 3 hours in front of the heater before we went to an IMAX movie- Born to Be Wild. It was an IMAX 3D about these baby orangutans and elephants rescued in the wild and raised to be put back in the wild independent. It was so amazing, of course, because Morgan Freeman was the narrator. Once again it was too rainy for our original plans, so what do we do? Eat. We went to a nice dinner at a hotel to celebrate the end of our Aussie adventure.

Friday we were off to the airport and back home to Auckland. As a side note, I flew Jetstar TO Aussie Land, and Quantas back. I feel like I went from flying in a tin can to flying first class. I got food and free movies and wonderful service. Never again will I fly Jetstar… actually that’s probably a lie because they have really cheap flights, but you get what you pay for I guess. Back to Auckland, it was an interesting feeling I got as I stepped off the plane, I felt like I was home. It was a sigh of relief to be back in a place I know so well. I guess that’s what 2 months somewhere will do to you. I have truly loved living here and calling this place home. It is still hard to believe I have been here for 2 months and have just under a month left!

Yesterday I went with Amy and Brett a couple hours north for Brett to go surfing with some friends. It was so cool watching them and taking pictures of them riding the waves in their wetsuits. We had a nice picnic lunch of cold pizza and fruit J Home to hang out with Amy, Brett and Allen, Brett’s brother and watch Unknown and Easy A and have a great roast dinner! This week is pretty chill, the girls are in Queenstown and while I am jealous of their snowy, ski week it’s nice to have this time to catch up, sleep in, relax and prepare for my two weeks full control next week! I have TONS to do but after those two weeks only one week left! Then flying back home to turn in my portfolio and get my diploma! :D

Clear Blue Waters and Adventures Ahead

Friday Lauren, Alix and I Were off to Coramandel Penensula for the weekend! We were staying with Alix's friend's Au Pair's parents! haha simple connection really. Anyhow, we drove down there Friday night and stopped in Thames (Pronounced "Tims" apparently) for pizza and pasta. It was a cute little town that served us well for our meals on the way in and out. After driving on the other side of the road, in the dark and rain, on hands down the most windy, curvey roads I have ever experienced in my entire life... we arrived! Saturday, we were off to the Hot Water Beaches to dig our own little spa pool on the beach, but we missed low tide and thus the hot pools. So off to Cathedral Cove. The view was out of this world- the crystal blue water and the greenest landscape you have ever seen. All the different little coves to visit along the way, and the actual cove/cave is so cool! After that we were off to the Lost Springs for an hour or so which was super relaxing. The guy had a premonition about these underground hot springs and kept digging and digging until he found them! That night we picked up groceries and headed back to make steaks for the first time in NZ!

Sunday was my first poached eggs on toast mmmm :) Then off for our 3ish hour drive home and lunch at this rando pub in Thames. The girls and I went back to Amy and Brett's to chill and watch Man on Fire, Brett and Amy's parents all ended up coming over so it was a full house! All the while Amy and Brett are trying to tear down the wall paper in their house to replace it with paint. Quite the process.

It was an amazing weekend exploring new parts on New Zealand and seeing more and more beautiful things! Its so nice to have these girls to hang out with on the weekend and share our travels together. We are one heck of a team when it comes to getting around :)

Monday Katie and I stayed after school for 2 hours talking about my 2 weeks. It is going to require a LOT of planning, but I am so excited to start a new term, it will really feel like my own classroom for two days. I feel like I have been anticipating this experience of teaching 2 full weeks for so long, and in 2 weeks it is here! So excited to see how it goes!

This Friday I am off to Melbourne and Sydney AUSTRALIA with the girls for a week! Then they are off to Queenstown, NZ for a week of snow and skiing, but I will be returning home to prep for my 2 weeks teaching! yay! :)

Staying in Shape? Ha

Sunday afternoon Alix called me up to go on a walk! We figured out its only like a 15-20 minute walk to each other's houses! She walked to my house, we walked to the beach and then back to her house! It felt so good to have been active all day Saturday, and then go on a nice long walk Sunday night! Monday started my SIXTH week at school! I can't believe I have completed half of my teaching experience thus far. I am now teaching about half the day every day, which is a lot of fun. It is the end of the term so the kids are a bit rowdy, so I am looking forward to starting my full time teaching when we return from our two-week break. Monday after school we had another rehearsal for our teacher dance and we finished it! I think everyone likes it, it is a LOT of fun! :)

That night Amy dropped me off at Alix's and we were off for another walk! It just puts me in the best mood to get up and active in the evenings, otherwise all I want to do is lay around, eat and go tto bed because it gets dark so early.

Yesterday we went shopping after school with Jodi. We got Mexicali for dinner, $3 taco night! It was not like our America-Mexican (kind of an oxymoron) but it was still really good. Thought it was funny that you had to pay $1 for a side of chips, and they give you like 10 chips. It is in these moments I miss obese, abundant America the most. Last night Jodi and I tried out a dance class a teacher at our school takes. It was a lot of fun but they have recently finished choreographing a dance, which they were working on, so for the second half of the class there wasnt much for us to do. But we might take it for the begining of next term. I just need to find something other than walking and running to stay in shape, because obviously that is not working due to my lack of motivation :)'

Today is hump day- Wesnesday! This weekend we are hopefully off to Coramandel Penensula! And then hopefully for our 2 week break I will be off to Australia and Queenstown, NZ with the girls... but we will see!

Happy Birthday America!

Updating in a pretty timely fashion this time! It was quite the relaxing, chill weekend, and much needed. Friday after school I started teaching the teachers at Waka the teacher dance for the Move and Groove performance we have coming up! They asked me to do it so I choreographed this minute and a half dance to “Marry You” but Bruno Mars mixed with “Shout” the classic wedding reception song (thank you Wedding Crashers). We decided on a wedding theme and ran with it. Amy and Ludvic are the Bride and Groom (Ludvic just got married and Amy is soon to be married so it fit!) Megan, an amazing teacher and role model at Waka is the minister, and the other 16 dancers, myself included are the bridesmaids! Haha its hilarious! They learned the first half and we will finish learning it this week to perform it this Friday!

After practice, Jodi, Amy and I came home to clean the house really quick and Alix and Lauren came over for a girls night! We had a “spa and wine” as the kiwi’s would say and then headed out to dinner in Howick! The place we went was where Amy and Brett took Michael and me and I got the Pineapple pizza again! Yum! J We were going to go meet up with some of Jodi’s friends after but were so exhausted from the week of teaching (how sad is that haha) that we headed in for an early night! Apparently there was an earthquake in the water just off the coast of Auckland around 9pm, a 2.9, but we didn’t feel a thing. We were a little freaked with the recent earthquakes in Christchurch, but apparently that is the difference between California having a major earthquake versus the ones we get in Georgia, tiny and harmless because Cali and Christchurch both sit on fault lines. So nothing to worry about there, thank goodness!

Saturday morning we were up and at em, off to catch the ferry into Auckland and then Ringitoto. This time it was Lauren’s time to forget something (Alix-wallet, Marissa-phone) and guess what we forgot? To call Jodi. We totally left without her and totally forgot to call and see if she was going to join us. She tried to meet us in Auckland and just missed the ferry out to Ringitoto. L We felt SO bad! We did make it to the island/mountain okay though and guess what we saw on our ride in?!? Oaarca WALES!!! Like straight up 100 feet from the boat, 2 coming up from the water, spewing from their blow holes, saw all the way to the white part on their side! We ran out to take pictures but only saw their fins after that. The boat slowed down so we could watch them and take pictures, it was one of the coolest moments of the trip! Once that little ride was over, we docked at Ringitoto and were off to hike up the lava rocks! Ringitoto was formed by lava coming up from under the earth’s crust a couple hundred years ago and is covered in lava rock and lava formed cave formations. There is a crater in the middle of it where I assume the lava came from and then collapsed after its eruption. Scientists “believe it should remain dormant and not erupt again”… quite comforting. The hike to the top only took about 40 minutes, but it was quite rigorous haha. We were huffing and puffing… the worst part was knowing that it would have been half a difficult had we hiked it a month ago. We really feel like we have been lazy in the department of not exercising as regularly as when we were at home and pretty much eating whatever we want. I’m just gonna throw this out there- today Alix and Lauren had to take in their pants for repair a broken zipper and hole in the crotch. It’s only a matter of time until I am next haha. We just can’t seem to get out of the vacation mode and where its okay to eat whatever and not exercise.  I will say, though, it does make it tough when you have to stay after school for meetings and planning until 4:30 or 5 and by the time you get home and change to go on a run, its dark out. That does make it a bit more difficult.

Anyhow! The hike was amazing, and the view was even better. You could see a 360- Auckland, green rolling hills of nearby islands, the ocean that continues on forever. We couldn’t get over how green the landscape was and how turquoise the ocean was. We stayed up for quite a while soaking up the rays of sunshine. We took a little hike around the crater and came back to the top for lunch. On our way down we hiked over to these lava caves and hiked through them! It was pitch black, good thing I brought my trusty purple maglight J  Once we reached the bottom we had some time to kill before we caught the afternoon ferry so we explored around a little. We learned that there used to be baches on the island (summer homes) but they passed a law a while ago saying you could no longer live on the island or build any more establishments. The tore down most of the homes and made people move off the small island, they wanted to keep it completely natural. There also used to be a jail on the island, Alcatraz anyone?

That night we went to Lauren’s house in Maraetai for a 4^th of July celebration! Her host family threw us a little party, red, white and blue balloons, fireworks and all! It was so much fun! They made hamburgers and hotdogs and we brought potato salad, pasta salad and good ‘ol coleslaw J. It was so nice of them to throw the little party for us and made us feel right at home. At one point though, I said “Happy New Year!” because we were shooting off fireworks in the freezing cold and I guess it just felt so much more like New Year’s than the Fourth of July! Haha oh well… We stayed at their house that night and this morning were off to run some errands and then back to my house to hang out, watch wedding crashers and some spontaneous cookie baking. Glad that rough journey up Ringitoto really changed our ways.

Tomorrow I will be teaching the kids about the Fourth of July and doing some sort of activity with them, which will be cool. It was really interesting last night them asking us what the 4^th of July was for. It was really interesting to think about your own country like that and analyze WHY we have our holidays and what they mean. Of course we knew the answer and could explain it to them but it took a little thinking. It was cool to remember why we celebrate the holidays that we do.

So Happy Fourth of July everyone! Happy Birthday America and cheers to independence, democracy and freedom! :D

The Adventure of a Lifetime

What a week! I cant believe Michael has already come and gone, but we had the time of our lives. He arrvied at 5:30am Tuesday morning. Amy and I went to the airport to pick him up and were SO excited to finally have him here! I think Amy was just as excited as me because I had talked about him non-stop haha. His timing was definitly a blessing in disguise because it was just what Amy needed to give her a little joy during such a horrible week at school. We ended up taking Tuesday off school because Amy just needed it, and we wanted to keep her company and just have a good day after Monday. We went into Auckland and walked around, went to the Merritime museum, ate lunch at the Waterfront Cafe and went out on a sailboat for an hour along the harbor. We were so lucky with the weather, it was beautiful out! That evening we went home to make pizzas and have a spa. Brett came home and Jodi and Amy's dad came over, it was such a lively, yet relaxing evening at the house.

Wednesday it was back to school, luckily we had a field trip to the Science Road Show and Michael was able to come as a chaperone! It was such a cool field trip with all of these science experiements and a little show. After school Michael and I went out to dinner with Alix and Lauren (the other 2 Americans lol) to this place called Basalt in Howick! One, you should have seen Michael and I navigating Howick at night, on our own. Second, Alix and I got the cabobs on a basalt brick cooker thing and it literally had 6 bites of meat and like 10 french fries. awesome. That gave us a good laugh though. It was nice for them to finally meet Michael! We had such a good time!


Thursday Michael and I were off to Waiheke Island for a wine tour! We rode the ferry into Auckland, then took the ferry to the Island, but they couldnt find my reservation so I had to buy the tickets all over again after all this trouble, then got a call while I was on the ferry appologizing for losing my reservation, that they DID in fact find it and would refund me the ferry tickets- whew! the wine tour was incredible though, we had pretty good weather and saw some amazing views, tried some delicious wines and met some cool people. Back home that night we got stuff to cook dinner. Amy actually flew down the Keremoanas funeral so she wasnt home till late and Brett was out so it was just Michael and me. It was a relaxing night at home before our journey through NZ the next few days!

Friday we woke up bright and early, packed up, and headed out to Rotorua! We got there and were blown away by the smell of sulfur (rotten eggs) that comes off the lake! haha on our way in though we stopped at this Agroadventures place and did the swoop/swing thing! It pulls you 30 meters into the air in these cacoon/harness things and then dropps you 10 meters, then it catches and swings you back and forth a couple more times! It was SOOO scary but SO much fun! Michael and I have never done anything like that before, so it was quite the experience. It took a lot of convincing on Michael's end (to convince me) but it was so worth it! That night we checked out the Polynesian Spas, which were so cool! They are these pools filled with natural hot spring water right on the edge of Lake Rotorua. After a couple hours there we were off to dinner at the Pig and Whistle. A police station turned restraunt famous for their huge plate stacked high with BBQ pork ribs. And wow- were they amazing!

Saturday we were off to Taupo! We were able to land a hotel right on the water and the views were out of this world. The lake it so big there are waves and little beaches! The town is so cool and the weather was deffinitly on our side. We spent most of the day hiking around Huka Falls, these incredible rapids of turquoise water leading to these powerful falls and then a serene river. We hiked for a good 3 hours before calling it a day. We were just amazed at the inredible views. We brought cheese, crackers and fruit for lunch and it was the perfect snack along our hike :) That night we went to this Irish Pub for dinner and met quite a few characters.

Sunday we took a little day trip to Waitomo to go Black Water Rafting which ended up being one of the most incredible experiences of our lives. Our guides, Terry and Monkey took our group of Michael and Me, a German girl named Helina, and a group of 10 Aussie teenage athletes and their 2 leaders to these caves. The guides had a great time making fun of Michael and me for forgetting our towels and having so much trouble with our wetsuits (well, I had trouble anyway) but they were great. We entered through this small hole and sat inside to allow our eyes to adjust and relax in the small cave. Over the next hour we went on the trek of a lifetime through these small tunnels, rapid moving water, deep rivers and tall caverns. We saw tons of blue glowworms along the way which were amazing on their own. We were decked out in wetsuits but our hands were still in the freezing water getting colder by the second. The cold water was so worth the overall adventure though, and we had a blast! To say the hot shower afterwards was incredible would be an understatement. It was cold it was so hot at first on my feet and hands, but it was so worth it! Then up to the café for soup and a bagel J

The drive back into Taupo was just as beautiful as the way in, even if we got a little lost haha. That night we went to this pizza place on the other side of the lake called The Bay. Hands down one of the best dinners ever. It was this old home turned restaurant and the owner was there checking on everyone. There was a teenage guy playing electric guitar which was the perfect touch.  We both ordered pizzas right out of the stone, wood-fire oven and when it came to dessert the owner was telling me about his dessert pizza that has won global pizza competitions. I asked what was on it and he took me back in the kitchen to see it being made! So cool! Of course we ordered it- there are not words to explain how delicious it was. I regret not going back the next day to order one before we headed out. For those of you who know me well- put it this way: it beats the Chili’s chocolate molten cake. Yep- that good.

Monday, after our incredible breakfast at the hotel looking out onto the beautiful lake, we headed back to Howick. It was a long drive, about 4 hours, but we got home in time to clean our Hailey (amy’s car) and take her to the car wash. She looked mint! Amy was so excited J That night Amy, Brett, Michael and I all went out to dinner at a really cool place in Howick. It was a bittersweet night with it being Michael’s last in NZ L The 4 of us got on so well, it was sad to think that we may not all 4 be together ever again… I just try to believe Michael and I will be back one day. After dinner we were off to 1,2,3 Karaoke this Japanese restraint and Karaoke bar to meet Jodi for some tunes! Haha we had the place to ourselves and actually got Michael to sing Sweet Caroline with me! It was such a funny moment in our week together, and I was so proud of him! J

We woke up at 4am Tuesday morning to get Michael to the airport. It was a very bittersweet goodbye. We had the best time over the last week exploring around NZ, but the week flew by and now it will be another 2 months until we see each other again :/  After I dropped him off I was on my way home only to get lost 3 times before getting there and Michael was on his way to Fiji for a layover, then to La for another layover, then to Denver for a couple hours before he finally caught his flight to Atlanta. Poor guy, I can’t imagine the jet lag he experienced haha.

Back to school Tuesday after I got home from the airport, whew it was a long day! I am teaching a lesson each day alongside our reading of Frindle and I think the kids are really enjoying it. Tuesday afternoon we had a staff meeting and then had a meeting with all the year 6 teachers about how to regulate our grading of the students’ writing tests. Man, writing is sure hard to grade. Jodi is back at Waka completing her student teaching as well and she is working in year 6 too, so it’s a really fun group we have right now. Katie ha been out the last few days because she has completely lost her voice and is a little under the weather, so I have been really busy teaching a lot of the day and coming up with lessons on the fly. It is definitely bringing up my confidence level in the classroom. It is crazy to believe that I could potentially have my very own classroom within the year. I actually had a moment today, though, where I really felt like a teacher in front of my own class. It was a really neat feeling and gave me a lot of confidence in my abilities. I have taken so many classes and have spent time in so many other teacher’s classrooms, I am ready to have my own class and continue to learn in that way.

This weekend will be a nice girls weekend in Howick, Lauren, Alix and Carolyn are coming to stay at Amy’s Friday night, then we are hiking Ringitoto mtn Saturday, and Sat night Lauren’s fam wants to throw us a little 4^th of July party! I will be teaching a lesson on the 4^th this Monday! I never get to teach about America’s independence on the actual day, it will be cool. Just think of me when all of you are out on the Lake, shooting off fireworks and eating Kraft macaroni and cheese and bakes beans, I will be missing the states on this one fun day!

As a side note- last Thursday the 23^rd was exactly one year until Michael and my wedding! We got to celebrate “a-year-to” together and it was such a special day! We can’t believe we are actually under a year mark! So exciting! J

To Celebrating Life

Today was a very sad day at school. One of Amy’s students (Amy is my host “mom”) passed away over the weekend. Her name was Keremoana and she was only 10 years old. She had bleeding in the brain, woke up in pain Saturday morning, was flight lifted to the hospital and went into surgery but it was too late. She was a beautiful, Maori girl who really did her best in school. We found out today and I was asked to take over Amy’s class for a bit before they found out, to give Amy a second. We then had a year 6 meeting in the Hall where the assistant principal, Margaret told the students what had happened. Of course this news was not taken lightly, and Amy’s class was heavily impacted. The teachers were hit pretty hard as well. One of the year 6 teacher’s husbands is in the hospital, another just lost a close family member and Katie and I had Kere in our Math class. When things like this happen there is little that can be said, everyone just has to grieve in their own way. Many of the guys just needed to distract themselves with books and games which was fine, most of the girls sat and cried and hugged each other. Throughout the day the students in all classes wrote lovely cards to the family to be taken over today. Other sought out counseling. Amy’s class made a beautiful wall and table display to remember her by. Keremoana will truly be missed here at Wakaaranga. It was a tough day to say the least, but the healing process will soon start and we can rejoice in her dancing in heaven with Jesus with beautiful angel wings. As I sit in my classroom typing this it is pouring down rain, appropriate for a day like this. However, the sun is also peeking through the clouds revealing a huge and vibrant rainbow overhead, god’s promise that there is a reason behind everything and with every disaster, there is good to come. Couldn’t be any more symbolic of this day.

It is very difficult to transition from that to my adventurous weekend, but if death doesn’t teach us anything it should show us how special life is and remind us that we need to cherish it. This blog is to celebrate my time here in New Zealand and my adventures with some amazing people so I will continue, everyone just say a special prayer for Keremoana’s family and the teachers and students here at Waka.

Cheers to celebrating life!

Friday I met Lauren and Alix at the Ferry terminal at 3:45 only to realize I left my phone in Amy’s car. Alix and Lauren were not there yet so I had nothing to call with and knew if I waited for them to get there I would not give Amy enough time to return with my phone before the ferry left at 4:15, so long story short I ran to the yhatt club house thing and asked a woman at a closed desk if I could use her desk phone, which she was not happy about. When Amy wasn’t answering my phone (I didn’t have hers) I had to look her up on the computer (which the lady was ever MORE unhappy about) and I FINALLY got in touch with Amy, asked her to turn around STAT and waited…waited…waited. At 4:14 she sped up to the curb, practically threw my phone at me and I ran down the dock and hopped on the ferry as it was pulling out! Whew! Haha Lauren and Alix were there waiting and we laughed over the fact that last time it was Alix’s wallet, then my phone, next it would be Lauren’s passport or something vital. The ride to Auckland was nice as usual and once in Auckland we took a taxi to Carolyn’s house! That night we went to the Blue’s Rugby Game! We had another frustrating situation when we tried to buy a beer with dinner (just one little beer) and they refused to serve us because we didn’t have our PASSPORTS! We all had our American driver’s license AND I had a copy of my passport, but no sir they would not budge unless we had our passports. Seriously? Who travels with their passport in their back pocket?! If you lose that you can’t get home! It was my visa in it too! Anyway, after that frustrating situation we ate our corn dogs (aka battered dogs) and “chicken and chips” aka chicken strips and fries and really enjoyed the game! It was raining pretty good but we forgo’ed our uncovered seats for 4 much drier seats up under cover, and must have looked like we owned the place because the seats all around us filled up and nobody came for our seats! The people in front of us had a good laugh at all of our “wait, what’s going on?” “Why did they do that?!” “Whoa look at them!” “Huh? I’m confused” etc etc. The game is much different than soccer and football and there were many things that were lost on us. The Blues did win though! So we were excited about that! That night we all stayed with Carolyn’s host family, which was very generous of them!

The next morning up bright and early to catch the ferry to Waiheke Island for our wine tour! We went to 3 different vineyards and one olive-oil producer place. We lucked out with incredible weather and got to taste quite a few really amazing wines. I learned so much about the different flavors, mixed wines, the smell to wine etc. Did you know why there are commonly rose bushes at the end of each line of vines? Because the bugs that will eat up the vines will first attack the rose bushes which both distracts the bugs and gives the ground keepers a warning to cover the vines. Pretty cool! The olive place was awesome! They showed us how they made the olive oil and we got to taste quite a few! We ate lunch at one of the vineyards, and it was quite tasty!

Funny side note- at the last vineyard which happened to be the swankiest and nicest we were up on this beautiful hill with incredible views and our tour guide was in the middle of this spiel about something when of course we went to take a picture and Alix had her wine glass in her hand behind everyone with my arm sitting under it (if you can picture this, good luck) I went to pick up my hand to take off my sunglasses and managed to

The bus dropped us off in town and we went down this winding path to a beach! Half way down we decided we were going to stash our suitcases in this little cove of tree and bush, a very good plan that ended up working out- we were free to explore the beach and all our bags were there when we got back! :D The beach was so nice, the island does have a warmer climate than the mainland for some reason and it was so lovely. We threw off our shoes and got the New Zealand sand and saltwater between our toes!

Next was the bus to the hostel. The ride wasn’t too bad, but what the website failed to warn us was that a. it was the last bus stop and b. you had to hike up literally 184 steps to the hostel. Not okay. Haha Carolyn and I had a pretty easy time given our backpacks we carried. Lauren and Alix however were lugging around rolling suitcases and man o man was that a funny sight seeing those two lugging those overhead up al those steps, in the middle of the woods I might add. I am pretty sure we got double the work out due to our laughing the whole way up. Once at the top we finally found our hostel, Kina. Its safe to say we stuck out like sore thumbs. Everyone there was pretty hippie, having been on the island for a couple months working on vineyards etc. just blowing through. Here come the 4 blue-eyes American’s in our matching boots and rolling suitcases, we were sure to blend right in. The first person we met was the owner, who lives wih his family next door, he was great. The second person we met was Guy, a white gentleman with dreds down to his butt. Guy and the owner were brewing their own beer, so we sat and waited, still panting from all the steps, until they were done and could check us in. We got our 2 rooms, both with a set of bunk-beds and a little shelf thing.

We chilled for a bit and then got recommendations for dinner at a winery just down the road. We really didn’t care where we ate- only requirement: no more steps. The winery ended up being a great option, warm and cozy, a little vintage, a little hippie, but delicious. We were told to get the honey-glazed cooked olives, which were incredible. It was a tapas place so we ordered a few things to share. The first was a lamb and couscous which was so delicious. Then we got what we thought was potatoes slices and sausage with tomato sauce on it. After hours of wondering where the sausage was, we realized when we asked her about the dish she had simply said “tomato sauce” and not “tomato and sausage” haha THEN we got what we thought was a duck and egg quesadilla, which we spent the rest of the night trying to figure out where in the heck the duck or the tortilla were, only to realize it was duck-egg, as in the egg in the dish was from a duck, and it was more of a breakfast keesh. Haha we enjoyed the food but between the fancy wording on the menu and their accents explaining it we were SO confused! It made for a good laugh later though!

Staying at the backpackers wasn’t too bad besides the mats for mattresses and the blaring music until about 1am. Guy invited us to a party, but we were already so exhausted, we watched Cars in the lounge and headed to bed early. The next morning we were heading out to catch a ferry and Guy offered us a ride into town! We were going to get dropped off for breakfast, but he offered to take us to this funky breakfast place, with an amazing view of the ocean, like almost everywhere on that island so we ate with Guy with the dreads! I got bagels and locks! SO amazing! (Michael would be so proud!) Then we were off to catch the ferry back to Auckland and kill time there until our ferry left for half moon bay.

Last night Amy and Brett had a BBQ at their house with Brett’s parents and brother and a good friend of Brett’s and his wife and baby girl J They made steak, sausages, potato salad, pumpkin something or other and it of course, was amazing! We get it tonight for leftovers J YUM! It was so nice having everyone at the house just hanging out, everyone is so welcoming and open to having me there, it is such a comforting feeling.

Well, that about sums up my weekend, like always pictures to come soon because I am updating at school. Michael gets in tomorrow morning at 5:30am! I am beyond excited for him to come here and see my new little world for a week! I have so many amazing things planned for us, I can’t wait! J

*I apologize for any typos or miss-spellings; I don’t have time to proofread right now, so just roll with it! haha

REAL Ketchup

Once again, this will probably be a long one!

i'm honestly trying to remember last Thursday and nothing is sticking out to me? Anyhow, Friday Jodi and Megean from school came over for a couple drinks to just chill and socialize. We just hung out and watched a movie, very relaxing J Then Saturday was such a fun day! I finally met up with Alix, Lauren and Carolyn (“the other Americans”) and had an awesome wknd!

I met Alix and Lauren at the Half Moon Ferry where we were to catch the 9:45 ferry into Auckland. Unfortunately Alix forgot her wallet at home so as soon as she got there and realized her host dad whipped the card around and was off to go get it! Haha we sweetly convinced the captain of the ferry to hold the boat just a couple of minutes so he could get back with her wallet. Just as they were telling us they had to go and couldn’t wait any longer, he arrived!! We then ran onto the ferry and were pulling out 2 seconds later. The ride was beautiful, but cold. We arrived at a beautiful harbor in Auckland city and were off to check into our hotel we booked for that night. We only booked for 2 ppl to cut the price and had to be a little sketchy with going in separately and asking for a cot when it was just the 2 of us? We then realized about 20 minutes later that a “cot” to them is a baby bed haha. What we think of as a “cot” they would call a “pull away bed”. So after we had to convince them multiple times we in fact did not have any babies on board and would only be needing a second bed, we were happy to see our room actually came with 2 small beds- problem solved.

Once Carolyn met us at the hotel, we were ready to explore. We tried to go to this Mexican place for lunch but it only serves dinner, so we were off to find something else. We stumbled upon this amazing burger place where we all got burgers roughly the side of our faces. After we were stuffed to the gills we decided with the wet and cold weather we would go see a movie. They all wanted to see Hangover II, and since it was so good the first time, I agreed. After we bought our tickets (For the AMAZING student price of $14.50 I might add :/ ) we headed off for some ice cream before our movie started. It was some sort of fat free ice cream (the froyo craze hasn’t hit here yet) but it was incredible. Then off to the movies, which was incredible even the second time around.

After that we wandered around a bit and then back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the night! We met Jodi and Amy at the Mexican place and were ready for a night out! The “Mexican” was alright, but lets put it this way- their “queso dip” was melted cheddar cheese with sour cream in it haha. We had a good time though, then were off to the casino in the famous Sky Tower where I won $7 on a $2 slot machine! Haha we didn’t stay there long, just wanted to see it. Then off to the Viaduct area where we hit up a couple bars, and met up with Amy’s friends Ashley and Julie! They are always a lot of fun. We spent the remainder of the night in this bar with a revolving bookcase which leads to a private party room, and I was dared to go around 3 times, which I did, and then got told “it was not a merry-go-round and I needed to stop” haha it was pretty funny.

Sunday we woke up, go Duncan Donuts for breakfast (good, but more funnel-cake-tasting than donut). And then packed up slowly, wandered around the city a little more for lunch. We ended up eating at this awesome restaurant right on the water where this insanely loud canon decided to blast off right underneath us at noon. Luckily our waiter warned us and we were able to cover our ears. The food was incredible! And the best part- we had REAL Heinz Tomato Ketchup. It was unreal. I had forgotten how much I missed it on my fries! I got a BLT (same in any country I suppose) with Avocado on the side to add to it. WOW. Best meal I have had here! We took the ferry back home that afternoon and I spent the rest of the day being lazy and watching movies.

Monday was a great day at school! We had our year 6 assembly where 8 girls in my class put on this play about a field trip they went on last term. It was really cute J Im still helping other classes with their dances and having a blast doing it! Yesterday I finished Leslie’s class’s dance and they are SO good at it! They were so impressive, I would show them what to do once and they would nail it. And this is a coed group of about 27 nine and ten year olds. I had SO much fun working with them!

I am slowly picking up more and more teaching. I taught a math lesson last week and I think it went pretty well! Yesterday I did a little brain teaser exercise with them, which they LOVED and I started reading Frindle to them this week. So far so good, I think they are really enjoying the book. Today I am taking on a few reading groups and a math lesson on 3D shapes, and tomorrow I am teaching most of the day! Katie has been so great with letting me take on more and more and plan my own things.

This week is book week and we each have our own Rugby World Cup team- we are South Africa! Today we have a bunch of games we will be playing all afternoon. The kids got to bring “mufti” which is what they call every-day clothes (they wear uniforms) to change into for the games to represent their countries. Its to funny to see them in every day clothes as opposed to their school uniforms.

Well, lunch hour is almost over so Ill stop here for today. Michael comes to NZ in 6 days! I can’t wait to have him here and show him around!

Pictures!

Woke up to this one morning :)

At the Moari

Can you spot my shoes?

Amy's Dad's Car Shop in Auckland!

LEARNING TO DRIVE! Watch Out NZ!

Out with Amy's friends Ash and Julie!

Home Sweet Home!

At the beach just down from their house!

View From Jodi's Batch

Our AMAZING Fish and Chips Dinner

On the Ride to Jodi's Batch... Most Incredible Views

The lovely lady who carved my pot I bought!

More Incredible Views

So Many Sheep!

The view out the window in my classroom :)

MY CLASS!! Working on pointellism artwork

Cheryll does amazing work

Thats all for today! Hope you enjoy! :)