A Weekend Up North

"The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow if I can." - J.R.R. Tolkien

Hello everyone! I cannot believe it, but another week has already passed and with it new adventures have come and gone, and a multitude of new memories. New Zealand continues to leave me awestruck and the overwhelming desire to soak up every ounce of this country before my time here comes to an end. While I know I still have the majority of my experience left, I feel as though I can't possibly see and do everything I want to before I come home! I've decided that I will just have to plan another trip for the future.

School has still been going very well and I am beginning to take over more responsibilities in the classroom. Tomorrow will be my first day taking over for the entire day and I am very excited! I do find myself consciously thinking about how to change my vocabulary and teaching style in order to make it accessible for younger students and students that are used to a school that has a bit of a different climate than those in the USA, which means I am getting exactly what I came here for--a new experience that will help me grow as a teacher and aid in enhancing my adaptability for different students. Currently, my students are working on some narrative writing skills, math, and are doing a project on Maori myths and legends. I am very excited to see what they can teach me about the Maori culture and traditions.

One of my favorite parts of this trip was the Powhiri (pronounced poor-fiddy) that the school put on in order to welcome us, any new students, and any other student teachers. A Powhiri is a traditional Maori welcome ceremony in which a warrior would first meet the group of visitors to find out whether or not they are friend or foe, and then would extend a token, which is usually a small branch. The visitors then pick up the branch to signify that they come in peace, and then they are welcomed into the village with a traditional welcoming call. After the guests (us) are welcomed, the members of the village and the guests sit facing each other. Then, speeches are made. The men of each group (chiefs or older men) usually make a speech but in our case, I was the representative for all the new teachers, so it was my job to speak in front of the whole school and thank them for welcoming us into their whanau (pronounced like fah-nau, and means family). It was fairly nerve-racking to speak in front of the entire school, but I received many compliments which just reiterated to me how supportive and welcoming this school is of everyone. After each speech, a song is performed, so I was able to watch many of my kids sing a traditional song in Te Reo (Maori language) and it was amazing! The ceremony then ends with a hongi in which the guests touch foreheads and noses with the prominent members of the village or those that welcomed them (in our case, it was my cooperating teacher, since he was the warrior, and the some of the deputy principals) and this symbolizes sharing a breath of life. Afterwards, everyone shares kai (which means food). It was an absolutely amazing experience and probably one of the top three events I've ever experienced throughout all of my travels.

After school, some of the other student teachers and I left for our grand adventure to what is considered "up North" in the North Island--Paihia, or, the Bay of Islands. It was only a short 4 hour bus ride! Thank God for dramamine because without it, no one would have enjoyed our bus ride as I would have spent it extremely motion sick. We arrived pretty late into Paihia so we went straight to our motel and then spent the night eating snacks, drinking wine, and playing cards. It was a wonderful way to unwind with some good friends after a week of teaching. We made our plans for the morning and like typical college students, found a way to sleep 5 of us in a room for 3. When it comes to traveling as a broke college student, it's all about the strategy....and splitting the cost of rooms by fitting as many people as possible into one...

The bay

In the morning, we went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, or in other words, the birthplace of New Zealand. It was on these grounds that the treaty was signed between the Maori people and the British that then resulted in the declaration of British sovereignty over New Zealand and was meant to recognize the Maori ownership over their lands and possessions. At the treaty grounds we experienced another Powhiri and watched a cultural performance of some traditional Maori music and warrior techniques, as well as some examples of how the music has evolved over time.

The treaty grounds

After we finished at the treaty grounds, we walked the well-over-a-mile walk back to the motel, grabbed some lunch, and jumped on the ferry to head to Russell. When we got to Russell, we did a little souvenir shopping and attempted to go to the Maori Culture Center and the museum...but...apparently everything on the peninsula shuts down around 4:30, so everything was closed. We turned down a mini bus tour in favor of walking and headed off to the Maori center...which was closed...then the museum...which was closed...then the bookstore...which was closed. Finally, we gave up and settled on getting a drink at the pub. We heard live music from somewhere so we went on a bit of a treasure hunt to find where the band was playing and followed the sound to a pub. We met up with some of the other student teachers there and one of us ended up requesting an "American" song to which the band then played "Wagon Wheel." Unbeknownst to me, we have a fairly musical group of people here and ended up singing along and splitting into an at least 3-4 part harmony at the table. Everyone around us was very surprised, including ourselves I think! It was fantastic!

A little fun after getting off the ferry!

After we left the pub, we had a very chill night of playing cards and some people went to another pub for one drink where they ran into the band that played "Wagon Wheel"! Turns out the musicians live right behind the bar!

The following morning, we got up and had a very good brunch and did a little shopping. We had a couple hours to kill so we went to the beach and basked in the sun a little bit. Some of the other student teachers jumped in the water and swam out to a raft which seemed insane at first, but then the rest of us decided that we couldn't miss out on this opportunity so we changed into our swimsuits and jumped in the water as well. It was FREEZING. I think everyone thought we were crazy and for a while I think we agreed with them! All in all though, it was super fun getting to swim a bit (we had to get out pretty fast since it was so cold) and then warming up by laying on the rocks and listening to music.

It was a fantastic week and weekend, and as always, I am so excited to see what the rest of this adventure brings and can't wait to continue following this amazing road I'm on. Stay tuned for another blog post coming up about our adventures to Queenstown!