More pictures...

In Napier every year, they hold a large festival called Art Deco Weekend. It is a celebration, but also a way of remembering people who were killed in an earthquake that flattened the town in the late 1920's. When the town was rebuilt in 1930 something, it was done entirely in Art Deco, which was the style of the time. To help with the celebration, people dress up in styles from the 20's, drive their classic cars in a parade, enjoy listening to bagpipes, and watch tons of performers do traditional dances from all over Europe. It's amazing! I went on Saturday and took on the role of undercover photographer. I asked a few people for their picture, but found it much more fun to be sneaky...here are my best shots...

My apologies...I still haven't figured out how to type next to pictures, so please bear with me.... The photo on top is a stunning mother and child, dressed for a hot afternoon in town. At the time, and still now, they don't look even look real!

The photo of the pregnant woman ins my favorite. She is actually posing for another photographer in this shot. She is standing in the garden that serves as a memorial for the 170 or so people who died in the earthquake. There is such a peaceful expression on her face; she seems content in her life and the life she's carrying.

The picture of the couple walking together was another of my favorites. They had just posed for a picture and were walking away from the photographer. Not only are they beautiful people, but they look so happy! I fell completely in love with them after seeing this photo!

And finally, there is a picture of a couple riding old bicycles. I chose to include this picture only because I liked it...not for any significant or profound reason.

I hope you enjoy my pictures as much as I did taking them! Take care!

Pictures

THe picture of the cliffs is Cape Kidnappers...The picture with me and the birds is at the Gannet's tour...The picture of the rocks in the water was directly below the bird colony...and the other picture is of me on top of Te Mata Peak (I walked up it, even though you can actually drive it...)! One day, I will actually learn how to post the pictures with separate comments...being in NZ is diminishing my ability to work with computers. :) not that I had much of a talent to begin with! Have a great day!

Hmm, I can't think of a titile...

Okay, so I know you're probably thinking that I'm a complete slacker for not putting pictures up again! But, I'm telling you, it is just not that easy! My user ID and password at school don't seem to work, so when I want to access a computer, I have to talk a teacher into letting me use their computer. I had hoped it would be fixed today, but the computer tech is on holiday, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow. For the time being, you will just have to deal with my story...enjoy!

There is a bird that lives in NZ that nests here, near Havelock North. Being the tourist that I am, I booked what I thought would be an exciting tour of the area and chance to see the birds. I roped a friend into going with me and booked a reservation. A few days before the tour, I was talking with a teacher at school who has lived in Havelock for well over 50 years. Come to find out there are two tours for the birds: one goes along the beach in tractors and then requires a short tramp to the birds and the other is done on a bus and requires absolutely no walking at all. The teacher laughed and informed me I had booked the old people's tour. And let me tell you, she was not lying.

But, good things come of being a senior citizen. For example, the driver of the bus shared the history of the area with us for the entire three hour tour. He also brought tea and cookies along for the afternoon tea break. I bet the people on the tractors didn't get that! hah!

For your education and enjoyment, here are a few things I learned on my tour:

The area I travelled through is Cape Kidnappers. Funny name, right? Well, here's how it got it. Long ago, when Cpt Cook came to NZ, he landed on the shore of Cape Kidnappers. He began trading with the Maori people and stayed for quite some time. When he completed his business, he began to load up his boats and crew.

Now there was a small boy with dark skin playing in the surf. Because of his skin color, the Maori people thought he belonged to them, and put him in their canoe. When Cook realized what had happened, he ordered his men to begin shooting their muskets above the heads of the Maori's. Having never seen a musket, the Maori people were frightened and quickly paddled to sore and scattered to the trees to hide, leaving the boy on the beach.

Captain Cook went and retrieved the boy, who was a Tahitian deck hand, and left with his men, naming the area Cape Kidnappers as he sailed away.

Another interesting fact: I live in Hawke's Bay. If I were to go out in the water of the bay, I would be in Hawke Bay. Basically, the name of the land is written as though the land is the possession of the sea. Interesting, huh?

And lastly, a little something about the Gannets (the birds I saw over the weekend). These birds nest here all year around. They choose a mate for life and produce one offspring at a time. After the bird hatches, the parents take turns going out for food. They can dive up to 300 meters in the sea to retrieve fish for their young. The young birds stay with Mum and dad for three years, during which they shed their fuzzy grey feathers and grow beautiful white and black feathers. They then fly away to Australia, where they stay for a number of years and then return to find a mate. Their lifespan is around 40 years, and it is believed that they only travel to Australia once or twice in their lives, spending the rest of their time in the colony.

One last thing...From the bird colony, if I were to jump into the Pacific Ocean and swim due East for 10,000kms, I would arrive on the shores of Chile. There is nothing between the two places besides a whole lot of water. Sometimes I forget how far I am from anything else until I hear something like that. Wow...

I hope you enjoyed your lesson on stuff about Hawke's Bay. I'm sure it would be more interesting with photos, which I will attempt to post tomorrow. I've thrown in some NZ words for your entertainment...I'm getting the slang down pretty well, I don't mind saying...

Pictures!!!...finally!

Here is a picture from last weekend of the beach. My host family has a house there, so it's really convenient to go there for holiday! THe other picture is of the house where I'm staying. Sorry, it's a sort of blue-ish color... More pictures to come later!

It's been awhile...

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been a bit since my last blog! To say the absolute least, internet (especially high speed) is difficult to come by. Having said that, I apologize for not posting any pictures yet. I think I already mentioned this, but the house where I'm staying only has dial up and the school's computer system is being updated for the next few days, which makes it impossible to post pictures! Today was the first day of classes, so all of you teachers out there, think of what that would be like without internet or your laptop! Let's just say, I saw some very creative lessons today... At any rate, I promise I will put up my sweet beach pictures soon!

I was part of the coolest assembly last week and I've been dying to tell you about it, so here goes...

Every year, during the last day of the first week of school, the year nine students and new staff members are invited by the year 13 students to a traditional Maori welcome. There is a lot of pride for the native people at this school, not just with the Maori students, but with all of the students and it completely showed through during this assembly. As the new staff and students filed into the gym to take our seats, we were welcomed by a Maori song, performed with movements by the year 13 students. There were three speakers, one being a Maori leader who spoke only in his native tongue, and the other two being the principal of the intermediate school and the principal of the high school. After each speaker, the year 13 students would stand up and support what the person said with a Maori song. You would not believe how involved each student was. Coming from the states and an area rich with Native American culture, it was really moving to see so many young people involved in keeping their tradition and culture of their native people alive.

At the end of the performances, the year 13 students all stood up and performed one last song, which I believe is a preparation for battle. (If you've ever seen River Queen, it's the dance they do..if you haven't seen the movie, don't bother- it's not that great). To start the song, the students began stomping their right foot on the ground and all of the male students, who stand in front of the female students, widened their eyes and stuck out their tongues, which is meant to frighten the opponent. Then, as they began singing, they kept the beat by throwing their arms out in front of them and bringing them back, slapping their hands on their chests. They kept their eyes wide for the entire song and I can tell you, it was the most intimidating thing I have ever seen. I wish I could describe how it felt to be in that gym- it sent chills up my spine.

After the ceremony, part of the tradition is to greet all of the staff and the year 13 students. There are a few ways of doing this. The first way is the Maori way and that is done by lightly touching your forehead and nose to the other person's forehead and nose and breathing in at the same time. You can also be greeted by kissing eachother on the cheek, shaking hands, or giving a "cuddle". As I worked my way down the line, I found that most people chose to kiss me on the cheek, which was just fine, considering the complexity of the Maori greeting. That was until I reached my department head. He's a very tall man and tends to mumble a bit, so when he told me he was coming in for the traditional greeting, I didn't hear a word he said and thought he was going to kiss me on the cheek. Instead, we ended up crashing our heads together...needless to say, it was painful and embarrassing... A great way to be welcomed to the English department, if you ask me. :)

Let's see...what else? It's hotter than hot today with temperatures reaching about 37 degrees celcius. They almost closed the school because of the heat! We are supposed to have a cold front soon, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. All anyone could do today was stand around and sweat!

I hope everything is well! I cross my heart that there will be pictures up sometime this week!

day at the beach

Well, it's been a rough day of swimming and laying around on the beach... It was about 90-95 degrees in town, which made it a good day to be out of town! :) Here's a picture of the beach-it actually reminds me a lot of the Olympic Penninsula...just a bit warmer. Actually, on second thought, dial-up sucks and I'm going to wait to post this picture until tomorrow...Sorry about that. Happy Superbowl!

New Zealanders know how to BBQ

It turns out that a BBQ in New Zealand is a little more classy than a BBQ in the states. My tank top and jeans stood out a bit amongst the summery blouses and tan pants, but I'm starting to get used to sticking out a bit. Everything is slightly different here than home, often times creating relatively awkward moments for me. For example, everytime someone offers me a ride, I walk to the wrong side of the car.

The BBQ was set up by the principal of the high school for new staff members. There were a handful of people there that were about my age that are starting at the school on Monday, so if felt really good to get to know them. I still can't get over how nice everyone is here. During the BBQ, I was invited to about a million things by people I had just met, including an invite to spend the weekend at a lake (not to worry...it was a girl who invited me). I don't think there is going to be any problems with me getting bored here...

Okay, so here's one thing I have noticed about New Zealanders that drives me a little crazy. Instead of stabbing their food with their forks, they use their knives to pile food on their fork, creating a terrible scratching noise on their plates. I quickly noticed this last night and began to feel a little silly about the way I was eating. So, as the saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them. My apologies in advance for anyone who has to eat with me when I get home. :)

I'm working off of a computer that only has dial up, so I have to wait for school to start before I can add any pictures. My first official day of school is Monday, so please be praying for everything to work out with my cooperating teachers.

Also, I heard there was an earthquake...is everyone okay?