Surprise!

As always, it has been a stupendous week here in Aotearoa! I am loving my class more and more each day even though it is more challenging each and every day. There have been many incidents of children coming to school with no lunch, a social worker is constantly in and out of my classroom taking multiple students to mentor each and every day, a knife has been pulled on a teacher, a child has destroyed a kitchen at school, there are multiple fights a day due to these poor children who don't know any other way to release their anger. Anyway, there are some defiant children, one in my class named Brewyn is especially defiant and gives me a headache. Come to find out after observing and talking to him, he is simply bored. He is very smart and gets his assignments done well before the rest of the class. He is very artistic and loves sports as well. I am starting to test him and will eventually come up with some lesson plans to help him. It is interesting because I am doing the same with James, the lowest leveled in the class. He is 9 and I have tested him and put him at a 1st grade level in math. These two boys are so different, yet have the most behavioral problems and I am working towards finding lesson plans that will suit them both, so wish me luck, it should be an adventure and I am super excited about it! The only problem is, 4 more weeks in the school is just not enough :(
This weekend was fantastic! Friday was just relaxing as we went to a bunch of vintage shops downtown and watched a movie with the kids. Then, on Saturday, we woke up nice and early and headed to Piha beach, the most amazing black sand beach ever! It is gorgeous, and a surf competition happened to be going on which was fun to watch. This beach is up in the mountains which makes it gorgeous and full of fun little hikes and waterfalls! We hiked around to honeymoon cove and to the top of a mountain overlooking the ocean and ate lunch. We then hiked up to the top of a historic mountain (Lion's Rock) the Maki people find sacred. After taking a couple pictures, or many as girls do, we packed up and drove to the other side of Piha to see massive waves and unexpectedly a jellyfish! And yes, I decided to pick it up, it was pretty gross feeling and almost didn't look real! Turns out they were all over the beach and a couple of us got them thrown at us! From there, we walked to a gorgeous secluded natural waterfall, the only problem is, pictures can not show how amazing it really was, high up it went and how far down we were, surrounded by trees and water!
Well, after we were all tired out, we headed back and I got dropped off but a couple of the girls, and Linda, came in to watch our skydiving video which I didn't think anything of, so I went and showered. I came out and they were still here, but after they left, at least i thought they did, Neeley told me she wanted to show me something the kids made out back. So, I followed her and much to my surprise, all the girls were standing there including Jim and Linda and they all yelled SURPRISE! To be honest, I thought they were joking, and had to ask what it was for! They explained that mum came up with the idea, since I was gone for my 21st in Queenstown and it is a huge deal here she wanted to do something. It's funny because they thought for sure I knew because of all the little things they had done and said in the past two days to lead up to it, but I was completely oblivious because my birthday was so long ago. To be honest, if it were closer to my B-day, I probably would have found out because I am a bit too curious and it's very hard to surprise me so they did very good. Well, luckily I didn't celebrate alone, it had been Nancy and Anna's 21st as well in February so they celebrated with me. We did it traditional NZ style where first, we were presented with keys which symbolize our right to come and go as we please (Natalia made them and all the girls got to sign them)! Next, the mum says a few words bout her child, so mum was so cute and funny and called us triplets and said a couple things, then we are presented with a cake, which was HUGE, blew out the candles, did a gift exchange where we pick out gifts from a bag until they are all gone, sang happy birthday, then ate dinner and had TONS of dessert! It was a lot of fun and so sweet of mum to go to all that hard work and include the other two girls whose birthday it was too. Oh, she also made little gift bags for each of us that had a little NZ souvenir and a bunch of lollies! She amazes me, and reminds me a lot of my mom, always doing extra and making everyone feel welcome! I felt right apart of the family and tradition and couldn't have asked for a better 21st birthday, except if my real fam was there too!
P.S. Some only worked if they were small, so sorry if they are hard to see, for better viewage, click on them :) ha

Honeymoon cove!

Trying not to blow away!

Future Roommates!! 

ROOMIES!

Future ROOMIES!

My buddy, the jellyfish!

Gorgeous waterfall!

Lions Rock. . .

Coming Down form Lions Rock!

The 21 year olds with our keys!

Lions Rock!

balancing. . .tricky with all the wind

Sweet As Weekend!

View from the summit of the Volcano

To begin, I would just like to say this has been one of the best weekends ever! I can never fully describe the amazingness of this country and all it has to offer but I will do my best! It started off on Thursday because we do not have to go to our primary schools on Friday's due to future travels and adventures. So Thursday night a bunch of us girls got together to play bunko, yes, you heard me correctly, bunko! It was actually really fun and was good to catch up and hear all about the girls school adventures since we do not see each other every day anymore. Well, to back up a bit, we went to Christine and Jessica's house who live with a little old single lady named Phyllis. She is funny, because she never really says much but when she does, its like minutes after you have already asked a question and moved on to something else because you thought she didn't hear you. She is pretty conservative as well. Anyway, we love her. But as we went outside to play, we were all racing for the chairs and as soon as Neeley sat down, RIP, right through the chair! We were all laughing and apologizing and Phyllis just stood there, not saying a word, awkward! So of course we tease Neeley but time goes on and as I am playing my round of bunko, all of a sudden i hear a noise and I look down, I broke another of her chairs! So again, we all laughed and finally Phyllis cracks a smile but doesn't say much! Anyway, we felt pretty dumb but told mum when we got home and I have never seen a lady laugh so hard! She always says how little we eat but now she says we eat too much! haha She told us "I bought you girls some NZ chocolate, but that was before I knew you broke furniture!" She is the greatest!

Pt. Chev beach with Auckland City in the background

Moving on to Friday! At the last minute, a bunch of us decided to go to the beach. I love that we have that option! So we caught a bus and off we went! It was a more quiet little beach that was simple relaxing! later that night, Natalia (my sister) took me, Whitney, Emily and her kids to the lantern festival which was amazing! It was a huge event full of crazy cool lanterns and lots of entertainment and food! It was really fun with her kids because of how excited they get! I love that little family so much!

Saturday was one of the best days ever! The only thing that could have made it the very best, would be to have gone skydiving that day! Anyway, it started off at 6:30 A.M with a 4 hour hike around Rangitoto island! We took a ferry and then hiked to the summit of a dormant volcano. It was a lot more intense then any of us expected and I am feeling the effects in my legs today! We then hiked back along the ocean and stopped at a beach for lunch. After that, we were super tired but knew we had to continue our full day so we took the ferry back to the city where we ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant which is very unusual to have here in NZ so we were all in heaven, I've missed chips and salsa! We then walked to Albert park to the lantern festival again where we ran straight to the pineapple stand to have a delicious pineapple filled with ice cream!! They were sold out the night before so we made sure to get them first and oh boy that was the  best 6 dollars I have ever spent! By now it was 6:30 p.m and we were ready to go to the rugby game!! I can not even explain the excitement I felt! I was so worried I would miss the kick-off or whatever they call it in rugby and luckily, Nancy was the same way. So as soon as the bus stopped, we were off and basically ran to the stadium looking like idiots with our backpacks! Oh we made it though, we felt like children so giddy! The atmosphere was amazing, as are many sporting events! So after watching and loving it for a bit, we begin talking with a fan next to us. Come to find out, the two teams that were playing, The Auckland Blues and the Crusaders form Christchurch, are huge rivals and the main teams that most of the All Blacks come from! So basically, I watched the infamous All Blacks players play against each other at one of the biggest games here!! Not to mention, we got to see apparently one of the best rugby players in the world, Dan Carter who is the highest point scorer in history for the All Blacks! And on top of that, we were on like the 14th row!! This was an amazingly close game with the Blues barely winning at the end, 24 to 22! The fans get pretty intense so all the drink bottles are made of plastic because they get thrown all over, I thought that was kind of funny, great idea though! Anyway, it has been a wonderful weekend but I am ready to get back into the classroom and work! 

                                              

                                                              Before our long hike, while we are still dry and clean :)

                                             

                                                           Chinese Lantern festival!

                                            

                                                       We made it to the summit!

Little beach we stopped and ate lunch at on the way down from the summit!

The blues and crusaders in a scrum!

The beginning of the game, so exciting!

So excited!

There he is, the infamous Dan Carter. . .kind of blury but he's always moving!

Sweet as hit! We were supposed to be cheering for the blues, 

but secretly I wanted the crusaders to win :)

Our favorite guy! :)

Another view from the summit of our hike!

A little taste of heaven! Disclaimer: we had been hiking for

 4 hours prior and had been up since 6:30!

The Week I Fell In Love. . .

As most know, I have wanted to become a teacher for quite some time.I remember countless times making my little brothers play school with me as I created little workbooks, had recess, and took roll. Well this is a  bit different but after this week, I have fallen in love with my profession all over again! I couldn't be happier with the decision I have made, the only thing that could make it possibly better is if I decide to go into Educational Psychology. I have considered this for a semester or two but yesterday I had an experience that made me think about it even more. My buddy, Kahu, the troubled boy I decided to work with, came to school yesterday looking very down. I asked how his swim practice was and he told me he didn't go because his dad wouldn't let him! This made me so mad because this boy needed the swim team, he needs the structure, and the fun activity, and the sense of accomplishment! Anyway, it was swim sports day where the upper grade classes compete in all sorts of swimming relays ALL DAY, and he didn't have a towel or something but after his teacher talked to him, they must have sorted something out because he ended up getting to compete and I've never seen him so excited. Well the day went on and his dad pulled up on his bike and started talking to Toni, Kahu's teacher. All I heard was a "sorry" and a "I will get him." I have never seen a child's face so full of  fear, sadness, and worry all at once. He quietly walked over as his dad handed him a lunch (thank goodness because hes gone without a lunch multiple times). I don't know what was said but he had his head down the entire time and he walked back to his spot holding back tears. He just started crying and Toni took him out to talk to him but the worry and sadness in his eyes brought tears to mine and right then I realized that this was real life, kids all over live in worry and sadness just like him. I felt very helpless and wanted so bad to grab him and give him a huge hug! That was the moment I realized I wanted to do more, and maybe being a school psychologist would do it but I will never forget his poor little face! I love that boy, he has the sweetest heart; it seems the ones that come across so tough, always do!
 In fact, he taught me how to play touch  rugby the other day at recess! I accidentally ran the wrong way and oh was I made fun of!The boys thought I was pretty amusing but loved showing me a game of their country, I am teaching them how to play Horse tomorrow, they are pretty excited! Along with sports, I am asked countless times about knowing famous people. In fact, I have been asked if I am Justin Bieber's sister because I look like him, and then I was asked if I know or am related to Beyonce, yes, Beyonce. . .see the resemblance? For your enjoyment, more things these sweet children have said are "Hey how old is your mom?" "She is---" (age disclosed for my mothers privacy) "Whoa she is an old lady!!" haha Do not worry mother, I don't t think your'e  old. Oh I have been asked many times why my hair is different colors, why am I short if i am older than the other girls, and if I could speak American to them! They are always inviting me to swim, play at recess, and come to their parties! They love sharing there interests, especially their language. One girl writes me a list of Samoan words and their meanings and asks me to study them everyday and she will add to them, its actually fantastic!
Anyway, this is getting long but lastly, I went to their parent night tonight which was pretty fun. It was interesting to get to meet them, and ti made me realize in 7 months I will have to do that myself, kind of makes me nervous! They have the coolest school though, always singing, and dancing in Maori, I love it!
I must end on the best experience so far. . .something you would NEVER see in the states: a older guy teacher strip down to JUST his briefs to compete in a teacher swim competition!! I love New Zealand!

Just call me Whaea!

My attempt

So first of all, Happy Valentines Day everybody! It is Valentines Day here today but you wouldn't know it. It is nothing like in the states. There is no such thing as Valentine's candy or decorations or anything. The kids at school didn't even realize it until later in the day, I love it! It is kind of nice because it isn't such a big deal, but I did miss having the whole party thing in the elementary school! 

So like I have mentioned, I was in the school today, it was my first day! My class consists of 23 brown faces and 1 white one. They have all different backgrounds, Maori, Samoan, Tongan, India, Burundi, and more! It is so fun becuase each grade has a family name, our family name is KahuOh my goodness I can not even describe the overwhelming happiness I felt as I stepped into that classroom. I was so nervous at first because of the kids being 4th and 5th graders; I am used to the younger kids and being able to treat them like kids, but you can not do that with older kids, especially older kids that have intense family backgrounds and a background of behavioral problems, the entire school is like that (as i mentioned earlier, it has been compared to schools in the Bronx). But I immediately felt a part of the classroom, I didn't feel that way last semester until a couple weeks in. All the kids wanted to know everything about me, my family, my hobbies, and especially funny words I say, like garbage can or trunk. They all kept asking me to speak American, and were amazed when I told them it is the same as English. One little girl, Rose, even told me she could speak American and started to say words with an American accent. They are so sweet and mean well even if they are rough around the edges. I have already been told numerous times how pretty I am, and that I should teach at their school and never go back to the states! I think I just might consider that!

So there is this one boy in the class, Kahu, who is my new special project. He is the one that has had a reputation with other teachers as being the "bad kid." He knows he has that rep too so my associate teacher (the one over me) sat him down at the beginning and told him straight out that he had a rep and that she would start him off with a clean slate and not even take into account what the others have said. He was so amazed by that! So, this interested me and I took it upon myself to get to know him and see what I could do. He is my absolute favorite, we had a great conversation about sports and our families and I told him he needs to teach me rugby and i will teach him some fun games to play with a basketball. We then had a funny conversation with me trying to pronounces his name correctly! Ever since our little conversation, he has been trying to impress me with his swimming skills, typing skills, and behavior! I love him already, all he needs is some attention, attention he doesn't get at home. 

I love my school more than anything! All the teachers are so welcoming and I feel like I work there, they don't make you feel like you are just a young visitor, they want you to come to staff meetings and be a part of everything! I got to go observe the swimming today, the kids love it and love that I came to watch. In the states, I feel that the teachers go off to lunch or just observe as the kids play, but I got asked numerous times to play the games with them at recess and I love it! As you can tell, I'm enjoying myself a bit too much and would love to teach at a school like my Ranui Elementary. The toughest part is getting their names down but amazingly, with it only being the first day, I know them all, with help from Patesa with pronunciation!! (i am not even going to attempt last names though!) Hopefully I wont forget by tomorrow. Just for fun, here are some names if you can pronounce them :) 

Faaiu, Lavinia, Basile, Mariam, Shaheen,Ved, Latchmi, Mele, Sandouane, Bruwyn, Te Rehia, Kahu, Petesa, Perenencia, and more! 

Oh and the best part is, they call me Whaea (pronounced like F-i-a with the i being long) Nicole! It is a term of respect, the majority of the teachers go by their first names with the term Whaea at the beginning, depending on their culture.
 

p.s. random pictures, have nothing to do with the post!

Tatiana's attempt. . .she totally out did me!

Lucas didn't think we could catch him. . .

South Island Magic!

Where to even begin. . .not having a computer for 10 days full of adventure will make for a very long blog, I will condense as much as I can. I guess I will start from day 1 and add more pictures this weekend when I have more!

Day 1: Woke up super early, grabbed my one bag I was allowed to take and waited on the curb! We arrived in Queenstown which is absolutely gorgeous! It is a town enveloped in mountains and a HUGE lake surrounding it!  We then headed over to the shotover jet which was one of the funnest things I have ever done! It is crazy, the driver heads right for the rocks and spins us as we are driving through a skinny river! After that, we headed to Arrowtown, a small old fashioned town and looked around in the shops. We then just relaxed and booked all our adventures, including skydiving, which was the craziest feeling to finally be paying for it. I knew right then there was no turning back!

Welcome to Queenstown!

Day 2: We woke up nice and early and BAM, 8 of us were headed to jump out of an airplane! I have never been so excited, wasn't scared one bit surprisingly, I literally could not sleep, I woke up 12 times in the night! The drive to the jumping site seemed to take forever! We strapped in, got our instruction, and off we went! The instructors were great, made us feel so comfortable! I was the third to jump out so I got to see the first two! As I watched the first girl jump, more like fall out, I had the greatest feeling of excitement, it was finally real, I have been wanting to do that forever! I hung over the edge and he counted to three and there I was, falling in air! It was the most amazing feeling ever, I laughed the entire way down. When he pulled the shoot I got to steer for a bit, and he pretended he let go, that was the first bit of nervousness I felt! haha As we glided down it was just relaxing, and gorgeous, great time to just think. It was weird to think that we were just floating in air with nothing hanging on to us! I recommend this to anyone and everyone, I can guarantee that won't be the last time! Don't worry I have a video :) The rest of the day wasn't as cool, we went to Glenarchy to see some Lord of the Rings sites, then dinner, wow we had Fergburger! It is a famous burger place, they are huge, size of a plate! They are amazing though.

SO EXCITED!

Ready to go!

You can't tell but these are huge! Okay, i admit, I had to split one!

Day 3: Well we woke up early to again, jump off something. This time all 16 of us decided to jump of a bridge, the worlds first bungee site, historical right? I will admit, I was scared out of my mind to do this. Knowing my fate is in my own hands! Me and Anna did it together which was so fun! I thought I would hesitate at the top but I didnt! He counted 3-2-1 and off we went! Also another amazing feeling, and we even had a rainbow when we jumped, experience of a lifetime! Later that night we went on the Luge, which is similar to the alpine slides but you have more freedom on the tracks and its more fun!

Day 4: Today we traveled to Milford Sound. It was basically a beautiful boat ride, saw dolphins, and huge waterfalls! It started raining at the end and we say thousands of waterfalls. It is said to have over 10,00 waterfalls at one time! So green, so pretty! That took all day because of traveling and what not! Oh and i will never have another PB&J as long as I live, i ate one too many and got motion sick during the eating of one!

Milford Sound, gorgeous!

Day 5: Today was my Birthday over here! WE woke up and went on a 6 hour bike ride around the gorgeous lake! Little did we know it turned into a mountain bike ride, so intense, my legs were burning! It was gorgeous though and we stopped and at lunch on a little beach and stopped at many cool outlooks on the way. Then a couple girls came with me to eat sushi, ate another Fergburger, had gelatto for dessert, and they also gave me a raspberry dessert, sang to me and we went dancing later that night! The highlight though would have to be the Asians that started taking pictures of me as I danced around while they sung to me outside in the square. It was hilarious! Like what are they going to tell people back home, "hey look at this funny white girl, it was her birthday!"

Birthday Bike ride!

LOVE! Our signature pose!

You cant tell but i'm putting up 21, my age!

Taking a break!

SUSHI YUM!

Again, 21!! best gelato ever, pineapple and wild berry!

Day 6: We arrived in Christchurch and went straight to the market, looked around the town, got familiar with the area then that night went to a HUGE (10,00 people) concert in the park. It was a celebration for Waitangi day (compare to our 4th of july). It was amazing, Maori performances, classical performances, the military sang, and fireworks!

Happy Waitangi Day!

Day 7: Church in Christchurch, people=most friendly people I have ever met! Went on a drive around the town and up the mountains to overlook the city! Gorgeous country!

Day 8: Went to a small French town, Akoroa, in the pouring rain! It was an adventure, pretty sure we almost slid off the cliffs in our crazy vans many times! Lovely day though! WE then went to the museum and arts center in Christchurch and then made spaghetti and had Tim Tam slams!!! Fun relaxing night!

TIM TAM SLAMS!

Day 9: BEACH DAY!! WE went to the beach in New Brighton and were there for probably 6 hours! I love the beach, it was a perfect day, relaxing, playing games, walking along the pier, and enjoying our last full day on the south island.

New Brigthon Beach!

Day 10: Sad last day! We went around the botanical gardens and took tons of picutres becuase we had tons of time! It was gorgeous though! I becmae a duck whisperer, those ducks are fearless, fed them right out of my hands! WE then went to the cathedral and experienced a bit more of downtown then off we went to the airport! I was sad to leave but excited to get back "home" and I lvoe that Auckland feels like home now!

Cathedral!

Crazy trees!