First Few Days!

Kia Ora, everyone!

I have officially arrived and settled in to the Kiwi way of life. After almost 20 hours of traveling, with mild turbulence/motion sickness along the way, I landed in Queenstown, New Zealand on Wednesday, March 1^st around 11:00 a.m. (In New Zealand, I am 19 hours ahead of Central Standard time) After arriving, the principal of the Terrace School picked me and the other student teachers up and transported us to Alexandra, the city where my student teaching experience will take place. On the drive home, we explored bits of Queenstown and Alexandra, learning that Queenstown is the South Island’s most popular tourist destination. This is because it is a much bigger city than the surrounding ones, and it offers many adrenaline activities like the luge, bungee jumping, etc.  (I took one look over the bridge to jump off and had second thoughts, but I’m feeling like peer pressure will likely get me!) Finally, we stopped for a quick bite to eat, and I got to enjoy Kumara (a sweet potato type thing, pictured below). We then continued our travels home and got settled into our humble abode for the night, exhausted from the long days ahead of us. To settle in, we met our housekeeper Denise, as well as experienced a New Zealand grocery store to pick up a few necessities. This place is called New World, and it is very similar to a Wal-Mart or Target. Prices are mildly expensive, but the conversion rate for currency is good. About $100 in New Zealand is equivalent to about $73 in America. Thus far, my only expenses have been housing and a rental car provided by the school. Having the car has made a huge difference in my ability to explore!

After the first night’s sleep, I awoke and headed into the school for a traditional Maori welcome. This was super cool to say the least! (I wish I had video to show, but essentially all of the students chanted in their native language to show that I was now becoming one of them.) Haere mai is the Maori way of saying welcome. After the welcoming, I did the traditional Maori greeting, touching nose to nose with some of the staff and students. The purpose behind this to show that I now share their breath, meaning that we are seen as one. We then gathered in the teacher’s lounge area with a few of the students and enjoyed some traditional biscuits and tea. In New Zealand, biscuits are generally the term used for cookies, so I am not entirely sure what I would call what I know as a biscuit, and tea is super popular.) Teatime is a common occurrence during many parts of the day here, and I greatly enjoy it. Briefly after socializing, one of the other student teachers and I were whisked off to a camp with the 5^th and 6^th grade students, as this is the grade level we will both be teaching. On the way to the camping site, the “tour guide” Mick, who is the Deputy Principal – like an assistant, at the Terrace School, showed as many highlights along the way. We stopped at a salmon farm and got many pictures of the beautiful landscape. We then arrived to the campsite and watched as the kiddos swam in the lake. Duck Itch is common after swimming in lakes here, as the ducks carry parasites that leave bite marks on the skin. To me, it seems similar to a mosquito bite, and no one was overly concerned with it!  We then went salmon fishing, but sadly did not catch anything. The next morning I woke up feeling a bit jetlagged, so I stayed in the cabin. The locals told me I had sea legs, so I went to a local chemist for some motion sickness treatment. Because of my queasiness, we decided to head home that night. It was one of the other student teacher’s birthdays, so we stopped at KFC for dinner. No, it was not that similar, but I still enjoyed some nuggets and chips! (At this point, we were all anxious for some “American food.”

Saturday morning, we all awoke and got ready for the day. This was the first time all of us were in the apartment together getting ready, so it was fun! The apartment that we are staying in is a ranch style home, and it has nice big windows both in the front and the back. There are two bedrooms, one with three twin beds for the girls and the other with two twin beds for the boys. Then, we all share a living area, kitchen, and bathroom. After we got ready, we took the car up the mountains for a hike. Hiking here is not like anything I have ever done before. The mountains have man-made paths full of loose rocks and dirt. It was somewhat challenging, but I made it to the top! After the morning hike, we ran some errands and returned back to the motel to catch the Cricket game on TV and relax.

Overall, my first few days in New Zealand have been quite an experience! I will attempt to keep my posts frequent as I become more immersed in New Zealand culture and hopefully they won’t all be this long!

Cheers!

Hannah