My week in a nutshell

My week in a nutshell...

Look at me posting twice in one day...phew...I really had some time on my hands! WARNING....this is a VERY long post....after reading this, you will completely understand why I had no time to post until today!

Here is the run down of my past week...

Sunday ~ we spent the day with Bonnie, Diane and Jill from Hutt Sister Cities. They took us to lunch and the Te Papa museum in Wellington. It was a great day....great company, great city, great museum! The museum was celebrating Matraiki which is the Maori new year. There were Kapahaka groups performing, and they were incredible. The more time I spend here, the more similarities I see between the Maori culture and the Hawaiian culture. Which makes perfect sense, but I didn't really put that together before I got here. The museum showed the history of the Maori people and culture, which I loved learning about.

(pictures of this fun day are lost.... )

Monday ~ we went to Hutt Intermediate School. I have found so many similarities and differences in each school I have been in with our schools. This school did a wonderful job of bringing real world experiences to their students. I think they will be very prepared for life after high school! That night we had a very special celebration with the Mayor of Hutt city as well as the US Ambassador to NZ. We had to get up and speak, which you know I hate! I don't understand why I can speak in front of hundreds of kids, but the second you add adults in the mix and I just melt. But I don't think I made a fool of myself...

Janice and I with the Mayor and US Ambassador

Anne-Marie and I

Janic and I with the Hutt sister cities coordinators

The Tempe Sister Cities high school delegates

Tuesday ~ we went to Muritai School which is year 1 through year 8. We are constantly flabbergasted by the freedoms that the children here have. The "senior" campus is down the street and the students freely walk back and forth...by themselves...with NO adults...crossing a street! Can you imagine that happening by us??? The students are so respectful and they have such a high trust system, which is phenomenal. We were interviewed by their school tv program (which I linked on FB)...again put me in front of a crowd and I freeze. Janice and I walked to have lunch along the bay and happened to come across a sea lion... Picture opportunity of course! That night, Anne-Marie and I met up with a group of wonderful ladies and went to dinner and the cinema...basically it is a fancy movie theatre....it had couches instead of chairs and no popcorn...you could actually have wine, ice cream, coffee, etc. It was so fun and comfy!

Wednesday ~ Amazing! I don't even know where to begin... We met up with the 4 students that are here on the student exchange and the Mayoress of Hutt city. We headed off to the US Embassy in Wellington, and spent about an hour talking to the Ambassador. What an experience! I don't know in what other capacity I would have been able to spend an hour chatting with an ambassador! After chatting, we went on a tour of the embassy and then headed off to have lunch and do a little shopping. Then we took a cable car to the top of a hill and went to the botanical gardens and the Carter Observatory. As if that wasn't a busy enough day, then we had dinner with Anne-Marie and Kerry and went to see Five Year Engagement at the cinema. Yes, we went to the cinema two nights in a row.....and I loved it!

Thursday ~ we went to Little Earth Montessori preschool. This school was like nothing I had ever seen. It is a green school through and through. The owner, Anja, actually went on the exchange last year. When she described the school to us, it didn't even do it justice. She designed the school and it is incredible. The walls are made of soil and mortar, you can see from the picture that I was quite amazed. The students were 3-6 years old and were so independent. Everything they did was very purposeful and real. It was a beautiful environment and the teachers were so inviting and nurturing. Anja took us for a walk on the beach and for some ice cream...yes ice cream in the cold weather...it was great! That evening, we went to Kathy's school production. It was a whole school production that the students and teachers created. I can't imagine doing something like that! It was phenomenal and precious! The pics don't do it justice, but I tried :)

Amazed at the dirt walls

Kids washing the guinea pigs

I did actually fall asleep for a few minutes surrounded by 3 year olds!

Glow worms

Gum boots!

The kiwis. These are the youngest of the school...adorable!

Today (Friday) ~ we went to another primary school. It is the last day of their term and they have a 2 week vacation....so as you can imagine it was a fun day. They had crazy hair day, which it our crazy hair days to shame! There were so many crazy things. That kids did to their hair...just a few...a lampshade, a nest, a Christmas tree, a spider web...all made out of hair...it was awesome! There were 5 classrooms that were taught in dual language (Maori and English) which was fascinating. It was great to see the children embracing the culture of their country and learning in both languages. The Maori language is absolutely beautiful and again reminds me so much of Hawaii.

And that brings us up to date.... Are you as exhausted as I am????? We are leaving in a few hours for our week long road trip which I am so excited about. We will be going to Martinborough which apparently has great wine...if I haven't mentioned the NZ wine yet, it is delicious!!! I mean really, really delicious!!! Then we are heading up north to Rotorua and Taupo. A few of the things that we have planned are zip lining, white water rafting, thermal pools and a spa day....needless to say I am beyond excited! I am not sure what the Internet situation will be over the next week, but I will try my hardest to keep you updated.

See you soon!