Hello New Zealand!

Hello New Zealand! Today was my 4th day in New Zealand and I am feeling a little more relaxed now! Cathy and I arrived on Saturday at about 6am. The flight was absolutely wonderful, minus sleeping sitting up! But can’t help that. Air New Zealand is fabulous! Saturday felt like the longest day of my life! I stayed up for most of the day until 5, then, I just crashed! But the jetlag is gone now, so that’s good! I will be staying with Rachel, a teacher at Swanson, and her partner Ken. They are very nice and so welcoming! It has been an exciting time to be in New Zealand, with their win of the World Cup! Cathy and I took a trip into Auckland on Monday to watch the parade. It was very exciting to see the pride the country has for Rugby. I had never watched a Rugby game so that was very exciting and different to watch! Such a rough and scary game! Today was our first day of school at Swanson Primary. My cooperating teacher is Ms. Debra Logan. She is wonderful! I love her classroom management skills. And after just one day, I feel like I have learned SO much. The students clearly respect her and she respects them. We had a Powhiri today. It is a traditional Maori welcoming for visitors. There is a new Deputy principal and a new teacher so we were welcomed a long with them. This was a very interesting experience! It is to welcome the visitors but then to make the visitors or the manuhiri into the Tangata whenua, which is like a part of the community. I love the Maori language! It is fascinating. Too bad I butcher the words horribly! Oh well I better practice! The school day seems much different than home. There is fitness every morning (which I will be in charge of tomorrow!) Which is wonderful because at home the kids are lucky if they get gym twice a week for 30 minutes. The day is also broken up much differently. 9-11 first block 11-11:40 Morning tea (Students eat part of their lunches) 11:40-1:10 second block 1:10-1:55 Lunch 1:55-3:00 Third block I think I am going to really like this schedule. I am really excited for this experience; I know I will learn so much from Debra! For this weekend, Cathy and I planned a trip to the Bay of Islands! We are both very excited for this!