I have arrived!

I have been in New Zealand for 3 days and I am loving every minute of it! We arrived in Auckland at 6 am, local time. I only slept about 4 hours on the plane, but I was so excited I couldn't have slept for anything. We took a bus to Hamilton and stopped in a cemetery along the way. It was so cool because it was the location of a battle between the Europeans and the Maori's. When we arrived in Hamilton, my host mom, Darnie picked me up as her husband, Nga, was teaching primary. Darnie's cousin and her parent's American student were visiting and after a quick shower I joined them at the singles ward. It was so much smaller that a Logan singles ward, but the spirit was the same. We walked up to the Hamilton Temple and it was lovely. We had lamb roast for dinner, it was my first time having lamb, and I don't know how I'll definetely be having it again soon! It was delicious!

The next day I started school and we had the opportunity to participate in a real Maori welcome called a Pauwhiri (powfiry). The students sang to us and we sang the national anthem back to them and it was fabulous. We then learned about the culture and language and I've started working on my Maori. We had morning tea, which is a daily tradition at the schools, with all the teachers. I spent the afternoon in my classroom and went to a planning meeting. Then I spent time at home with Darnie and Nga in the evening.

Today was my first full day in the classroom and it was so much fun. This week is Camp Week at school so we started the day off on a river walk. We walked along the Waikato River with all the students in Level 3/4. Even though we had a few scraped knees, it was a wonderful trip. After the walk was swimming. Students have swimming lessons at school during the summer/fall months--isn't that cool?! In the afternoon, I taught a lesson on constellations and the students made their own constellations by making holes with tacks in black paper. They turned out wondrful!

Some of the things that are different between the U.S. and N.Z. include:
1-Students don't have to wear shoes to school. Interesting isn't it?
2-We spell words differently at times, which isn't the best thing for teachers! color/colour, recognize/recognise. It can be messy.
3-People don't go to the restroom. They go to the toilet. In the U.S., that would be almost crude, but not here.
4-There if fruit everywhere and I LOVE IT!
5-When you are immersed in a place that speaks differently than you, you start to pick it up. Honestly, the students understand you more when you speak with their accent. We'll see if it sticks when I get home.

I know I'll pick up on more things as time goes by, I'll keep you posted! Oh, and I'll post pictures soon too!

I love you all and miss you! I'm going to the beach this weekend, and I'll let everyone kjnow how it goes--I'm starting surfing lessons--YAY!