This weekend I took a solo trip to Queenstown, which is in the South Island of New Zealand. I was definitely nervous to take the trip by myself, but it ended up being an amazing weekend! I started my weekend with a hike up Queenstown Hill. The weather wasn't predicted to be great, but the rain held off for the hike. It only took about an hour to get the the tops and the view was incredible. I also took a day trip to Milford Sound. It was about a 4-5 hour drive one way with amazing scenery along the way. Again, the weather was not looking great and the drive there was pretty dreary. Luckily, for most of the two hour cruise, the rain mostly held off. Milford Sound was probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Because the last couple weeks have been quite rainy, there were waterfalls flowing everywhere! We also got to see seals sleeping on some rocks and dolphins racing the boat! They said that it is actually somewhat rare to see the dolphins so close to the boat, so we got really lucky! My last day in Queenstown, I took the gondola up to Bob's Peak. The view from Bob's peak is the photo you will see if you google "Queenstown", but seeing it in person was much better. There are many activities that you can do once you take the gondola up to Bob's Peak. I also got to experience the Queenstown Luge, which is sort of like go carts, but not motorized.
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Thursday after school, my cooperating teacher Matt took the five of us out surfing! Matt lives right by Piha beach and operates his own surf school. Piha beach is one of New Zealand's most dangerous beaches, and the evening we were surfing had particularly crazy conditions. Waves were coming from all directions and they were quite intimidating. After Matt showed us the basics, we all went out to give it a go. I didn't do particularly well, but it was fun to get out of my comfort zone and try something new! Surfing is a pretty big thing here in New Zealand so it was nice to be able to take part in the surfing culture.
This week was definitely a tougher week. Not being home to celebrate Thanksgiving was definitely hard, but we made the most of it. The five of us went to Auckland and had "Thanksgiving" dinner together. Even though Thanksgiving obviously isn't celebrated here, I wanted to do an activity with my students to make them realize all of the things they have to be thankful for. Each student got 5 m&m's and each color correlated with a different category of things to be thankful for (person, thing, memory, talent/skill, etc.) that they had to write down. I was so impressed by some of my students responses. After they wrote down what they were thankful for, everyone shared their five things. Many of the things were the common answers (my mom, my home, my pets), but some students thought very hard about their answers. We had a really great discussion about all of the things that we often take for granted. My fifth thing that I was thankful for was "being with all of you". I think my students thought that I was just saying that, but it definitely the thing I am most thankful for this year. The opportunity to be able to teach in this beautiful country is better than anything I could ask for. Friday after school, Sarah's host mom Hazel took us and her two children for a short hike to a beautiful waterfall. I am so amazed by the natural beauty that is everywhere here. After hiking, we went back to their house and had dinner before making pavlova. Pavlova is a New Zealand desert that many people make for Christmas. It turned out really well for being our first time making it! Saturday, Hazel took us to Puhoi where we did some kayaking! It was about 2 hours of kayaking and definitely turned into quite the workout! After kayaking, we stopped at the Honey Centre. Honey is a really big thing here and we got to sample honey that is made from the pollen of my different types of New Zealand trees. We also took a quick stop at Goat Island. I walked around with Hazel's daughter and explored. It is always so cool to see things from a child's perspective. She is always just so curious and wants to see everything. Sunday, Laine's host family took her, Maddy, and I to Omaha beach. It was an amazing beach and it was so nice to just relax. We unfortunately didn't stay long because it got really windy. We also got stuck in some major traffic on the way home. Not our luckiest day, but still really nice to spend some time with them!
This week felt like it flew by! Friday, we got to chaperone a field trip for one of the year 7 & 8 classrooms. We took a train into Auckland and then the ferry over to Devonport. From there we walked to North Head Historic Reserve, which is considered one of the most significant coastal defenses in New Zealand. We got to see some amazing views, walk through the military tunnel complex, and learn a little bit about the history. It was really fun getting to know some of the students that I don't get to spend much time with. Friday after school, the five of us took our second road trip to the Coromandel! One of the deputy principals, Chris, let us stay in his family's bach (vacation home) which was so amazing! The drive to the Coromandel was definitely more twisty and turny than the roads we were on last weekend, but incredibly beautiful. Saturday morning we spent some time enjoying Hahei Beach. In the afternoon, Sarah, Laine, and I hiked to Cathedral Cove. The hike was definitely more difficult than we expected, but worth every second. Along the way we stopped at two lesser known bays, Stingray Bay and Gemstone Bay, both with amazing views. When we made it to Cathedral Cove I was so amazed. It is incredible the the ocean has the ability to create such amazing rock formations. We sat at Cathedral Cove for a while before making the hike back. Sunday, Sarah, Laine, and I woke up to watch the incredible sunrise over the beach. After getting a few more hours of sleep, we started our day by getting some breakfast and doing some shopping before heading to hot water beach. The idea behind hot water beach is that you dig a hole and it fills with water that has been heated from natural hot springs. We didn't really know what we were doing and dig holes in the wrong spots a few times, but we did see some people who were sitting in there own personally steaming tubs! Even though we didn't quite figure out the "hot water" part, we still enjoyed relaxing on the beach for a few hours.
This weekend, the five of us took our first roadtrip to Bay of Islands! Definitely was a little scary since none of us had driven on the left side of the road before, but Laine did a great job with it! We got to Bay of Islands Friday night and had dinner and explored Paihia a little. Sunday I took a solo hike from Paihia to Waitangi and then to Haruru Falls. The journey was a little over 15 km (about 10 miles) there and back, and it was so worth it! From Paihia to Waitangi, I saw some beautiful views and beaches. Once I started on the trail to Haruru Falls, it felt like I was in the jungle. Part of the hike also went through a mangrove forest which was incredibly beautiful! The water fall was also amazing to see! Once I made it back to Paihia, I sat and enjoyed the beach for a few hours before meeting up with the girls again and heading to Ngawha Hot Springs. It definitely felt great after the long hike! After the hot springs, we got dinner and then enjoyed some time at the beach looking at the water and the stars (we even saw a shooting star!). Sunday we spent a few more hours on the beach and then did some shopping before headed back to Swanson.
P.S. The feet pictures were my way of making the photos feel more like mine, and not just something anyone could have taken. Also really proud that I hiked that many miles in my Chacos! This last week at school was a lot of fun! I've been taking over more and more and getting to know my students really well. I also got to see a lot of their outdoor learning experiences this week. Monday we spent a lot of time in the outdoor classroom where students were building a fire, painting, building things from wood, and helping to clean up the outdoor space by moving rock. It is really cool to see how creative the students are when they have the option to choose what they do. We also had an all day athletics event Thursday. We went to a stadium and the students all participated in track and field events. It is cool to see how they incorporate athletics into school and give students the opportunity to show their athletic abilities. Friday evening, Teresa, our host family's daughter, and Dan, her partner, took Alee, Maddy, and I to Bethells Beach. We walked along the beach and went for a small hike up a hill to an overlook. The views during the hike and at the top were incredible! After we went for a dip in the water. It was pretty chilly but felt really nice after the walk. Saturday we took the ferry over to Waiheke Island. Waiheke is known for its beautiful beaches as well as its vineyards and wineries. We had a lot of fun exploring, sampling wine, eating food, and walking along the beach. Waiheke is such a beautiful place! After we were done exploring, we took the ferry back to Auckland and walked around Auckland for a while before heading back to our houses for the night. Overall, student teaching abroad is going amazing and I'm so thankful to have this opportunity to learn about the culture and see this beautiful country!
(Disclaimer for anyone who might visit here in the future: bring your passport! Our drivers licenses were not accepted as valid form of identification at some places) The first week at Swanson was incredible! It is definitely so different that schools back home, and apparently, it is even pretty different that other schools here in New Zealand. Much of the learning is play based, especially in the younger classrooms. In my classroom with years 7 and 8, there is a big emphasis on choice. When there is work time, students are not told what they should be working on, they instead know what they need to have done in the next week or so, and get to decide what they spend their time doing. It is really awesome to see students who choose to work diligently, and some students even choose to work when they have free choice time. Another big adjustment with the school is that they do not follow set curriculums. My teacher has the philosophy that is is better to teach a little of the same information often throughout the year, rather than a lot all at once. I think it is a great philosophy to follow so that students don't forget everything they learned at the beginning of the year. We also do a lot of outdoor learning. They have an outdoor classroom that the students can do things like build, carve, garden, make fires, and so much more. Teaching here will definitely be a big adjustment, but I am so excited to be stepping out of my comfort zone and learning a lot!
The first day of school went great! It is so different from schools in the US but so amazing! I can tell it is going to be a great 7 weeks!
Only one more day before we fly out! It is crazy how quickly my first student teaching placement went and that it is already time to start this new adventure. I'm definitely nervous for the over 28 hours of travel, but it will be so worth it.
I can't wait to meet my host family and everyone at Swanson! They have been so kind and helpful for all of us already. I also can't wait to meet my class! It will be a great opportunity to learn new ways of teaching as well as working with an age group I haven't worked with much yet. I'm so grateful for this once in a lifetime opportunity to be welcomed into a community for 7 weeks and be able to gain new perspectives and insights. Plus as a bonus, it's getting warmer there as it gets colder here! To those of you at home.. thank you for being such a great support system throughout this process. I couldn't have done this without all of the support and love. I'll miss all of you! I will definitely keep this blog updated to keep everyone in the loop about student teaching and all of the adventures abroad! Stay tuned for updates.. and amazing pictures! :) |
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