Koru- new life, growth, strength and peace

Since New Zealand is surrounded by water, the schools have decided that swimming is a necessary skill for all the students to learn how to do.  Here is my class during free swim time this week.

 Look at my little Caleb on the right side.  Every swimming time he is in the same lime green and black wet suit with these huge red goggles that push his ears down on each side.  I LOVE it!  There is nothing more cute that this sight.

It has been nice because they have let the teachers use the pool whenever they want.  Today Christine and I stayed after and tried to swim laps.  Swimming is so hard.  I am so impressed by swimmers.  But we got a good work out trying to swim back and forth.

I also got my first art work souvenir from New Zealand.  Actually it is a huge volcanic rock (it's probably 20 pounds) and I’m still not positive how I am going to get it back home ha.  But I think it will be fun to put into my classroom this fall to remind me of all the amazing things that I’ve learned on this trip!

The design on the rock is a Koru.  The koru is a spiral shape based on the shape of a new unfurling silver fern frond which is native to New Zealand.   It symbolizes new life, growth, strength and peace.

This is when it's still spiraled up.

Here is the silver fern.

I bought it from this random house down the street from where I’m living.  Christine and I had seen a sign outside of this house that said “rock mosaics.”  One night Heidi and I went on a run and decided to go and knock on the door.  They had some really beautiful pieces.  I wanted something “New Zealandish” and something in my budgeted price range.  The Koru rock was perfect!

Sacrament Talk

Sunday was a pretty exciting day as well.  Christine and I were asked to speak in sacrament meeting!  At first I was kind of excited because I really want to become a better speaker and I know these opportunities are good learning experiences.  Dad always tells me that whenever we moved into a new ward he would introduce himself to the bishop and let him know that he would speak as soon as the bishop needed him to.  He said that it drove my mom nuts, but if he wanted to become a better speaker there was no better way than to put yourself it situations where you can grow.  But when I got my topic I started to get nervous.   I was asked to speak on the second article of faith, “men will be punished for their own sins and not for Adam’s transgression.” 

This topic seemed like one of the most difficult topics I have ever been asked to speak on in church.  But as I spent the week reading and learning about the fall I learned a lot!  It was a great opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and study some of the doctrine and I haven’t quite understood. 

The best part about us getting the chance to speak was that we invited Phyllis to come to church with us.  Phyllis is a very faithful Christian and attends her own church services every week at 10:30am.  Every week she also teaches Sunday school, except for the last Sunday of the month.   We were lucky enough to speak on the last Sunday of the month at our 9am meeting.  She had no excuses why she couldn’t come with us to sacrament!  So we brought her with us J 

She said that she enjoyed our talks.  She commented that some of the differences in doctrines between our church and her church were brought out in my talk.  As I spoke on the second article of faith and men being accountable for our own sins, I talked a lot about the importance of our works on this Earth.  In Phyllis’s church she believes that everyone is saved completely by the grace of God.  All you have to do is accept Jesus and your Christ and you are saved.  During my talk I mentioned the importance of keeping the commandments and in doing all that we could to become the best people we could.   Christine and I had the chance to have some gospel discussions with her that night.  It was really interesting.  It made me realize how much more intense I need my scripture study to be.  To talk to a strong, faithful Christian woman who was married to a pastor really makes you realize how much more I need to come to understand the scriptures.  But it was a great experience.

I also got to help one of the ladies in our ward during relief society and hold her 7 week old baby girl.  It was the best thing ever!  I had forgotten how much I LOVE little babies.  She was the most adorable thing and she mostly slept and cuddled up to me through the entire meeting.  

Piha Weekend

School is still going well.  Christine and I almost look like students everyday because we walk into the school with our backpack and matching lunch boxes.  The other day our shirts really matched and we thought it was perfect for a school photo J

I have officially started our pen pal experience.  I used google earth and showed my students where Spring Creek Elementary is and read all the pen pal letters that my last practicum students wrote.  My new class has started their new letters in response.  The kids are loving it!

Friday night Christine and I had a dinner date with Phyllis.  We went to this place called Origins and we loved it! 

After dinner we decided to head up to Mount Eden to try and catch the sun set.  Christine and I had been dying to get to the top of this volcanic crater! 

It is the largest on in the area.  When you get up top it is wonderful because you can see the entire city on each side of you. 

There was also a big compass that pointed which way LA and New York are from where we were standing.  So Christine  and I went in the middle of those two arrows and waved to everyone back home!  As the sun went down it was a little bit cooler and windier than we had expected.  But we waited until the sun started to go down and the colors began reflecting off the clouds around us.  It really was a beautiful night.

Saturday morning Chrisitne and I woke up early and helped Phyllis weed her garden.  The garden is one of the things that Phyllis takes a lot of pride in.  She loves her garden, and it really is very nice.  But often she gets really sore or exhausted from spending so much time out there.  When we have free  mornings we like to go out to the garden and help her get as much done as possible.  Soon she will even have lemons and mandarin oranges!

Then by nine in the morning we left for Piha West Coast black sand beach.  These beaches on the west coast are black sand because of the volcanic activity years ago.  The black sand is really fun to look at and be in but it gets SO hot in the middle of the day.  You have to wear shoes to walk around on it.  When we first arrive to piha we all half expected another relaxing lay out at the beach kind of day but we were very mistaken.  This beach and the area around it had so much to see and do.  We started by walking along this edge that took us to honey moon cove, a secluded part of the beach.  Along our first walk we found that we were walking on all these baby clam shells that were so cute.  I’m pretty sure most of them were dead because they were no longer constantly submerged in water, but they were really cool to observe up close. 

Also in the honeymoon cove we found little caves, tunnels, and cliffs that we could explore.  We also climbed up to the top of different rocks and mountains and looked over the amazing ocean.  The waves here were the biggest that I had ever seen.  They were crashing up on different parts of the rocks and mountains, and I think I could have stayed sitting and watching the waves all day long. 

Out in some of the huge waves a Billabong Surf Competition was taking place for age group 19 and younger.  It was amazing walking these teenagers take on these gigantic waves.

When we went out into the ocean we were given lots of warnings that the current and undertow on these beaches are stronger than most of us had ever experienced before.  They say the most of the people who die at this beach are tourists because they don’t realize just how powerful this water can really be.

Then we found something really cool.  Jelly Fish!!!!  

I had never seen one of these guys in real life!  Unfortunately or fortunately they were dead, so I even got to hold them.  It was so crazy.  They were completely clear and so squishy and ah weird.  James even through one of the jelly guys on my back before I was brave enough to hold one.  But eventually I realized it couldn’t hurt me and I was brave enough.   We found three of them just along the beach.

Next we went on a hike to a nearby waterfall in Karekare.  

It is crazy that we can be at this amazing beach and then after a ten minute walk we can be under an amazing weather fall in the middle of a jungly/forest. 

Then we ended the night with a wonderful surprise birthday party for our triplets turning 21.   

 Nicole’s host mum threw a big party for the girls that all turned 21 in February, Nancy, Anna, and Nicole.  In is tradition that in New Zealand you are presented with a key to come and go freely from the house at that time.  So she made each of the girls their own "key", which was just made of paper.  Then we opened presents and feasted.  After dinner she brought out the hugest cake I have ever seen in my whole life!!

We also all got goody bags at the end of the party!

F.H.E.

On Sunday the Olsen family in our West Harbor Ward invited Anna, Heidi, Christine and I over for dinner and FHE on that coming Monday night!  It was so sweet of them to be thoughtful enough to invite us over.  Even though we love our non-member families we are staying with, there are certain things that we miss.  Priesthood in the home and FHE being on the top of our list!  The Olsen family was more than generous with a wonderful meal and dessert.  They have six lovely kids Faust, Aiden, Kayla, Zion Israel, and Vanz.  The kids loved showing us all their art work, toys, musical talents, and more.  Their youngest son Vanz even performed his haka for us!  It was the most enthusiastic, cutest thing I have ever seen. He was totally serious but you can't help but smile when you watch.

School is still going well.  My students have started their pen pal writing to my last practicum class in Provo.  I read the letters from my Provo students and showed them pictures of the kids.  My students were so excited! I've never seen them more excited to do a writing project!  We started taking a few pictures after school to send to our Provo school friends but I think we'll try again because to many of them were making funny faces.

The kids have to wear these school uniforms everyday.  They also are suppose to be wearing their school hats every time they are outside, but this was the end of they day so they were all heading home soon.

 They all loved posing for the camera!

Colleen took my camera for awhile and started taking pictures of herself and anyone else she could find.

On Tuesday all 16 of the BYU girls were invited to attend a powhiri.  This is a Maori welcoming ceremony with song, dance, and a hongi.  The powhiri was held at Henderson South Primary School.  All the students in the school met together in their assembly hall and sang, danced, and chanted as all 16 of the BYU girls and a small group of new students entered the room.  

When the children were singing in Maori there was a very special feeling that filled the room as we walked inside.  Once we were in we sat across from all the students. The principal of Henderson south got up and gave a speech in Maori, welcoming us to New Zealand.  

Dr. Jacobs then spoke for our group, saying a few lines in Maori as well.  He then presented the school with a gift that he had brought from home.  It was a beautiful Navajo sand painting.  Next it was the BYU girls turn to sing this maori song that we learned from our earlier classes.  I will have to record us singing the song because the song sounded so wonderful.  The words are             

Te aroha

Te whakapono

Me te rangimarie

Tatou, tatou e

Next the students sang and danced for us again.  Finally we got to the hongi.  I was a little bit nervous for this part.  All the teachers lined up and our group went down the line pressing our nose and foreheads together to "mix breath" with our new friends.  Some of the teachers kissed our checks and shook our hands.  It felt like a little bit of an invasion of my personal space, but for them it is completely natural.   By the end of the line of about 15 people I started to get the hang of it.  

The Henderson South principal then invited all 16 of us back for morning tea.  Each of the schools have morning tea every day.  It is like a morning recess for the students and a time of the teachers to drink milo, coffee, have a snack, and talk together.  This particular morning tea included a feast of cookies, brownies, sandwiches, meat pies, and more.  Each of our girls left morning tea very full from all the wonderful food they provided us with.

I am loving the New Zealand culture here so much.  The people have been so welcoming and I am grateful for their hospitality.  It has helped me enjoy my trip even more.

Dark Day

Today there was another earthquake in Christchurch.   This earthquake was ranked at 6.3 which is less than the 7.1 earthquakes from back in September, but the damage and death toll is already higher.  The September earthquake occurred in the middle of the night when families were at home together asleep in bed.  The earthquake today occurred in the middle of the day at 12:51.  Families were desperate to get to their loved ones at school, work, and other places.  The death toll is already to over 60 people and is said to be rising.  There are over 50 of people still trapped in collapsed building.  Police and search and rescue teams are working hard to help the people.  The open parks are full of people who have lost their homes or are severely injured.  News reporters are saying that we are witnessing New Zealand's Darkest Day.

Less than two weeks ago our study abroad group was walking these same streets in Christchurch.  I was taking a tour and attending a catholic church service in the cathedral that is now destroyed.  We were staying at a motel that was right across from the park that is now providing landing space for helicopters that are flying in to help with the damage.



Our group was so lucky that our trip was two weeks ago and not this week.  My prayers go out to the people of Christchurch.  This is going to be a difficult event to recover from.

I love rugby!

This weekend was one of the best that I have had in New Zealand so far.  Friday was the wonderful, relaxing day that I wrote about in my earlier post, and Saturday ended up being one of the most ongoing, jam packed days ever!  We woke up by 6:15 to get ready and catch a public bus into down by 7:15.  When we made it into town at around 8:30 we went and bought our tickets to take this ferry over to a volcanic island called Rangitoto.  After we got our tickets purchased we had some time to walk around town to look at the shops and get closer to the Sky tower.

This was a cool picture I took of the sky towner.  It was reflecting in the building right across the street from it!

Our ferry head out around 9:15, where we met up with most of the other girls.  When we made it to the Island we got out our maps and picked a few trails that we wanted to do while we were there.  Our first destination we decided was a steep hike to the summit.  Emily and I lead the way for the group to the top!

After we made it to the top we decided to explore the lava caves.  There was lots of volcanic rock along the trails but there a couple caves that we could climb through.  We only had one torch (that’s what they call flash lights in NZ) for all 14 of us.  Janet and I decided to lead the way through the caves using the red light from my camera and occasionally taking pictures and using the flash to help us get up the big rocks. 

When we were done exploring the lava caves we headed back up over the summit to get to Mckenzie Bay.  At one area on the way to the bay a couple of the girls and I were walking down a part of the mountain when four guys came running up the mountain, that may have been some of the most attractive guys we have seen here in New Zealand yet ha.  They smiled at us as they passed.  Of course we giggled together and went on our way.  But that wasn’t the end of our encounters with these guys ha.  We made a little picnic spot along the bay and went swimming to cool off from the intense hikes and hot sun.    

 Passed our beach area there was a light house we could see off in the distance.

Then we started a hike around the coast to make it back to where we started.  We made it back to the beginning by 3:00 and the Ferry wasn’t due until 3:45.  Most of the girls went and sat in the shade and rested from our big adventures. We were probably hiking for about 5 hours total on Rangetoto.   

Here was our attempt at an action hiking shot!  Photographer: Whitney :)

Right near where our ferry was due to pick us up there is a big wharf that I had seen some kids jumping off.  I really wanted to go join them so I dragged Christine over to the wharf with me.  When we got there it was a lot higher than we thought so we just sat on the edge and enjoyed a little breeze and talked.  Then we saw a family with some younger aged kids start to jump off the wharf and we started watching them.  Then to our pleasant surprise two of the boys that we had seen running earlier were walking near us on the wharf.  One of them dived into the water and suddenly Christine and I were a little bit keener about jumping off it ourselves.  After a little bit of encouragement from the family around us and the beautiful running boys we got right up to the edge of a 15 foot drop and jumped.  It wasn’t as scary as bungy jumping but it was still a good ways away from the water.  After, we jumped once more with the boys and the family.  We got to talk to our new friends for awhile but then it was time to get onto the ferry and head home.  It must have been our lucky day because these guys were also on our ferry ride home.  They came and talked to Christine and I on the ride back and they told us a few things we should do while were here and one even has connections with a sail boat (which is on Christine’s and my list of things to do here).  Once we got off the ferry one of guys, Josh came and gave us his number.  Luckily, Phyllis had been worried about us being in the city all day so she had given us a phone.  It was a great moment to have a cell phone and get connected with some fun guys here. 

Next on our to do list was go purchase our Rugby Tickets!  There was a professional Rugby game with the Blues vs the Crusaders.  We had a couples hours before the game so we all headed over to the Chinese Lantern Festival.  There were beautiful Lanterns everywhere, Chinese dancing, martial arts performances, little shops, and lots of food to try.  

My favorite thing that we got was this fresh pineapple with ice cream on top!  It was incredible!!!!

Finally we headed off to the rugby game, our last adventure for the evening.  We piled into the stadium with hundreds of other fans.  We ended up getting really great seats.  We were on the end side but only about 19 rows from the field.  

 They even had fire at the beginning of the game and every time our team (the Blues) scored points!

I have to say that rugby is the toughest sport I have ever seen.  The players are brutal.  I swear there were times that players got clothes lined, or punched.  At one point the medics had to run out on the field and bandage one players head.  It’s really intense because the game hardly stops.  Even when a player gets tackled the game usually carries on.

The fans were at times even more fun to watch than the game.  They were yelling and screaming and throwing their alcohol everywhere.  It was a fun to finally go to a rugby game in New Zealand.   I think all the girls that went are now converted Rugby fans.  I started learning the rules to the game from some of my students at school, but I still need to continue to learn about it.  But I loved getting to watch the game!  I love rugby!

There was a free train ride to take us home after the game.  Let just say it was survival of the fittest squeezing onto the train with half of the stadium.  We are getting to know public transportation very well.

 Nicole was super excited about this picture :)

We were so gross from hiking, swimming in the ocean, wandering around a festival, and screaming loudly with other crazy fans at a rugby game, and now smashed on a train. My favorite part of this picture is the man in the background.  Obviously a true fan.

But today was really amazing.  We got to see so many great parts of Auckland.  We really got some more great insights to New Zealand culture and the remarkable things it has to offer.  When we got home we were exhausted.  Christine and I ended our day with a cereal party in our room and then straight to bed!