What a wonderful week this has been. I am so incredibly blessed. It makes me sad to think that already two weeks of school have come and gone, with only four more, and less than six weeks total in New Zealand…where did this month go?? But we are making the most of every minute we are here! This week was so busy but so great! Today I spoke in church about trusting in our Heavenly Father. I was just overwhelmed with gratitude for how blessed I really am. So here is my week:
Monday: It was a wonderful day at school! I learned a lot about dealing with parents…I love watching Mrs. S interact with her colleagues and with the parents of her students. But I never really realized how important it will be to have a relationship with the parents of my students. It was an interesting morning…basically one parent telling Mrs. S that she has too much on her plate and that if her child is not behaving it’s her problem! Haha. Anyway, that was an experience for sure. But Pomaria has the best system for rewarding those students who are making good choices and applying their Key Competencies…like one that Mrs. S always encourages, ‘Managing Yourself’. Anyway, Pomaria has these praise postcards, where teachers can write a little note to the parents of the student, and the office addresses it and sends it to the family. I love that idea! I know it is important to have consequences for bad behavior, but those who are always on their best behavior also need to be rewarded! Laurence, this adorable year 3 student, brought in his cardboard ‘castle’ for show and tell the first week I was there. Mrs. S had promised him she would let him paint his castle on Friday and that he could pick one friend to help him. He chose Will, another perfect student who was moving, and Friday was his last day in the class. At the end of the day, Laurence approached Mrs. S and told her that he wanted to give his castle to Will as a goodbye present from him. He is just such a sweet kid. When I was back at school on Monday Mrs. S told me how Laurence had done this, and she showed me the Pomaria praise postcards. I think this would be so great for parents to see when their children make those great decisions.
Tuesday: Our Powhiri! Our principal Kevin Choromanski drove Katie, Allie, Kara and me to Henderson South primary school where we had the powhiri for all 16 of us and the new students there at Henderson South. It was such a neat experience. We got to hear beautiful Maori songs by the kids, and also got to sing a Maori song together as a group that we had been practicing J
Te aroha
Te whakapono
Me te rangimarie
Ta tout a tou e
Our group outside the hall of Henderson South
Dr. Jacobs gave a speech on our behalf, telling the school where we come from and why we are here. It really was such a moving speech! And he even spoke in Maori for much of it! He is just so great. We all love Dr. J.
Tuesday afternoon we had immersion activities (tying into the vision statement of Pomaria). Anyway, so our PLG (Professional Learning Group) Manaakitanga, which consists of five classrooms, had an activity in each classroom, and the students rotated around the different rooms every 15 minutes. Mrs. S wanted some pictures but didn't have the school camera with her, so I walked around with my camera and snapped some pictures. Here is a little sneak peak to my class :) I love all these kids. Even the year 4 boys that drive Mrs. S up the wall. I have this theory that they are just bored--they need something to challenge them. For our math class we have to do this activity that is going to be pretty challenging, and I'm planning on doing it with this group of boys. I think it'll be so good for them. But anyway, here are some of the kids in my class!
Also Tuesday afternoon...so after the kids were dismissed, I was just talking with Renee, and she was showing me all about her maths and writing programs, and some of her resources. I am just amazed at her organization of everything. It's a little overwhelming, but I know that through experience and time and I will have the kinds of resources she now has. But I didn't leave school until about 3:45. During that hour, I noticed dark clouds rolling in, and just as I was getting my stuff and about to leave, the heavens opened and it just started POURING rain. So I started my walk/sprint home. I stuck my black flats in my bag and took off. But I have to say, it was so fun running barefoot, in a dress, in the pouring rain, in NEW ZEALAND. And I had to document it the second I walked in the door.
I know you can't really tell, and this is terrible picture of me, but I wanted to remember this! haha. I was completely soaked!
Wednesday: We woke up to rain, so I wasn't able to go running. But as I was checking my email, another email came in--and it was EFY telling me that I got the job!!!!! I was offered contracts for both sessions of the Georgia EFY!! I cannot even explain how excited I was. This is really a dream come true for me. I cannot wait!
Thursday: To add to the excitement of the week--Kaley got accepted to BYU!!!! Man, it really could not have gotten any better...and yet it did! I am just so happy for her. But I feel like I was just accepted to BYU...I cannot believe how fast these three years have gone by...I also got to skype all my wonderful roommates! AND Kyle and Mekelle.
Friday: Can I just say, having Fridays off is so wonderful. Katie and I slept in until about 8 o'clock, and left with Alice and Noah around 9am. We dropped Noah off at Puna (his daycare) and Alice dropped us off at the top of Parnell Rise, this street in Auckland that is so fun and full of cute (expensive!) boutiques and cafes. I love just shopping around, going into all the little boutiques. After a full morning and lunch at the Alphabet cafe (and a stop at the Chocolate Boutique--amazing!) we bussed back home. Alice is so great, and we had such a fun afternoon/night. After we got back and changed, she drove us up into the Waitakere Ranges, where we hiked Fairy Falls. It was absolutely beautiful. Afterwards, we drove around all over the place!! Alice took us everywhere! We stopped at Takapuna beach on the North shore, which is beautiful of course, drove through a fun little town Devonport, drove to the top of Mt. Victoria and watched one of the most gorgeous sunsets I have ever seen while looking out to Auckland, and we topped it all off with Burger Fuel! It was such a successful day! :) My camera died during our bushwalk to Fairy Falls, but Alice let me borrow hers to get pictures from the rest of the night. I still need to get those from her, but I'll put them up when I get them. Here are a few from Fairy Falls:
Katie and I had a blast of course :)
Saturday: Piha beach day! James took us to Piha, and walked us over to Honeymoon Cove, which I don't even know how to describe...it was so pretty. The waves would crash up against the rocks and send the mist over and onto us...it was a little bit of an adventure hiking over to Honeymoon Cove, but so worth it!
Here is Piha! After eating lunch on the beach at Honeymoon Cove, we hiked back to Piha, and climbed Lion Rock (the huge rock in the picture above). It was another gorgeous view of the other side of the beach. Then we drove to Karekare, where we walked to another beautiful beach. But first we waded through this freshwater area. Funny story...so everyone had to at least just cross over the fresh water to get to the trail that led to the beach. But I was right behind James, who just continued walking through the water, along the trail. I decided to follow him, along with a few other girls. So we're walking along, and it starts getting deeper and deeper. I was walking a little to the left, and all of a sudden, the floor just dropped! So I'm holding my dress up, trying not to get completely soaked...which happened anyways. James discovered that it was only getting deeper, and told us to get back the bank and onto the trail. I just took off my dress (with my swimsuit underneath), held it up with one arm, and swam to the shore. It was one of those experiences that no one else will think is very funny when I try to explain it...but it was one that I'll remember forever :)
The fresh water we partially walked through! haha
The trail led to this beach! Oh, Piha and this beach are on the west coast, which is all black sand...and very hot! But when we got to the beach, the waves looked SO fun. So...we played in the ocean for a while! It was so much fun. Whitney and I sprinted out and dived under the waves! I just love the beach.
After swimming for a while, we hiked to another gorgeous waterfall. It amazes me how you can walk just ten minutes from the beach, and be walking through this thick, tropical bush to waterfalls in the mountains! It's just the best! I love it here. And we are so lucky to have James! He tells us so much about all the places we visit. Between Alice and James, I have learned so much about this beautiful country!
So last night (Saturday) we had a surprise birthday party for Nicole! In New Zealand, turning 21 is a pretty big deal apparently, and her host mum wanted to throw her a birthday party. When she found out from Dr. J that Nancy and Anna also recently celebrated their 21st birthdays, she combined it into one big party! It was SUCH a fun night. This is a picture of all of us waiting for Neeley to bring Nicole out to the back to surprise her! She had no idea.
This was the biggest cake I have ever seen!!
We even got party favors!
Sunday: I love Sundays! Today church was wonderful, as always. I spoke, then Katie, and then Dr. Jacobs also spoke. And I played the piano again in Primary! Noah got to come to church with again today too. I love that I am able to be in Primary with him. After church I got to talk to mom for a while, which always just makes me so happy! Then for dinner, it was me and Katie's turn to have dinner with the Jacobs! Dr. J makes his famous spaghetti for all the girls (in pairs). That's a LOT of spaghetti, but they say they never get sick of it :) I love Dr. Jacobs and his wife Linda. They are so much fun. We had a blast sitting and eating dinner with them, and listening to the wonderful stories they shared about how they met and just getting to know them better.
This is going to be another really busy week! I have my first observation on Tuesday. I'm a little nervous. But then this weekend we are going to hot water beach!! I'm so excited :)
