Solo Traveling

This past week I went on a trip all by myself, which was great!! I loved having the freedom to do exactly what I wanted to do. There was no checking in with anyone, no making sure someone else wanted to do this or that... complete independence for 6 whole days!

I left last Monday to fly into Christchurch, a town on the South Island that Kelly and I had previously been to. I boarded the plane and got a window seat, which I had requested because the scenery flying over New Zealand is beautiful!!! The ocean color can't be explained properly in words, its a mix of a tropical beach blue but in the depths of the ocean and then there are these huge cliffs that are covered in a bright green moss that shoot up out of no where and go for hundreds of feet. It's really amazing to fly over and get to see all of this.

Here is a map of the South Island. Christchurch is on the East Coast and Queenstown is lower and central.

So I take my window seat and have a guy about my age in the middle seat and then a young boy in the aisle seat. The guy next to me quickly starts to snooze as soon as we take off and is doing the bobble head thing and nearly bonking into my shoulder every few minutes. And then the young boy, maybe 8 years old starts throwing up about mid way through the flight. Luckily, I had the window and could stare out over the ocean with my iPod in to drown out the surrounding noises....

But I landed safely in Christchurch and LOVED the feeling of arriving on my own and getting to make my way into town. I really chose to come back to Christchurch because Kelly and I didn't get to go to a cafe we read about because it was closed the day we were in town. It's called Globe Cafe and I went on a hunt trying to find it. I eventually did and had a latte and lunch there and read a really good book -- Greg Iles is the author and I've read three of his books while being down here, so if you need a good book I suggest looking into one of his.

After lunch, I wondered around the city which has great artwork throughout the town. The main center is called Cathedral Square because of this:

It's a gorgeous Cathedral and obviously looks beautiful while lit up at night.

I got back to my room and met 3 girls traveling together. They offered for me to go to dinner with them later that night so I tagged along. There was a Canadian, a Brit and a Kiwi. It was nice to chat with them and we went out for a few drinks after dinner too.

The next morning I had to get up early to catch a bus to Queenstown, which is further south on the South Island, thus a lot more cold! I think that's a big misconception of New Zealand - People assume that because its in the 'south pacific' that it's really warm and tropical... but that's not the case at all!! It's pretty comparable to Seattle winter right now, pretty cold and rainy. I think it is a bit more cold than Seattle though because they get storms that come up from Antarctica, so its a more harsh chill than what we get in Seattle.

While on the bus, I met two nice people from Wisconsin. We got to chat a lot and it was great to finally meet some AMERICANS down here!! It's ALL English people that I meet. The bus ride took 10 hours to get to Queenstown so I got into the city around 6pm. I had a bit of a scare because I hadn't booked my accommodations prior to getting into town, I figured there were enough Hostels that I'd be able to get a room since I was traveling on my own. I walked to the first hostel, and they were fully booked, so I moved onto the next and they were booked as well. This made me nervous. I headed to a nicer one in the center of town that I was sure they'd be booked if the other two were... but luckily someone had just cancelled their reservation so I got a room!! I headed up to my dorm room to meet 6 English people that were traveling New Zealand together. They were all very nice and friendly so we got along well. But, I was craving the whole bus ride to go to --for dinner. Everyone in the room couldn't afford it so I took off to have dinner solo. I think I may have blogged about Fergburger before, but it doesn't hurt to tell again how amazing these burgers are!! Even the Vegetarian ones!! If anyone comes to New Zealand and goes to Queenstown, they MUST go to Fergburger. I want to relate it to Dick's, but its more exclusive than that and the burgers are massive and, well, better. Sorry to the Dick's fans but they don't give me a vegetarian option while Ferg gives me TWO!

I met up with my new Wisconsin friends for a few drinks after dinner but had an early night. Little background on Queenstown -- its known as the adventure capital in New Zealand. It has the first bungee jumping site in the world, and three other jumps you can do as well. There is white water rafting, sky diving, luging (kind of go-car racing) and skiing/snowboard, paragliding plus a bunch of other things! And, I had no inclination to do any of these things....

My first full day in Queenstown consisted of a bit of a sleep in, then a walk around town to find a grocery store then I came back to the Hostel to make myself breakfast. After that I headed to the information center to ask about the Spas in Queenstown because I wanted a pedicure and massage. I booked this up for the next day then took the Gondola up to the top of the mountain overlooking the city. It had great views of the surrounding areas with the lake below and snow capped mountains all around us. Queenstown really reminds me of a smaller Whistler. There are two mountains to go skiing on and the town is quaint and relaxing, yet upscale enough if that is what you are looking for. Here is a picture from the top of the gondola.

After the Gondola I did a bit of shopping and wondering around the town. Bought some food for dinner and heading back to the Hostel to cook some stir fry! After dinner, I went out with the English people in my room and later the Wisconsin people met up as well. We ditched the English people and went to a new bar which has a live band. It was a ton of fun!! We got some dancing in and met a few other people there and just had a really great night! I got home late and knew I needed to wake up early enough in time for my day at the spa.

I got to the spa with a little hangover but figured it would be cleared up after the massage. Which, it was, and a cup of tea. The massage was really good but the best part was they let you take a shower there afterward and they have all these special products from Fiji. Now after staying in Hostels and having to take showers in them, this was remarkable to get a big, clean shower that produced hot water!! Man I thought I was in heaven. After that I headed off to my pedicure and got a hot pink color to wear with my flips back in Seattle summertime!

It was lunch time by the time I was out of the spa so I asked for a suggestion of a good cafe to go to. The lady that helped me suggested 'VuDu Cafe' which was just down the road a bit. I walked over there and it looked really cute and was pretty crowded so I decided to stay. I hung there for a few hours and read my book, while eavesdropping on the conversations around me... didn't pick up anything too good though. It's been fun to try and guess where people are from while being out an about. There was one couple that was definitely from America... The woman had platinum blond hair, and, a some 'enhanced' features, while the husband was probably 20 years her senior and balding. The were dressed in matching ski attire and Ugg boots. It was pretty funny to watch and I wish I could have snuck a picture in without them noticing.

My last night in Queenstown was pretty lazy, I didn't want to spend any money so I stayed in for dinner and didn't go out for drinks. Plus, I was engrossed in my book and laid in bed for a few hours to finish it.

The next morning I got up early to take the dreaded bus ride back up to Christchurch. Two good things happened while on the bus; one - this picture below:

and two, I met two Irish lads. I love how conversations have to start in situations like riding a bus for 10 hours and having the same people sit by you the whole time. Most likely everyone would want to talk to someone, but its just an awkward thing to start up the conversation. The Irish one was good though. I was sitting behind them and sneezed and one lend over the chair and said 'Bless you' and I replied Thank you then he just said 'OK now talk to me, I need some entertainment.' So that was that and we enjoyed the rest of the bus ride together. Luckily he did talk to me when he did though because I had just remembered that I had a whiteboard pen in my purse and I was thinking how fun it would be to use this on the big window for some Tic-Tac-Toe or hangman. I proposed the idea to both of them and they thought it would be fun. So this whiteboard pen gave us hours of entertainment!!

When we got into Christchurch I asked where they were staying the night and they said they had a flight out at 7am so they were going to stay in the airport and, I since I was flying out at 8am I thought it would be fun to join them!! We stayed in Christchurch as long as we could then took the bus out to the airport and got there around midnight. Once again, on the bus we met two more people that had the same idea as the Irish boys and we stayed with them at the airport as well. It was a good adventure, staying up all night playing cards and chatting away. I don't think I would choose to do it again, unless I was really broke, but it was fun to do for the time being!!

Traveling solo is very interesting. I think 6 days was good for me, it is a challenge and tests your confidence in terms of trying to meet people and, if you don't just needing to do things on your own. It was fun for the week but some people do this for a year and I can see that becoming exhausting!

Now I'm back in Wellington and have 3 days until I go back to the airport and fly home. I am really looking forward to getting back and seeing everyone, and enjoying the summertime. I was really bummed out about leaving these past two weeks but now that I've done my trip and its all winding down, I'm looking forward to getting home.

See you all in Seattle!

PE Staff Out and About

The studenst at Upper Hutt have to wear uniforms to school and some days they get what's called a 'muffti' day, which is that they don't have to wear uniforms. There was a muffti day during the last week of school but it had a theme of uniforms from other places (McDonalds, nurse, or sports uniforms). Kathryn, who is pictured below with me, thought the girls of the PE department should wear Netball uniforms and then throughout the day whenever we walked past each other we had to play defense. Here are a few shots of us out on the courts after school:

(The headband says 'G Unit' on it- goes well with the specs)
Michelle, Kathryn and I passing the ball around.

Our department went out that night to celebrate the end of the term, and give myself and Kathryn (she's decided to take some time off from teaching) a proper farewell from Upper Hutt College. It was a good night with bowling, dinner at an Ale House and then bars and what have you in the big city.

We started out at a very nice bowling alley. It wasn't in the 1960s condition that average bowling alleys are in. It had high class TVs, great lighting to distract the uncoordinated bowlers, and what I was most impressed with were the shoes! They were in new condition and didn't have the heinous neon colors that we normally get.

As you would probably guess, I did win the bowling game with a stellar score of 136. It wasn't the best game ever played but it was good enough to beat my coworkers! :)

Kathryn upset about how poorly she bowls.

And me trying to teach her some skill.

After the game we went to Speights Ale House, which was really nice but had very few vegeterian options amongst the array of steak variations! The department presented me with a little gift - they got me a bottle of wine and a perfect T-shirt. It says 'I [heart] NZ'. I've been looking around for a shirt like this, but they were all too cheesey, but this one is great!! I'm so happy about it.

Here are the boys at dinner - Willie's side face, Brad, Jono and Adam down at the end.

And the girls - Fiona, another student teacher, Sue, a veteran teacher and Michelle.

Adam and I striking an intellectual pose.

During dinner a few people confessed their enjoyment for Karaoke, so we decided on going into Wellington to a good karaoke bar. Unfortunately, my karaoke skills are not as good as my bowling ones so I wasn't looking forward to any peer pressure I was about to get to have me on the stage and sing a number.

We headed into town and took over a completely empty bar. I got to introduce the Kiwi's to a drink called a Touchdown (for those of you that don't know what is either, it has a pint glass half full with Red Bull and then you drop a shot of Absolut Mandrine in it and chug it down). Everyone seemed to enjoy it so I was happy!!

I believe everyone sang at least one song while we were there. Fiona made a bad decision by picking 'November Rain' by Guns N Roses and not knowing the words.... unfortunately I was near the stage and she dragged me up there to help her out. Everyone else did quite well though! I think the winner was Adam with a very good job of Lionel Richie's 'All Night Long' song.

We all had a great night! It was a really good way to go out and celebrate with everyone!!

Why I'm Actually Here....

I realize, after being here for three months now, that I haven't 'blogged' about WHY I'm actually here... to teach.

Yesterday was the Fourth of July here and the last day of Term at Upper Hutt College (the school I work for, and its a high school they just call it a College down here). Overall, it was a great experience for me. I'm extremely bummed out that it is over though. I met some remarkable young students and made friends with some very fun people on the staff!!

Student teaching is an interesting thing coming from the States. We sit in a classroom and learn how to teach for three years, then at the end we actually get to go in a classroom and teach. The teachers in New Zealand go through 1 quarter of school work then get into a classroom and teach for 3 weeks, then go through another quarter of coursework then teach in a classroom for 4 weeks and finally one more quarter then in the classroom teaching for 5 weeks. It makes such a huge difference! I know a ton of people that I went to Western with that thought they wanted to teach but got into the classroom at the end of all the course work and realized they hated it!! How nice would it have been for them to figure that out after 1 quarter of coursework!?

That realization was a real eye opener for me and I can understand why there is such a big drop out rate for beginning teachers in the States! It'd be nice if we could change our schooling a bit, though I'm sure there are schools that work that way and are mainly specialized in teaching.

My students.... I had some great kids at this school. UHC is ranked as a 6 out of 10 on the 'decile' system. It mainly is used for government funding. A 10 out of 10 means that the school is very well off in terms of finances and types of students that go there. While a lower number means there isn't much money in the school and the government will fund them with more. So Upper Hutt was sitting right in the middle pretty much. There were definitely some 'troubled' students. It was funny being down here because all of my teaching associates would ask what the difference is between American teenagers and the ones down here.... and honestly, there isn't much. They are teenagers. They will have good days and bad ones.

The biggest difference that I did find was the variations of our cultures. America is extremely competitive and always trying to reach the next step - get the promotion, make the best sports team, buy the bigger diamond etc. etc. - while here it isn't like that at all. At least for the kids. I figured this out through my help with the Junior Girls Basketball team. I was super pumped about being asked to help coach the team and really looking forward to teaching these Kiwi's how to play bball.... but I was highly disappointed when I realized the kids weren't out to win or even improve for that matter. The Junior team is equivalent to a Freshman team back home. I had 9 girls on the roster and at best we would have 6 girls at practice. Which, shockingly, were ONE DAY a week! We would practice one day a week and have one game a week.

The sport for girls in New Zealand is to play Netball, which if you read a previous post slightly describes it. With my girls growing up playing Netball their whole lives it was a big adjustment to get 13-14 year olds that didn't know what deny defense looked like or how to use a screen. I had to change my mindset on how to coach them and turned it more into a fun situation rather than a learning/improvement opportunity because most of them weren't looking for that.

I really am still shocked at the one day a week practice. It was nearly uncomprehendable to me when I first heard it. There are pros and cons to it though. Instead of having the competition of try outs for people to make the only 3 teams of that particular sport (Varsity, JV and Frosh/Soph), everyone gets to make a team down here and they have the open venues because not every team plays each night. At UHC, a school of 1200 students, there are 16 netball teams and 12 rugby teams. So there are a lot more kids that get to be a part of a team and don't have to worry about getting cut or not making the squad after try outs. That aspect is nice. But from my American point of view, there isn't the level of competition for the kids to try harder or practice more so that they do make that team since there are limited spots. This, I believe, adds to a teenagers personality and lets them grow more. And I think it shows up in the classroom because the students (this is a generalization) wouldn't try harder on their work, they would just turn in what is acceptable and leave it at that. There was no competitive nature of who got the best grade in the class. I definitely remember students chatting after getting a test back and seeing where they ranked amongst the class, who they beat in that particular score. That really doesn't happen down here.

Again, pros and cons to both sides though. I'll let you sort out your own opinion of which one is better or worse.