Well, this was our trip to the capital city, as well as my full time teaching being well underway. Oh, and Thanksgiving of course.
Saturday morning we were up dark and early at 4:30am to catch our flight to the capital city, Wellington, where we would be visiting a friend of Katie's, Courtney. Arriving after a quick flight, we met the awesome Courtney, who made it her mission to have us see all the wonders of Wellington in a day. :) She first drove us up to the top of the city, where we took the iconic cable car down. Next we headed over to Te Papa museum, the best in New Zealand I believe? Either way it was awesome; 1. it was FREE, and 2. well it was just cool. Very interactive. For instance, they had a giant squid on display, and next to it, a computerized thing where you could make your own cartoon squid and play with it haha. There also was a lot of cool Maori stuff all around, and well just lots of stuff to look at and learn about. It's hard to remember exactly everything I saw, but I had a good time. After that we went to have the best gelato I've ever had in my life (2 flavors: vanilla bean & mango). After lunch and a quick visit to the Parliament Buildings, Courtney drove us around while I continually nodded off (I couldn't help it...I was tired!), and ventured above the city by some wind turbines for some nice views. We were all pretty pooped by now, so Courtney brought us back to her house for some relaxing. The next day she took us for a little hiking and then sadly we had to head back. I liked Wellington a lot, it was very "hip"; it was actually the first time/place I could see myself living somewhere in New Zealand. Not that I don't love it, I just hadn't gotten that feeling yet.
As for teaching...another busy week. They just seem to get busier and busier.
My class here started writing letters to my class back at home, and though it took almost the whole week during writing time, it was fun and I think there was a lot of excitement between both classes. My Spanish lessons have been going well too; my students get really into it, especially when I make it a little silly sometimes. This week we were learning emotions, and they were able to use what they learned in some fun games. In addition, I made a nice big bulletin board for extra stuff, which has cultural information (this week is on the geography and fun facts of Spanish-speaking countries), pictures, info on what we're learning this week, and an area for students to write down things they want to learn about, words in Spanish they want to know, etc. However, the best part of Spanish this week was when we had a skype meetings/conversation on Thursday between my class and an SNC foreign exchange student from Mexico. He was great; my students conversed with him the best they could in Spanish, and then he answered question after question they asked about him, his life, Mexico, etc. Fun fun.
I also finally tried my hand at teaching math this week, as it was the one thing that I had put off doing because of my insecurity with it. Being that it was teaching metric measurements, I was nervous, plus I had about 34 students from 3 different classes (they did cross grouping-mixed students up by ability level). Still, it went fine, and I realized I didn't have much to worry about. Then, Thursday, it was Thanksgiving! I gave a little lesson on it, explaining what American students usually learn about the day (when they're young), how the true story's a bit different (in a gentle way), and why we have it today. We focused on the fact that we celebrate it as a time to be with family and be grateful for what you have, and the students discussed what they are thankful for. I then shared with them some of sweet pumpkin pie I had made the other night, and they all liked it! (though a few chose not to try it) Following the school day, Katie, Beth and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for our host families all by ourselves, and it was a definite success! Hooray! I'm so thankful for Rachel (and her welcoming-ness), and for SNC to provide students with opportunities for such meaningful abroad experiences. I'm also very grateful to have such supporting family and friends, and I miss them all and can't wait to spend Christmas with them. :)
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