Sad Little Kiwi

As you can see, this is not a real kiwi. I decided this was much cuter. Also you will notice that the animation at the end is a bit different from the rest of the video. That is because it is an alternate ending version I found. The original was too sad and I wanted the kiwi to live happily ever after.

I Saw A Kiwi!

Yesterday me and the Lotowas went to a place called Rangitoto. It is this town that is situated over a volcanoe. The entire town smells like sulfur, a rotten egg smell, it is pretty disgusting. Every crevice you could find on the ground was smoking. It was the weirdest thing I have ever seen. We went to this place called Te Puia where they had a geiser. It was also quite freaky. The geiser isn't what was weird. There were these pools of water and mud everywhere that were boiling because it was so hot. That was not the part I was most excited about. They had a kiwi house! There was an observation room where you could view their two kiwis. They were the cutest/weirdest things I have ever seen. Their proportions were all wrong, their bodies were too big for their heads and their beaks were humungous. I am now formulating my plan to sneak into the kiwi house and steal one, for Gabe of course. Every small boy needs his own kiwi. We also watched this Maori cultural show where they danced and sang. There are Maori tribes all over New Zealand and their culture is brought into the schools to keep it alive. Very cool. I didn't take any pictures of these cool things, but here is what I found online. This is one of the dances they did, actually at the place we went to.

Some Pictures

This first one is for Steve. This is a picture of one of the 3 Navy ships of New Zealand. 3 ships. In the entire Navy. Oh, New Zealand.
This is a picture from camp. I was sitting in front of the dining hall drinking a cup of coffee when I saw these 2. They were about 100 feet away from me just chilling. Apparently they just hang out around camp.
This is a picture of the beach by camp. It was a very rocky beach, but pretty cool looking.
This is a picture from one of our walks. Reminds me a lot of the Lord of the Rings.

Ernie the Seal

This is Ernie the seal. He was on the rocks not far from where we were standing. If the waves weren't so bad I would have gotten closer. If I had gotten closer I would probably have been swept away and never seen again. The twins and I named him Ernie. I wanted to name him Melvin but I was overruled. Oh well, Ernie is a cool name I guess.

Camp

Two weekends ago the family I am staying with decided to take me on a day trip. We drove for about an hour and came to this beach called Mirawai. It had black sand! It was so odd looking. We were walking up the rocks and we saw a baby seal standing very close to us. I got a video of him. It was so much fun and was absolutely beautiful. Last week I went to Camp Mototapu with the year sixes. We rode a ferry to the island of Mototopu and walked from the ferry to the camp, which is about 3 miles. We did activities for the first day such as rock climbing, high wire, and a survivor challenge. Then the last full day we had our "tramp" aka hike. We walked for 3 hours in the morning mostly uphill to see a homestay. It had this really pretty beach view. We had tea on the beach and walked back. Next we did the "flying fox" which is a zip line into a water hole. I was forced by Mr. Tilby and Mr. Brown to do it. It was more like peer pressure than actual forcing but whatever. It was freezing, the water was like ice water. It was pretty fun, though, until I hit the water. Then in the afternoon we went on another hike. We hiked up more hills, ugh, and ended up at the top. We ended up in this bunker place it was like an underground maze, pretty neat. The next day we had our 3 mile hike back to the ferry. It was so hard after all of that walking the day before. I made it though! I have been sleeping pretty much the whole time since I got back. Today we went to Takapuna Market where I bought this really cool necklace for myself, a present for Gabe, and a present for another person (not telling who). I went to church last night with a girl named Beck. It is a really cool church; I think I will keep going. The people I hung out with afterwards were really cool too.

Sleepy

So I now have the sleep schedule of an elderly lady. By around 7 every night I feel as if I could fall asleep wherever I am. It is amazing. I am so used to wanting to stay awake until midnight. Oh, well. It is a healthy sleep schedule I guess. So I have been working with Mr. Tilby's class since Monday, which is you're Sunday... weird. Anyway, they are really cool kids. One of them is really smart but kind of out there. She reminds me so much of myself at that age. We leave for a camp next Tuesday. We take the ferry to the island the camp is on and have a 5 kilo walk to the actual camp. I forgot to bring my tennis shoes so I am borrrowing one of the boys' too big pairs. We stay in cabins and do high and low ropes courses. It should be pretty fun. Back to camp! YAY! I have a buy and borrow a lot for my trip, but it should be okay. What else... I have started to think in a New Zealand accent. It is quite weird. I find that my way of speaking is more highly accepted here, I can use all the big words I want without being laughed at. Some of the kids' vocabularies are staggering. One boy named Gabriel wrote a short story that I thought could have been written by a college student. A smart college student.

It is amazing how different the school system is here. They are small differences, but when you look at all of them it seems to be huge. They get 30 minute tea time in the morning (tea time is another word for snack btw mom), and they get a one hour lunch. At the school I worked at last year they got a 45 minute lunch that they spent 15 minutes of the time getting their food. Also, they dont have a lunch room. They just eat outside. There are no lunches for them to buy, all the kids bring their own. It is only middle class and up at this school. Which is quite a change for me.

My schedule every day is as follows: Wake up at 6:30 and take a shower. Dry my hair as quickly as possible so I dont freeze to death. Eat breakfast with the boys (Consisiting of porridge, weird cereal, or toast). Start walking to school at 750. I arrive at school at 815 and hang out with Mr. Tilby. They have 2 writing blocks, tea, math and then read aloud. It doesnt seem like they have as much to fit in the day as we do at home. School ends at 3. I then walk into the village and wander around; actually today was the first time I did this but I plan to continue. Then I walk back to the house and hang out/read/play on cpu. I help make dinner (I know right, shocker). We eat and go to bed. Not that eventful, but I love it.

My "host mother" goes to university in the city. She has some friends in her classes that are my age. She talked to them about me and is trying to help me get involved in a church through them. I am pretty excited, actually. It feels like God is putting the opportunity right in my path to where I can't swerve around it. The best way for me to do things is to get pushed into it. We are going with one of the girls to a movie night sponsored by her church where we will watch 2 chick flicks and eat... FONDUE! Again, it feels as if it is meant to be. A church that shows movies and serves dippy cheese. I am pretty excited. What else... this village is filled with cute boys. They are everywhere! Another motive for my afternoon wanderings around the village. So one of the girls in my class looks at another the other day and says, "Mrs. Norris has an American accent" the smart girl I was talking about earlier replied, "Of course she does, she is American. It is not that noticable anyway." Apparently my accent is very soft, although the twins have taken to imitating me every once in a while. I respond by making fun of theirs. Okay, I have babbled on enough. Oh, the picture is the view from the playground at my school. I love you guys!

Hello New Zealand

I AM HERE! My flight from LAX to New Zealand could not have been any better. I got a window seat as well as an empty seat next to me. I watched some Ashton Kutcher movie, took a Benadryl, and slept the rest of the way. I arrived in Aukland early but got out of security late. First the trained beagle they have sniffed my bag so the lady had to look through it. Then they Xrayed my bag and decided my boots might be evil so I had to take them out and show them they were normal, well meaning rain boots (known here as gum boots which caused much confusion because I could not figure out what the lady was talking about). I walked out into the greeting area and found my host family. The two boys were holding up a sign that said Heather Norris on it. They were adorable. We then got into the car and headed "home." My room is awesome, really big. I unpacked and took a shower and then me and the family had breakfast. Then I was given a tour of Devonport which is the village we live in. Yes you heard me right, village. It is perfect. Everything is a 15 minute walk away and it is impossible to get lost. If I wanted to actually go into the city, Aukland, all I would have to do is hop on the ferry. There are also like 5 used bookstores and an equal amount of cute coffee shops. I am in heaven. Carolyn, my "host mother" said that if I was really into nightlife I was in the wrong place. HAHAHA! The school I am working at is at the base of a dormant volcanoe and has the most amazing view. After a wander around town we got fish and chips and ate on the beach. Which is when it started raining. We rented a movie and all of us sat in the living room and watched it projected up on the living room wall. It was a perfect first day. I slept for 12 hours last night and am still a bit tired but not bad. Today I will probably go wander around the village if it stops raining long enough. This thing will just let me download one picture at a time so I will put up the rest when I have more time. This view is a 15 minute walk from my house. Love you guys!

And away we go!

I, Heather, begin my journey on August 14th. I will leave on Thursday and arrive in Auckland, New Zealand on their Saturday. It is a 22 hour flight. I will be living with a host family in Devonport which is a section of Auckland. They have twin boys who go to the school I will be working at. It should truly be an excellent adventure!