Typical

Almost a whole week has past since my last post, and I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by.  I remember thinking how long seven weeks was going to be before I left and now that I am here I am already wishing that I could stay longer.  Seven weeks doesn't possibly seem like a long enough time to do everything that I want to do.  I am so thankful that I have this amazing opportunity to student teach in New Zealand and I really want to be present and humble in every moment.  With that little rant out of the way lets recap what has happened this past week.

Thursday and Friday seemed to fly by.  I finally have a lot of the school routines down and after I spoke in assembly on Tuesday introducing myself almost all of the kids in the school know my name and say hello to me as I pass by.  The community at Hebron Christian College is truly spectacular.  Friday night my host family introduced me to some classic New Zealand movies.  For once, I had a strong enough background knowledge to be able to watch the movie without everything being explained to me so I was rather excited.  I also climbed Mt. Albert for the second time and this time remembered to bring my camera!  These are two of my favorite pictures of Auckland city complete with volcanoes in the distance.  Fun fact: The Sky Tower is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere.  

  

Saturday Levi and his band, Five Mile Town, were playing an outdoor concert at Matua Vineyard in Kumeu.  I was able to go over with Sarah and Vincent to be able to listen to his band live for the first time, he has played rough edits of their album that is still in production.  Five Mile Town has a fresh Indie/Folk/Rock sound.  Go look them up on YouTube!  After the concert I returned home and prepared dinner for Toby, Theo, and Willa (Sarah and Vincent had dinner plans with friends).  Dinner turned into watching another classic New Zealand movie while munching on sausage and veggie wraps.  Being an introvert, relaxing weekends like these have been exactly what I needed!  

Auckland city (and crater) from Mt. Eden

Sunday was full of church and adventure.  I went to church in the morning at City Side Baptist Church  with Sarah, Vincent, Theo, and Willa.  The church members were primarily young kids and their parents, nobody my age.  I found the service to be extremely relaxed and the conversation about God in nature to be very thought provoking.  After church Levi took me for a drive in his Mum's convertible around Auckland.  We went first to the top of Mt. Eden (picture on the left).  Mt. Eden is a huge tourist attraction and it was packed with a plethora of people on this beautiful Sunday afternoon.  The view of the city is breathtaking, I never realized just how surrounded by water we are in Auckland until I stood on the top of Mt. Eden. The immense crater on the top of Mt. Eden is also quite the sight, too bad it wasn't a crater that led to flowing lava.  :)  After Mt. Eden we drove down along Mission Bay and stopped for a quick stroll down the beach.  I had my first New Zealand ice block (tasted like lemon ice, but more like a popsicle on a stick).  We stopped on the beach to eat our ice blocks and take in the sight of Rangitoto Island.  Rangitoto Island is the largest and most recent of the approximately fifty volcanoes in Auckland.  While driving around Mission Bay Levi pointed out bunkers that were built into the sides of the earth all around the shore.  During World War II the Kiwis were worried of a possibly Japanese invasion (especially in Auckland) so bunkers were built along the coast to provide defense.  Luckily, the invasion never happened and the bunkers were never used, but they are still visible today as a reminder of the past. After our excursion Levi and I headed to church where we met up with Toby.  The older boys attend services at night at one of two local churches where the focus is teens and young adults.  It has been wonderful to worship with people my age and begin to make friends with others at church.  God is faithful and has provided me with exactly what I needed when I needed it.

Rangitoto Island

Today one of my student's parents said to me, "Places are really the people."  I have found this statement to be very true.  New Zealand is a magnificently beautiful country, but my experience would not be the same without the people.  The people that I have met while here have truly made this experience rewarding.  My students continue to show my kindness and compassion that I feel undeserving of.  Which brings me to one of the things that I hope to work on this Lenten season.  I want to see Christ in my students, especially those students who challenge me daily.  Each of my students have a unique gift and are blessed with some positive trait from God, I just have to open my own eyes to recognize it.  These last few weeks I pray for patience and compassion while working with my students to that I may begin to see them as God sees them.  

If you aren't my friend on Facebook then you haven't seen a lot of the pictures of my classroom.  Below is a link to an album that includes a summary of a typical school day in my classroom.  Check it out! A Typical Day