Endings

How can it be week 7 already?  With only one more day left in Room 7 I am really feeling bittersweet.  The students have finally realized that I am leaving and have become extra "hugy" these past few days.  Yesterday, my students (well their parents) brought food in for a potluck lunch today and one of my student prayed for me in assembly on Monday as a beginning of my farewell week.  I have been so blessed to be a part of Room 7.  Mrs. Sellar has been an absolutely wonderful mentor teacher!  She has given me full reign in the classroom and her constant humor and encouragement have been so appreciated.  It still hasn't fully sunk in that I am leaving early Saturday morning.  I started packing tonight and am still in denial that I leave so soon...also in denial that I have fit everything back in my suitcases (I will be enlisting the help of my host siblings to help zip everything).

I already said goodbyes to Sarah and Vincent (host Mum and Dad) because they are currently on a business trip in the south island.  They gave me an awesome Kiwi Ukulele book so the pressure is on to improve my ukulele skills.  So for the rest of my time here it is just me and the "kids".  Our huge Friday night plans include takeaways, packing, and a movie...can't get much better than that.

Prayers are appreciated as I say my goodbyes to everyone at school tomorrow, it is truly going to be an emotionally rough day.  Everyone here has accepted and loved me right from day one, walking away is going to be hard...but I will just have to come back to see everyone and finish the last few things on my Top 10 list. God is good.

Bach

I don't mean bach as in Johann Sebastian Bach, I mean bach (pronounced batch, originally a shortened form of Bachelor Pad) as in family holiday home.  This past weekend I was lucky enough to go with my host family to their bach up North around the Doubtless Bay area.  Even though we have now entered the season of fall and tree leaves are changing their colors, we were blessed with absolutely beautiful weather during our time in Northland.  I was pleasantly surprised by just how deserted the beaches were up North.  The picture on the right is taken at the beach visible from my host family's bach.  Willa seized the opportunity to get in some practice time on the surf board while I practiced my shark look out skills.  I am proud to say that we were both rather successful in our duties.  It was wonderful to leave the city and just relax for a while.  I had wonderful intentions to complete loads of grading and planning for the week, but instead I took time to relax (which is something that I really haven't done much of these past seven weeks).  I finished the book Tuesdays with Morrie and highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't already read it, very inspirational.



There isn't much to say about the trip, other than the scenery and beaches were absolutely breathtaking and the company was a pleasure.  I also introduced Willa and Theo to Apples to Apples (I brought the game along with me) and enjoyed a few games on Saturday night.  A stop to rinse all of of the salt water in Coca-Cola lake (pictured below) on the way home is a tradition.  I read that peat and tannins have darkened the color of the water so even though it looks orange, red, and deep purple it is actually quite clear and clean.  I was mesmerized by the intensity of the colors.  The 4 1/2 hour drive back home allowed for some decent napping and a chance to regret teaching the Cow Game to Willa (for those of you that know how to play there were no visible cemeteries from the road so the game became rather pointless). Fresh Margherita pizza and Aloe were the reward for making it through the weekend.

A highlight of last school week was when Christinia and Svenja (Student Teachers from Germany) took control of the class for a period.  They taught Room 7 their colors in German and had everyone color these wonderful "color by german word" masks.  It was such a clever idea and the students loved it so much that I think I might have to do something similar with them this week to help them learn the Maori words for their colors.  Tomorrow morning I am leading the high school student devotions and I am really excited to share how God has worked through the passions and desires of my heart to bring me to where I am today.   I had my fair share of apprehension and fear before leaving, but I was constantly reminded of this new favorite Bible verse.  "For God did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and of a self-discipline." - 2 Timothy 1:7  God has been so faithful to me during my time here in New Zealand.

I can hardly believe that this is my last week in Room 7!  Saying goodbye is always bittersweet.  I feel like this quote really sums it up, I am not sure who said it but I love it none the less.  "You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place.  Like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll miss the person you are now at this time and place because you'll never be this way ever again."  Prayers would be appreciated for all of the goodbyes that I will be saying these next few days.

P.S. Liz Lovejoy and Rebecca Kammer (Friends from Mount Vernon Nazarene Univeristy) just left to do their student teaching in China!  Follow their adventures at http://chasingchopsticks.blogspot.co.nz/ and http://chinain8.blogspot.co.nz/

Rotorua

This week I was blessed by having Mrs. Hart (Home Ec Teacher) take me down to Rotorua to see the sights and smell the sulphur.  I am continually blessed by the staff at Hebron Christian College.  Mrs. Hart said that she had people take her on an amazing trip when she was in America and would love to repay the favor.  I am so incredibly grateful to be able to go on this trip.  Rotorua is a fascinating place and I am so pleased that I was able to experience it before I head home.  I look forward to paying it forward someday and taking someone else on a wonderful adventure.  Our travel plans were rather last minute (made on the bus ride home from camp), but everything went smoothly from gorgeous weather when rain had been forecasted to little traffic on the roads to delay our journey.  The trip could not have been any better.

For most of you that don't really know what Rotorua is, let me quickly explain.  The city of Rotorua is widely known for its geothermal activity (mainly geysers and hot mud pools).  Fault lines under New Zealand are the cause of this intense geothermal activity.  At some points in the city molten lava is just a mere four kilometers under the surface.  Rotorua has also been nicknamed the Sulphur City, because of a rotten egg smell, caused by the hydrogen sulphide emissions.  It definitely isn't the best smelling city, but it sure has some beautiful works of nature.  While in Rotorua I saw some real life Kiwis (the bird not the fruit), ate a hangi (Maori style of cooking food in the ground), relaxed in a mineral pool, and belted out the Halleljuah Chorus in the car with Mrs. Hart.  

Another week of full control in Room 7 has nearly come to a close.  I didn't realize how much I missed being in Room 7 (I had the week off for camp) until I stepped off the bus at school returning from camp and found both legs being immediately embraced by the little people of Room 7.  It is hard to accept that next week will be my last week here.  I have grown so attached to everyone at school and at home.  Mrs. Sellar has been a wonderful cooperating teacher to work with, she has fully trusted me and given me complete control of the classroom.  She also never fails to encourage me and fill me with praise.  Encouragement from such a master teacher as her is not received lightly. :)  The picture on the right is of a recent science experiment that took place in Room 7.  Our focus in science has been on metals and we recently discovered that metals are good conductors of heat.  The experiment had us placing objects, with a little slab of butter on the outside end, into a bowl of super hot water.  If the butter melted we then knew that the object that the butter was on was a good conductor of heat.  Never before have I seen children more eager to stare at butter melting.

My latest great accomplishment is baking this delicious pavlova!  The pavlova is a pretty iconic pudding (dessert) here in New Zealand and cooking a pavlova was an object written on my Top 10 list by my host Mum.  A pavlova is similar to a giant meringue, just a little softer on the inside.  This one is topped with homemade whipped cream, a lemon sauce, and fresh passion fruit.  It would not have been a successful baking experience if it wasn't for my host Mum, she really guided me through the recipe and clued me in on all of her tips.  The real tests comes when I return home and attempt to make a pavlova all by myself.  When I think about returning home I struck with just how bittersweet my thoughts are.  I eagerly anticipate seeing my family and friends again (I do miss you), but I am also realizing just how hard it is going to be to leave everyone here.  It fascinates me how quickly we can make connections with each other and become so attached.  The only thing that I can do is make the best of my remaining time here and begin planning my return trip (this time dragging along some friends so that they can experience it along with me).  

Camp

Archery practice

Well, I survived camp with the high school students!  I am extremely grateful to be able to get to know the high schoolers a little better and had a blast at camp.  This outdoor education camp had a nice mixture of outdoor activities and devotions led by an amazing missionary couple.  I noticed a few more cultural differences while on camp mainly related to safety.  During camp I went ziplining across a lake with nothing but my upper body strength to keep me from crash landing on the ground or plummeting into the water without a life jacket.  There were no detailed emergency medical forms, no harnesses, just a towel to wipe the sunscreen off my hands and 9 high school students cheering me on.  It was exhilarating and terrifying, I think I did more stepping out of my comfort zone at camp then my students did.  There is so much to write about and I am too exhausted to decompress it all now so I will stick to a lists (my type A personality is sneaking out a little bit) of pros and cons of being a teacher on camp.

Supervising sand volleyball, teaching is a hard life

Pro:

-First in line to eat

-Allowed otherwise forbidden phones/iPods 

-Morning and Afternoon tea

-You get to make up the rules/decide what is and isn't ok

-Ability to force students to climb a three meter wall while you just cheer them on and take pictures

-Students who come up to you and ask you to pray for them (so humbling) 

-A private loo and shower with no queue 

-Senior boys who take your dirty dishes away without your asking 

-Forcing students to clean toilets and take out rubbish while you supervise because they woke you up at 3:45 in the morning with their loud talking

-Students asking you to join them in the talent quest/play a game of pool/never ending friends to play with 

Con:

-Sleeping in a cabin with 40+ teenage girls

Tramping up the mountains...with cows

-Toilet cleaning duty

-Losing your voice 

-Having to wake up before the students do...and then waking them up 

-If I have to hear one more story about your boyfriend or the boy you have a crush on I might start to cry

-Being responsible for the massive number of students that happen to be injured under your supervision 

-Giving the modesty talk to a roomful of teenage girls 

-Students in your group that tell you if you die while zip lining across a lake they will just leave your body in the water

-Students think you know everything (and come to you at night with a wet mattress expecting you to magically make it dry)

-Being woken up at 3:45 by girls talking on the other side of the cabin

All in all, the positives outweigh the negatives. :)