Some Fun Things

Last weekend was lovely.  I started off with a kayak trip with some of the staff down the Hutt River.  The kayaks belong to the school and have presumably been buried in storage somewhere since the late 80's.  I got invited Friday morning, so naturally I was wearing a dress and longing for my board-shorts and sperrys waiting for water fun in my closet.  No matter, I borrowed some loaner PE gear and hopped in a Subaru headed to the river.  Our trip was around 3 hours and no one was home in time for dinner.  It was wonderful though, to be out on the water and enjoying the river I go over every day on my way to school.  I really enjoyed the kayaking as well.  It is such a different way to interact with the water than a sailboat.  Went over some small rapids, and did a lot of scooting over rocks.  Wonderful afternoon and a great start to the weekend.  

 

Saturday I went out to Evans Bay to help with the learn to sail class again.  I just did some coaching from the markboat this time, but it was still great to be out there.  It feels really good to teach something I have a lot of experience teaching.  I know someday I will hopefully feel that way about English, but there is just nothing quite so wonderful as sharing sailing with people.

After sailing, Remy, the coach for the day, drove me up Mt. Victoria on his way home.  I am never sure if it is ok to take people up on this kind of taxi service because it's a bit of a cultural difference.  This is the 2nd time someone from the club has driven me around after sailing.  Last weekend a different coaches wife, Sue, drove me into town for ice cream.  Anyway I found myself at the top of a very large hill...erm mountain....in the middle of the city.  It was beautiful and seeing Wellington from that angle made the harbor suddenly seem so much smaller and less daunting.  Just full of exciting new places to check out.  Remy pointed out a lot of landmarks and told me about some local hikes.  He also kindly pointed me in the direction of home, "pretty much walk down the hill and keep going down until you get to water," right sounds good.

As I was sitting there I could hear the reggae music from the city way down below.  After I ate lunch I tromped down the hill and through the city to the train station.  It's in about the middle of the picture to give you an idea, so my tromp was around 3 hours long.  I loved walking through Wellington and just running into things.  It reminded me at lot of the way I stumbled through NY a few years ago.  Only I am so much less afraid now, and so much more ready to explore.  It turns out the music was coming from a Jim Beam event at the waterfront.  I have NEVER seen so many wasted teenagers at 3pm in the afternoon.  The drinking age here is 18, which apparently really means like 16.  A bit of a culture shock for sure.

The weekend ended and I went back to school for another week.  Only the Kiwi germs took me out for two days this week.  I finally got back to school today.

Things haven't honestly gotten much easier down here.  This is by far the most I have ever challenged myself as an educator and person.  My weekdays are consumed by teaching, but I think that's how it is supposed to be right now.  I am learning and changing every day.  More than anything each hour in the classroom gives me more confidence in myself as an educator.  In a short few weeks I will be a certified English Teacher.  So hard to believe it is actually so close.

The past three weeks have taught me so much about myself.  I think the biggest lesson is to ask for help, and accept that it's ok to make mistakes.  For me these are things I have always known, but never really understood.  Truthfully I am learning to balance holding myself to the high standards I have always expected, and living the rich and full life I have learned to value.  I really love teaching, genuinely, or there is no way I would have made it through the last couple of weeks.  The English Department at Heretaunga has done a wonderful job looking after me and I cannot imagine what the last three weeks would have been like without them.  Lisa described them as, "a village raising a child" and I consider myself lucky to be that child.