New Zealand
After yesterday’s class on Maori culture with Kim, today he took us to the local Whakatu Marae [see website], the meeting area for Nelson’s iwi (tribal groups). First we experienced a powhiri (formal welcome) – we were called onto the marae grounds by one of the elders, then we all sat inside the wharenui meeting [...]
In preparation for our visit to the marae (Maori meeting house) tomorrow, Kim Hippolite gave us an introductory lecture on Maori culture and marae protocol. We ended with a practice session on how to do the hongi greeting (where two people gently touch noses).
#gallery-2 {
margin: auto;
}
#gallery-2 .gallery-item {
float: left;
margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 33%; }
#gallery-2 img {
border: 2px [...]
Wow, hard to believe we’ve been here 2 weeks! Half our time in New Zealand is gone! Today was a free day, so most of us went to the weekly Nelson Market… this is a special market with 100s of stalls selling only handmade things such as food, vegetables, jewelry, clothing, and so on.
In the [...]
Today while the Year 1 students went cycling, the Year 2 students went indoor rock climbing with me. Hard work, but very fun, and everyone succeeded!!
#gallery-4 {
margin: auto;
}
#gallery-4 .gallery-item {
float: left;
margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 33%; }
#gallery-4 img {
border: 2px solid #cfcfcf;
}
#gallery-4 .gallery-caption {
margin-left: 0;
}
Getting instructions
Getting ready
At the top
Yae did it!!
Sonoko on her way up
We did it!
Saki collapses [...]
With all the girls in different classes, it means they sometimes have to say goodbye to fellow students. Today some of the Kanagawa University girls were leaving, so they held a goodbye party!
#gallery-5 {
margin: auto;
}
#gallery-5 .gallery-item {
float: left;
margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 33%; }
#gallery-5 img {
border: 2px solid #cfcfcf;
}
#gallery-5 .gallery-caption {
margin-left: 0;
}
The food!
Getting ready
Saori cutting her cake
Fresh cream [...]
Today (and tomorrow), we split into 2 groups. The Year 1 students went indoor rock climbing while the Year 2 students did a cycling tour of Stoke – a suburb of Nelson. The cyclists had a chance to visit some of Nelson’s original historic buildings – both over 170 years old!
#gallery-6 {
margin: auto;
}
#gallery-6 .gallery-item {
float: [...]
Continue reading about Day 12-13 – Cycling and rock climbing
New Zealanders love watching cricket and rugby – especially when the games are against Australia! On Wednesday, New Zealand played a 1-day cricket test against Australia (and we won), so Nao invited me for dinner with her homestay family. It was a great night, and Nao’s yakisoba was very delicious. She did a great job, [...]
New Zealand is a unique country because its flora and fauna are different from anywhere else in the world. However, because it is so different, it means our natural resources are easily threatened by imported animals, plants, and bugs. To protect them, Nelson has set up the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary [see website]… this will be [...]
Continue reading about Day 11 – The Brook Waimarama Sanctuary
After a day and a half of hard study, we decided to give the students some fun. Happy Valley is the place in Nelson for outdoor adventures. It’s located about 30 minutes from the city [see Happy Valley website].
Ten of us decided to try the Skywire experience. This is a cage with 4 seats that [...]
Some video from our stay at the Riverside Community…
Wow, hard to believe we’ve been in New Zealand for a week! Today is a day off for the students, so most of them are relaxing around the city with their host families. I started my day by going to church at Nelson’s beautiful Christ Church Cathedral [website]… a 5-minute walk from where I am [...]
Bright and early on Saturday morning, 5 girls, Yoshi, Miho (centre member) and I walked up to the hilltop to view the sunrise on a beautiful cloudless day! We then started another busy day:
View the sunrise
Breakfast (toast, fruit, yoghurt, etc)
Peace activities: A series of discussion activities and songs on peace
Scone and breadmaking
Tour of the large [...]
Over the last few days, we’ve had an amazing stay at the Riverside Community [website]. This is an alternative community near Nelson based on the ideas of pacifism and cooperative living. They have a property of about 200ha on which they raise animals, fruit, and vegetables, run a cafe, host events, plus other businesses. We [...]
After another morning of hard study, we again headed out for afternoon activities. This time we had a chance to finally see some of New Zealand’s famous countryside – sheep, cows, sheep, ducks, and more sheep! We started out with a visit to a berry farm where we had a chance to pick beautiful strawberries [...]
The students are discovering that the morning lessons are hard… really hard! There are only about 3 students from Seinan in each class, so they’re having to use English for the full 3 hours! This is a great chance for them to brush up their skills!
However, we decided to give them a break this afternoon [...]
