Locutions from the Land of the Long White Cloud

Locutions from the Land of the Long White Cloud

This morning I woke up early (even though it’s a Saturday), and the first thought that started my day was directly related to the whole act of waking up. Everyday, everywhere, people wake up after late nights of TV, sports, parties, pubs, travel, lesson planning…it’s a universal experience with universal expectations. We are required to get up and live life – and somedays this is easier than others. Sometimes we know exactly what is coming our way, and yet other days we are at the complete mercy of serendipity. At the moment I am embracing the balance.

Today I woke up with an overwhelming sense of “I can’t believe I am here.” Of all the places in the world to wake up and plant my feet, I’m starting my day in Room 1 at 296 Barbadoes Street, Christchurch, New Zealand, Earth. Kind of a grandiosely humbling feeling.

This got me thinking. Even though we’re only separated by a pond called the Pacific, I there are definitely things I miss and DO NOT miss about Canada. Here goes:

Things I miss about Canada:

1. Having friends and family close – especially within a free-call distance (although I can make calls to Canada for about 2.9 cents a minute).
2. 4 litre jugs of milk (and the milk tastes different here…can’t quite put my finger on it….AND they don’t call it “skim,” here it’s called “trim”).
3. Wide roads and steering wheels on the left side of the vehicle.
4. Bank machines that have “deposit” features. Uber-annoying.
5. Tim Horton’s.

Things I don’t miss about Canada:

1. Scraping frost off car windows. Plugging the car in.
2. Shoveling sidewalks in my Sorels.
3. Pennies and nickels.
4. Putting gas in the Blazer.
5. The Lethbridge wind.

Also, I kind of miss Seamus on Canada AM, even though I find a bit of humour in Paul Henry (the co-anchor of the morning Breakfast show on TV NZ) – he just might be Austin Powers in disguise! Really, I’d even put money on it. His mannerisms and expressions are striking (and I’m toying with the idea of sending him a text message requesting him to “beeehave”).

I do appreciate the curb-side garbage pick-up and recycling program, mail to the front yard, and fun things to do within a short walking distance. Christchurch is pretty choice, and to rip off a line from an Oasis album, it’s awesome to “be here now.”

Thanks for reading,

L.

Bon Voyage to the Brownlee's

After an enjoyable 6 weeks in New Zealand, my aunt and uncle departed for Fiji today (en route to Canada). I’m sure Gary is melting by now, but I hope they’re enjoying the weather and scenery (and staying away from the coup!). We celebrated our time together in this small part of a very large world by having a meal at a restaurant on the trendy Oxford Terrace in downtown Christchurch. It was lovely to have them near for these first few weeks of my time in NZ. They’ve spoiled me with lovely getaways, tasty wines, delicious dining, and the pleasure of their company.

Here’s to the gene pool, fond memories, and inside jokes!

Cheers,

Larissa

Threshold Thursday

Stevenson Block -- Home of the AGHS English Department

I have quickly discovered that I am completely useless after about 3:30p.m. on Thursdays. By Thursday night I’m ready to kick back, have some dinner with the flatmates, and watch re-runs of Grey’s Anatomy. While it’s not the same as watching with Tracy, this new routine suits my NZ life.

I remember the first few weeks of practicum being overwhelmingly overwhelming, and this final Professional Semester is proving to follow suit. Not only am I learning the basics -- figuring out the routines, schedules, rules, staff, students, grounds, timetable, pigeonholes – but I’m also navigating a completely new curriculum, sifting through resources in the English department, picking brains, and writing down my plans. I am trying to be mindful that this experience is about learning, and I don’t want to get lost under all the paperwork.

I have now met ALL of my students and spent a few classes with each group. In these early days I can sense a great difference between the groups, not only in terms of their expected differences because of their ages, but it just seems that each class has its own personality. For example, my Year 9s are very cooperative and sweet; my Year 10s are chatty, and energetic (and perhaps a bit tiring)!; and the Year 11s are particularly interested in life on the other side of the world.

Each class sits at about 30 students, leaving very little room in the classroom to breathe. Seating plans are an integral part of keeping the chaos to a minimum, and to this point all the seating plans have been designed according to the alphabetized class list. However, a seating plan change for my Year 10s is in the works (it seems that the chattiest girls are also clustered around the same surnames!). The other difficulty with my Year 10 class is that I have 4 Alisha’s (all spell their name differently), 3 Emma’s, and 2 Jessica’s. Identifying students is kind of like a process of elimination!

I’ve volunteered for a number of positions around Avonside:

- a Professional Learning Group to discuss professional development and collaboration with teachers from a variety of subject areas;
- Welfare faculty to address and resolve issues related to students and staff at Avonside.
- Staff sponsor for the Junior Tennis team. We meet once a week to compete with other teams from Christchurch, and are currently making arrangements for a weekly practice.

I’m also sitting in on the weekly meetings for new and provisionally registered teachers. The insights into the budding teaching life of NZ teachers is informative and I suspect a lot of similarities (particularly frustrations with classroom management) exist between the early experiences of teachers all over the globe.

So, as Threshold Thursday comes to a close, I’m taking a moment to reflect and appreciate all the new ideas, people, and opportunities that are coming my way.

Thanks for reading,

Larissa

Swimming Sports at the QEII

Mix the following ingredients together:

1) 1200+ teenage girls
2) 90+ staff
3) stopwatches, swim caps, and togs
4) sausage sizzle lunch
5) a hot day inside a humid pool facility
6) house colours and healthy competition
7) Mr. Joel's enthusiastic commentary

Once the ingredients have been mixed for approximately 6 hours, remove and reflect.

The day at the QEII pool facility was heaps of fun -- lots of serious and not-so-serious competition -- and an excellent opportunity for the staff and students
to mingle as house competitors. I particularly enjoyed the staff vs. students show down. The day was also a great opportunity for me to enjoy my new students outside of the Avonside classroom.

By the way...

A "sausage sizzle" is the NZ equivalent to a "hot dog lunch," but as similar as they are, both traditions have a different taste. A New Zealander knows a "hot dog" to be a wiener coated in deep-friend batter, kind of looks like a corn dog. A sausage sizzle is basically a barbecued hot dog on a piece of white bread, with ketchup (and onions if you're lucky!). You'll wash it down with a lemonade, a.k.a. "Sprite". I know, it's confusing.

Next up is Athletic Sports day at the outdoor track at the QEII. Watch for a post about all the track and field events shortly after March 8th.

Thanks for reading,

L.

Vocabulary Lesson #1: Vowels, Consonants, and Macrons

Language is central to the cultural identity of both the individual and community, and New Zealand seems to have a very successful way of blending the two national languages, English and Maori, to create a very unique hybrid language that recognizes past and present. My time in this part of the world is an excellent opportunity to add some new words and phrases to my microscopic repertoire of foreign languages.

So, for those of you interested in learning with me, I encourage you to pick up on a few of the language rules associated with vowels, consonants, and macrons (where's a Wheel of Fortune when you need one?!?!). Here goes:


Vowels

Each of the vowels has a long and short form:

short a
a as u in butt
long a
ā as a in father
short e
e as e in pen
long e
ē as ai in pair
short i
i as i in bit
long i
ī as ee in feet
short o
o as o in fort
long o
ō as o in store
short u
u as u in put
long u
ū as oo in boot

Consonants

Maori words are broken into syllables at each vowel or Consonant-Vowel pair.

For example:

Akatarawa
is said A ka ta ra wa
Māori
is said Maa o ri
Paraparaumu
is said Pa ra pa ra u mu
Petone
is said Pe to ne
Whangarei
is said Whanga rei

Macron usage

In written Māori, the long vowels are often denoted by macrons (bars over the letters) or whatever similar characters were available to the typesetter. Sometimes the vowel letter is repeated for long vowels.

Macrons are not normally used when a Maori word has been adopted into English and they do not generally appear on direction signs or maps.

Thus Māori, Maaori and Maori all represent the same word, and usage will depend on the style of the writer and whatever conventions were in place when the article was written. The most recent Māori Language articles will use macron over the long vowels. This will probably only happen in English if the writer is, or the article concerns Maori.

Since this is the first of my vocabulary lesson postings, I thought I'd throw a few useful terms in with the collection of fun ones I've picked up so far.

1) Te Wai Pounamu = South Island (of NZ)
2) Aotearoa = New Zealand
3) Hongi = greeting by pressing noses together, not to be confused with "hangi"
4) Hangi = style of cooking food in an earth oven
5) Powhiri = Maori welcoming ceremony
6) Haka = war dance and song (go All Blacks!)
7) Iwi = tribe; people
8) Moko = tattoos incised on the face, bum, and thighs of men, and the lips and chins of women
9) Waiata = songs
10) Maunga = mountain

Unlike Canada, products in NZ are not required to publish both languages. I find myself looking at products and expecting that one side of the box is going to be in French, and then I realize that there is an entire side of MORE information to read. Makes my morning reading material a bit more lengthy.

More to come,

L.

An Official Welcome

Avonside has a tradition of formally welcoming new staff and students to the school by holding a powhiri (pronounced pov-ir-ee) ceremony on the front lawn of the school grounds. The notion of welcoming one tribe onto the territory of another has its roots in Maori customs, and is symbolically appropriate for the welcoming of new people into the Avonside community.

What is a Powhiri?

A powhiri involves speeches, singing and hongi. It is often reserved for manuhiri (special visitors), but may also be performed for tupapaka (arrival of the body of the deceased) for a tanhihanga (funeral).

On some occasions the powhiri begins before the karanga (the call), at other times it begins after the karanga has started. At some point the karanga and the powhiri will be taking place at the same time. For the powhiri, the kai karanga (female caller) usually stands to the side and slightly to the front of the remainder of the tangata whenua (hosts).

After the manuhiri (guests) and tangata whenua are seated, both sides have speakers, beginning with the tangata whenua. The ceremonial tapu (sacred) is lifted when tangata whenua and manhiri make hongi (physical contact).

The hongi is a traditional greeting in NZ and is performed by pressing one’s nose to another. This exchange of space is symbolically significant because it means that you are no longer considered manuhiri, but rather tangata whenua, and are therefore officially part of the receiving group and their land. It also means that you are obliged to share in all the duties and responsibilities of the home people.

As I was walking up the lawn to the seating area I was thinking about all the things I am bringing to this school community. As a teacher of literature I believe that we all carry our life texts with us no matter where we are. In essence, our lives are our lightest luggage. Our personal stories, experiences, knowledge, history, and thoughts are the things we must hold closest to us, with the understanding that it is our responsibility to share these gifts with others.

In all the hustle-and-bustle of daily school life (especially in the first few days of classes) it is easy to feel lost both literally and figuratively. At the conclusion of the ceremony I felt more connected to the people and my new surroundings.

Performing the hongi has been a highlight of my NZ experience. New staff and students (2 from each new class) followed in a line to touch the noses of the male staff members. The trick here is to avoid bonking someone on the nose, or forehead, and making sure that your handshake is firm and kind. It's kind of like an eskimo kiss.

The most emotionally moving part of the ceremony was the singing. The kapa haka group (students who perform Maori dances and songs) are astounding, so powerful I had chills up and down my spine. When it came time for us newcomers to sing, we sang an uplifting song titled "Tutira Mai" which goes as follows:

Tutira mai

Tutira mai nga iwi
Tatou tatou e
Tutira mai nga iwi
Tatou tatou e

Whaia te maramatanga
Me te aroha
E nga iwi
Kia taptahi
Kia kotahi ra
Tatou tatou e


Line up together, people
All of us, all of us.
Stand in rows, people
All of us, all of us.

Seek after knowledge
and love of others - everybody!
Think as one,
Act as one.
All of us, all of us.

All of us, all of us!!
Hi aue hei !!!

(If you're lucky, I just might sing it for you someday!)

The official powhiri welcome to Avonside was a very special experience, and has now become part of my continuing life text.

Thanks for reading,

L.

Celebrating Waitangi Day (and happy birthday Bob Marley!)

Today New Zealanders are celebrating the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the founding document of NZ signed in 1840.

It's a short document, with only 3 articles: the first article of the English version grants the Queen of the United Kingdom sovereignty over New Zealand. The second article guarantees to the chiefs continued chieftainship and ownership of their lands and treasures (taonga). It also specifies that Māori will sell land only to the Crown. The third article guarantees to all Māori the same rights as all other British subjects.


According to the Wikipedia, there is a lot of controversy surrounding the treaty. For one, there are two versions: English and Maori. This has raised debates about interpretation and continues to undermine its effect. he most critical difference revolves around the interpretation of two Māori words, kawanatanga (literally, governorship) which is ceded to the Queen in the first article and rangatiratanga (literally chieftainship) which is retained by the chiefs in the second. Few Māori had good understanding of either sovereignty or 'governorship' and so some academics, such as Moana Jackson, question whether Māori fully understood that they were ceding sovereignty to the British Crown.

Oh, and the treaty was nearly burned to ashes when the government offices in Auckland were destroyed by fire in 1841.

We've all got the day off from teaching, so we're off to Hagley Park to enjoy the sunshine and any festivities that may be happening.

L.

Avonside Girls' High School

Today I walked into Avonside Girls’ School for the first time. I was immediately surrounded by students and parents who were tying up their accounts, fitting uniforms, and (one might assume) eagerly anticipating the beginning of a new school year.

I found myself thinking about all the things that had to occur for this experience to unravel. Not only all the things that it took to complete the majority of a University degree, but also to find my feet on NZ soil, and more specifically to find myself sitting in a desk in the English department at Avonside Girls’ High School. “Good on ye” as any Kiwi would say.

It takes approximately 20 minutes for me to walk from my house to the school, and it is a lovely walk along the banks of the Avon River. Honestly, this country is bursting with unreal photo opportunities. The flowers are in bloom, and on my walk I get several opportunities to smell the aromatic lavender and hydrangea blooms, and the school has a magnificent magnolia tree that survived campus renovations.

I’ll be spending the weekend wrapping my mind around NCEA guidelines, levels, hierarchies, and a whole new staff directory. The English department has been very accommodating, and I will start my teaching life on Monday at my very own desk in the communal workroom, among a pleasant staff and resources abound.

I will have more to post about the school after next week rolls on, including my part in the Powhiri celebrations. Don’t worry – I’ve started planning another vocabulary posting!

Thanks for reading.

L.