Second Week

They call me Mr. D . . . because they’ve given up pronouncing all 6 letters.

I hold no objections; better that than my previous nicknames. Zobba, Bobo, Spike, Age, Shadez, Ruff, Tennis Ball.

My prediction came true.

My second week at St. Thomas of Canterbury College came and went as fast as the first; only 5 more weeks remain. I haven’t started counting down the days but everyone else at the university who are enjoying a 2-week break, have been asking me how I’m going to spend mine? Teaching, I guess.

This week I was more interactive with the students, no longer confined to mere observer, making sure they completed their work and didn’t disrupt their classmates. Lucky for me, I haven’t had to deal with a student who has a problem with submitting to authority. It’s great that I got this interactive experience because at the same time, the teachers handed me several lessons to prepare & teach at the start of Week 3. In Year 9 Social Studies I have to teach the Ancient Indus Valley Civilization (relates to their unit on India); in Year 10 Social Studies I have to teach New Zealand’s Treaty of Waitangi (1840) over a series of 10 lessons; and as for Year 11 Music, I have to prepare a series of lessons on a New Zealand song, ‘I Hope I Never’, written by Tim Finn, member of the 1970s band Split Enz. Oh yeah, welcome to the teaching life.

Getting assigned all that on the second week made me picture the dropping of a very thick book on a table, the loud THUD! emphasizing quantity, and the person who dropped it saying, “Teach all that starting tomorrow.” It may sound daunting but I’m allowed to space out my lessons for more than a week because no one, not even the St Thomas boys can learn all that I’ve said in one day. With the weekend at my disposal, my lessons will be ready on Monday.

This past Friday, there was an assembly to welcome & thank educators from China who helped with the planning & organizing of a trip to China for several St Thomas of Canterbury students. Before the assembly began, the students welcomed the Chinese by gathering around them and performing a Maori Haka, a type of war dance lasting about a minute. (I would later learn that the Chinese hold the Maori Haka in high regard.) If I had known of this earlier, I would have brought my camera to film it. I’ll film it the next time. All I can say is that it was an interesting performance, all the boys moving in unison, shouting, & hissing. Apparently, the original point of this Haka was to appear dangerous & scary to the enemy. Although I don’t think this Haka would work against an enemy with modern weaponry; I’m reminded of a particular scene from the movie, Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Indiana Jones is facing off against a sword-wielding warrior in Egypt.

Since it was Friday, I met up with my college friends at Dux de Lux to recap on the past week. This time I brought my ID but luckily I didn’t have to show it. I tried the plate of nachos that contained a lot of good edible stuff except the salsa was mild. Half a bottle of Tabasco sauce solved that problem. Several of my college friends have already started teaching and other were like me - still observing and assisting. The people who already started teaching felt that they were rushed into it whereas those who hadn’t felt bored. A glass half full or half empty scenario. Well, there will be peace next week when everyone will be teaching. As for class behaviour, everyone agreed that it fluctuates and there are no students causing any big problems.

When Christchurch became drenched in a sea of darkness & streetlights, some went home to sleep while the rest of us hopped over to a friends place for a private party. Good music, good people, & good alcohol. We also watched the Canadian team finish off their, um, performances at the Beijing Olympics. The Canadian government really needs to invest more money in its summer athletes, but overall, Canada did a good job going for the bronze!

Although, I still wonder what will happen to the 1.2 million Chinese who got evicted off their lands just so Beijing could build the necessary facilities to host the Olympic games?

I breathed a sigh of relief the next morning, knowing that I woke up in my own bed with no tattoos, and no piercings.

Time to get to work on those lessons Mr. D.