Blogging Middle Earth

Until Next Time

2010-06-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

Wow, hard to believe that 4 months have already passed. Feels like just yesterday I arrived in Middle Earth to finish my teaching diploma. Instead, the last few days were the reverse; heading back to the Great White North. Ok, so I’m not writing this post while in transit; I didn’t have the time and energy between flights. I tried to get some sleep while in flight but my body didn’t like sleeping upright.

Anyway, I woke up on the morning of June 16th, took a shower, got dressed, and finished packing my suitcases. Next was removing my bedding and vacuuming the floor of my room. Since my flight wasn’t until the afternoon, I wasted time playing the waiting game, checking my email, chatting with my roommates who were studying for exams, and reserving a taxi. When it was time to go, I locked my room, and returned my key & keycard to the main office. I bid farewell to my roommate Ben (who had helped me with my luggage) before entering the taxi.

The first flight was from Christchurch to Auckland and was an hour long. Once in Auckland, I exited the domestic terminal and walked to the international under the evening sky, carrying my backpack & laptop. Once inside, I safely passed through security and waited for my 8pm flight to Vancouver. An airport hobby of mine is to search the Duty Free stores for the most expensive alcoholic beverage (just to see, not to buy). In the Auckland International Terminal, it was a custom made French cognac set for $2650NZD! An employee explained that they only sell one or two a year and that the purchasers are invited by the manufacturers to tour their facilities in France.

The Auckland to Vancouver flight was llllooonnnnggg. Twelve and a half hours through the night. On the positive side, I had an aisle seat meaning easy access to the washroom. I spent most of the flight watching movies (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, District 9, and Full Metal Jacket), and playing games such as Asteroid, Invasion, & Tetris. Sleep was out of the question because a nearby senior citizen snored loudly. Thankfully, turbulence came to the rescue and kept him awake for the later half of the journey. For dinner I had a lamb meal with complimentary Riesling wine, and for breakfast I had scrambled eggs with complimentary champagne.

Finally, after leaping into the past by crossing the International Dateline, the Air New Zealand plane touched down in sunny & warm Vancouver, Canada, at 2pm and taxied to the international terminal. Getting through customs was a pain because of the long lines and having to listen to one child that wouldn’t stop crying. I had to pick up my suitcases and transfer them over to the domestic loading carousel. Unlike my previous experiences at the Vancouver Airport, I successfully transferred both of my suitcases and made it to my Ottawa flight on time.

The Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Ottawa was the best flight because there weren’t that many passengers onboard, meaning less noise. Plus, the seat next to my window seat was empty, enabling me to stretch. It was after midnight when the plane landed in Ottawa. The landing was a little eerie because the approach was covered by fog. I didn’t see the ground until seconds before the plane touched the runway. By the time I made it home, it was close to 1am.

And so, my 2010 Study Trip to Middle Earth is now over. I have thrown my BLOG into limbo once again. Depending on how I ‘play my cards’, I’ll either return to Middle Earth in early 2011 to teach music/history/social studies or stay in Canada . . . to teach music/history/social studies. Until next time, read about my previous Middle Earth adventures spread across 103 posts.

The Week That Was

2010-06-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

World Cup Soccer began just 3 days ago in South Africa, the richest country in Africa but also the most crime ridden. I certainly hope that every available police officer is on duty during the tournament because it would be a public relations disaster if the tourists go home with horror stories of being robbed & assaulted. Regardless, the World Cup will bring in much needed income to South Africa as it continues to rebuild after the brutal Apartheid Era. I'll probably pay the country a visit in a decade or so; hopefully crime won't be as big a problem as it is today. Middle Earth's All Whites are back in the World Cup after a 28 year absence and will be facing off against Slovakia today. Hopefully, the All Whites will win & advance closer to the finals.

BP Global has been in damage control mode since late April because of the ongoing Deep Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Millions of barrels of crude oil continue to spill, damaging & further threatening wildlife, and BP still can't figure out how to fix the problem. They've tried several things but they have failed. What's worse is that the company is trying very hard to prevent the media from accurately reporting on the incident. I hope BP gets heavily penalized for this environmental disaster; also would be nice if the executives were forced to spend some time in prison for their actions. This incident is far worse than the Exxon Valdez oil spill back in 1989.

Rebecca, a former flat mate from last year, was in Christchurch for vacation, and decided to pay my flat mates Ben & Heather, and I a visit on Saturday night. After spending an hour talking and drinking champagne, we caught a bus to the city centre to have dinner at the Mayur Indian Restaurant. We each brought a bottle of wine to the restaurant because it's legal & to save money. I ordered a hot lamb dish with plain naan bread and rice; as for my friends, they ordered chicken & pork dishes with naan bread and rice. My lamb dish was actually spicy forcing me to order another naan bread & bowl of rice to finish off the hot sauce. The Monkey Puzzle white wine from Chile I brought also helped in the quelling the stinging in my mouth.

From the Indian restaurant, we walked further into town to check out the club/bar scene. Since it was a Saturday night, the area was bustling with activity, from wild party goers to no-nonsense police officers. From what I remember, we visited two clubs: one had karaoke (giving bad singers the opportunity to sing) and the other had a nice quiet seating area above the bar. When it was time to call it a night, we shared a taxi ride home.

Monday was my last day volunteering at the Christchurch Cadet Unit. The cadets spent the evening getting ready for a weekend Field Training Exercise (FTX). They were instructed to bring all their gear so that it could be inspected, packed, and ready to go come Friday. I would be unable to attend the exercise because I would be flying back to Canada. The training night was also devoted to recognizing & promoting cadets for their outstanding work in the corps and on the Junior Leadership course. When the training night was complete, several officers & I hopped over to the nearby Lone Star for a drink as a final sendoff before my journey home. They shook my hand and told me to come back to which I responded, 'That'll most likely happen in the new year because I'm looking for work as a teacher.'

Well, that's pretty much the week that was for me. With my departure of Middle Earth just around the corner, I've been packing my suitcases, and deciding on what should be left behind. My next & final post (for a while) will be written when I'm in transit to Canada.

Q.T.T.: Last Day & Final Thoughts

2010-06-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

My last night at Bumbles Backpackers was a bit noisy because a group of German students had just arrived in the late evening to unpack and get some rest before heading off on a ski trip the next morning. Thankfully, I had my heavy duty earplugs to keep out their loud voices. Despite this, they woke me up in the early morning, getting dressed, and moving out their ski equipment. I waited until they were gone before rolling myself out of bed. Once dressed & packed, I signed out of Bumbles minutes before the 10am deadline. Since my flight wasn't until 4pm, I had the option of putting my backpack into storage but I declined; it wasn't that heavy to carry around.

With six hours to spare, I decided to explore the Queenstown Gardens that occupied a small peninsula next to the city centre. For a Saturday, the park was surprisingly quiet with only a few people walking around. Like the previous days, the sun was out, and the air was cold. There are two monuments worth seeing. The first is dedicated to William Gilbert Rees, the first European who settled in the area back in 1840. The next is a large stone monument near the tip of the peninsula that's dedicated to Robert Falcon Scott, an English Royal Navy officer who died in 1913 leading the Terra Nova Expedition to the South Pole in Antarctica. The monument also displays the last message Scott wrote in his diary on March 29th, 1912. For senior citizens, the park is home to an established lawn bowling club. Despite the sunny weather, no one was playing when I strolled past the club's lawns.

After exploring Queenstown Gardens, I walked back into town, ordering a foot long roast lamb sub from Subway. After lunch, I decided to head towards the airport . . . on foot via the Frankton Walkway. The journey took a little longer because of the weight of my backpack but it was good exercise, it killed time, an d I saved $36 that would have been spent on a taxi. The only downside was that my legs ached by the time I reached the airport and it looked like I was limping. I sat down on a chair and passed the time reading a book and playing the waiting game. With 90 minutes to go, I checked in my backpack, and bought a light snack at the cafe. Finally, the announcement was made to board the twin turboprop plane and several minutes later I was in the sky heading for Christchurch. Once in Christchurch, I picked up my backpack and caught a taxi to Ilam Village.

Overall, the Queenstown Trip was a success. I got to see another part of Middle Earth, took around 100 digital photos, ate good food, and went tandem skydiving! I will definitely come back to try out other activities but I will need a lot more money. The best & most exciting activities Queenstown has to offer are, unfortunately, the most expensive. I can easily see myself spending close to $3000 on all thrill-seeking & leisure activities. But the resulting experiences & thrills make the prices worth it. Keep this town in mind when you're planning a trip of the South Island's Otago Region. Remember to bring warm clothing if you're visiting between June & August; it's winter down here.

End of Queenstown Trip Series

Q.T.T.: Over 2 Days

2010-06-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

I spent the next two days enjoying as much of Queenstown as possible after spending a lot of money on tandem skydiving. The skies were clear but the temperatures were still in the single negatives meaning that warm winter clothing was needed all around. There was even snow in some places on the ground.

After walking around snapping photos & window shopping, I decided to see the recently released film Robin Hood at the local Readings Cinema. The seats in the theater were large & comfortable but the aisles were narrow. That wasn't a problem because there were only 5 other people watching the film. Overall, Robin Hood starring Russell Crowe is similar to Gladiator . . . starring Russell Crowe in terms of story development & production. I think it might have to do with the fact that Ridley Scott directed both films. Anyway, it's an okay film that receives a passing grade from me. Once out of the movie theatre, I continued walking around, snapping more photos of the surrounding landscape at the right moments. Like a professional photographer, sometimes you have to take 10 photos to get that perfect 1. In the sky, paragliders descended towards the town in groups of three, and sightseeing helicopters circled above with curious customers.

For the late afternoon, I decided to have some fun by trying out a variety of wines at Wine Tastes. The establishment is set up in a lounge setting, with tables, comfortable chairs & couches, and dim lighting. The walls are completely covered by tall wooden shelves stocked with various kinds of NZ & Australian wines. You're given a wine glass and a card that you insert in any of the serving machines. The machines display the 3 possible selections (sample, half, full) with the attached price. Just press whichever button & fill up your glass. Your card stores the total tab and when you're finished, you return the card and pay the bill. If you want food, Wine Tastes serves plates of bread, salami, and cheese & crackers. The salami & bread plates come with a tray of assorted dips & spreads.

With my card in hand, I tried out the white wines, chardonnays, and from what I remember, a champagne. The bread plate with assorted dips & spreads which I ordered was also tasty. I should note that this isn't like professional wine tasting where you spit out the wine to prevent drunkenness; you have to swallow what you drink. And I wouldn't recommend choosing the full glass option because of the high price. It's best to always choose the half glass; that way you'll be able to try out many different wines. As for the final bill . . . um, I would like to thank my parents for letting me put it on the credit card. I would have sent you some wine bottles as a thank you but unfortunately, Wine Tastes doesn't export to Canada.

The next day (June 4th), I decided to be more athletic by walking to the airport & back via the Frankton Walkway. The walkway runs along Frankton Road next to the lake so you get nice views of Kelvin Heights, Kelvin Peninsula, Kawarau Falls, Lake Wakatipu, The Remarkables Mountains, and the town of Frankton. The walkway is estimated to be 90 minutes long in one direction. I don't know how long it took me but I do know that I walked 12 km in total. Along the way you pass many private residences, apartments, and Queenstown citizens happy to greet you even if you're a stranger.

When the evening arrived, I decided to celebrate my last full day in Queenstown by having dinner at Lone Star. I usually don't eat by myself at 'please-wait-to-be-seated' restaurants but I decided to make an exception for this trip. After being briefly surprised for not getting ID'd at the bar, I ordered a steak & a pint of Guinness beer. I watched the TVs that were displaying rugby & golf games as I waited for my meal, and while I consumed my meal. The steak was excellent, the Guinness was good, and I made it safely back to the hostel.

To Be Continued . . .

Q.T.T.: Tandem II

2010-06-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

I did it again. This time from 15,000 feet over Queenstown. Many people tandem skydive just once so they can say they did it, but it takes more courageous (and/or crazy) people to continue falling out of a plane. I just happened to be one of those people. Despite being unable to jump in Rotorua, I was still determined to fall from the sky & thankfully, NZONE also operated in Queenstown.

I explained in my previous post that I spent the first day exploring the town while waiting for my bed to be ready at Bumbles Backpackers. Well . . . that was only the half truth. While exploring the town centre, I stopped in the NZONE store and asked what the weather would be like for tomorrow (June 3rd). They said they didn't know but suggested that I jump today (June 2nd) because the weather was perfect. Seeing that I had plenty of time, I agreed and my booking was bumped up to 1230. NZONE offers jumps from 9000, 12000, & 15000 feet. Since I jumped from 12,000 feet back in Christchurch, I decided to start even higher.

After filling out the necessary paperwork, I, 2 Kiwi males, and 2 Asian women, were briefed by staff on what to expect. While being shown photographs & a video, I have to admit that I wasn't as nervous as I was the first time. It was also stressed that we 'Dump before we Jump' because they've actually had accidents in the sky. They also assured us that the 'tainted' jumpsuits are immediately thrown out.

The ride to the NZONE airfield took 15 minutes and was to the south of the Queenstown Airport, near Jacks Point. After dumping in the washroom, I swallowed some Gravol to prevent nausea & vomiting. Only several minutes passed before we were taken to the main hangar to suit up (jumpsuit, gloves, goggles, & hat) and meet our tandem partners. You have to leave all your loose belongings & valuables behind so that they don't get lost in the experience. They are safely stored in a locker.

My tandem instructor was a Bulgarian male in his thirties whose name I've unfortunately forgotten. After he briefed the 2 Asian ladies & myself on how we'll be exiting the plane, the aircraft in question fired up and we were led onboard. Since I was the only one jumping from 15,000 feet, I was going to be the last one out of the plane. For safety reasons, two NZONE staff members fall with you: the tandem skydiver you're strapped to, and a backup who falls beside you, making sure you don't pass out. That backup faller can also be the cameraman filming your experience.

The aircraft took off into the clear blue sky and slowly climbed higher & higher. I was anxious but surprisingly calm during the ascent because my body had already experienced terminal velocity. However, I found it difficult remembering that sensational feeling because my first jump was a year & a half ago. At 12,000 feet, the plane leveled and the door slid open for the 2 Asian ladies jumping for the first time. The plane bounced and felt lighter after each trio fell out of the plane. Once they were out of the way, my trio moved up to the glass door that slid closed, and the plane continued climbing to 15,000 feet. To combat hypoxia, I was a given a small tube of oxygen to breathe. I have to admit that I felt light headed & was slow to respond to questions but I think that helped in distracting me from what was about to happen. The plane leveled again, the glass door slid open, and my backup (without a camera) got out first. My Bulgarian tandem partner swung me over to the edge where I was greeted by a cold blowing breeze. After he did his final checks, the three of us fell towards the ground and never looked back.

The second the Drop began, my mind immediately remembered what the feeling of falling at terminal velocity (220km/h) felt like. And it felt euphoric. With my hands spread open, I waved & gave a thumbs up to my backup, stating that I was having the time of my life. It's best to breathe heavily during the freefall because it makes you feel better. As I wrote in my first tandem post, the freefall feels like you're falling towards a powerful fan blowing in your face and you're unable to touch it. The freefall from 15,000 feet lasts a minute but it didn't feel like it to me. Just as soon as it began, the Bulgarian deployed the parachute and we came to a sudden stop. My backup continued to fall & disappeared below my feet. During the six minute glide back down to earth, I gazed at the 360 degree majestic landscape, and the Bulgarian spun me around for extra enjoyment. Seconds from touchdown, I was instructed to put my knees up, and we came to a soft sliding stop.

I thanked the Bulgarian in English & Russian before heading off to the hangar to take off the jumpsuit. I was given a certificate of my achievement and guarantee of $50 off my next jump with NZONE. I guess I'll be going back to Rotorua sometime in the future. The total price tag for the jump was $400NZD ($283CAD); it would have been much more if I had decided to have the experience photographed and filmed. After watching other customers descend from the sky for several minutes, an NZONE staff member drove me & the 2 Asian ladies back to Queenstown.

Once again, I encourage everyone to try skydiving once, twice, thrice, and more. It is truly a great & empowering experience. You won't regret it. So far I'm up to 2. I think I'll make it my long term goal to skydive in as many Middle Earth places as possible. eXtreme Individuality Rules!

To Be Continued . . .

(Woohoo! My 100th post!)

Queenstown Trip: Flight

2010-06-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

The town of Queenstown is located in the south west of New Zealand's South Island, next to Lake Wakatipu, and home to 10,416 people. The area is surrounded by tall majestic mountains as high as 7,600 feet! This area is also known for being the locations of major motion pictures, most notably The Lord of The Rings Trilogy by Peter Jackson. Tourists flock to Queenstown every year to enjoy the many activities (thrill-seeking & leisure) it offers.

I had decided to visit Queenstown because . . . I had yet to visit & explore the region. Plus, I wanted to get one last trip in before I flew back to Canada for the summer. My 4-day trip began on the early morning of June 2nd, rolling out of bed at 0730, getting dressed, and making sure that I had my plane ticket and everything was packed. My roommate Ben gave me a lift to the airport, thus saving me $26 on a taxi ride. Checking in & going through security wasn't a problem and I passed the time reading the newspaper in the departure lounge.

The 0915 Air New Zealand flight from Christchurch was only 50 minutes long and uneventful. Because I was still sleepy, the flight had gone far quicker than I expected. The only highlight was the landing because the plane had to navigate between the tall mountains. The sun was shining & there wasn't a cloud in the sky when I stepped off the plane. The surrounding mountains and minus 4 degree (Celsius) weather made me feel like I was in Vancouver, Canada. Due to the mountainous landscape, the Queenstown Airport is actually located 6 kilometres away from the city centre, near the small town of Frankton. Rather than wait for a bus, I paid for a $36 taxi ride into town.

Bumbles Backpackers, located near the city centre, would be the roof over my head for my 4 day trip. Since I was alone this time, I would be sleeping in a 6 person dorm room, but I wouldn't get it until after 1400. Having arrived at the hostel in the morning, I was allowed to put my backpack into storage. Before I did that, I changed into long underwear and undershirt to combat the cold weather. Even though it was only minus 4, I didn't want the cold to become an annoyance. With several hours to kill, I went to explore the city centre.

In short, Queenstown & the surrounding landscape are like several Canadian towns wrapped into one. Specifically, Vancouver, Banff, Lake Louise, Mont Tremblant, and Whistler. (Whistler I won't know for sure until I visit but I'm guessing because of the many ski & snoboard areas around Queenstown). The city centre is basically a large spending district, containing restaurants, bars, pubs, clothing outlets, ski & snoboard shops, cafes, and fast food outlets. Nearby are banks, and thrill-seeker outlets advertising paragliding, parasailing, bungy jumping, helicopter tours, power boating, and tandem skydiving. There's something for everyone!

After snapping plenty of pictures, having lunch, and breathing in the air that smelled a lot like a Canadian November, I backtracked to Bumbles Backpackers to check in. Dorm 3 contained 6 beds, washroom, lockers, and a heater. The heater would come in handy because the temperature would not go higher than 0 for the remainder of the week.

To finish off the first day, I travelled up the Skyline Gondola to photograph the breathtaking views of Queenstown and the surrounding landscape from a height of 790 metres. The terminal at the top also includes a cafe, restaurant, and a small theatre where Maori Hakas are performed for those people wanting to experience Maori culture. But there's more to do outside the terminal. There are walking trails to explore, luge tracks to ride down on a cart, paragliding from the hilltop, and even bungy jump 400 metres above Queenstown.

AJ Hackett operates the bungy jump & sky swing operation that sits next to the rising & descending gondolas. The sky swing is less daring compared to the bungy jump because you move from side to side whereas you dive down in a bungy jump. Nevertheless, when I was photographing the scenic landscape, a woman who was getting ready to do the swing, froze and couldn't bring herself to pull the cord that would release her. Even her friends couldn't convince her to do it. She had to be pulled back into the hut by trained staff. It takes a lot of guts to let go I guess. If I had enough money I would have done the sky swing; there's always a next time.

I descended back to Queenstown and walked back to the hostel to watch some evening television. The hostel's TV room and kitchen are side by side, and there're two computers offering Internet, costing $2 for twenty minutes. Despite the heater being set to high, it was still chilly in the dorm room. To stay warm, I wore socks and a toque to prevent my body heat from escaping.

To Be Continued . . .

Rain Rain Rain

2010-05-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

The past week was defined by water falling from the skies all over Middle Earth. No lightning and thunder; just rain. The sun didn't show its bright face once. The only breaks in between the rainfall were grey overcast clouds. A whole month's worth of rain dumped in a day, every day. I'm surprised that I didn't get cabin fever from staying inside. Well, I did go out for groceries and to the cadet corps I volunteer at, but I had to be armed with an umbrella, gloves, and a warm jacket. Rivers overflowed, flooding roadways and buildings, causing road closures and evacuations. The scope of damage is still being assessed and residents in some areas of the country are still waiting for the water to recede so that they can clean out their flooded houses.

My debriefing at the college on Friday went without a hitch. The associate dean who looked after all teaching placements was pleased with my results and signed me off with a pass. He also fast tracked the publication of my marks so that I could apply to graduate in absentia. Yeah, it would have been nice to attend the grad ceremony but that won't take place until October & I'll still be in Canada by then.

Job searching for the 2011 year in NZ has so far turned up nothing, most likely because it's still Term 2 and too early for schools to know if there're any openings. While I search, I also have to register with the NZ Teacher's Council & the PPTA Union in order to be allowed to teach in Middle Earth. And when & if I get a job offer, I still have to apply for a working visa. Paper work is a pain.

My flat was alive on Saturday night because one of roommates was celebrating her 23rd birthday. From what I remember, the party theme was to dress like a ninja, around 15 people attended, and the birthday girl fired two champagne corks off the balcony. The corks landed on the roof of the common room so nobody got hit.

The sun has made good timing on showing itself for this week because I'll be travelling to Queenstown on my own for 4 days to explore the area. I decided to get one last trip in before I head back to Canada in mid-June. Researching the town has shown that there's plenty to do but I'm going to be spontaneous and choose activities when I arrive. The weather in Queenstown looks promising with the sun staying out and the temperatures going as high as 10 degrees Celsius. Naturally, I'll be documenting this trip so there're plenty of pictures and stories to look forward to. I can't wait.

Kickin' Back

2010-05-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Time seems to be flying quickly these past few days. It's already been a full week since I completed my teaching practice at Riccarton High School. I came close to getting dressed in formal clothing before realizing that my practice had ended and I could sleep in. It feels great to be able to sleep in until noon but then you feel a little disoriented because the day is much shorter.

I've been occupying my time with whatever I can find: playing games, reading, writing music, hanging out with friends, and walking around the city centre. I barely went into town during my teaching practice so it was a surprise to see several changes. For starters, the 21 bus route has been changed to go around Hagley Park & passed the City Bus Exchange. The next big shock was to see the Battlelink Gaming Cafe across the bus exchange gone. It either moved or went out of business. Hard to believe the latter because the place was always packed with gamers when I went there. The street malls look more pristine with newly installed tram tracks & concrete walkways. Last year, the city centre was one big construction site, making it a hassle to get around.

The weather seems to be getting colder by the day. The sun was out yesterday but today is another grey overcast. The leaves on many trees have changed colours & have been falling to the ground for some time. I have plenty of winter clothing & hot chocolate to keep me warm. Hopefully, the weather will be better in the coming days, despite the fact that Middle Earth is heading into the winter season.

Well . . . that's pretty much what happened this past week; just kickin' back & relaxing. Oh yeah, I've also been planning for the future by looking around for a teaching job here in New Zealand. There's a surplus of teachers back home I have better chances of landing a job here in the 2011 year. So far, nothing yet, but I'm still looking.

Week 7

2010-05-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

The final week of my teaching practice was mostly about wrapping up & returning the resources I borrowed for my lessons. Carrying all those resources (books & CDs) to & back to school was a pain but at least I didn't have to go to the gym to stay in shape. As well, I got an extra workout helping out the music & drams staff move into our new office space. The school paid to have several old music rooms merged & renovated into one big room for us teachers. The old office was small, tight, wedged in between the main music class & drama room, and a mess because of all the papers lying around. Personally, I would have done the big move after school but the teachers were too eager to get out of that small room. The former music/drama office will be turned into a mini-computer lab for students.

The other student teachers had already started counting down the days, looking forward to sleeping in, and having time to relax. As for me, it didn't feel like the teaching practice was coming to an end at all. And I wasn't counting down the days because the practice was going to end anyway; it was inevitable. The student teachers & I reflected on our time spent at Riccarton High School, sharing many stories of school life, what they will & will not miss, what they learned, and what they hoped to get on their final reports. For Thursday, we put on a Morning Tea consisting of savouries and chocolate squares as a way of thanking the teaching staff for their guidance & tolerance. I personally thanked my two associates with a bottle of wine and a thank you note.

For most of the week, my Year 12s & 13s were working on their own, but I finished teaching chord progressions to my Year 12s and corrected the activity that went with it. My Year 9 English class were tasked with created an advertisement poster in pairs, so that left me to walk around and assist. On Friday, all my students bid me farewell & wished me all the best. The teacher's lounge was surprisingly packed for the after party, and even all the other student teachers were there. We stuffed ourselves with many finger foods & wine, while talking with our associates for the 'last time'. Before leaving, I personally thanked my associates, and the principal for letting me teach at the school.

After seven intensive weeks, I have to say that the teaching practice turned out quite well. My final report was very positive as well as the two observations the college did meaning I'm guaranteed a passing grade. Seven weeks may sound a lot but all that time gets used up pretty quickly. If I had stayed longer, I would have accompanied a Year 9 & 10 class on their 4 day trip to the Kokiri Lodge on the west coast of the South Island. With the teaching practice now out of the way, I have a month to spare before I head back to Canada for the summer. Aside from my upcoming college debriefing, I'll probably drop in at the College of Education campus to practice piano & guitar. Oh yeah, I also have a ukulele to pluck.

I'm thinking of going on a short trip somewhere before my time runs out in Middle Earth. So far, I'm pondering on Stewart Island, the Queenstown region, and Auckland. Only time will tell if something happens. I'm also considering going to see a rugby and/or cricket game. Sad that it's my second time in Middle Earth & I have yet to attend a live game. Come to think about it, I need to research the rules to rugby & cricket because I still don't get it!

Weeks 5 & 6

2010-05-10T23:54:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks of teaching practice have come & gone, and as I write this, it's already Week 7, the last week of teaching practice. I would have written about Weeks 5 & 6 (April 26th - May 7th) earlier but lesson planning and writing about my North Island Adventure needed to come first.

My Year 9 English class was away at camp for Week 5 so that gave my associate & I a spare period to relax and plan future lessons. Riccarton High School operates the Kokiri Lodge Programme for the Year 9 & 10 curriculum. For 4 days, junior students stay at the Kokiri Lodge on the west coast of the South Island where they participate in a rigorous outdoor program. Students travel on the TranzAlpine Express train, a route that I took with my parents back in 2008. If I had the time, I would have gone along but I had to teach my Year 12s & 13s. The Year 9s had plenty of stories to tell when they came back on Week 6. Once those stories were out of the way, my associate proceeded to teach them a new topic: advertising. At the end of one lesson, I showed the class some creative advertisements that I found on the Internet.

Week 5 was dedicated to getting my Year 13s ready for their Baroque Era Quiz on Thursday, meaning review, review, review. I stressed to them that if they knew the definitions then they would be set for the quiz & for life. The quiz was written in 3 parts: listening, definitions, and long answers. The results were quite good with the majority passing and five students achieving very high marks. For Week 6, the Year 13s had to choose a topic for their research assessment and work on it.

My Year 12s were instructed in the creation & structure of an 8 bar melody. To make sure they really understood, I tasked them to write an 8 bar melody for Friday, in a major or minor key, with a time signature, and a simple bass accompaniment. Before they got working on the keyboards, I showed them several tricks with melody writing: repetition, inversion, retrograde, augmentation, and diminution. The melodies I received on Friday & the following Monday were impressive and written in different styles. The following week, I introduced them to primary & secondary chords, and they were given time to work on their final musical compositions.

The alternative Year 9 music class finished learning about Ice Cream Chords that were popular in the 1950s. The examples that were used by my associate were 'Those Magic Changes' from the musical Grease, and the annoying 'Heart & Soul' by Hoagy Carmichael. After that, there turned their attentions to learning how to play the melody & chords of the popular New Zealand song 'Renegade Fighter' by the rock band Zed.

My second & final observation from the College of Education happened on Friday of Week 6, with me teaching my Year 9 music class. I had to teach & control students with ADD & ADHD. The topic was learning the structure of the song 'Cruise Control' by the NZ band Headless Chickens, and getting the students to play the melody. Overall the lesson went better than I expected but I have to admit that if my college associate wasn't there, I would have had to refer several students for disruptive behaviour. When it comes to students with learning difficulties, you have to be constantly working them, otherwise they quickly lose interest and chaos ensues.

The month of May is New Zealand Music Month, a Middle Earth oriented promotion run by the NZ Music Commission. Basically, all media outlets (TV, radio, internet, etc) advertise & show off Middle Earth's best & brightest musical stars. Of course, there are also many live concerts that are staged across the country. To show my support, I've been wearing the NZ Music Month pin; white circles on a black background. During Week 6, the school jazz band, barbershop chorus, and kapa haka group performed at the library to celebrate New Zealand Music Month. The performances were all well done & the audience gave all the acts a standing ovation.

I should also note that several days ago was May 4th, unofficially known as Star Wars Day where fans celebrate Star Wars culture & the landmark films by George Lucas. 'May the 4th be with you.'

N.I.T.: Rotorua Museums & Final Thoughts

2010-05-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

The next day, I walked back to the Government Gardens, intent on visiting the Rotorua Museum of Arts & History. As always, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, but the wind strong. The museum is located in the historic 1908 Bath House which offered therapeutic treatments for arthritis, rheumatism, and 'cases of nervous debility' until the 1940s. The museum opened in 1969 followed by the art gallery in 1977.

At the time of my arrival, one entire section of the museum was closed for renovation. However, there were still plenty of exhibitions to see. After paying the $12 admission, I walked upstairs to take pictures of the gardens from the second floor windows & enjoy the Mirror Magic exhibit. Mirror Magic interactively explores the science of reflections & reflected light. You get to play with mirrors, toy objects, and beams of light, like in a Grade 10 Science class. Also on the top floor was an exhibit dedicated to the famous Tudor Towers Restaurant that operated out of the Bath House between 1965 & 2000. Many upcoming & already famous NZ music acts performed at this establishment that specialized in fine dining, dancing, and cabaret performances.

From there, I descended back to the ground floor, passed through a couple of doors & the museum cafe to explore the 28th Maori Battalion Gallery. The exhibit primarily focuses on B Company of the Battalion, showcasing letters, medals, pictures, and a map of their epic battles in Greece, Crete, North Africa, and Italy during the Second World War. I believe it was the German General Westphal who remarked, "Give me the Maori Battalion & I will conquer the world,' often mis-credited to the 'Desert Fox', General Erwin Rommel.

Next to the Battalion Gallery is the Te Arawa Gallery with a huge collection of treasures and artifacts from the Te Arawa iwi (tribe) that settled in the Rotorua region back in 800 C.E. There're are many paintings, carvings, weaved baskets, and written accounts to explore in this exhibit. If cameras were allowed, I would have snapped a few pictures for my BLOG readers to see.

And lastly, there was the Bath House exhibit, where spa treatment met crazy science. While in operation, the Bath House was the site of crazy experiments being conducted to discover better treatment of illnesses. One such experiment was to bathe in electrified water (non-lethal of course). The white tubs & saunas in each of the rooms were built into the ground, tapping into the geothermal activity. The biggest problem was the cost of maintenance. The sulfur & steam corroded the wood, paint, and iron pipes, costing thousands to repair and replace.

The next museum on my list was the Caterpillar Museum, located just north of the city centre along Fairy Springs Road, past theSkyline Rides. It took me around 30 minutes to get there on foot. The Caterpillar Museum is the first of its kind, housing over 30 refurbished Caterpillar vehicles that were imported to New Zealand since the early 20th century. The museum may look shoddy from the outside because it occupies a large warehouse building, but inside, the layout is well done & organized. The $20 admission is a little expensive but it's probably because of the high cost of maintenance. There are four TVs that show four different videos about how the Caterpillars were used in New Zealand & throughout the world. When you think about it, at any given moment, there are various Caterpillars carving out the planet to suit the needs of millions of people.

For dinner, my brother & I chose to dine at Macs Steaks on Tutanekei Street in downtown Rotorua. A portion of the street had been closed to vehicles, letting nearby restaurants use the street to set tables & chairs for customers. We parked ourselves in front of the bar & ordered some drinks. Since it was our last night Rotorua, I ordered a Steinlager Pure in a 1 litre glass mug. Best $18 ever spent! From there we shared a plate of garlic bread before receiving our main courses: T-bone steaks with side orders of fries & salad. I was full after the steak but my brother decided to indulge in an ice cream dessert. The bill came up to . . . um, well, let's just say it was high but worth it. Give this place a try when you find yourself in Sulfur City.

On the morning of April 17th, my brother & I checked out of the YHA Treks, hailed a cab, and got dropped off at the Rotorua Airport with our bags. We checked ourselves in and waited for our separate flights. My brother would fly to Auckland then to Australia, whereas I would fly back to Wellington to board another plane to Christchurch. After exchanging goodbyes, my brother boarded the small plane & was off to Auckland, leaving me to mope around the Rotorua terminal for another hour. After several more hours, I was back in my Christchurch flat, unpacking, and throwing out my vegetables that had turned rotten. Overall, Rotorua is a nice place but the sulfur smell is tough to get used to. I'll have to go back to check out Tamaki Maori Village, Mitai Maori Village, & the geysers of Wai-O-Tapu.

Despite my best efforts, not everything went according to plan. I had secretly planned to tandem skydive from 15,000 feet above the Rotorua skies but the unpredictable winds made it impossible for a safe jump. Even though I reassured the NZONE staff that I could swim, had previously jumped in Christchurch, and didn't mind landing way off course, they still would not let me go up because of the risks. Plus, the company was still in damage control because of a news story about a landing accident in Queenstown that exaggerated the injuries and damaged the company's credibility. I guess I'll have to conquer the Rotorua skies on another day.

Aside from the Great Upset, the two week trip turned out quite well. I saw a lot of cool stuff, ate a lot of steak, drank plenty of beer, and took 290 pictures & 2 videos. The only downside, of course, was that my brother & I only had two full days to explore each city. That's tolerable because this trip was more about quantity than quality. Another trip will be needed to explore the remaining neighbourhoods. If you've got the time, money, will, and strength (my brother & I walked everywhere), then experiencing a trip like this will be totally worth it!

End of North Island Tour Series.

(Post 10 of 10)

N.I.T.: Enter Rotorua

2010-05-05T03:34:00.001-07:00

The city of Rotorua is located in the Bay of Plenty region on New Zealand's North Island & has a population of roughly 55,600 people. The city's full name in Te Reo Maori is Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe, meaning 'The second great lake of Kahumatamomoe.' The two main lakes in the area are Lake Rotorua & Lake Roto Iti. Kahumatamome was the uncle of the Maori chief Ihenga, whose Te Arawa iwi (tribe) settled the area before the arrival of the Europeans. The city is a major tourist destination because it's a major centre of Maori arts & culture, and due to geothermal activity meaning geysers, mud pools, and hot springs. This would be the fourth & final city my brother & I would visit on our North Island Trip.

Our bus left the small Napier Bus Terminal at 1130 on April 14th, and made its way to the town of Taupo to drop off the passengers transferring to the double decker Auckland buses, before continuing on to Rotorua. The 4 hour bus ride was mostly uneventful & I passed the time listening to my MP3 Player. Once in Rotorua, my brother & I walked to the 5 star YHA Treks hostel just north of the town's centre. Our Twin Ensuite room was small but had two separate beds & a private washroom. My only complaint is that there is no lock on the washroom door (sliding door in this case)! I can't understand why some hotels overlook privacy concerns. There must always be a lock on the washroom door, regardless if you trust the people you're travelling with.

The town's centre is similar to Nelson: two/three storey buildings with shops, cafes, fancy restaurants, and fast food outlets. A large white tarp sits above the Hinemoa & Tutanekai intersection for street performances and buskers. I'm not sure if this happens frequently, but during our two day stay, upright pianos had been placed in random locations in the city centre for people to play. Some pianos sounded good while others needed tuning.

Rotorua's major inconvenience are the hydrogen sulfide emissions that drench the area in a constant 'rotten eggs' smell. The city's two unofficial names are Sulfur City & Rotten-rua. At first, I couldn't smell it, but when I walked down to the lake to explore the Government Gardens, the stench immediately made its presence known. The intensity depends on the wind; one minute the smell is light, and then the next minute it's unbearable. I had to spit several times to get the rotten eggs taste off my tongue. Sulfur is Mother Nature's gas. If I had known how bad it can be, I would have brought a gas mask.

The Government Gardens were created as a recreational area along the southern shore of Lake Rotorua during the late 19th century. The 50 acres of land were given to the city as a gift from the original Maori owners. The Gardens is also where the Rotorua Museum & restored bath houses are located. Hundreds of birds flock & swim along the southern shore, hoping to get some food from tourists. The black swans are friendly & will come really close to you expecting food. Other introduced birds include mallards, red billed gulls, and black billed gulls. I should warn you that these birds have a nasty habit of leaving feces on the public walkways so be careful where you step.

Kuirau Park is one of the best places to experience & photograph Rotorua's geothermal activities. Located just a few blocks to the east of the city centre, this park contains many hot bubbling mud pools and lakes with floating mist. And the smell isn't bad either! For safety, the mud pools are surrounded by wooden fences, and you're only allowed to walk on designated wooden paths when exploring the lakes. I'm not surprised because we're dealing with extreme boiling temperatures. You know those bubbling sounds you hear when you boil water on a kitchen stove? Those are the sounds the bubbles from the mud pits make. The best time to visit the park would be in mid to late afternoon because it's quieter & peaceful.

To Be Continued . . .

(Post 9 of 10)

N.I.T.: Aquarium & Port

2010-05-02T03:27:00.000-07:00

I spent the next two days exploring Napier, starting with the National Aquarium of New Zealand. Admission for adults is $16.20; I don't know why the extra 20 cents is needed. The aquarium offers many exhibits such as: dinosaur fossils, living coral, tsunami display, kiwi enclosure, reptiles, squid display, and a large fish tank called the Oceanarium. Secretly, I always wanted to have pet fish of my own, so walking around the aquarium gave me ideas on what kind of fish I'll be buying for my apartment. The fishes on displays were divided into geographic areas such as African Cichlids, Asian Tropical, Asian Paddyfield, and Koi & Goldfish.

One fish I particularly liked were the black Pacu fish that can grow to 80cm long! There was a tank dedicated to the piranhas - the fish with sharp devouring teeth. I could use some of those fish for security purposes at my future apartment. On a historical note, the aquarium displays a surviving fish from the Second World War: a white, black spotted Panther Grouper (pun intended). Come to think about it, I've also wanted to have some pet reptiles too. My apartment is going to be a wild jungle! Some of the reptiles on display were: a large crocodile that didn't move (I should have asked if it was fake), turtles, lizards, and a large sea turtle. As for the Kiwi Enclosure display, it's dark & you can't use flash when taking pictures of the Kiwi birds. That's not really a problem since it's near impossible to get a good picture of them in the dark. I managed to spot one at the back, hiding behind the bushes.

The best display is the Oceanarium, a large tank with a glass walkway going through it. You can walk & enjoy the hundreds of fish swimming over & around you, giving you the feeling that you're under water. After photographing the sharks & stingrays in the Oceanarium I bought a snack from the aquarium cafe & left.

I proceeded north towards the port, passing by children playing, and skateboarders trying to show off their abilities to onlookers. The port is located on the northern tip of the city & is surrounded by barbed wire fences and train tracks. There wasn't much activity happening that day but there were plenty of cargo crates to look at. From there, I continued to walk around Bluff Hill along Breakwater Road, and then around Hospital Hill using Ahuriri Road & Hyderabad Road. The scenery along this northern coast is mostly industrial but there are some hotels, shops, and a marina as well.

For dinner, my brother & I decided to try the nearby Steak Out Restaurant on Marine Parade Road. Because of a light headache, I decided not to have any alcohol. I ordered a T-Bone & my brother ordered the Monster Rump Steak. The steaks were good but I have to say that the salad bar was not up to standard. The vegetables didn't taste fresh; more like raw & decomposing. Maybe the decline in quality was because the restaurant had been up for sale for the last 3 weeks.

The following evening, (after exploring the Onekawa & Pirimai neighbourhoods), my brother & I chose to celebrate our last day in Napier at Rosie O'Gradys Irish Pub. There was already a crowd inside but we managed to get a table after showing identification. I still get ID'd despite being way over the legal drinking age. My friends have previously described me as a '16 year old who can buy alcohol.' Having worked up quite an appetite, we started with a shrimp cocktail, followed by a plate of nachos, and finished off with a plate of fish & chips. To wash it all down, I had two glasses of Guinness & my brother had Coke. The food was good, the atmosphere was great, but I was unable to get the waitresses phone numbers. After paying our tab, we headed back to the hostel, packed our bags, and went to sleep.

In my opinion, Napier is a vacation town while trying to mimic Los Angeles and/or Miami with all the palm trees. The people here are pretty laid back & there is stuff to do and explore. The best time to come would be in mid-February because that's when Art Deco Weekend happens. The last time something bad happened was the 3 day Napier Siege back in May 2009 so it's pretty safe. If you need to take a break from travelling the North Island, consider the town of Napier to be your resting stop.

To Be Continued . . .

(Post 8 of 10)

N.I.T.: CaliforNapier

2010-04-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

The skies were clear as our turboprop flew to Napier. My brother & I could see as far as Mount Taranaki, more than 200km away! Also known as Mount Egmont, Taranaki is 2518m (8,261ft) above sea level, and is the natural centrepiece of the Taranaki region, located on the west coast of the North Island. I personally call this region the North Island's Ear because of its appearance from satellite photos. Napier is a port city in Hawke's Bay with a population of 58,100. Just 20km south lies the town of Hastings City with a population of 64,500. These two centres are often called 'The Twin Cities'.

After 50 minutes, the plane landed safely in Napier and we disembarked onto the deserted tarmac. There are no baggage carousels at the Napier Terminal; instead your luggage is brought into a small garage by the airport crews & then you take them off the carts. The taxi ride into town was uneventful but my brother & I got to see a brief layout of certain streets. One thing that was clearly noticeable to me were the palm trees, conjuring up images of Los Angeles in my mind. The taxi dropped us off at the 4-star YHA hostel, and we checked into our twin room with ease. The hostel occupies a white cottage like house (that could use some inside/outside renovation) on Marine Parade Road along the rocky beach coastline. Marine Parade resembles Ocean Drive in Miami Beach except the street is lined with tall pine trees rather than palm trees.

Our stay in Napier would feel like 3 full days because we had arrived in the early morning & were checked in by 1030. With days to spare, I decided to walk around the area to see what the town has to offer. Along Marine Parade Road are restaurants, mini golf, skateboard park, children's park, Marine Land, and The National Aquarium of NZ. I should note that Marine Land has been closed since September 11th, 2008 because that's when Kelly, the last remaining dolphin, passed away.

Emerson Street is a road/street mall that runs through the centre of Napier. It's similar to the Sparks Street Mall in my hometown of Ottawa, Canada, except there're more shops than restaurants. On a positive note, there are cafes to for the hungry, but they're mostly situated next to Civic Square. Napier's 1930s Art Deco architecture has made it a popular tourist destination & has earned it the title of Art Deco Capital of the World. This style of architecture was introduced after the deadly earthquake on February 3rd, 1931. With the town centre & surrounding area destroyed, it was decided that the town would be rebuilt in the newest style at the time, the Art Deco style. The Art Deco Trust was established in 1985 to promote the city & maintain all the Art Deco buildings through donations. The Trust is located in the old fire station near Civic Square & offers guided walking/driving tours.

I proceeded to explore Napier South, getting a closer look to large cricket stadium we passed by during the taxi ride into town. The stadium is called McLean Park & was built in 1952. It's seating capacity is 22,000. Also nearby is the oval shaped Nelson Park. The park is basically a large green field surrounded by palm trees, and used to play community rugby & cricket. Kennedy Road is a main street that is lined with tall palm trees, occupying several parking spaces. Walking down this street with the clear blue sky above makes you think that you're in Los Angeles, California, but the left hand vehicle traffic reminds you where you're really are.

The afternoon sun forced me to retreat back to the hostel because I wasn't wearing a hat. Luckily, before my head really started to hurt, I bought some sunscreen at Pak n Save. The first day in Napier had gone by quite well. For the next day I would explore the Aquarium & the port.

To Be Continued . . .

(Post 7 of 10)

Term 2 Begins & ANZAC Day

2010-04-26T23:05:00.000-07:00

(I hadn't originally planned to interrupt my North Island Tour series but circumstances have made it inevitable. I had hoped to have the series finished last week but I needed to focus & work on my teaching practice. For this post, I'll be focusing on what happened last week & this past weekend.)

Last week was the first week of Term 2 & students had come back to Riccarton High with plenty of stories about their two week break. However, a group of students who had gone to France for a school trip were unable to return because of the eruption of Mount Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland. Yeah, try pronouncing that word correctly; I've given up & so have most media outlets. I'm still surprised that the ash cloud from one volcano can cause so much havoc on air travel. Thousands of flights have been cancelled and/or delayed in Europe forcing many travellers to wait for days & weeks. For our students (two of which are in my class), they wouldn't arrive safely home until the following week.

From the first day back, it was business as usual, and I continued teaching my Year 13s about the Baroque Era. We spent the week learning about Concerto Grosso / Ritornello Form, and the creation Opera. For Concerto Grosso, I had them listen & analyse the 1st Movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, whereas for the opera lesson, they watched a DVD & had questions to answer. They worked hard & were attentive because I had announced that there would be a final quiz on the topic the following week.

For my Year 12s, I introduced their next unit, musical composition. I didn't get the opportunity to teach them last term because my associate needed the time to complete the previous unit. The first lesson was a little slow because I wanted to get the boring explanations out of the way before they started writing. After explaining the 4 elements of music (Melody, Harmony, Rhythm, Dynamics), I had them writing their own melodies with the help of electronic keyboards during the second lesson. Despite their objections, I had them present their melodies to the class. At least I didn't make them sing; that would have been cruel.

There were only Jazz Band & Ukulele Band practices last week because not enough students showed up for orchestra practice on Friday. The jazz band is getting ready to perform at the library in the middle of May, presenting songs such as 'Car Wash', 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love', and maybe 'Stairway To Heaven'. The ukulele band practiced a classic NZ song by Split Enz titled 'Six Months On A Leaky Boat'. The song got me thinking: didn't anyone think to pull into a port to get the boat repaired during those six months?

As always, I stayed after school on Friday to enjoy the party in the teacher's lounge. The theme for the week was summer, & some of the teacher were wearing flower dresses. Along with the alcohol, the food up for grabs were fruit, biscuits (crackers), and ice cream. The parties also give teachers the chance to talk to others about the week that just passed, and I chatted with several teachers about our adventures.

This past Sunday (April 25th) was ANZAC Day, similar to Canada's Remembrance Day, where Australians & New Zealanders commemorate the members of the Australian & New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli, Turkey during WWI. The commemoration now includes all those who died & served in military operations overseas. I decided to tag along with the army cadet corps I volunteer with to the ceremonies at Burnham Military Camp and another at Papanui Returned And Services' Association (RSA).

To attend the Burnham ceremony, I had to wake up & get dressed at 0400, and get picked up by a friend at 0450 so that we would be at the camp by 0515. The poppies here are bigger & slightly different than their North American counterparts. People had already started to arrive before we pulled up to the base. By the time the ceremony began at 0600, a big crowd had assembled around the main gates of the camp. The Dawn Ceremony draws its link to the Dawn Landings on Gallipoli back in April 1915. The ceremony is an hour long & the program is extensive, so I'll say that it's similar to a Canadian Remembrance Day Ceremony, with the laying of wreaths, guest speakers, national anthem, prayers, and one minute of silence.

I should also say that the loudest parts of the ceremony are the Minute Warning & Firing of Volleys. The Minute Warning happens at 0629 and is marked by the firing of a 5 inch artillery gun and trust me, you hear it. Everyone is tense before the loud BOOM! because the gun is fired unannounced & its location is close. The Firing of Volleys is done by a small Honour Guard who fire 3 shots from Steyr assault rifles. They're not as loud as the artillery piece but it still made me jump.

After the ceremony, guests were welcomed to eat breakfast at the main mess hall for $5. Because I was with the cadet corps, I got to eat for free because the corps was paying. There were poached eggs, scrambled eggs, beans, sausages, hash browns, bacon, pancakes, bread, and various spreads. I mostly ate the hash browns and bacon.

On our way to the Papanui ceremony, news had broken that an NZ Air Force Iroquois helicopter had crashed 40 km north of Wellington in rugged terrain near Pukerua Bay, killing 3 & seriously wounding one. The helicopter was to take part in a fly by during an ANZAC ceremony in Wellington. Because the aircraft didn't carry a black box, investigators will have to reconstruct events using the debris from the crash site & eye witness accounts which could take months.

At Papanui, there was a short parade through the streets, before the ceremony began at the 1000. The program was similar to the one in Burnham minus the loud guns. The girls choir from Riccarton High School (where I teach) took part in the ceremony by singing the NZ & French National Anthems, God Save The Queen, and God of Nations. After the ceremony, guests were welcomed to a reception in the RSA building where they served sandwiches and sold alcohol at the bar.

Upon returning home, I changed into less formal clothing & got to work, planning lessons for the following week.

N.I.T.: Planes, Pains, & Automobiles

2010-04-25T02:52:00.000-07:00

The Lamborghini Gallardo was gone the next morning when I emerged from the hostel. For the second day, I decided to explore the eastern part of town, located on the other side of Mt. Victoria. Rather than scale the tall hill, I chose to walk through it via the Mount Victoria Tunnel. The tunnel is 623 metres long, two lanes wide, and opened in 1931, connecting the Hataitai suburb to the city centre. While traversing the narrow walkway, the passing cars began to honk periodically & frequently. Since this was happening in a tunnel, the resulting noises were very loud. I originally thought the drivers were honking because an NZ sports team had won a match but after doing some research several days later I learned that that wasn't the case. Drivers engage in a 'Beeping Game', a local tradition that has existed since WW2, but traces back to when the tunnel opened. Back then, the tunnel was mostly used by pedestrians. The few cars that did drive through had to beep at the pedestrians to get out of the way. Next time, I'll be wearing earplugs.

Once out of the loud tunnel, I walked through the quiet section of the Hataitai suburb near Evans Bay. The layout of the area reminded me of the quiet residential streets with bungalows that I observed back in Nelson. The suburban villas of Wellington are built in the style of 19th century architecture, a characteristic that I find tough to enjoy because I prefer modern/contemporary. Building such a residence in this area would be impossible because it would stick out like an eyesore. If I ever decide to live in Wellington, I will have to build my modern house in another area. There was a lot of sports activity happening at Kilbirnie Park when I walked past it. The green fields were being used for football (soccer) & rugby matches. My guess is that the matches were college related because St. Patrick's College sits just across the street from the park. Then again, I could be wrong and it was a community tournament.

A section of State Highway 1 leading to the airport, called Cobham Drive, is the location of numerous artistic sculptures focusing on the wind. The two most appealing to me are the Zephyrometer and The Urban Forest. The Zephyrometer is a tall orange needle that according to the official description, "embraces a number of marine-type associations [such as] masts, dials, & speedometers . . ." The sculpture was designed by Phil Price in 2003. The Urban Forest is a 2007 sculpture collaboration between Leon van den Eijkel & Allan Brown. The multi-coloured boxes are stacked on three concrete blocks and gradually rotate with the help of the wind.

The Wellington International Airport is situated on a small plateau, similar to the Whitehorse International Airport in northern Canada. Surprisingly, the control tower sits on a small hill surrounded by houses. Planes land & take off over Evans and Lyall Bays. The flight paths cross over main roads enabling you to view arriving & departing planes with ease. In the late afternoon, I walked up a small hill next to one end of the runway and watched airport activity for some time. If I had a hat or umbrella to block the sun, I could have watched planes all day. In between my plane watching, I briefly explored the Miramar neighbourhood. I found a small chip shop to have a light snack. While I ate my chips (french fries), a lone pigeon walked around the store eating crumbs off the floor before being chased away by the shop owner.

As the sun began to set, I walked back towards the hostel but this time traversed over Mount Victoria via Constable Street. I then proceeded north through the shopping/commercial district of Wellington South and into the city centre. Since my brother & I had to wake up early the next morning, we opted for a fast food dinner. My brother chose McDonalds while I decided to try the Noodle Canteen for the first time. I ordered the Mongolian Beef and was surprised by the quality.

On the morning of the 11th, my brother & I checked out of YHA Wellington and took a cab to the airport. Rather than spend 4 hours on a bus to the town of Napier, I had planned for us to hop on a 50 minute flight. The airport was somewhat busy but we didn't have any problems checking in our bags. Passengers go through security at the gate instead of one big area like in many major airports. Surprisingly, we didn't have to be screened, most likely because it was a local flight and the plane was a turboprop. After waiting 20 minutes, we were allowed to board via the tarmac, and another 10 minutes later, we were soaring above Wellington heading north towards Napier.

Overall, Middle Earth's capital is a city that you can't see in just two days. You need at least a week. I walked & saw quite a bit during our short stay and it was quite pleasant. I'll have to come back and explore some more. I should have gone inside the Beehive but chose not to because they don't allow pictures. The best parts were the plane watching & the Lamborghini Gallardo. What can I say? Lamborghini is my favourite car brand & I definitely want one.

To Be Continued . . .

(Post 6 of 10)

N.I.T.: Capital of Middle Earth

2010-04-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

The 5 star YHA hostel where my brother & I made reservations is located in downtown Wellington City near the Central Fire Station, on Wakefield Street. The hostel occupies a tall apartment building and offers a wide range of facilities for guests to enjoy. Since we came to explore the city, the only facilities we'd use in the hostel were the Internet lounge, toilets, and our twin room. After deciding when to meet back at the hostel for dinner, my brother & I went our separate ways for the day.

My first destination was the Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa) which is just a block north of the hostel. Admission is mostly free except for travelling exhibitions. The travelling exhibition at the time of my arrival was 'A Day In Pompeii', which displayed hundreds of artifacts & paintings of the once bustling ancient Roman city before Mt. Vesuvius buried it in ash and rock back in 79 CE.

The free exhibitions occupy the museum's 6 levels and present topics on New Zealand Immigration, Maori life & culture, New Zealand history, marine life, Pasifika history, and contemporary art. You could spend an entire day here browsing through the endless collections on display. For this post, I'll focus on the Maori exhibitions. The other exhibitions are cool too so check them out when you visit the museum. Oh, & I would like to thank the museum for explaining why they are called jandals (click on the above picture to find out).

The Maori exhibit happened to be the most interesting & engaging, while the contemporary art exhibit was the most questionable for me (some of the works didn't make sense or shouldn't have been called works). The Maori exhibit featured life size wharenuis (meeting houses) with elaborate carvings, wakas (canoes), portraits, carved statues, and jewelry made from nephrite, more commonly known as greenstone. There is an exhibit dedicated to the Treaty of Waitangi & the Waitangi Tribunal. The treaty itself is quite short, containing only 3 articles but has shaped New Zealand's history and Maori & Pakeha relations since 1840. There are two large reproductions of the treaty in English & Te Reo Maori on display.

The most colourful Maori display in my mind is The Marae on Level 4, somewhat hidden in a secluded corner. "The space comprises a marae atea (place of encounter) and wharenui (meeting house) that cater for all the purposes such places customarily serve. It is also a living exhibition that interprets for visitors the meaning of the marae experience, and acts as a showcase for contemporary Māori art and design." - (taken from Museum website).

Half of the day had gone by before I exited the museum. The sun was still shining & the sky was clear blue. I headed north along the Harbourfront, passing by people on roller blades and on car bicycles. One group of young boys were riding around trying to get high-fives from anyone they passed. Along the Harbourfront, you can find The Civic Square, Circa Theatres, Frank Kitts Park, and Courtenay Place. I stopped into a cafe for a quick snack & drink before continuing on to the Parliament buildings.

The Executive Wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings is commonly known as the 'Beehive' because . . . well, just look at it. The Beehive was built in 1977 and is the locations of the Prime Minister's Office, Cabinet Room, and cabinet ministers offices. There's also a banquet hall to hold functions. Unfortunately, the Beehive is currently listed as the 3rd ugliest building in the world according to the website VirtualTourist.com. Personally, I don't think it's that ugly; I can think of many other buildings that are uglier.

After the Beehive, I walked further north towards Westpac Stadium, my next destination, crossing streets and watching the yellow public buses transporting passengers around the city. The GO Buses as they are called, are tram buses like the ones in Toronto, Canada, drawing their power from power lines suspended from above the main roads. Westpac Stadium is a multi-purpose facility built near the main industrial port & railway station. It opened in 2000 & has a seating capacity of 36,000. It's mainly used for rugby games but also hosts large music concerts. What impressed me was not the stadium itself but the long, wide, and elevated concrete walkway built for fans. The concrete walkway is 650 metres long and extends as far as the railway station! It's wide enough to be a fair ground. Below the walkway is a large parking lot for vehicles.

I back tracked the way I came and photographed the railway station. Inside, it's open & spacious, reminding me of New York's Grand Central Station. From the train station, I walked southwest and explored the quiet Botanic Gardens. Getting there on foot is a bit of a challenge because it rests on a hill. However, there is the Cable Car that can take you up the hill for breathtaking views of the city & to visit the Cable Car Museum.

After walking around the suburbs on the hill, I descended back into the city and met up with my brother. Night had settled when we strolled into a restaurant/pub called Coyote Bar, located on Courtenay Place Road. I should note that Courtenay Place Road is the party district; bars, clubs, & restaurants line this street and are bustling with activity and excitement at night. For dinner my brother ordered beef fajitas with Pepsi, while I ordered a steak with white house wine. The atmosphere of the place was busy but not too loud, and the food was great.

While wobbling back to the hostel, my brother & I were surprised to see an orange Lamborghini Gallardo parked on the side of the road. It prompted me to run to my room, grab my digital camera, and snap a photo before the owner drove it away. While I slept that night, I wondered who was the owner? Maybe PM John Key?

To Be Conitnued . . .

(Post 5 of 10)

N.I.T.: To Picton & Beyond

2010-04-22T03:50:00.000-07:00

It was a little cold outside when my brother & I checked out of Accents On The Park hostel at 0730 the next morning. We headed towards the Intercity Bus Terminal, walking through a deserted town centre. With plenty of time to spare, I bought a drink & two cookies from a nearby Subway. It was supposed to be one cookie but the lady behind the counter misheard & gave me two. My brother & I sat on a bench and waited for our bus to arrive. When it did arrive at 0830, a large crowd of passengers had formed. Once the bus driver confirmed that we were on the list, we boarded the bus and waited to depart. The driver introduced himself over the intercom when we were underway and explained the plan of the trip.

The bus ride was mostly quiet because everyone was still tired & sleeping. We drove up & down the same hills towards the wine town of Blenheim. Along the way, the driver played tour guide, explaining the local natural & rural history. We pulled into Blenheim after two hours of travel. Since the bus was continuing on to Picton, my brother & I didn't have to get off. Of course, those travelling south towards Kaikoura & Christchurch have to disembark and wait for another bus.

The small town of Picton is a remote community located on the northern tip of the South Island. It's main purpose is to serve as the South Island's port for the InterIslander Ferry. The North Island's port is the capital city of Wellington. Every day, three ferries sail between the islands, transporting cars, trucks, passengers, and various cargo. Once in Picton, we were dropped off at the InterIslander Ferry Terminal at 1040. Even though the ferry wouldn't arrive & depart until 1310, my brother & I decided to get our boarding passes early, and let my brother check in his heavy suitcase. With that out of the way, we left the terminal & explored the town.

The ferry arrived on time, slowly turning around, and then backing into the main dock. Forty-five minutes were needed for passengers & vehicles to disembark, and for the ship's crew to restock supplies. Getting onboard required walking through an air bridge like at the airport, and people with cars were instructed to lock their doors & make sure their vehicles were in park before proceeding to the passenger decks. With everyone safely onboard, the Captain set sail for the city of Wellington, just 3 hours away.

The wind started to pick up when the ferry was up to speed, prompting me to put on gloves. I was thankful that I was wearing a turtleneck & a heavy sweater because the gusts can become really cold at times. Despite the cold wind, the day was sunny & partly cloudy. After enjoying the scenery on Deck 10, I descended below to explore the other decks. The ferry has many facilities spread across 10 decks for passengers to explore & enjoy. These include: movie theatre, bar, lounge, daycare, cafe, cafeteria, gift shop, private lounges, and observation decks.

To be honest, I'm not much of a mariner, so it was awkward trying to walk around the boat because it slowly rocked from side to side. There were moments when I thought I was going to fall over. The rocking motion is subtle but you feel it . . . and if you don't get used to it, your stomach will feel it too. There're sea sickness bags everywhere but I had Gravol by my side. Throughout the 3 hour trip, I didn't see one passenger run for an air sickness bag. After snacking on an expensive sandwich I bought from the cafe, my brother & I wobbled over to the bar for a Coke & Smirnoff Ice. There happened to be a football (soccer) game on a tv so we found a place to sit and watched the end of the match.

A 'big' moment (also a little surreal) in the voyage was when the ferry entered Cook Strait, the sea between the North & South islands. I happened to be in the forward observation room when the captain made the announcement. The people in the room became transfixed on the 'gateway' we had to pass to enter the Strait, snapping pictures or looking ahead like deer caught in headlights. Of course, there were passengers who just found a spot on the ferry & slept for the whole voyage.

The crossing of the Cook Strait was uneventful except for the gentle rocking of the boat. After some time, the land known as the North Island came into view. At first, the land was just green mountains but slowly, man-made structures such as power lines, telephone towers, and bungalows started to appear. Then the ferry turned inland and everyone could see the sprawling neighbourhoods of Strathmore Park, Seatoun Heights, and Scorching Bay. Once the ship sailed around Mount Crawford, a lot of passengers came up to the Observation deck to photograph the Wellington City skyline.

The ferry docked just north of the industrial port and Westpac Stadium. When my brother picked up his suitcase we exited the terminal and headed towards the YHA Hostel. Rather than spend the money on a bus or cab, we chose to walk the distance, which took us about 30 minutes. On the way we passed various city landmarks that I was bound to visit & photograph the next day. By the time we arrived at our hostel, the sun was setting, and our legs were aching from the long walk. I dropped my backpack on the floor and collapsed on my bed, giving my feet a rest and checking for any blisters. We made it to the capital; another city to explore.

To Be Continued . . .

(Post 4 of 10)

N.I.T.: Beyond InTown Nelson

2010-04-21T01:45:00.000-07:00

Once woken up & feeling rested, I stepped out of the hostel and walked several blocks before finding myself bored. Looking to cure my boredom I chose & followed a main road leading away from the town's centre. I didn't have a destination in mind; just wanted to see where my legs would take me. I wandered through several quiet residential streets, observing the various architectural styles of bungalows. They weren't as impressive as that mailbox I found made out of an old car engine.

When I was over a small hill, I took a shortcut down Beatson Road, a newly paved side street that hugged the large hill that sat in the centre of Nelson. The hill itself is infested with streets & residential homes. I guess a lot of families can't pass up the chance to have a house on a hill top with a majestic view of the sea. Seeing this crowded hill made me think of the rich hilltop mansions in Los Angeles, California.

From Beatson Road, I headed northwest passed the large Annesbrook turning circle, and onto Quarantine Road. By this time, I had decided to walk to the airport because . . . um, well, because I could. On the way I visited the World of WearableArt & Classic Cars Museum, more commonly known as the WoW Museum. What attracted me to the museum was the large white Excalibur car on display near the parking lot. After paying my $20 admission, I casually strolled into the classic cars area. The collection spanned from the 1930s all the way to 2007. For the person such as myself with modern/futuristic tastes, the museum's collection included two Ferraris, a luxurious 2004 Maybach, and the 1981 DeLorean, the car made famous by the Back To The Future movie Trilogy.

The wearable art exhibit featured brightly coloured costumes that were designed for the purpose of art. Trust me, you wouldn't find anyone wearing these outfits unless in a fashion/art show. The costumes sat on black coloured mannequins & moved on a conveyor belt with music playing in the background. Interesting but not as impressive as the car collection.

After leaving the museum, I headed towards the airport to find something to eat because the cafe at the museum had just closed. A new hangar was under construction as I walked into the small terminal. The size & setting reminded me of the small airport of Regina, Saskatchewan. With my stomach satisfied by a chicken Caesar wrap & Coke, I walked up to the observation deck to get a glimpse of the tarmac. Unfortunately, the only activity happening was a commercial turboprop testing its engines, but I snapped a few pictures before leaving.

Rather than heading back the way I came, I instead headed northeast towards Tahunanui Beach. The green grass, palm trees, fast food outlets, and mid afternoon sun made the beach area appear as if it were Sunset Beach Park in Vancouver, Canada. Lumbering on, I walked along Rocks Road, the main roadway that runs along the narrow rocky northwest coastline. Trucks & cars use this road because of its connection to the port and the city centre. As well several condos, pubs, & taverns have been built along this road, and there's even designated area for people to fish.

I was a little late but made back to the hostel to meet up with brother. We walked around intown looking for a restaurant and finally settled for the pub/restaurant House of Ales. It's a small but popular establishment (according to the all the happy photo portraits on the walls) located near Church Hill. Naturally, the alcohol selection is huge with 11 beers on tap, and 30 red, white, & sparkling wines to choose from. I can't remember what I had to eat but I do remember it being well prepared & tasty.

After paying our bill we headed back to our hostel to check our email & pack our things. We went to bed early because we would be getting up early the next morning to sign out & catch our bus to Picton. Overall, Nelson is quite a nice little town to explore but you'll need powerful legs to see what I saw unless you have a car at your disposal. If you do have a car, just remember that they're not allowed on the walking trails. Plus, there's more of Nelson that I haven't explored so there's much more to see. The city centre is mostly a shopping area but there are restaurants & pubs nearby. If you've got the time, give the Centre of New Zealand a try!

To Be Continued . . .

(Post 3 of 10)

N.I.T.: Walkabout Nelson

2010-04-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

Our five star, family operated hostel, Accents On The Park, is located near the centre of town, next to Nelson Cathedral which sits on top of Church Hill. Upon arrival, we were warmly greeted by staff & signed in. Our private room came with two beds & a sink. The hostel has computers with Internet & Skype, and a cash only restaurant/bar in the basement. Every evening, a movie is put on for guests with free popcorn. I have to say that the hostel's fish & chips are quite tasty.

Once settled, my brother & I set off to explore the town separately due to our different tastes. Even though I'm not a big fan of The Lord Of The Rings series, I still visited & photographed Jens Hansen Jewelers, the company that Peter Jackson's art direction team chose to create the 'One Ring' for the film trilogy. Jens Hansen created 15 different prototypes and then another 40 based on the chosen prototype! Unfortunately, he died in August 1999 before the first movie premiered in 2001.

Downtown Nelson reminds me of Bank Street in downtown Ottawa, Canada. Most of the buildings are two stories high & are occupied by shops, cafes, and restaurants. Town Hall is pretty much the tallest building, standing at 7 stories. The Nelson Provincial Museum can also be found here & I stopped in to have a look at the natural & human history of the town & surrounding area. Admission is free but it's suggested that you make a donation.

From downtown, I started walking towards the port until I noticed a hidden pathway leading up one of the residential hills. I followed the path up to several viewing balconies, letting me get a grander view of Nelson. After snapping a few pictures, I descended back to the main road & walked to the east side of town, and ascended up the higher hills. Nelson is surrounded by hills & is well known for its tramping trails so I decided to give them a try. The trails are not steep but can be tiresome if you're not fit.

The trails on the higher hills lead you through slanted grass lands and give way to beautiful views of the town. My only complaint is that the trails pass through grasslands that are used by lamb & sheep meaning there're plenty of feces lying everywhere. My advice is to stop & look at the town rather than look at the town & move. Nelson citizens don't seem to mind the unpleasantness and continue to use the trails for walking, jogging, and biking. After maneuvering around the feces, I made it to the top of one hill with a small concrete monument. The monument marks the hill as the centre of Middle Earth.

On the way back to the hostel, I took a shortcut through the Queens Gardens. It reminds me of a mini Botanic Gardens in Christchurch, with many plants, pathways, and swimming ducks. If you're a garden lover, give this park a visit.

When it was time for dinner, my brother & I went into town and chose to eat at Lone Star. While waiting for a table, I ordered a Corona from the bar, and my brother gazed at the many portraits on the walls. Once we were seated we ordered juicy steaks. In New Zealand, the steak sizes are written in grams whereas in Canada, it's still in ounces. The steaks were good, and while waiting for our bill we decided to have steak in each town we'd be visiting on this trip.

We made our way back to our hostel and watched the end of the film Wedding Crashers that was being shown in the basement restaurant. Once finished, we went to our room and slept, wondering what to do the following day.

To Be Continued . . .

(Post 2 of 10)

North Island Tour: The Road To Nelson

2010-04-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

My brother & I began our trip with an early wake up on the 5th of April, dragging ourselves out of bed, collecting our bags, and catching our taxi to the main Intercity Bus stop in downtown Christchurch. The building was still closed when we arrived so we just walked around & waited until the building opened at 0630. Despite being an early departure, the bus was surprisingly filled with people. I should note that many Intercity buses do not come with a toilet (like this one) so go before the bus goes.

The bus route was along the east coast of the South Island, heading towards the town of Kaikoura, and then on to Blenheim. The TranzCoastal tourist/passenger train happened to be travelling in the same direction as we were. I had ridden on it in 2008 with my parents when we went whale watching in Kaikoura. Now that I think about it, the space in between Middle Earth's railway tracks are really small.

The coastal landscape remained unchanged since my last visit, with towering mountains, winding roads, and restless waves. As we neared Kaikoura, the main road became windier, forcing the bus driver to turn left & right many times. He could have slowed down when making the turns but I think he was having too good of time showing off his driving skills. I did my best to snap photos of the majestic landscape, shaded by an overcast day.

Upon our arrival in Kaikoura, we were given a 30 minute break to stretch our legs & find something to snack on. My brother & I walked through the main town, a collection of shops & cafes, to the rocky beach near the railway station. Waves crashed onto the rocks before receding with a distinct sound, an act that had been going on for millennia.

The bus continued on to the town of Blenheim with its human cargo. The landscape started to change slowly, the green tree mountains turning into yellow grassland hills. What didn't change was the winding road. The ascent & descent, along with the tight turns, brought back memories of travelling with my family to Flagstaff, Arizona, when I was a child.

The Blenheim area is home to vast wine fields spanning hundreds of hectares and operated by various NZ wine companies. The bus driver explained that Middle Earth produces around 43 million litres of wine annually! For a nation of 4 million that's a lot, but compared to world production, it's relatively small. My brother & I switched buses in Blenheim because the one we were on would continue on to the port town of Picton. We had to wait for 40 minutes before the Nelson bus arrived.

The Nelson bus was packed & I had to unfortunately sit next to a couple with a crying baby. Luckily, I had my ear plugs on hand. The colour of the mountains changed again, turning green again but this time because of large pine forest plantations. The Nelson area is used to harvest pine trees for housing & industry. Naturally, the pine trees were imported from Canada in the 19th century. As the bus snaked its way around the steep green mountains, I found myself looking over the edge of road & seeing nothing but a steep drop. Luckily, after an hour of moving up, down, left, and right, the bus safely arrived in Nelson and we disembarked at the Intercity Bus Terminal. We picked up a free city map and walked towards our hostel with our bags in hand.

To Be Continued . . .

(Post 1 of 10)

End of Term 1

2010-04-02T16:26:00.001-07:00

The last week of Term 1 was only 4 days long because of Good Friday. Personally, every Friday is a Good Friday. This week was mostly devoted to students handing in their assignments, and making presentations. My Year 13s had compositions to hand in whereas my Year 12s had arrangements. Next term, I'll be teaching musical composition to my Year 12s, showing them how to write melodies, countermelodies, harmonies, and instrumentation. They finished the term learning about rock operas, such Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, and Jesus Christ Superstar.

I finished teaching the fugue to my Year 13s and by the looks of their faces, they understand the characteristics. The fugue that I chose for them to analyse was the 'Fugue in C Minor', Book 1 from J.S. Bach's Well Tempered Clavier. Lucky for them, they were allowed to listen to the music; I didn't have that luxury when writing my analysis test for the Royal Conservatory. To make it easier for them to see how a fugue is put together, I created a visual resource with the terms pasted on colourful construction paper. Once the sheet music was properly analysed, they had to organize the cards in the same order as the terms appeared on the sheet music. This greatly helped them understand that writing a fugue isn't as tough as it looks. My associate & college observer were impressed by my resource, giving me extra points before suggesting that I laminate the cards to avoid damage by future students.

My Year 9 Alternative English class (kids with ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia, etc.) had dramatic monologues to prepare for Thursday. The monologues were to be based on a character from the movie Stand And Deliver. Most of the students chose the calculus teacher Mr. Escalante because they said he was the easiest. Of course, some chose the student characters, and even showed up wearing costumes. Naturally, there were several students who didn't have anything prepared, but the teacher, Mrs. MacDonald made them go up & improvise. I have to admit that one of the students, who is troublesome a lot, was quite good at acting out his gangster like character. He could really make it as an actor if he only applied himself.

Wednesday's assembly wasn't as interesting as last week's, but it had its moments. One part that was tumultuous was when student council made all the seniors stand up and sing Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' The singalong, well, didn't go as well as student council had hoped. (Here's the Muppet's Version for you to listen to). Apparently, several years ago, the teachers made all the junior grades sing a song during assembly. Oh, how many times do I remember when I was in elementary school & got in trouble because I flatly refused to sing. Boy, I was a rebel without a cause.

Since there were no classes on Friday, I didn't get a chance to do a repeat conducting performance with the orchestra. Luckily, I still had jazz & ukulele bands to go to. The jazz band it currently working on 'Car Wash', and a jazz arrangement of 'Stairway To Heaven'. As for the ukulele band, were just plucking away basic songs like 'He's Got The World (In His Hands)' and 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow'.

Thursday was also a short day because teachers & students needed Period 5 to clean up the classrooms & hand out report cards. I can't remember what they're officially called but the reports don't mark academics but classroom behaviour and relationships with teachers & students. Academic report cards come at the end of Terms 2 & 4. Naturally, there was a End of the Term end party held in the Teachers Lounge with no theme, but free alcohol! Oh, there was also finger food like Brie cheese, grapes, biscuits (crackers in North America), and fruit. Most of the student teachers that I talked to said that they would be travelling over the holidays, to Auckland, Hamilton, and Queenstown.

With Term 1 now over, I can look forward to two weeks vacation. My older brother Roman is flying over to visit & we're going to be touring the North Island for 12 days. The lucky cities are, [drum roll]: Nelson, Wellington, Napier, and Rotorua. Yes, I am aware that Nelson is not on the North Island (Northern tip of the South Island), but hey, when you have to bus up from Christchurch, you need a place to rest and explore a bit. Since I'll be travelling for most of the break, I better get back to working on my Unit Plan for my Year 12s.

It's most likely that I won't start writing about my journeys until I've returned. Sorry about the impending BLOG blackout but I'll the time to gather photos, plan my future posts, and of course, enjoy the experiences.

Teaching Debuts

2010-03-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

This past week has been quite hectic with a lot of stuff happening, so excuse the long delay; I've been very busy.

I got involved again with the Christchurch Cadet Corps (Army is not used in any corps titles), located near the now decommissioned Wigram Airfield. The officers were surprised/pleased to see me again after my 8 month absence. The corps ranks were slightly bigger this year, hovering around 45 on paper. It was quite amusing to see the NZ style of drill, which is much different than Canadian. At the moment, I've been helping out with the administration, as well as showing potential new recruits what to expect should they choose to join.

After a week & a half of observing & assisting, I was given the opportunity to instruct my Y13 Music class about the musical characteristics of the Baroque Era. Overall, the lesson turned out quite well in my mind. I first introduced myself as Mr. D, said every student's name as a review & proceeded with the main topic. After identifying & explaining the different characteristics, I instructed the class to analyse a Baroque vocal piece and an instrumental one. I had planned to introduce the musical forms but I ran out of time. The musical forms will be for Monday's lesson. After that it's on to the Fugue.

I've also gotten heavily involved with the extra-curricular music program, devoting my time across three bands during lunchtime. The first is the jazz band on Monday where I advised & assisted the percussion section. The band is currently tackling the classics like 'Satin Doll'. On Wednesday, it's the newly formed ukulele band. Yes, that's right, I'm now the proud owner of a dark blue ukulele. And it only cost $40NZD! A ukulele fad seems to have swept through the school, with the band having close to 50 players, including 8 teachers. The main music classroom was filled with students & teachers with ukuleles of different colours: red, light & dark blue, brown, yellow, pink, purple, orange, yellow, and black. There even was a yellow Spongebob Squarepants ukulele. What have I got myself into?

And finally, on Friday, it's the orchestra. The string section includes first/second violins, violas, and cellos. When it was time to play the Cirque du Soleil compilation piece, my associate, Shane Morrow, had to answer an important phone call. After Theresa, the other music teacher, tried to conduct the piece (she's mostly vocal based), she handed the task over to me. Without hesitation, I was up at the podium, my own wand in hand, conducting, advising, and fixing the parts that sounded sloppy. It was also difficult for me at one part of the piece because the time signatures kept alternating. After some trial & error, I realized that it would be easier to conduct the section in 1. The resulting sound was favourable. From what I could, the students & music teachers were impressed by my conducting abilities, and that I also paid attention to the details.

Students got to sleep in on Tuesday & Friday because the first two periods were needed by the teaching faculty. On Tuesday, there was a teacher's union meeting at Town Hall, and Friday morning was a Professional Development morning for teachers. For the PD morning, I sat in on a class that taught teachers how to create an effective PowerPoint presentation. Despite my previous knowledge of Microsoft's PowerPoint software, it didn't hurt to get a refresher and some advice. Bottom line, keep the presentation simple & use many slides if you have to. Don't cram everything onto one slide.

Wednesday's (24th) junior & senior assemblies were more energetic this week because of Pasifika Culture Week. Around this time in New Zealand, festivals are held to celebrate the culture of Pasifika countries, such as Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. So after the announcement about the upcoming Earth Hour was made, the principal announced the Pasifika student group to perform their 15 minute routine for the juniors & seniors, the same routine they were going to perform at the town hall celebration. I sat in for both assemblies, and watched the performance twice. It was quite an impressive mix of song & dance. Using my digital camera, I filmed the second performance given in the Assembly Hall, packed with senior students.

Unfortunately, due to the uploading size restrictions with BlogSpot, I can't upload the entire 15 minute video as one. I'll have to do it in segments. Please excuse the slight blurriness of the vids; I was standing at the back of the Assembly Hall with my camera on full zoom. Enjoy.

And lastly, the theme for Friday's after school teacher's party was Hawaii. Joyous Hawaiian music filled the teacher's lounge, as teachers brought out trays of tropical fruits, and Hawaiian pizza. I spoke chatted with many teachers, as I munched on the finger food & sipped Chardonnay. Later on, delicious BBQ'd pork loin was served. What a way to finish the work week & begin the weekend!

The Riccarton Way

2010-03-17T22:37:00.000-07:00

Riccarton High School is located roughly between St. Thomas of Canterbury College & Villa Maria College in the Christchurch neighbourhood known as Ilam. The school is the learning centre for 1,010 male & female students, meaning this is my first co-ed teaching placement. (St. Thomas is all boys & Villa Maria is all girls). Unlike in Canada where everything is in one giant edifice, a school in New Zealand is spread out across a collection of buildings, resembling a university campus.

Riccarton's facilities are contained in 22 separate buildings, each dedicated to an area of study, administration, or maintenance. The library building is co-owned by the school & the city, thus allowing the public to access its resources as well. For physical education, students have the gym, 3 tennis courts, and a huge open field to play rugby, soccer, and cricket. There's even a building dedicated to detentions. Most students do their best to avoid being sent to building D5.

I'll admit that I was a little nervous on the first day because of the unexpected, but my previous teaching experiences quelled my nerves. There would be 8 student teachers in total at Riccarton during this placement: 3 Canadians, 1 from Bangladesh, and 4 from across New Zealand. As a whole, our knowledge spanned the subjects of music, history, social studies, Maori studies, math, biology, and technology. For me, I would be involved with the school's music program, officially called Performing Arts.

We, the student teachers, were greeted by the Deputy Principal, Fred Kramer, who gave us a tour of the school. After the walk, we settled into the boardroom where we were given 'the rundown' of how things worked at Riccarton.

As I mentioned before in a previous post, the attitudes of male & female students are the same when they're learning separately. Put them together in a co-ed situation and that's when you get the boys acting all macho, trying to impress the girls, and the girls acting all . . . um, girlish, I think, trying to impress the boys. Until I teach at other New Zealand schools, my observations will remain disproven.

The weather has been cold in the morning, warm by noon, and then cold at night. Sometimes the wind likes to surprise with sudden strong gusts. We also had one heavy rain storm without lightning on Wednesday morning. Come to think about it, I still need to buy an umbrella.

After following a year 10 class for the first two days (and meeting all the teachers), I was assigned a year 9, 12, & 13 music classes for my teaching placement. For the rest of the week, I would be printing class lists & walking around class, guessing & learning all the students' names. It's challenging to learn so many names, but the good news is that many students have the same name. Likewise, the students needed some time to pronounce my name correctly, and guess where I came from. (I was surprised to hear a student suggesting I was from South Africa). As for those students who couldn't pronounce my last name? 'Just call me Mister D.,' I advised.

For St. Patrick's Day, I wore my green tie. The students had their dress up day (called Mufti Day) on Tuesday, many coming to school wearing green civilian clothing. I even saw one male student walking around with green hair. After school, I celebrated the day with a great Irish intellectual: Guinness.

Aside from that, the music department received a large shipment of ukuleles yesterday and has been handing them out to teachers & students who paid $40. Shane Morrow, my music associate, is starting a ukulele band and there's already around 30 students & 6 teachers involved! Well, at least it's not an accordion or bagpipe band. Since I've started playing on the guitar, I guess I can expand on the ukulele.

On Friday, after school, there was a small party held in the teacher's lounge to celebrate the end of the week. There were plenty of finger foods; crackers, brie cheese, chips, grapes, salami, sliced pickles, and sliced honeydew & pineapples. What stood out the most was the alcohol bar. I'm not sure, but I don't think alcohol would have been allowed if this sort of function were held in a Canadian school due to safety concerns (not having teachers drinking while students are still on school grounds). Naturally, I stayed, ate some food, had a Corona, and chatted with several teachers & the principal, before bidding everyone a wonderful weekend.

With Week 1 observation over, I eagerly wait to begin teaching the Riccarton Way on Week 2: Commitment, Honesty, Respect, Excellence.

Home Sweet 2nd Home

2010-03-12T16:11:00.000-08:00

Disembarking in Christchurch filled me with feelings of deja vu. The terminal looked the same since my first visit back in 2008. Getting through customs wasn't a problem except the customs lady asked several more questions about my study & which schools I had taught at (St. Thomas and Villa Maria) before. After picking up my suitcases from the baggage carousel, I made it through the last x-ray security checkpoint and was cleared to exit. I was somewhat surprised to see the terminal expansion project (bigger parking garage, better looking entrance, etc.) still underway after I had left 8 months ago.

Because I was still wearing my winter clothing, I was sweating heavily when I left the terminal. The weather was sunny with a high of 20 degrees, a far cry from the minus 3 degrees when I left my hometown of Ottawa. I quickly found a taxi, dumped my luggage in the back, and got in. Oh yeah, I reminded myself, they drive on the left side of the road, like in Britain, Australia, Japan, and Hong Kong. Yup, the layout of the city hadn't changed that much since my last stay. Endless rows of bungalows, with the occasional corner store & gas station, lined the main street that Alexei, the Russian taxi driver, drove me to the university, as he made small talk along the way.

The familiar university buildings stood in the background as I was dropped off with my luggage at the Ilam Village office to check in & pick up my keycard. After filling out the check in form, the female resident representative led me to my room which was located in the flats that were designated as Kowhai. These flats can hold six people, and comes equipped with a large kitchen, washer & dryer, and a big washroom that holds two toilets & two showers (all in smaller separate rooms of course). My room is the same size as my previous room in the Hinau flats except the kitchen is much bigger, at least twice the size of the Hinau kitchens. And to top it all off, we each have our own separate phone & number. When I was flatting in Hinau, my roommates & I had to share the same phone.

Just as the resident rep left, two of my previous roommates, Heather & Ben, appeared and cheerfully greeted me. They were glad to see me and that I was able to stay in the same flat as them. My other three roommates were Sarah (Heather's cousin), Corey, and Neil. After a long interesting discussion, I made it back to my room to unpack & settle in. The welcome bag from the Ilam staff included a mug, laundry bag, wall planner, and a map of the city's bus routes. Once everything was in the closet and on the proper shelf, I collapsed on the bed I made. The mattress was quite comfortable as I stared at the ceiling and breathed a sigh of relief.

I'm home.

The rest of the week would go by in a blur, devoted to completing enrollment at the University of Canterbury Registry, shopping for food, buying some extra formal clothing for my teaching placement, and walking around town. The following week, starting on the 15th, I would begin my teaching placement at Riccarton High School. I can't wait.

I Didn't Exist . . . Again

2010-03-11T13:32:00.000-08:00

The flight from Vancouver to Auckland was scheduled to be a long & arduous 14 hour journey. If only Air New Zealand had faster planes. Can't someone design a modern Concorde? Well, at least I had an aisle seat - easier access to the washroom. As well, I would spend this flight aboard a Boeing 747 for the first time. What a moment to cherish. After an hour of boarding, the white aerodynamic beast roared down the slick runway & lifted into the night sky.

What's great about the Air NZ entertainment systems is that you don't have to sit through 5 minutes of previews. You have libraries of movies, tv shows, and music to access at your fingertips. I decided to start off the long flight by watching the movie 2012. I won't spoil anything & just say that I expected better, a lot better. Pacing & plot development, those sort of things. Thankfully, I was able to laugh off my disappointment with the comedy film The Hangover, and then finish off with the classic action flick Die Hard. Dinner was a choice between chicken and beef. I chose the beef dish with complimentary white wine.

The rest of the flight was mostly a blur because I kept lapsing in & out of consciousness. Sleeping in the sitting position is tough for me. I tried dreaming that I was sleeping in first class but it didn't work. As I tried to get some rest, the 747 crossed the International Dateline, leaping into the future. We left Vancouver on March 7th, but crossed the dateline into March 9th. A second void was created in my life. I, nor the other passengers existed on March 8th, 2010. The first void was July 4th, 2008.

Somehow, I had gotten some shut eye because I was alert when the pilot announced that we were about to land. It was still dark outside when the 747 touched down in Auckland. If there were still people sleeping, then the pilot did a good job waking them up because the landing was hard & sudden. I know for a fact that several passengers around me jumped at the sound of the loud boom!

With the plane safely docked with the air bridge, I disembarked into the Auckland terminal thinking whether to shout, 'I'M BACK!' or get into the security checkpoint line. Due to my tiredness, I chose the latter. Luck was with me again because on the flight, I was told that I no longer had to pick up my luggage in Auckland & transfer it to the Christchurch flight - that would be done for me. As well, I wouldn't have to go through customs until I arrived in Christchurch.

The wait for the Christchurch flight was only an hour & there weren't that many people travelling at this early hour. Plus, we were transported to the plane via bus, so I briefly got the opportunity to step onto the tarmac. Once again, the plane lifted with ease into the morning sky & made its way south, towards my final destination; Christchurch. I wondered what to expect?

Back To Middle Earth

2010-03-10T15:08:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's hard to believe that it has come to this so fast. Feels like just yesterday I had arrived back in Canada to take a break from my New Zealand studies. But now the time has come, after many months, to return to Middle Earth to complete my Graduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching. The next four months are going to be hectic, rewarding, and memorable.

So much has happened since my last post in June 2009: the end of the 2000s decade; the release of James Cameron's Avatar (now the highest grossing film of all time); the devastating earthquakes in Haiti & Chile; and the Vancouver Olympic Games, just to name a few (Crosby! Crosby! Crosby!). To the examples I just mentioned, I'll just say: the first decade of the 21st century was interesting, I still need to go see Avatar, Haiti & Chile need aid and time to rebuild, and the Olympics were quite magical, despite several setbacks.

The Canadian Team did more than just go for the bronze. They also went for silver & gold, and managed to win the most gold medals by a single country in the history of the winter olympics! Canada certainly owned the golden podium.

I found myself paying a lot of attention to the Games, via TV, newspaper, magazine, and the Internet. And after all that, I still can't wrap my head around how scoring works in curling? The women's hockey team beat the living daylights out of every opponent, while for a time, it looked like the men's hockey team would be eliminated before making it to the final. Thankfully, the ymade it to the final match between Canada & USA. The game was intense and it almost ended at 3rd period if the Americans hadn't tied the score just seconds before the end of the 3rd period. I'm glad that Canada had Sidney Crosby to end the dispute in Overtime. And when he scored that golden goal, 34 million Canadians were on their feet chanting his name. From beginning to end, the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games brought Canadians & their patriotism together.

Anyway, after spending several days with family & friends, I woke up on the early morning of the 7th, had a quick breakfast, and checked my packed luggage. After 3 checks, I bid farewell to my mother, and was driven to the airport by my father. At the airport, my father wished me well just before I entered the terminal.

The first flight was a 4 hour hop to Calgary that passed by with relative boredom. The plane was packed but at least there were no crying babies. Once in Calgary, I walked around & sat for 4 hours, waiting to board my flight to Vancouver. I have to admit that if you don't have a book or laptop to keep you occupied, time will advance ever so slowly. Finally, the long wait was over & I was on my way to Vancouver. This time, the Air Canada plane was only half full, meaning a more quiet & relaxing flight. Too bad it only lasted an hour.

Vancouver was surrounded by fog & rain when the plane touched down on one of the runways. Once off the plane, I had no choice but to walk a long distance to get to the international section of the terminal. Thankfully, I didn't have to manually transfer my luggage to the Air New Zealand flight. During the 3 hour wait, I bought some Tim Horton's donuts & an Ice Capp and enjoyed the consumption. After that, I would have to survive without Timmy's for four months!

On a side note, I was surprised to see a bottle of French Champagne Cognac (aged a century) on sale at a Duty Free store for $34,000! I thought Duty Free was where you could buy cheap alcohol? I wondered what the price would be at an ordinary liquor store.

See you on the other side!

The Journey Home

2009-06-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

Cadets this past Monday went by like standard routine; the only differences were that I had to return all the resources I borrowed & tell the unit where I was heading off too. The cadets wished me well on my way back to Canada & my upcoming summer employment. The officers held a small after party to celebrate my time spent at the unit & mourn my departure. Or was it the other way around?

By the time I got back to my empty room, it was late in the night & I decided to stay awake rather than nap. With the help of my roommate Ben, we carried my suitcases to his car at 4:45am & drove towards the airport. The Christchurch Airport is in the middle of a mass expansion project, meaning I had to be dropped off several metres away from the International terminal. With my suitcases stacked on a metal cart, I thanked my roommate for the lift & bid him farewell until the next time we met.

Lucky for me, there were no queues at the Air New Zealand check in counters & I was able to get everything done in 5 minutes. Once free of my heavy suitcases, I reluctantly paid the $25NZD departure fee & made my way through security. With two hours to spare, I napped on a chair for several minutes before I was awoken by loud Chinese tourists.

The flight to Sydney was uneventful & I spent most of the time watching the critically acclaimed action film The Dark Knight. My plane touched down in Sydney 3 hours later & I was dropped off in the same area where I waited for my flight to Christchurch after visiting my brother in Australia. Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate that $3200AUS cognac set in the Duty Free store.

It was here where I met up with my brother & we both hopped onto the 14 hour flight to Vancouver. Yes, 14 hours! Nothing serious happened when we were waiting except for the occasional crying baby. Despite being in my twenties, I have yet to fly in a Boeing 747 or an Airbus 380 – the largest passenger jets in the world. It’s tough to sit through a 14 hour flight, especially when you’re flying second class (PC name is economy class). Despite the entertainment system, the flight slowly progressed to its end, and the quality of food wasn’t that bad but not as good as before. Next time, I’m flying first class (PC name is business class).

Landing in Vancouver ended my 51-week absence from Canadian soil & after disembarking from the aircraft, I had an extreme craving for Tim Horton’s donuts. Unfortunately, my brother & I didn’t get the chance to seek out a Timmy’s because of the long customs lines, baggage transfers, & the fact we missed our direct flight to Ottawa. Luckily, we were transferred to the next flight two hours later. However, the chosen plane had to be grounded for mechanical failure, and the replacement was smaller meaning staff had to divert several passengers to even later flights! Wow, air travel is so great, isn’t it? I’m kind of glad that the Ottawa flight was downsized because it limited the amount of crying babies.

Personally, there has to be a section on a passenger aircraft dedicated to parents with infants & little children. Earplugs can only do so much. And the second class seats need to be bigger – airlines are making a big mistake favouring quantity over quality.

I was ecstatic when I walked into the new modern Ottawa Terminal that had not long ago finished an expansion project. There was no trace left of the old run down terminal of the 1980s & 1990s. I was also glad because my return journey was finished. Flying halfway across the planet in a span of 28 hours & crossing 8 time zones can be hard on the head in the form of jet lag.

After picking up our baggage, my brother & I were picked up by our joyful parents who treated us to a welcome back dinner (alcohol included) before we collapsed onto our beds for much needed rest. My bed is a lot higher off the ground than I thought it was.

Well, this is it for a while. My BLOG is not finished or over, but in a state of limbo. I’ll definitely be paying Middle Earth another visit in the near future (predicting March 2010). In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I'll be back!"

As long as the Internet & Google exist, this BLOG will be present in cyberspace. Even though I won’t be posting anything new for a while, that doesn’t mean you have to stop visiting. There’s 76 posts to reread & enjoy!

So, until next time, cheers!

Top Ten Moments of My Middle Earth Stay

2009-06-21T20:03:00.000-07:00

Even though the TVs in Ilam Village give you access to just 5 channels, I was glad that one of them, C4, provided me with The Daily Show with John Stewart. If I chose to stay up later, I’d flick over to the Prime Channel to watch The Late Show with David Letterman. Letterman’s comedy is good enough for me to endure his opening monologue & his Top Ten List.

So, to recap the best that has happened in Middle Earth, I’m going to mimic Letterman with my own Top Ten List. Letterman, if you’re reading this, I’ve credited you as the creator, so please don’t sue.

Before I begin, I would like to point out that these are NOT the only moments/memories that have happened during my stay. There was much to choose from when I jotted down all the non-incriminating stuff that I could come up with. After much deep thought & personal debate, I’ve finally come up with a list. To those moments & memories that didn’t make the cut, don’t feel like I’ve forgotten about you, because I have not and never will.

Okay, so let’s begin. [drum roll]

At Number 10: Skiing the high mountains of Temple Basin & tramping the scenic landscape.

[drum roll]

At Number 9: Constantly hearing riders say ‘Thank You’ when getting off public buses.

[drum roll]

At Number 8: The bigger & comfier movie theatre seats & the fact that they’re assigned.

[drum roll]

At Number 7: Ilam Village Life (random power failures, loud drunken parties, elevator breakdowns, TV with only 5 channels, roommates, etc).

[drum roll]

At Number 6: College Life (bar outings, entertaining lectures, parties, friends, etc).

[drum roll]

At Number 5: Touring Dunedin, Invercargill, Sydney, Brisbane, & Canberra with my older brother Roman.

[drum roll]

At Number 4: Whale watching & drinking expensive wines with my visiting parents.

[drum roll]

At Number 3: Being called Mr. D. on teaching practice & at cadets.

[drum roll]

At Number 2: Learning Maori & NZ English culture (Rugby & the All Blacks, CHC to Phuket ad, Hair Poo, Te Puke, the Haka, Shag Point, LJ Hooker Real Estate, etc)

[extended drum roll]

And the Number 1 Moment of My Middle Earth Stay: Skydiving over Christchurch from 12,000 feet!

Next up is catching my flights back to Canada while meeting up with my older brother, Roman, along the way, in Sydney. Hopefully, we’ll arrive in Canada swine flu free & not be quarantined and subjected to intensive searches by Airport/Border Security.

When I lift off from Christchurch to Sydney tomorrow in the very early morning, my record for surviving on my own will stand at an all time high of 30 consecutive weeks!

Final Thoughts

2009-06-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

Where do I begin?

My room is beginning to look empty & barren, as I slowly pack everything that I’ve chosen to take with me into two large suitcases & my laptop carrier. After choosing what will be left behind & recycling the academic waste, it still looks like I’ll be taking a lot of stuff with me. In a way, the cleaning & packing makes me feel like the secret police, completely erasing all traces that this room was occupied for 51 weeks.

When I shut & lock my room door for the last time, I’ll be closing another chapter of my history. The memories & interactions from this chapter will remain in people’s heads, in digital pictures, and of course, through this BLOG. It’s most likely I’ll return to this isolated archipelago in the southern hemisphere because of all the positive moments that have occurred, (and it’ll give me a reason to continue this BLOG).

This past week, I’ve been relying on pre-made food such as pizza, Subway, & sushi (two packages for $10!). Hopefully, the business establishments that I frequently visited, such as, Woolworths, Subway, Hell Pizza, & Blockbuster, will be able to survive without my financial input.

Reflecting on the Graduate Teaching Program, I’d have to say that the teaching quality is quite good, the atmosphere is mostly welcoming, and overall it’s a program worth attending . . . that’s if you want to be a teacher & have the finances to spend (around $30,000CAD). Studying overseas has taught me why universities like international students so much – they’re willing to pay double the home tuition to get the same piece of paper.

One thing that’s for certain is that I have to take up guitar before I start teaching music in high school. Learning guitar is probably the most popular instrument students want to learn – because of portability, & frequent use in popular music (electric & acoustic). I already have melody & rhythm down pretty good thanks to piano & drums, but now I need to transfer that onto guitar.

Even though I was unable to start an electronic music show on RDU Campus Radio, I’m glad to have been given the opportunity to review 7 NZ & international electronic music albums for CANTA Magazine – it’ll look really good on my CV (my last two reviews will be forthcoming in early July). The best part was that I got to review high profile NZ artists such as Sola Rosa, State of Mind, & Optimus Gryme.

The last week of lectures has mostly been devoted to ‘Thank You’ speeches from professors, course evaluations, and parties put together by the graduating body. I have to admit that my food/alcohol expenses were higher in the last few weeks because of all the celebrations (because we completed the program), and mournings (. . . because we completed the program & will not see the friends we’ve made).

On Thursday, to mark the end of Professional Studies, the class went to Drexels for brunch. The layout of the restaurant is quite contemporary but the menu reminds me of Denny’s in North America. I was surprised to see that they had real Canadian Maple Syrup, and they served 250 dozen eggs per week! After staring at the menu for quite some time, I settled for Eggs Benedict with a hot chocolate.

For Friday evening, the entire gang flocked to Santorini’s, a lively Greek themed restaurant near the Avon River in downtown Christchurch. We took up an entire corner of the restaurant because there were so many of us.

While dining on exquisite food & filling up on exquisite alcohol (Heineken in my case), the entire establishment came to life when two males started playing traditional Greek music. This led to several female waitresses encouraging customers to join in on circle dances. And who could forget the traditional Greek song & dance, ‘The Macarena’? Several birthdays were also acknowledged by having the person dress & dance on top of a barrel with one of the waitresses. The evening festivities were concluded by a friendly limbo contest. Yeah, Greeks sure know how to party. While all of this was happening, I was frequently looking around the restaurant, trying to spot the supposed cameras that were filming a possible My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.

But the night was not over yet, despite the weather turning cold & into a light wet drizzal. Upon leaving Santorini's, the whole gang hopped across the river to The Bog Irish Bar. There, we were met by the February intake students & we dined on Guiness, Tequilla shots, while dancing to live modern music. (As always, the sound was quite loud). Well, I only opted for Guiness (dark chocolate milkshake looking beer), because I can't handle straight Tequila, along with a side order of Bog Fries for $6NZD. The rest of the night was all a blur but I made it safely home without a scratch & slept in bed for some time before realizing I hadn't starting packing.

My final thoughts will conclude in the upcoming post, ‘Top Ten Moments of My Middle Earth Stay.’ After that, I’ll be documenting my journey back to Canada, except it may take some time to load it up due to jet lag & the busy schedule awaiting me in the Great White North.

Final Week

2009-06-13T17:16:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to believe but the final week of my stay in Middle Earth is here. In just 9 days, I’ll be flying back to my homeland for the first time in a year. I’ve been slowly preparing for the day when I have to drag myself out of bed at 0430 hours to get to airport by 0500 & then wait for my 0700 flight. Since I’m not a morning person, I’ll be relying on a good energy drink to keep me awake while I drop off my baggage & go through nit-picky security.

Scared that its 15 minutes of fame are over, swine flu has launched a surprise offensive, especially in Australia, with the total number of cases spiking to 1300! That’s a slight worry for me because I’ll be travelling to Sydney to meet my older brother whose been studying in Canberra for a year. Although, my roommate Ryan just came back from a week long trip to Sydney, he said that he didn’t notice a pandemic & that he was swine flu free.

With the end in sight, the midyears in my class have been planning on how to celebrate the inevitable end of the graduate program. On the 19th, both senior professional studies’ classes will converge to have a group lunch and/or morning tea. Hmm, I should probably ask someone if I have to bring something & if it’s a BYOB?

Most of my assignments are completed with some already handed in. I just have to put the finishing touches on the remainders & then I can sit back & relax . . . for several minutes because my suitcases need to be packed. On Monday morning, [insert The Mamas & The Papas song here], I’ll be starting the senior history lecture with a presentation about Parihaka & its significance to NZ & Mäori history. Long story short, think 19th century NZ, Mäori land resistance, & Gandhi like leadership.

Creative English class has been interesting & humourous because students have been showing vids & pics of English being used creatively. And that includes Engrish (failed Chinese/Japanese attempts in translating to English). So far, the class favourites are: Total Eclipse of the Heart - Literal Video Version; The Longest Words in the English Language; & Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukak
Apikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu (all one word) - one of the longest place names in the world. One exercise I particularly loved was creating new diseases; I came up with cardiorrhea – when the heart craps out.

In the world today, it looks like Iran is getting close to erupting into anarchy because the hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won reelection amidst allegations of vote rigging & fraud. The world would be much better off without that lunatic but in a totalitarian society, I have my doubts that the moderate protests will achieve anything.

Speaking of protests, conservative Americans are once again trying to convince the American public to not support Obama’s health care reforms because it’ll turn the system into a failed Canadian system. I have no idea what these people are smoking or getting their information from, but the Canadian healthcare system is far better than the one down south. Sure, we have long waiting lists but at least we don’t have to pay gigantic hospital bills. It’s one of the main reasons why thousands of Americans flock across the northern border to buy the same prescription drugs for a fraction of the American price.

One of the main reasons why I’ll never live in the USA is because of the greedy healthcare system, where the pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, clinics, and hospitals are allowed to charge whatever they want, rendering millions of Americans bankrupt. It would appear that healthcare is only for the rich. (Currently, there are 43 million Americans without health insurance). I would like to recommend Michael Moore’s film Sicko, which deals with this situation. Only a socialized health system works.

Not Guilty

2009-06-06T19:15:00.001-07:00

After much O.J. Simpson like press coverage & anticipation, the final verdicts in the David Bain murder retrial are [drum roll] not guilty. Back in 1995, Bain was convicted for murdering his family and served 14 years in prison before a higher court granted his appeal for a retrial. Despite being in high spirits, he now has to fight the system again for financial compensation. Democracy may be the best form of government right now but they’re still faults in the system. The bigger question one must ask is how does the government calculate a proper sum of money that says ‘We’re sorry’?

Aside from the David Bain retrial, not much else has been happening. There’s been less rain & more sun, but the strong winds are still present. I was surprised to see & hear a flock of ducks flying above Ilam Village yesterday because they’ve been absent for a very long time.

Since there’s only two & a half weeks left for me, my professors are making sure that they’ll remember me . . . via the assignments I owe them. They’re coming along steadily & should all be completed on schedule. I still can’t figure out how & why some people choose to work on an assignment the day/night before it’s due? If I had followed that path, I would have failed everything & be stuck in the alternative education program.

The term is almost finished for my roommates, who’ve taken to partying to celebrate another term well spent. In over a night or two I’ve met many happy, um, alcohol-fuelled people. Thankfully, no one got poisoning. The next step will be studying & passing exams.

With such ‘little time’ left here in Middle Earth, I’ve been skimming the Ottawa Citizen Newspaper to get a feel of what to expect when I arrive back in my hometown. I’m glad to see that construction on a new arts centre in Orleans has finally completed. Between 2005-08, I performed selected piano pieces in a series of community concerts in the building next door.

I’m still not pleased with the planned light rail route for Ottawa because a large portion of it will run parallel to a dedicated bus route. Rather than lumping all transit services into one congested corridor, the city should be expanding transit into communities that really need them. I think every city council member should pick up a copy of the game SimCity 4 & play it for several hours because it can teach you quite a bit on how to plan & build an effective transit system.

Today is June 6th, a significant day 65 years ago, when Allied Forces sent 160,000 soldiers across the English Channel in 5,000 ships to invade the Norway Toast. Er, I mean the Normandy Coast. Operation Overlord as it was called, opened the second front against Hitler's war machine in northern France. To make sure the landings were successful, 20,000 troops were paratrooped behind enemy lines the night before to stir up trouble & prevent the Germans from reinforcing Normandy. If the invasion had failed, my guess is that WWII would have ended in a ceasefire & the resulting World Order would be tripolar (USA, Nazi Germany, USSR).

And now back to assignments.

Queen's Birthday & Such

2009-05-29T23:51:00.000-07:00

The big news down here in Middle Earth is the recent capture of William Stewart, a 47 year old fugitive who managed to stay on the run from the law for 3 months by slipping through police undetected, earning him infamy & the nickname Billy the Hunted One. With him back behind bars, he’s now known as Billy the Captured One.

Following that is the release of the government’s budget to combat the Recession. Long story short, no tax cuts, and there’ll be a deficit of a few billion dollars.

And to top it all off, comes the problem of boy racers (known as street racers in North America). Federal & Municipal governments are passing strict laws to combat the road pests with severe punishments such as prolonged impoundment, and having your racer compacted into a cube.

While these stories surround the community, college life has been going quite steady. My classes are senior history, junior music, Creative English, and Prof. Studies. With regards to assignments, I have to write a Y12 history unit plan about the IndoChina Conflict (1945-1975); arrange a song for a Y10 music class; and create a portfolio full of resources that would help me in teaching English. In Prof Studies, we looked at how to deal with the sexual harassment, & bullying (cyber, texting, verbal).

Ilam Village received a new neighbour this week, Pizzacarto, a pizza, coffee, & gelato shop. The business made itself at home in a big empty room that sits across the laundry room. Despite odd location, I paid them a visit last night to test the quality of pizza and was impressed with the quality, although the price was quite high ($12.50NZD for a thin crust medium pizza). Next time I’ll be trying the gelato.

The people of Middle Earth will be getting a three day weekend because it’s the Queen’s Birthday on June 1^st. The extra day off gives me more time to complete assignments for my classes. Canadians, however, get an extended weekend a week earlier for celebrating Queen Victoria Day.

On the world stage, I was shocked to hear & watch Canada’s Governor General Michelle Jean partake in the consumption of seal meat while touring the territory of Nunavut. Annually, 900,000 seals are clubbed to death in Northern Canada for food & clothing. As much as I respect the Inuit, they need to find another source of food. If I were Prime Minister, I’d replace clubbing with shooting, and slowly & continually reduce the maximum quota until it reaches zero.

Another shocking surprise to me is the ending of May – almost half of 2009 is already complete! The first decade of the 21^st century is nearing its end! I never thought it would get here so fast. So much has happened & yet it feels like not a lot of time has passed.

North Korea’s insane & stubborn 12 year-old-but-stuck-in-a-66-year-old-body dictator, Kim Jong Il, has got it in his head that if he dies, then his country will die with him. And so he orders his isolated Stalinist country to conduct another underground nuclear weapons test, and announce that they’ll no longer follow the terms to the 1953 truce with South Korea. I’ve always wondered if the situation in Korea would ever be resolved and right now it’s looking like there may be another Korean War.

And lastly, the university has recovered from a major computer network failure, which prevented me from posting a link to my latest CD review for CANTA Magazine. I reviewed Where I Was Born, the debut lounge album from NZ's own Rare Shot Blue.

Monsoon

2009-05-22T18:04:00.000-07:00

It’s been raining, it’s been pouring, but I’m nowhere near snoring. For reasons that have yet to be discovered, I tend to sleep well when there’s a storm outside. The sun was out last weekend but this week has been nothing but grey, wet, & cold – Invercargill in October (or all year round I’m guessing). I'm still surprised that Christchurch is not under water after such a downpour. Apparently, it's supposed to clear up by Monday. I’ve had to switch over to my Avirex winter jacket when venturing out into the autumn bliss so that I don’t catch the rhinovirus (common cold) or swine flu. Hot food items such as hot chocolate, pizza, & pasta have become my best friends for the duration of the cold weather.

Aside from the crummy weather, the first week back at the College of Ed after teaching practice turned out quite well. It was great to see everyone back after nine weeks & we shared stories of the good, the bad, and the ugly during Professional Studies class. The main thing everyone wanted was Crisis Management Training, out of feelings of paranoia, and/or wanting to be prepared for the worst in the future. I spotted an ad in the NZ Education Gazette about an upcoming 4-day CPI training course this coming Monday, but researching the details proved disappointing because of prices ($645NZD for just one day; $1500NZD for 4!).

The Canadian midyear students (including myself) met with Mike Johnson, the director of CANTEACH, the program that made it possible for us to study here in Middle Earth. With only 4 weeks left, it was time to start thinking & practicing on how to best apply for teaching positions in NZ, and back in Ontario, Canada. (Mock interviews are practiced in Prof Studies). The Graduate Diploma in Teaching & Learning (Secondary) will certify us Canucks to teach in NZ, and the Canadian province of Ontario. If you wish to apply to a different province, Mike suggests to get into Ontario first, but to forget about British Columbia because of the insane amount of paperwork & requirements.

In short, to get certified anywhere, one must fill out a registration package, provide documents & evidence of your completed qualifications, and several hundreds of dollars for processing fees (filing). After the meeting, all I can say is one needs a degree in correctly filling out forms. Form filling . . . and lawyers are probably the main reasons why the world is in such a mess today.

Cadets is going steady with an upcoming lesson to teach on Monday about the role of the Engineers. In short, they build things then blow them up. The corps is currently studying the possibility of acquiring & renovating a portion of the Godley Head Defence Battery for future cadet exercises. Unfortunately, that portion does not include the bunkers, gun emplacements, and vacant armouries; those are publicly owned. (It would have been cool to recommission & rearm the battery so that cadets can train in coastal defence). But the barracks, officers mess, & community hall are not accessible to the public and in need of a touch up. All that's needed now are capital investments because the renovation costs are quite expensive.

It’s hard to believe that there’s just 4 weeks left in my course. The rainy weather makes it feel like I just arrived to begin my studies. In four weeks, I’ll be back in my Canadian homeland, resting up & taking several extra courses to strengthen my teaching qualifications. After that, I may be heading back to Middle Earth to begin teaching in 2010. Only time will tell.

End of TP2

2009-05-15T21:01:00.000-07:00

And then there was none. May 15^th arrived faster than I thought, and just like that, my teaching practice at Villa Maria ended. The day before, myself & the other student teachers put together a special Morning Tea for the VM faculty as a way of saying ‘Thank You for putting up with us.’ Up for grabs were savouries, egg sandwiches, cherry tomatoes, biscuits (crackers), and chocolate cake. By the end of the lunch hour, everything was gone.

Counter to my hunch last week, I taught 11 lessons for my last week instead of 15. For Friday, my associates took over their classes because us student teachers needed to sort through everything & return any borrowed resources, such as textbooks, charts, and/or maps. As well, we were debriefed by the assistant principal, stating what we liked & disliked, and suggesting any needed improvements.

In my mind, Villa Maria is a well equipped school, with every classroom having a projector & computer, and the working environment is quite orderly. Of course, students will always get unruly on any day – it happens – you just have to cope and make sure they don’t burn down the classroom. My associates were quite helpful during my term but I could sense that they were a little annoyed that I had to use their laptops for some of my lessons because mine is obsolete.

As I observed my classes for the last time, the students were sad to hear that I was leaving them, but they applauded my teaching abilities & wished me all the best. I was even more surprised when one of my Year 11 classes presented me with a Thank You card. Unlike men, women enjoy given cards to people for any kind of occasion.

What makes NZ education system unique compared to North America is that it’s more activity based rather than content based. Confused? It means that students are to learn & understand the content through activities that promote self-discovery. My main weakness is that at times I still fall back on the old North American way of teaching, labelled as ‘chalk & talk’.

Where do I go from here? Well, back to the College of Education of course! For the next five weeks, it’ll be college lectures like before & then I’ll be finished. I’m already pondering on what my classmates will say when we all meet on Monday. It’s been 9 weeks since we were all together – there’ll be much to share. Come to think about it, it’s been 9 weeks since I last stepped onto the college campus – maybe the layout has changed?

Even though teaching practice has finished, it doesn’t mean that the flow of work has stopped as well. This weekend will be spent cleaning the flat, doing the laundry, and preparing for lectures on Monday. Rather than get a head start on Friday night, I just treated myself to Pure Blonde beer & partied with my flatmates. Ilam Village is always loud on Friday nights; thankfully I have earplugs.

Speaking of loudness, there’s some sort of a cult gathering happening above the small computer room where I’m writing this post. It may be hippies or a Christian student group but they certainly love banging a loud drum & chanting a chorus I can’t understand. Well, whatever, the laundry machines are calling.

And Then There Was One

2009-05-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

It’s now the month of May, meaning the weather is getting colder & wetter. While Canada get sunny & hot, Middle Earth sinks deeper into a freezing winter. Luckily, by the time that happens, I’ll be on a plane back to Canada. The sixth week of teaching practice has ended with me teaching 10 lessons & being positively assessed by the College of Ed for the second time. I’m glad that I was assessed in my other Y11 HIST class because my Y10s are the rowdy bunch – must be something in the water.

Even though I have one week left to teach at Villa Maria, my associates won’t be letting me go that easily. It appears they won’t take back the reins of the classroom until I’m fully gone, meaning I’ll be teaching all my classes next week. That makes it 15 lessons! It’s hard to imagine how these experienced teachers can do all that every week & still go home alive. To stay ahead of the game, I’ve been spending more time after school go over everything twice, and received a crash course in efficient photocopying.

Like always, I’ve been paying attention to what’s been happening in the world & swine flu is still in the news. I’m glad to see my hometown moving ahead with plans to expand light rail transit (LRT) but I’m not impressed with the planned routes. I can’t understand why they’re putting so much emphasis on an east-west line when they should first expand the north-south line to the airport and into Hull, Quebec?

President Barack Obama celebrated his 100 days in office (very well managed in my mind), thus giving the biased, conservative news agency, Fox News, to unload an unlimited amount of ludicrous criticisms on him. It leaves me wondering how Americans can watch American news because when I try to watch Fox News, CNN, or MSNBC, my IQ drops several notches. The only credible news source in the USA right now is the Daily Show with John Stewart!

The only big stories down here are the recent police standoff in Napier, the murder retrial of David Bain, and the crisis in Fiji. Since I'm teaching my Y9s about forms of government, we'll be looking at the Fijian crisis & how the people's rights, especially of the media & journalists, are being denied by a self-centered military man who thinks he can do no harm. Sigh, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Um . . . I thought I would have more to write but I guess not. Aside from the wet weather, and busy school teaching, there’s not much else I can think of right now. Cadets is going steady; I taught the Basics how to tie several knots (Reef, Fisherman’s, & Figure 8) for bushcraft. For the next lesson, I’ll be getting them to tie the Clove Hitch & Bowline.

Hard, Hard Week

2009-05-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

The first week back at Villa Maria after a two-week break was more than I expected. Lacking a personal laptop means devoting more time to preparing lessons because you now have to factor in the time to getting to an available computer. The climax of the week came on Friday when I taught three classes for the first three periods. In total, I taught 7 classes which doesn’t sound like much, but when you’re a heavy planner like me, making sure the lesson is covered from every angle, planning & teaching one lesson can be just as tough.

Thursday offered some warmth because it was a Professional Development (PD) Day. Rather than teach young students, the teaching faculty was treated to a presentation of how to implement the new curriculum into the classroom. The presentation was quite interesting, and high spirits were kept throughout the day with privately catered munchies. Long story short, the new curriculum can’t be taught the old way, not just via textbook with chalk & talk. In the age of the Internet & social networking, the way to teach is in a process of transformation meaning lessons now have to be fun & interactive. The old way is boring & obsolete.

By Friday evening, the whole Hinau block in Ilam Village decided to share my feelings of overworked by suffering three power failures over the course of four hours. I’m guessing students were cranking up their heaters to the max because of no insulation, thus sending the power grid into overdrive. When the power quit, students flooded outside to gaze at the stars, and publically voice their displeasures. ‘I suppose this is what life is like in North Korea,’ I quietly reflected, before dressing myself in the dark after having a hot shower.

On a musical side note, CANTA's latest magazine issue contains two CD reviews by yours truly: I was reviewing the latest releases from NZ groups Sola Rosa & State of Mind.

Two of my associates will be away during the first half of next week, leaving me to fend for myself at the time when the college will be stopping by to conduct its final assessment of my teaching potential. I should be fine if I budget my time wisely.

Swine flu seems to be the new fad these days, but with the paranoid reactions being taken by Mexican, American, Canadian, and other world governments, I’m guessing this sickness will be a one hit wonder like SARS back in 2003. There have been reported cases here in Middle Earth, even in Christchurch, but it hasn’t reached the point where everyone is walking around with face masks.

Back in Canada, my Liberal Party will be paying their respects to Stephane Dion, a Quebec politician who was the party’s leader from 2006-08. It’s somewhat odd to hear this dedication considering the party treated him as a subhuman. He was forced out of the leadership because he didn’t win the last election, and was replaced by Iggy, a man who claims to know so much about Canada that he spent the last 30 years overseas. It was either him or a singing nudist. Dion was not the lowest point of the party’s history, it was the party itself because they are out of touch with reality. Most of the blame goes to Quebec, who wouldn’t let go of Dion’s Clarity Act in 2000. The most Iggy will ever get is a minority government, despite his charismatic nature. Dion will return in the future because there’s no one else to lead the party. If I were Dion, I would have fought until the bitter end; it would have taken more than an army to boot me out.

Back to lesson planning.

Last Minute Preps

2009-04-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

Just like the first, the second week of break has come & gone. In two days, I’ll be back at Villa Maria teaching history & social studies. I’ve been spending the remaining days doing last minute preparations and trying to get rid of this annoying cold I caught yesterday. I’m contemplating whether to get sushi or onion.

Through past experiences, I discovered that eating wasabi covered sushi is very good in clearing a blocked nose. Wasabi, aka ‘Japanese horseradish’ is a very strong spice, and it will burn a clear nasal path after you breathe in the strong scent after consumption. If wasabi is unavailable, like when I fell ill when studying in Ukraine in 2006, my host family made me breathe in the scent of onion through my nose. Hopefully, my cold will be vaporized by Monday because I have two classes to teach that day. It’s odd that in the early 21^st century there’s still no cure for the common cold.

Ben finally got his new computer, after waiting an extra two months, and driving it down from Nelson. Watching him play Grand Theft Auto IV got me thinking about my computer situation. It’s hard to plan lessons when you’re one & only laptop has called it quits and will only give you the Blue Screens of Death whenever you boot it up. Hopefully, I won’t have any troubles at the airports when flying back to Canada, because the security officials make you turn on your laptop to make sure it’s not a bomb. Scouring the Internet for the best deals on new laptops keeps me from listening to the angry voice in my head that wants to bash my old laptop for entertainment. It would make a nice vid for the BLOG, I might add.

My PC at home functions well, but it’s six years old, and I think it’s time for an upgrade. I’ll wait until Microsoft releases its latest operating system, Windows 7, because I don’t want to take a chance with Windows Vista. The cost for my dream PC stands at around $3000CAD, thanks to all the ultra powerful components I want it to have.

My American roommate, Ryan, came back from travelling all over with his American friends. The highpoint of his trip was when his Subaru car broke down in Auckland. Ever since buying it at a second hand auction, the Subaru has been nothing but trouble for him & his friends. It’s in the shops getting its engine fixed but if I were him, I would have abandoned it in Auckland or sold it.

As a Canadian, it was odd to see veterans selling poppies in public places in late April. Canadians only wear poppies for Remembrance Day on November 11th. Upon doing some research, it came to my attention that April 25th is ANZAC Day, where Australia & New Zealand honour the men of the Australian & New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli, Turkey during the First World War. Services are held at dawn and always include the lone bugler playing 'The Last Post' and 'Reveille'.

The Allied objective of the Gallipoli Campaign (25 April 1915 - 9 January 1916) was to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul and to secure a sea route to Russia. Turkey was allied with Germany & Austro-Hungary during WWI. The attack was poorly planned by the British & French, but would be carried out by confident Australians & New Zealanders who were eager to go into battle for the first time. Long story short: there were heavy casualties on both sides and in the end, the Turks reppelled Allied forces off the mountainous peninsula.

There’s not much else I can think of right now; my cold is giving me writer’s block. That’s it! Sushi time! Before I go, I’ll just say that I’ll be ready on Monday and I look forward to finishing the final three weeks of teaching practice. I just hope my diploma won’t be as big as my Piano ARCT certificate from Toronto.

Gone With The Wind

2009-04-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

On paper it’s break time, but in practice it’s mostly the opposite. Teachers & future teachers may receive mandatory holidays & vacations but a large portion of that spare time is devoted to behind-the-scenes schoolwork like marking tests & assignments, and planning units & lessons. Having a two-week break is beneficial in that it’s possible devote time for R&R before continuing with research & planning. Truthfully, this past week has been mostly leaning towards the R&R side but I spliced in serious work whenever possible.

Since I’ll be briefly teaching the Year 9s about Rwanda, I rented Hotel Rwanda from Blockbuster to get a better mindset about the place. I won’t be showing them the movie because there’s no time for a film study but I’ll encourage them to see on their own time. Hotel Rwanda is set during the infamous 1994 genocide where 800,000 Tutsi were slaughtered by Hutu extremists in 100 days.

The genocide would have been happening during this time 15 years ago, while the Western & European powers didn’t care at all, refusing to support the UNAMIR mission, and only stepped in after the Tutsi rebels, the RPF, ousted the Hutus from power. It upsets me that the same is currently happening in the Sudanese Darfur region & little is being done.

The Belgians are to blame for creating the Hutu & Tutsi division via ethnic classification on identity cards in the mid-20^th century when Rwanda was ruled by the European power. The Tutsi were the elite & the Hutu were poor farmers.

The pendulum will be swinging to the other side for this week, and I may be spending many days at Villa Maria preparing my lessons. With this much focus on teaching practice, you tend to ignore the obvious & differences around you. Just yesterday, I noticed & remembered that the company handling Ilam’s elevators is called Schindler’s Lifts!

The flock of ducks that usually hang out in Ilam’s Quad Area have mysteriously disappeared. I’m guessing they decided to migrate somewhere else during the winter months. The weather has also changed into constant overcast, drenching Christchurch in a dome of white & grey gloom. It actually makes you feel like you’re living in a self-contained biosphere. Well, at least there’s some sun out today.

Lastly, I never thought this day would arrive so fast; it’s mid-April meaning I’ve beaten my previous record of 19 weeks living without the close assistance of my parents. My record is now 20 weeks & counting! I can still remember way, way back in the day when going to a sleep over or staying awake all night was a big deal. Well, when I journey back to Canada I’ll have to decide what to do first: go to Tim Horton’s, or get a shawarma?

Break In Between

2009-04-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

The Middle Earth (New Zealand) school year is divided into 4 ten-week Terms, spread across the months between February & November. Students receive two weeks of break in between each term. My teaching program has it that my second teaching practice takes place on the last 4 weeks of Term 2 & the first 3 weeks of Term 3. Not noticing until the last minute, week 4 of TP (week 10 for high school students) came & went, finishing on Thursday because of Easter’s Good Friday. Personally, every Friday is a Good Friday. As well, despite all that I’ve been taught about Easter, I still can’t figure out where the chocolate egg producing bunny fits in?

Before I could rush home, pop open a bottle of expensive champagne, and yell ‘Freedom!’ at the top of my lungs, I visited my four teaching associates & separately planned the next set of lessons for Term 3. It’s only break time for the students because teachers have to prepare for the next term & planning ahead is always encouraged.

For Year 11 History, I’ll be wrapping up the origins of WWII before moving on to NZ during the Cold War. The Year 10s will be looking at the Treaty of Waitangi, and Y9s will be learning about Rwanda before moving on to systems of government. There’s quite a lot material to prepare for but having two weeks makes the tasks much easier. As long as I stay away from procrastination, I’ll be fine.

I had originally planned to travel around but after the first several weeks of practice, it became apparent that I would need this break to rest, ready, and reentre the last three weeks of practice strong & confident. University students are also on break at this time but started last week and finish the same time as I do.

Thursday’s Morning Tea was more of a party because the principal’s secretary was retiring & the faculty were acknowledging & celebrating her years of service & accomplishments. Even if I had my camera with me, it would have been next to impossible to photograph the layout of the snacks & treats because they were devoured within minutes. As well, there were speeches from faculty, wishing the secretary the very best & that she would be missed. Naturally, the secretary had the final say & she thanked everyone for the special morning tea and explained her plans for the future.

Well, that’s pretty much what this week was like. There’s not much else to write because I dedicated my previous post to Tuesday’s Y9 fieldtrip to Ferrymead. So, for the next two weeks, I’ll be preparing my next batch of lessons for Term 3, while reflecting on the true spiritual meaning of Easter – two weeks vacation (paid if I were a certified teacher).

Ferrymead & the Bridle Path

2009-04-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

During the fourth week of teaching practice, I was invited by one of my teaching associates to participate in a Year 9 Social Studies field trip to Ferrymead Heritage Park followed by an afternoon tramp on the Bridle Path. I happily agreed since I hadn’t gone on any field trips during my first teaching practice. The bright & early sun was shining when the two Y9 classes (totalling 45 students) converged in the Hall (used for assemblies) for the morning briefing. Maintaining order wouldn’t be a problem because we had more than the required amount of adult supervision: two teachers, one student teacher, and 8 parents.

Ferrymead is like Upper Canada Village, a historically orientated town, except built to show Kiwis & tourists what Middle Earth life was like back in 1907. It’s located near the Lyttelton Tunnel & Christchurch Gondola, meaning a long bus ride from Villa Maria. Unlike North America with its yellow/orange painted school buses, we were transported on a reserved city bus.

Upon arrival, students were lead by Ferrymead staff to the train station where they would put on 1907 oriented clothing. To make it easier for them, the girls were instructed to wear civilian clothing (known as mufti) for the field trip; that & it would be difficult to tramp the Bridle Path in their school uniforms. There were plenty of traditional dresses to go around but some girls chose to experience 1907 as boys by wearing grey slacks. Changing into character was optional for staff & some indeed chose to play along.

After the students were briefed on how to act (children are to be seen, not heard), they were split into four groups & would conduct a morning ‘Round-Robin’, visiting the school, general store, bakery, and typical house residence.

School in 1907 operated with gender segregation in mind: girls & boys played outside in separate areas and sat opposite each other in the classroom. For the simulation, my group learned to sing God Save The King and how to write with fountain pens. Since Ferrymead was simulating a rural town, the school was one classroom. Naturally, the teacher was male & to be feared by his pupils because he maintained discipline via a wooden cane & a strap. Lucky for the girls, the cane & strap are no longer used; instead, present teachers prefer tasers.

The General Store was where everyone in town would go to do their shopping. Products such as jams, toys, dolls, hard candies, player pianos, rice, soaps, & washboards were stocked, having been delivered from the port town of Lyttelton. I was surprised to see canned fish from New Brunswick on sale. Back then, consumers would hand over their shopping list to the general store staff who would collect the necessary items. Nowadays, there are many options at your disposal: ordering online with delivery, self-checkout at the grocery store, or good old fashion collecting everything yourself and letting the cashier scan everything for you.

The Bakery mostly specialized in supplying bread but also provided many other baking products. Girls were taught how to make biscuits and shown how the large stone oven operated. The wood burning oven is privately owned and is still used to bake bread, which is sold in farmers markets. It takes 8 days for the oven to completely cool down before being safe to clean.

A typical rural house residence was small & pretty cramped. There would only be about four rooms and daughters would help their mothers with the intensive tasks of cleaning, ironing, bed making, cooking, silver polishing, and rug beating. My group found it quite challenging to accomplish all these chores with pioneer equipment and were glad to be living in the modern age. Back then, it would take a whole day just to complete one chore!

Once the Round-Robin was completed, students & staff changed out of character clothing and proceeded to have lunch. Once our stomachs were full, we thanked the staff of Ferrymead, boarded the bus and headed off to Lyttelton.

The Bridle Path is a track that was constructed in 1850, from Lyttelton to Christchurch, giving early settlers a route over the mountains. With the experiences of 1907 life still fresh in their minds, it was time for the Y9s to journey the same route early settlers took to establish the city of Christchurch. Having done plenty of marching & walking in cadets, this would a piece of ‘k-a-k-e’ for me. It’s a good thing I brought sunscreen because the last time I was up in the hills (Godley Head) my face got burned.

As for the girls . . . they heavily complained and exaggerated their pains at the beginning but after a while, they started enjoying the tramp, especially after watching a mountain biker pass by them on the way up. The tramp up to the summit took about 40 minutes since I was in the rear, making sure no one was left behind. The view of the Christchurch valley below was breathtaking and many students stopped to snap pictures with their mobile phones.

The way down was a challenge because the rocks were slippery so I suggested to the students to walk down on the side of the path. The further I descended, the calls of grazing sheep became louder. At one point, the sheep were silenced by Y9s whistling at a group of men who were tramping in the opposite direction because they weren’t wearing their shirts.

Once the tramp was completed, we waited for our bus to arrive, the students passing time by playing games and thanking the parents with bars of chocolate. When the bus arrived, we all piled in and made a quick pit stop at Ferrymead, picking up the baked biscuits before settling in for the happy ride back to school. By the time we disembarked, the final bell at Villa Maria had rung.

The trip was declared a success with the teachers noting that they overheard some students planning on tramping the Bridle Path over the Easter Break. I enjoyed the field trip as well and was glad that it took place on a sunny Tuesday . . . because Wednesday & Thursday was nothing but rain.

*(And if any of you are still shocked & confused, no, tasers are not being used by Kiwi teachers today).

What To Write?

2009-04-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

The month of April has arrived . . . and I’m experiencing mild writer’s block at this moment. I know that much has happened this past week, but my mind is being slow today, wanting to make use of the sunny day rather than writing. Already, the third week of my second teaching practice has come & gone, with me teaching history lessons on the Spanish Civil War, the Abyssinian War, the first & second Anschluss attempts between Germany & Austria, and an economic lesson on production & productivity. I’ve become accustomed to teaching with the latest version of Microsoft PowerPoint, making it easier for students to copy notes, and letting me keep an eye out for troublemakers. According to my associates, my teaching has improved and I’m not in any hot water.

Since I don’t have time to prepare lunch in the early hours of the morning, I rely on Villa Maria’s canteen services & I have to admit, they do make good honey chicken wraps and club sandwiches. As well, the faculty put on a special Morning Tea, with savouries & treats, because a teacher was turning 30.

I'm aware that I haven't posted any pictures of Villa Maria but those will be forthcoming - I've just been paying more attention to lesson planning & preparation.

As always, I’ve been paying attention to world news & I was surprised to hear that the transit service in my hometown of Ottawa recently purchased several double-decker buses. Apparently, they can carry more passengers than the long articulated buses (I prefer calling them accordion busses). It’s a step in the right direction after the dreaded 53-day strike; all the city needs to do now is tinker with the proposed light rail plan before commencing expansion.

Parts of London, England are flaming because of people protesting the G20 Summit. It’s tough to agree with the voices of protesters when some of them think the best way to deal with the recession is vandalism. However, I agree that it’s unfair for the working class to suffer while fat bankers pocket huge bonus payments, like the AIG execs. Maybe it’s time we abandon the unfair spoils of capitalism & switch over to socialism? If the G20 leaders don’t want to be bothered by protesters, then maybe they should conduct their meetings via cyberspace. It’s the 21^st century: why are world leaders meeting face to face when it can be done through the internet with webcams?

Following in the footsteps of the current recession, my old laptop has crashed & won't start up again. There were times in the past where I could get around the Blue Screens of Death (BSOD) but I think this is truly the end. It's really not surprising since it was operating on Windows 2000 Pro! When I get a new laptop, it'll run either Windows XP Pro SP3 or the new Windows 7 that's coming out in the near future. I'm skipping Windows Vista.

After the Easter Break, I’ll be starting a new topic with my Year 9 Social Studies class: Life In Rwanda. It’s good that I mentioned it because April 7^th is the day of remembrance for the 1994 Genocide. Over a period of 100 days, 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered by militant Hutus with machetes while the world sat around & did nothing. World governments keep voicing the phrase, ‘Never Again,’ but have continually failed to stop genocides. The Armenian Genocide, the Holodomor, the Holocaust, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, Rwanda, & now Darfur. If it were up to me, I would send covert special forces to pay unannounced visits to the leaders of tyrant nations & have them removed. So far, humanity is the only race capable of hating its own kind.

Bad things aside, many trees here in Middle Earth have been changing their colours, a sign of autumn & the eventual arrival of winter. It will be odd when I return to Canada because I’ll be leaving in winter & arriving in summer. For those of you in North America, yes, it is possible for snow to fall in July – just fly down to the southern hemisphere!

This & That

2009-03-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

First Harry Potter (aka Pothead) and now Twilight. Since J.K. Rowling’s celebrated novel series about British wizardry is completely published (but still being filmed), young adults in secondary schools have flocked to a new genre – vampire romance – and have turned it into the latest fad. The women of Villa Maria can’t get enough of Stephanie Meyer’s story about Isabella Swan falling in love with Edward Cullen (vampire guy), and their notebooks are covered with pictures of Robert Pattinson, the actor who plays Edward Cullen in the 2008 film adaptation.

Mind you, I haven’t read the Twilight series (spread over 4 books) but I did see the movie. It wasn’t bad but could have been better. Watching a vampire romance movie is much better than watching/reading Harry Pothead. I’m too much of a realist to believe in wizard fantasy. That & I find it pathetic that Harry goes back to his abusive step-family after every book and doesn’t use his acquired magic to put them in their place.

The second week of teaching practice has come to an end, with me teaching a total of 4 classes: two history & two social studies. Both history lessons (origins of WWII) received favourable reviews from my associates whereas the social studies were more mixed because they dealt with basic economics. Economics is grouped with the social studies curriculum for Year 9 & 10 before branching off on its own in senior years. Econ was never my favourite subject but since its basic stuff, extra research & practice before the lesson will get me by.

Naturally, I’ll be teaching more & more classes as every week passes. Unfortunately, that means more planning & preparation. I had originally planned to attend a Basic Cadet Barrack Camp this weekend outside of Christchurch but had to cancel because of teaching priorities at Villa Maria. What’s great about this teaching practice is that I get 2 weeks of vacation in between Weeks 4 & 5 – Easter Holidays.

My parents sent me several copies of my Piano Performer's ARCT so that the College of Ed could add it to their records but what surprised me was that the diplomas are printed on really big pieces of paper! I'm talking larger than the standard letter size! It felt like opening a chapter of the Dead Sea Scrolls! What's disappointing is that the diploma itself appears on plain white paper with no elaborate background. I'm guessing Toronto spent all of its money on the graduation ceremony.

Finally, I would like thank my earplugs for coming handy last night, either wise, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep properly. Since it was a Friday night, the flat three floors below mine (ground floor) decided to throw a big party, I’m guessing to celebrate the halfway mark of the term. To have a party at Ilam Village, you need to register with the office in order for them to warn other residents and to prepare the riot gear & tear gas if need be. The earplugs dampened the loud music, & crazy antics of students by 30 decibels; the deep bass sounded like a soft thumping heart. It was all quiet on the Ilam Front by 2 am.

Just Call Me Mister D

2009-03-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

When you have a complicated last name to pronounce such as mine, there’s no choice but to compensate with a simpler title. In this case, the first letter. Of course, it’s great to see & hear Kiwis doing their best to get my last name right, but I don’t have the time to judge everyone’s performance.

I have ‘survived’ the first week of TP2 at Villa Maria College, boy free since 1941! Around 700 intermediate & senior girls attend Villa to learn a variety of subjects which will guarantee them a high school diploma. I’m still laughing at the presence of political correctness: cooking is called Food & Technology, and sewing is Materials Technology.

The first week is always awkward, since you’re the new face around campus . . . and part of the male teaching minority. (There are other male teachers). Villa’s teaching facilities are spread out in several buildings, unlike Canadian high schools where everything is in one building. The college is the proud owner of a swimming pool & several tennis courts, something you also won’t find in Canada.

There are four student teachers (including me) at Villa Maria: two science women, an English man, and a male historian (me). Even though I’m a musician, I’ll only be teaching social studies & senior history, but I can still get involved with extra-curricular music activities.

For the first week, I endured a fire drill, greeted my associates and the rest of the faculty, and observed many classes. During TP2, I’ll be working with Year 9 Social Studies, Year 10 Social Studies, and two Year 11 History. I have already been assigned several lessons for next week as well supervise & mark a test! That’s on top of having to learn the names of 90 students, but the two good things are that the attendance lists come with photographs, and there’s at least a Holly, Katie, Emily, Hannah, Amy, & Georgina in every class.

Overall, the best kind of strategy is to always plan ahead, practice, and never teach just to make it to the end of the day. Doing so will zap out the quality of teaching and put me in danger of failing.

Outside of teaching, my writing abilities has impressed the editors of CANTA Magazine and in their latest issue, they published two of my CD reviews, Fabriclive.44 and Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6.

To make it easier for everyone, Ben purchased two old refrigerators (on auction) for our flat, at a cost of $10. Now we have tons of space to store our food & alcohol, as well as, find everything we need. When we were cleaning out the original fridge last month we found several yogurts that had expired last September.

Back home, I finally received my Performer’s ARCT Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. ARCT stands for Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto and the diploma is a step below a university music degree but just as important. Due to my overseas commitment, I was unable to attend the January graduation ceremony, but now I’m able to say that I have another diploma hanging in my room in Canada.

Godley Head

2009-03-17T21:29:00.000-07:00

Fitting in to their General Knowledge training, twenty-five army cadets from the City of Christchurch Cadet Unit (CCCU) participated in a field day excursion to the Godley Head Defence Battery. The trip was planned by Private Douglas, a Canadian living in Middle Earth for the past 8 years, and recently enlisted in the New Zealand Defence Forces. She was a little nervous because this was her first time planning & taking command of a cadet excursion.

The Sunday (March 15^th) began very early, having to wake up & arrive at the cadet unit by 0740 hours. I was forced to walk to the unit, taking 45 minutes, because of the laid back bus schedule but still arrived in time to do last minute preparation before teaching the background history of the Defence Battery.

The battery was built in 1939 at a cost of (excluding guns & ammunition) to defend the entrance to Lyttleton Harbour against German & Japanese warships during the Second World War. Adjusting for inflation, £145,581 in 1939 is around£6,469,080.25 or $17,523,861.18 NZD today! She was armed with three 6" breech loading Mark XXIV Coastal Defence Guns, and a mobile anti-aircraft battery. Supporting structures included radar, barracks, searchlights, a mess hall, & 3 shell magazines that stored a total of 2400 shells. Until its decommissioning in 1963, the battery maintained a staff of 400 men & women. In the end, the battery never had to fire on an enemy warship during the war and only suffered 4 accidental deaths. Unfortunately, the guns were removed & dismantled in 1963 meaning the cadets wouldn’t be firing off any rounds to pass the time.

When my lesson was complete, the cadets were huddled into several waiting vehicles and we were on our way. Myself & three other cadets were riding in Private Douglas’s car when she made a wrong turn. Because she was the convoy leader, everyone else followed, with confused faces. After making a U-turn, the convoy rode into Lyttleton via a long tunnel before slowly heading up the winding roads up the mountains. The roads are pretty tight & there aren’t any guardrails to protect your car from going over the edge. Even though it was morning, the mountain range was bustling with mountain bikers, runners, and paragliders.

The first half of the day was devoted to teaching bushcraft and map & compass. Officers & myself were given walkie-talkies for communication. We spent several minutes trying to come up with cool call signs, and I settled on Canuck after flatly rejecting Moose. The 360-degree views are great to photograph but the weather is kind of chilly so bring some warm clothing. As well, you have to watch where you step because the area is covered with sheep faeces – that’s what happens when the land is used for animal grazing.

After lunch, we explored the concrete remains of the battery, examining the deep dark passages and the pits where the guns once stood. There aren’t any lights so you need a flashlight when exploring the passageways. Even though there is a caretaker at Godley Head, the place still falls victim to vandalism, most notably spray painted walls.

At the end of the day, the convoy made a pit stop to Sumner Beach where we devoured mounds of French Fries & hash browns. Of course, while we were waiting for the food to arrive, the cadets were treated to some good old beach exercise, with running, push-ups, & jumping jacks. The sun was setting by the time we arrived back at the unit to put away equipment and supervise the cadets until they were picked up by their parents.

Overall, the day excursion turned out quite well, thanks to planning & preparation. I overheard that the unit is talking with city officials about acquiring a portion of the Godley Head property in order to turn it into a training site and field trip destination for schools (as long as the sheep faeces are removed). Unfortunately, the portion that’s up for sale is the one that doesn’t contain the gun bunkers, armour magazines, and underground tunnels.

Farewell Party

2009-03-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the final days of classes & the beginning of teaching practice 2, a farewell party was organized last Thursday at Alex’s apartment. Actually, the main basis for the party was to celebrate her birthday but since many would be leaving the following day, why not kill two birds with one stone? Arriving with a six pack & party munchies, I correctly assumed this would be a night to remember considering the next time we’d all see each other would be 9 weeks in the future.

The party was alive & jumping by the time night had settled and everyone was filling themselves up with alcoholic drinks, chips, & candy, as well as predicting how their second practice will turn out. From what I can remember, everyone sounded confident & a little anxious because we’re closer to obtaining the important teaching diploma.

Several students such as myself are staying in Christchurch while others are being deployed to Auckland, Gibson, Wellington, & Nelson. Those travelling outside of Christchurch are given transportation money from the College.

To lighten the mood, Emily, a science major, arrived wearing a short black wig, confusing us at first because she’s a brunette. Over the course of the night, the wig sat on many heads, its hidden power alternating the moods & actions of many, thus becoming one of the main highlights of the night.

The other was the colourful piñata bought for Alex to bash it with a police club. Following tradition, she was blindfolded, spun several times, and then given the club to take risky swings. The original plan was to hang the piñata from a tree branch but there weren’t any strong enough prompting Ried, a gingerhead Kiwi, to hold it from a broom. Yeah, well, the obvious happened, with him being hit in the arm. After that, Alex removed the blindfold and busted the piñata open, spilling its sugary guts onto the floor. She’s got quite a strong vicious swing for an English teacher so her future pupils better be nice to her.

One of Alex's roommates has a collection of large map posters, surprisingly a large map of Canada displaying the main Canadian National Railway lines. Ried was even more surprised to learn there’s a Canadian city named Regina. He spent the next several minutes telling all the non-Canadians about his revelation while us Canadians shook our heads thinking, “It’s 3^rd grade all over again.”

A lot more entertaining comedies happened that night but like the old saying goes, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Despite being, um, ‘empowered’ by alcohol, I managed to capture some great moments on my digital camera.

The Road Ahead

2009-03-10T23:37:00.000-07:00

The calm before the storm is nearing its end as March 16^th gets closer with every passing day. My classmates & I received our teaching practice packages that include final teaching assessment sheets, section logs, and lesson feedback forms. The packages send the message that you’re about to re-entre the academic front lines. The stakes will be higher for my classmates & I because we’ve survived the first 7 week deployment, meaning that we’re able to control classrooms and plan units & lessons efficiently. The college expects us to begin teaching near the end of the first week so best to be prepared.

The last Maori Alive presentation in Professional Studies class, organized by Kane (Maori) & Andrew (Samoan), was a simulated meeting at the Whare Tipuna (community home). This is where a Maori tribe or tribes met to discuss a variety of things. Since the classroom acted as the Whare Tipuna, shoes had to remain in the hallway so that no dirt or 'diseases' (as the belief goes) were brought into the "place of our ancestors." There are 6 points to the programme:
1. Mihi Mihi/Official Greeting
2. Karakia/Prayer
3. Brief Explanation of Tikanga Maori (Customs & Traditions)
4. Student Mihi Mihi Greetings
5. Waiata (Song) &
6. Final Karakia

If you'd like to learn more, visit these two websites that focus on Tikanga & Maori Education.

Despite teaching practice beginning next week, I recently taught a lesson at cadets, the subject being 5 decorations that are currently in use by the New Zealand Defence Force. My next lesson will be this Sunday; the corps is having a field trip to the Godley Head Defence Battery & I have the honour of opening the festivities by going over the background history of the place. In depth coverage will follow in my next post.

My roommate Rebecca decided to fly back to Australia and study Mass Communications in Brisbane. Equally painful was that she took her DVD player as well. Luckily, I was able to buy one for $60NZD at a nearby Kmart (now a faded memory in Canada). Her reason for the sudden leave was that she didn’t like the BA program she was enrolled in. So far, a new roommate hasn’t arrived, leaving Heather with her own bathroom.

With nearby access to a DVD player, relaxing at home is a lot more enjoyable, that is, when you have the time to relax. I’ve taken a liking to watching bad movies such as Heaven’s Gate, Pluto Nash, & Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever, because the poorly developed plots & bad acting (in some cases) shut down the logical side of your brain, thereby letting it rest and recharge.

The weather has suddenly turned, engulfing Christchurch with strong winds, cold temperatures, and rain. Global warming must be the culprit because the previous day was full of sunny clear skies. One day, your wearing shorts & t-shirt, the next its long trousers & heavy sweaters.

On a political note, I’m glad to see President Barack Obama bringing in universal health care to the USA. The American health care system is the biggest failure in the Free World, with bottled water following close behind. Insured & uninsured Americans can’t get the health care they desperately need and have to pay an insane amount of money for prescription drugs. Michael Moore’s film documentary Sicko perfectly explains the medical crisis. I hope the $634 billion set aside will be properly spent by the Obama administration.

Politics aside, I shall leave you with a music talent video that I showed to my music professor who, in turn, showed it to the entire class. I give you the Inspector Gadget & Axel F (Beverly Hills Cop) themes on flute & beat-boxing.

Fire Hose Rodeo

2009-03-03T19:34:00.000-08:00

Kia ora!

Kei te pehea koe? (How are you?)

Kei te pai (I’m fine)

It’s been finally confirmed; I’ll be spending my second teaching practice at Villa Maria College, an all girls high school that’s nearby my residence. Villa Maria is the sister school to St. Thomas of Canterbury College, where I just happened to spend my first teaching practice last year. In short, I’ll be in Christchurch while the majority of my midyear classmates will be teaching all over Middle Earth.

With TP2 just around the corner, a portion of today’s Professional Studies class was spent on how to deal with extreme situations. This was because of a recent news story where at Auckland’s Avondale College a teacher was stabbed in the back by one of his students. Jenna, a classmate of mine that specializes in science, will be teaching at Avondale on her second teaching practice.

The other half of the class was devoted to Māori Alive presentations, and how to make classroom learning more cooperative among students & with the teacher. Knowing the Ukrainian language is an advantage when it comes to speaking Te Reo Māori because you can write out the sounds & syllables using Cyrillic letters, making the pronunciations a lot easier.

Tino pai (Very good.)

At cadets, the juniors paid a visit to the nearby fire station, where they were taught & shown the vehicles & equipment (hoses, Jaws of Life, cutter, etc.) used by NZs fire personnel. Surprisingly, they didn’t have a pet Dalmatian. To show the dangers of driving too quickly, the firemen showed the remains of a car that was found wrapped around a wooden telephone pole. The driver’s side was completely destroyed, and the car had almost been sawed into two equal pieces. The driver & passenger survived, but I’m guessing the driver wished he didn’t because the car belonged to his mother.

To finish off the visit, the backup fire truck was brought out and the cadets got to play around with the fire hoses, spraying powerful streams of water in the air an on the pavement. If I had known earlier, I would have arrived in American football gear and have asked to be sprayed with the hose. (When you’ve survived a 12,000-foot tandem skydive, you feel like you can do anything)! The powerful streams would have knocked me over but the firemen ‘regrettably’ said that even with safety gear, they’re not allowed to spray people, not even rioters like in North America. (People on fire get put out with fire extinguishers).

This week is assignment week meaning I have been feverishly working on history & music lesson plans, making sure that all the ‘t’s are crossed and ‘i’s are dotted so that nothing can go wrong . . . go wrong . . . go wrong . . . go wrong . . . If all goes well, the professors will remain confident of my teaching abilities.

Ka pai! (Great!)

To further improve my English writing, I joined the list of contributors to the free university magazine titled CANTA. My first assignments are to review two music CDs in the styles of Hip Hop Instrumental and Drum & Bass. I hope I don’t disappoint the editors.

Ka Kite ano! (See you again!)

Days Gone By

2009-02-24T21:54:00.000-08:00

It’s already the middle of the 3^rd week of classes (first week for my roommates) and the days are flying by at a phenomenal rate. This raises the stakes in handing in lesson plan assignments, and getting ready for the second teaching practice. The College hasn’t received a reply from the schools they applied me to but it looks like I’ll be spending my second teaching practice in Christchurch. Many of my midyear classmates will be sent abroad to teach, as south as Invercargill and as north as Gibson. Lucky for them, the college will cover their transportation & accommodation costs.

On the 23^rd, I took part in supervising the City of Christchurch Cadet Unit’s (CCCU) swim test at Jellie Park. The corps had the entire outdoor pool booked and, despite the cold windy weather, cadets swum 50 metres & learned how to turn camping backpacks into flotation devices. In Canada, cadets are only allowed to swim in togs (swimsuits) but here, cadets are allowed to swim in their combat uniforms (togs being underneath) minus the heavy boots. My duties for the night were to supervise & jump in should a cadet require first aid. Luckily, there were no emergencies, and everyone had a good time in the heated pool. Some cadets even reenacted the blue whale from the famous Internet video Beached Whale.

Jellie Park also happens to be the place where the game show Top Town is filmed but the pool looks a lot bigger on camera. The outdoor pool is turned into an obstacle course, mirroring America’s Wipeout! series.

A trio of professors from Bangladesh sat in my Professional Studies class for several days, observing our presentations of Māori topics & question based activities. They took part in several presentations/activities, took pictures of classroom behaviour, and learned how to play the game Rock, Paper, Scissors. I’m guessing the College is trying to promote its teaching program to potential overseas clients, and if successful, there will be students from Bangladesh studying here in the near future.

In music class today, the professor wanted us to begin learning an instrument that we previously never touched. The choices were acoustic guitar, bass guitar, and drums. I already play piano, drums, & orchestral percussion so why not give the guitar a try? Holding & attempting to play acoustic guitar for the first time felt daring & even impossible but I stuck through it and learnt four major chords: A, D, E7, & G. By the end of the lesson, my left hand & fingers were aching because of the way they had to be placed. My professor emphasized that all music teachers should know basic guitar before teaching because it’s a popular instrument among young students and it helps with orchestration. More chords & techniques are next for tomorrow’s lecture.

On the international stage, I was glad that Australian actor Heath Ledger received the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor of 2008 for his phenomenal role as ‘the Joker’ in the Batman blockbuster The Dark Knight. Due to his tragic death last year, his parents accepted the award. I was surprised to see Britain & India sweeping the Oscars with 6 awards going to the critically acclaimed film Slumdog Millionaire. This year, the Oscars were all about the great filming achievements of the Commonwealth.

And lastly, it was nice that the sun decided to appear on a Wednesday bringing warm 17-degree weather. At the end of the day, several students & ducks were tanning in Ilam’s green quad area. Nearby, a cat was tanning as well . . . by choosing to lie on the centre of its owner’s paved driveway. I hope the cat will be awake when the owner’s car arrives.

At Home & Away

2009-02-18T18:05:00.000-08:00

I’m no longer the sole occupant of my flat; two Americans (Ryan & Heather) and two Kiwis, Ben from Nelson & Rebecca from Christchurch have been added to the mix. A lot of Americans come to study here for a semester via the International Student Exchange (ISE) Program, a great way to see the world considering that the majority of Americans do not hold passports. Unlike me, their classes start at the end of February. We’re thinking of buying a small fridge because the main one is nearing its limits.

Only into the second week, classes are going smoothly and I’ve learned several new names. The new students in my classes are mostly Kiwis & Canadians, but there are students from other nations such as Fiji & India. Like any school, there are assignments to be done & so far, I’m keeping up. I would be ahead of the game if I didn’t have to deal with Canadian tax time.

The weather is taking on the form of autumn with overcasts, & periods of rain. Apparently, there’s a cyclone heading our way so in time, I might be required to batter down the hatches. We did have one sunny day with clear skies but it’ll be a while before we get an encore.

Keeping track of world events, a lot has happened, for better or worse. The southern Australian territory of Victoria has been devastated by a series of intense bushfires (thanks to dry weather) that have turned forests & towns into fields of ash & debris. What is unfortunate is that fire is the Earth’s way of getting rid of the old flora to make way for the new. If the Earth wanted to make new land, it would have been spewing tons of molten lava.

At the beginning of February, I was happy to hear that the transit strike in my hometown of Ottawa finally came to an end after the federal government threatened to legislate the strikers back to work. Even though the strike ended after 53 days, it still took another week before partial service was restored meaning the capital was without buses for 60 days during winter! Although the buses are back, the war of words between city council & the union still continue. I think the conservative mayor is to blame for taking such a stubborn stand but the union has done its share of upsetting citizens by striking during the harsh winter season.

Well, at least the busses were back in time for President Barack Obama’s six-hour visit to the capital. He should stay longer to at least see & greet the throngs of Canadian supporters. It also would be nice for him to address the House of Commons but there is no time apparently. As always, the paranoid police have the final say & Ottawa descends into complete lockdown. When George W. Bush visited the capital, he was greeted by waves of protestors and is remembered for saying, “I'd like to thank the Canadian people who came out to wave . . . with all five fingers.” We were not pleased that it took him 3 years to thank Canada for its help during the September 11^th attacks of 2001.

Semester 2 Begins

2009-02-13T15:41:00.000-08:00

Classes resumed on February 9^th at the College of Education, and what better way than to get into the academic spirit by waking up at 7am to catch your 8am Senior History class. Senior History focuses on the high school years 11-13. The tropical resort appearance of the college hadn’t changed, but there were new student faces to recognize & get used to. Because it was the first day, the history class was just an introduction to the course, and to distribute the textbooks. The great thing about this program (Grad Diploma in Secondary Teaching) is that you don’t have to fork out extra money for textbooks – they’re included in the course fees.

The education faculty decided to surprise the midyears by stating that we would be welcoming the new students today before lunch. Because I thought the Maori Welcoming ceremony would be at the end of the first week (previously) I didn’t have my camera to take pictures – that’s twice I’ve been shafted. The Maori ceremony followed the same format as described in my previous post, A Maori Welcome, but the difference was the size of the new student body – at least double the midyear intake! And again, no translations were provided for the Maori speeches that were exchanged. I think I’m going to suggest the College of Ed people to fix that.

In just six months, I’ve become a senior student in my 12-month program. I know it’s expected but it’s surprising that the first six months have gone by so quickly. In my high school & undergrad days, I had to complete three years of study before becoming a senior student. I was glad to see my midyear colleagues after two months and we exchanged many stories, from travelling abroad to getting engaged (it’s not me).

The semester is divided into 2 blocks that are five weeks in length. For these two blocks, I’ll be studying senior history, junior music, professional studies, and exploring language. However, the big test will be my second 7-week teaching practice that commences in mid-March. We haven’t been assigned our schools yet but I’m not as worried as before because I already have a teaching practice under my belt & I know what to expect & how to proceed. Of course, even with prior experience, a new environment still can bring the unexpected.

I'll leave you with the 2008 Platinum Single, Always On My Mind, by solo Maori artist Tiki Taane.

Happy Friday the 13th & Valentines Day!

The Road Home

2009-02-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

For my last day in Canberra, my brother took me to one of his favourite restaurants for dinner. The Hog’s Breath Café is located in the city centre and is more of a pub than a café. An added bonus would be the non-existence of hog’s breath, only beer breaths. On the night we attended, the ‘café’ was playing music to hide the emptiness of customers – I suppose we were part of the pre-dinner crowd. Being meat-eaters, Roman & I ordered tender juicy steaks to settle our growling stomachs. Now that I think about it, Roman & I consumed quite an amount of cows during this trip.

My trip back to Middle Earth would not start with an airplane but with a voyageur bus. For $42AUS, and after saying my goodbyes, I caught a two-hour bus trip to Sydney International Airport. (Seats are assigned unlike in North America). I slept for most of the trip but took several pictures of the exotic Australian outback when my eyes were open. The main colours are red, brown, green, and blotches of yellow. If NASA is faking the Mars rover landings then this would be the staging area. There are hills but the majority of the land I saw between Canberra & Sydney was flat – perfect for tank warfare.

I arrived at the airport twenty minutes later than scheduled but I still had three more hours to kill. The bus travelled the final leg of the trip via a very long underground tunnel, similar to Boston’s Big Dig project. If I were the mayor of Toronto, that’s what I would do to the Gardener Expressway – push it underground. After moving through check in & security, all there was to do was walk around the area, eat, and look at the departing planes before my flight was called. It happened to be raining in Sydney that day, but I was still able to see a Boeing 747, 767, and a colossal Airbus 380 (Singapore Airlines) take off into the grey abyss.

Catering to the obsessive Duty Free crowd, getting to your flight means walking through a large DF store that has enough stocked alcohol to put Boris Yeltsin’s private collection to shame. The only thing I was interested in was finding the most expensive item, which turned out to be a cognac set for $3200AUS. Now I know why the world is in a recession.

I flew directly to Christchurch via Air New Zealand and arrived at around 2300hrs. After picking up my suitcase & exchanging my AUS money for NZ, I exited the desolate terminal and caught an evening cab to Ilam Village, driven by a talkative Chinese Falun Gong follower. The following two weeks would be spent cleaning my dirty clothes, buying extra school supplies & clothes, and stocking up on grocery food. In the blink of an eye, the last two weeks of summer break would pass and classes would start once again.

Overall, my Down Under trip turned out quite well. I explored three main cities, snapped 292 digital pictures, ate some good food, drank great beers, flew on three Blue Virgins, and met interesting people along the way. I still marvel at Australia’s 50 cent coin – it’s huge! When I first saw it, I thought it was a coaster! If you’re planning a 2-week trip to the Outback, I recommend bringing $500AUS in spending money – just keep it under close supervision. Should the opportunity arise, I would definitely do it again because I still have yet to see a road train.

End of Australian Vacation series, the first post being Flight of the Kiwi.

The Day Plan

2009-02-11T00:02:00.000-08:00

It was a dark & stormy night. Then the sun arrived & it was time to explore more of Australia’s capital while my brother went back to work. I headed towards the Parliament Zone - an area of land shaped as a chess pawn and filled with important buildings & gardens - designed to woo foreign dignitaries & tourists. More closely, the National Gallery & Library, Portrait Gallery, Treasury Building, and Old & New Parliament House are located within this area.

My first stop was the Australians of the Year Walk, a promenade similar to Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, except the chosen individuals (starting from 1960) are displayed on concrete tablets. Famous actor/comedian Paul Hogan occupies the year when I was born. There are enough tablets to last well into the 2100s.

Next came the Commonwealth Place, located at the bottom centre of the Zone. It appears as a tribute to the United Nations, with the flags of many world nations flapping happily in the clear blue sky. Black swans are present in this area, swimming and looking for a meal. They are not afraid of humans and will let you get very close, expecting to receive food.

From there, I moved up the centre towards the Old Parliament House, a large white painted structure where the federal government & opposition used to face off. Beyond it lay a mall of green grass (similar to Washington DC) leading to the new & more modern Parliament House. At this time, the mall was being transformed into a concert venue with fences surrounding the grass fields, and a stage had been constructed in front of Parliament. Four slanted metallic pillars hold an Australian flag high & proud above the government structure. A red gravel terrace stands in front of the visitor’s entrance. The four corners of Parliament are covered with freshly mowed grass, giving the impression that the structure is built into a hill. To me, modern Parliament looks like a decorated bomb shelter.

After briefly looking over the Portrait Gallery, I headed back the way I came but crossed a different bridge. Situated on a small island nearby is the National Carillon, a white tower containing bells tuned to different tones, thus allowing music to be played. When tunes are not being played, the Carillon acts as a clock tower.

While walking back to the town centre, an international women marathon was taking place, with several roadways having been closed and marked with pylons. The main area with the finish line, food stalls, and sponsors, were located in a park directly opposite the Commonwealth Monument. After looking over the female runners and photographing the distant War Memorial, I walked through the City Walk once more, stopping into a comic book store, and later buying a kebab, before heading back to my brother’s overly-secure campus residence.

To Be Continued . . .

To Canberra, Comrades!

2009-02-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

Packed & still tired, Roman & I checked out of the Brisbane YHA in the early morning and walked to the Transit Centre to catch a train to the airport. Before getting on the train, I bought a copy of Time Magazine that had a portrait of Barack Obama on the cover. The city passed us by as the train smoothly made its way to the airport. After getting through the long line, a VirginBlue clerk informed us that our flight had been cancelled due to an unspecified mechanical problem meaning we would have to fly to Melbourne (past our final destination) then onto Canberra. Our seats were the front row but at least there weren’t any crying babies to deal with. Unfortunately, VB didn’t approve of my alternative: parachuting from the Melbourne flight as it passes over Canberra.

Being diverted to a city that isn’t on the original vacation plan sounds nice, but because of timing constraints, Roman & I could only stay at Melbourne’s airport and watch arriving & departing planes via large glass windows. Lunch & 2 hours later, we were on our way to the nation’s capital. Upon arrival, I picked up my suitcase and we hailed a cab (surprisingly equipped with a camera & microphone) to my brother’s campus residence. The apartment complex is located in the Braddon neighbourhood and is more secure than Fort Knox and Windows Vista. It’s possible to get locked in & out, there are cameras everywhere, and all the refrigerators are secured with heavy-duty locks!

It was already late afternoon so after we dropped off our excess baggage, we walked over to a Pizza Hut for dinner. Roman explained that Canberra is a city of 300,000 where it’s too far to walk anywhere but too close to drive. I suppose that makes it a bicycle city? On the way, Roman showed me one of his off-campus occupations – working as a clerk at a horse/dog-betting place called ACTTAB. Surrounding the many high school desks are digital screens displaying statistics & predictions for upcoming races.

The evening was spent watching episodes of The Boondocks (an American animated TV series), and planning on what to see in the coming days. Unfortunately, Roman wouldn’t be able to play tour guide because of working obligations (ran out of vacation days), thus meaning I would be exploring the city on my own. Should boredom surface, I could exploit the immense collection of movies on my brother’s external hard drive - Wall E, Rambo 4, Hitman, Napoleon Dynamite, A Clockwork Orange, Eurotrip, Hot Fuzz, March Of The Penguins, and Battlefield Earth, just to name a few.

Canberra is a planned city or as I like to call it, a bureaucratic city. Unlike the standard metropolis that emphasizes economic power via skyscraping corporate towers, a planned city focuses on nationalism & government. Monuments of all sizes, flags, museums, grand terraces, and boulevards lined with tall evergreen trees, fountains, man-made lakes, and large parks; it’s all here. It feels like the 2^nd World to me, minus the propaganda posters & the harsh secret police. Images of other planned cities such as Moscow, Washington D.C., & Pyongyang all surface in my mind (even though I’ve only been to DC). Ancient Greek/Roman architecture built with stone, marble, and concrete are used in all planned cities because of long lasting reliability (i.e. Coliseum, Parthenon, & Circus Maximus).

Despite the world economic recession, I was surprised to see Nortel Networks occupying an office building on this side of the world. On a green hill overlooking the city sits the Telstra Tower (like a mini-CN Tower), a communications structure broadcasting media in all directions. The City Walk is an extensive downtown pedestrian street mall where citizens flock to shop, drink, eat, and party. Nearby is a large park where one can watch water being shot up into the air from the middle of a man-made lake.

The Parliament Zone would be explored the next day because it contained many large government offices as well as being prepared for Australia Day celebrations.

To Be Continued . . .