up lifts and let downs

The past week was packed with new experiences and busy days! On Monday, we had our official welcome into the University community on the UofA marae, which is the official meeting place of a Maori community. This ceremony is called a powhiri. The ceremony of the powhiri involved many intricate steps: shedding our shoes before entering the marae, having our leader (our one male, Chris) give a speech on our behalf, singing a song (“This Land is Our Land” was our choice), just to name a few. At the end of the ceremony, we exchanged breath with the members of the marae, symbolizing our acceptance into the community. This gesture is called the hungi, and it involves each person pressing their noses together (lots of crossed eyes happen during this – dizzy). After this was over, we went to the wharekai to have tea and biscuits (this is the building on the marae thateating is allowed). We walked onto the grounds of the marae as guests and we left the marae as community members. After a few days of rushed meet and greets, it was refreshing to slow down for a real, ceremonial welcome.

< Inside the marae, beautifully detailed carvings and paintings

Outside of the marae (happy as can be, far left)>

This past week has been more challenging then I initially expected. After the excitement of being in a new country subsided, I realized that I am truly living here, and all that that entails. The first obvious aspect of life as a student is that I have to take classes, which there is not much to say except that my brain is not ready to be academically exercised– got to fix that! Another aspect of my life here is my internship, or as we call in the Education Program, the practicum. For my practicum, I have been placed at Mt. Albert Grammar School, or MAGS for short. Everyone says that MAGS is an awesome school in all meanings of the word, being that it has about 2,500 students (bigger then HWS), it offers a diverse array of classes beyond a normal high school, and its student body has representatives of over 80 different nationalities. There is one thing, however, that is not awesome about MAGS: they do not teach earth science. The basis for my practicum, and essentially my reason to come to NZ, is to teach earth science in one of the world’s most geologically intriguing countries. I found this out on my first day, upon my arrival at the school. NO EARTH SCIENCE?! …Still awesome?

The good news is that I don’t give up easy, so I have decided that if I don’t get to teach the subject that I love, then I might as well learn something new and interesting. This is how I have found myself placed in the Horticulture and Agriculture departments. MAGS is the only school in Auckland proper to have a model farm on its grounds. This farm has sheep, cows, pigs, and off to the side it has a Horticulture (hort for short!) area.

Students who are year 10 (9^th grade) and above can choose hort and agriculture classes as electives. I am going to work with the hort teacher and see what it is actually like to teach outside, hands on, getting in the dirt. As sad as I am about the lack of lithic-love down here, I am so excited to learn how to garden and farm – something I have always wanted to do, and now I can and get course credit for! Take that, Murpheys law!