Waitangi Days

A few updates from Christchurch, New Zealand....

So far, i am loving where I live! It is so great being surrounded by many other foreigners who sure like to party and have a good time. Also, our house is only a five minute walk from downtown. In the downtown square, which is one of Christchurch's main attractions, there is a beautiful cathedral, a huge memorial chalice, and a giant game of chess that people play throughout the day. And it is so great cause there is always stuff going on there like singers and performers.

This weekend was Waitangi days, which is their national holiday like Canada is for us. Last night we went to Spark in the park which we thought would be a little concert in the park but there were like 20,000 people there. It was huge! We also thought that since there were a lot of young people there, that they would have a rock singer or something, but oh no, there was a symphony and an opera singer. Are you kidding me Christchurch? This is how you entertain your youth? Oh, and then at the beginning there was this random group of teenagers who sang a song about recycling and were apparently trying to indoctrinate us into recycling throughout the night. With whistles and choreography and everything! Um ok?

But the beginning of the show was sweet because I witnessed my first 'haka'. This is a traditional Maori dance that is done at festivals and all that but also at the beginning of all their rugby games as it is meant to intimidate the opponent. It was very cool, lots of yelling and dancing and such. So after the opera and symphony, this older guy sang for a bit but he played pretty good music so that was good. Then at the end, came probably the best firework show I've ever seen! With the orchestra and haka going on in the background, it was fabulous!

Larissa has made a weekly rule that we all have dinner together which is excellent and gives us time to brainstorm and talk about new teaching ideas!

Alright, new words I have learned/have started incporporating into my own vocabulary:Mozzie's - Mosquitos, rubbish, Muesli - my new favorite breakfast which is oats and yogurt. Probably had this at home but never knew about it.

Oh, and I have never seen so many traffic circles in all my life. I can't figure these out when I am in a car, let alone when I am on a bike. And running a yellow light? I don't think so. I tried at and got honked at profusely.
Oh my favorite souvenir so far: I found a sweater with kiwi birds and sheep on it! Talk about New Zealand in a nutshell.