Hello again!
Another week down. My friend, Leighanne, came down and visited me this weekend. She is part of the Arcadia group as well studying at Auckland University. We meet on a weekend trip. I was very stressed out about her coming. I have a lot of homework to do and there was confusion with my other friends of where Leighanne would spend the night, what she wanted to do, etc.
She has not been to Wellington before and it was fun to show her around. I hung out all day with her on saturday. We were planning on going to the wildlife sanctuary, but the weather was not on our side. Instead, we just did random things around the city. We went up to the botanic gardens and walked around. We found a brass band in one of the gardens playing. I do not know why there was a brass band playing in the gardens, but it was free and good so I am not complaining.
We walked a trail to get to the city. On our journey, we came across a cemetery from the 1800's. That was really interesting and beautiful. At the end of the trail was a tiny museum about the cemetery. Most of the graves were moved because they built a motor-way across it.
The trail ended near the New Zealand Parliament building. Parliament is made up of three buildings. The newest addition, I think is the ugliest thing ever. It is nicknamed the "Beehive", but I think it looks more like a spaceship. We went on a tour, which was nice. Our guide was moved very slowly, but was very informational.
Leighanne I spent the entire day exploring the city. We finished as the sun started to set. The temperature drops 20 degrees when the sun is not out, or at least that is what it feel like.
Guess which of the buildings is the "Beehive" aka "spaceship"???
Hello, what a busy day I had. I went to a noho for one of my classes yesterday. I am in a Maori performing arts class and I had to go as a requirement. "Noho" roughly means "to dwell". For the noho, I had to spend the night in a marae (meeting house). The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand, incase you did not know. So yeah, I found out I had the noho about six hours before I had to be there. That was fun going to my classes and rushing back home to pack.
When I arrive, I had to follow their traditions and take off my shoes before entering the marae. My class all sat and listened to the speakers. The group new to the marae, us, had to sing a waiata (song). (We sang the song we got assessed on awhile back, so we were not terrible.) We then had to do the Maori greeting of touching our forehead and nose to those who have already been to this marae.
After we ate dinner, a guest speaker talked to us about Maori instruments. Most of the instruments are similar to flutes. They can be made from all types of materials. My favorite was the putorino. It is interesting because it is shaped like a cocoon and can make three distinct sounds. I was able to make a koauau, which is another type of flute. You have to blow across the hole to make a sound. I was able to make a sound last night, but this morning I could not do it to save my soul.
This class is so much fun because not only am I learning another language, I am also learning a new culture. The hardest part about the class is trying to pronounce the words correctly.
This is the web address for the marae on my campus. I have my Maori class in it. The picture is only of the outside, but the inside is big with lots of wood carvings with mattresses to sit on. There is also a grass area that you can kind of see in the picture. It is nice to sit on it and practice the waiatas. The about us history section has a picture of the Maori greeting.
Te Herenga Waka Marae | Victoria University Wellington
This is just a basic guide on how to pronounce Maori words. Just remember if you ever travel to Whakatane. It is not pronounced "whack- a- tane". People will know you are not from NZ. Just a a hint, the "wh" in Maori is pronounced like a "f" sound in English.
The Maori Language
Here are two links to see pictures from orientation.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010787&l=fcaf3&id=80100963
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2011007&l=fb362&id=80100963
Hello Everyone!
I survived the South Island. It was a crazy two weeks. I cant believe how much stuff I did in that time. My favorite was definitely walking on the Fox Glacier. It was so cool. Getting there was the hard part. We had to walk up 600 steps to get there. Along the path we had to hold onto a chain because if we lost our footing and fell, we would have fallen off a cliff. The cliff was very steep so you basically would die. I am glad they didn't tell me this until I got to that point. Walking on the glaciers, we had to wear clamps on our shoes. It was solid ice and very slippery. I did the half day hike, which was long enough. My feet started to get cold even with the socks and shoes they provided.
Another interesting thing I did with my group was that we drove down to Bluff, New Zealand. Yeah I know where is that, you ask?! Well, it is the southern most city on the South Island. We had to go because they are known for their oysters. That's about all they have there. I had a natural "raw" oyster. It tasted very fishy.
The group I travelled with bonded quite well. There was not a lot of room in the RV to move around in. We talked a lot during the 4-7 hours a day we were driving in the RV. We even had a sing- along while we drove. That was fun only because no one knew the songs our guitarist played. At the end of our trip we all had "Dreamer" by Black Sabbath down. The driver chose what to listen to. We listened to the same Black Sabbath cd over and over. Everytime we were in RV we were listening to that cd.
I was really sad when the trip ended. It was nice taking a break from school and getting to know my friends better. I am excited about coming home, but I realize that I will have to leave all the people I care about here. I still have 9 weeks left. So I am going to make the most of it.
Here's a website about Fox Glacier:
Fox Glacier Guided Glacier Walks New Zealand Glacier Guiding Mountaineering New Zealand Glaciers
Here is a picture of me and my two friends on the glacier. Notice how our socks are over our pants. We are very stylish.
Following the guide.
I have a few minutes before I leave for my trip and thought I would put up some pictures since I will not be posting anything for awhile. Here are only some of the many pictures I have taken.
(CURTY- I actually posted twice in a week!)
The city of Auckland.
This is me visiting Hobbiton.
Mud pools. I took about 15 pictures of mud because I wanted to catch it in mid-flight. If you want to see more pictures of mud let me know!!!
We saw this geyser erupt.
This is not me because I was taking the picture, but this is zorbing. Oh New Zealand and their crazy sports!
A Maori village.
Maori warriors. They are very intimidating.
Kelburn park with my campus in the background.
The city of Wellington with the park again.
A city event called "Chalk the Walk"
Here's me chalking the walk.
Abel Tasman weekend.
The gold mine at Karori Wildlife Sanctuary
Sea kayaking on Abel Tasman weekend
On the ferry going to the South Island.
These pictures were all taken at Abel Tasman.
I hope everyone has a good two weeks. Talk to you later!
Maggie