our last summer weekend...until june!

it is summer here for a few more days, but the canterbury population will tell you this was no christchurch summer-chilly and wet (pronounced 'wait') and i actually think the folks back  home in maine have had warmer temps lately!  so this weekend blossomed into a lovely summer swansong: blue skies, puffy white clouds floating lazily along the calm but constant winds.  yesterday was st pattys day and we celebrated with reubens on our deck with guinness for paul and i.   we didnt go out for any local nightlife, but sure heard it out down our road up half the night-the university of canterbury is located nearby and it truly makes me feel like an old grump as the students make their noisy way home after a night out! at least when i celebrated st pats in college, i started in the wee morning hours and was done by 9am!   before our dinner, we ventured down to new brighton beach which in every other experience had been a cold and windy whipping, but after the amazing zipline at the playground lost its appeal, we walked up and over the dunes and were met with the sweet rock of waves hitting the sand and even tiptoeing into the seafoam did not knock us back.  kogen actually asked if he could go swimming, but did not feel like stripping down to his undies for the dip.  he and mia did get wet enough going far into the water, and paul waded out into the green water that did not bite with chill. it was an unexpected gift from the pacific.

today we woke to another great summer day, and the plan was for a little adventure up to a place called  hanmer springs, an hour and a half away north.  we packed up suits and towels   and got our breakfast on the run from one of our bakeries on our street-scones, muffins, a sausage roll and coffees.  now about NZ:  statistics say there are ten sheep for every citizen here, and i am starting to feel there are at least ten cafe/coffee shops per person.   yes everyone loves their coffee, and in the states it sometimes feels like starbucks has paved every suburbia and city block with that mermaid thing, but this seems different.  the cafes are in every unexpected nook and cranny: in the town library (yes,eat and drink with your new free book!), inthe grocery store lobby, at the movie theatre, in a gas station in the middle of nowhere.  a couple weeks ago we went to a seaside town kaikoura,driving along a stretch  of road that was flat, blank and brown.  we were low on gas and the "towns" we drove through were blinks.  so when we did see a lonely gas station we stopped to stretch and refuel.  the coot pumping our gas had one eye and an accent not many kiwis could understand and we went inside the station for toilet breaks and snacks.  my coffee of choice here is something i have never heard of, ordered or really know what it is :flat white.  we asked the old man for coffee and he turns to his espresso machine and we were soon favored with just about the best barrista'd cappacino and flat white we have had!  you just never know!   of course this seems like a twilight zone episode that turned out friendly and caffeinated, but the coffee shops are plentiful, and strangest of all, always bustling with business, no matter where they are located.   it would appear everyone wants to start their grocery shopping with a latte (which runs the same price as an americano/black coffee so why not?) and a leisurely chat over a treat from the cafe  bakery.   your selection for food items with your artfully foamed creation are not limited really, its just that they are the exact same at every joint.  dont get me wrong, the dessert here are divine (pavlova, lamingtons, slices/bars in all flavors of caramel/choclate/ginger tan yumminess) and we have ordered our share, but there is one we have not gotten brave enough to try yet:the lolli slice.  it is a bar cut through the middle to reveal these garish pastel globs nestled into the cookie.  mia and i will let you know how it turns out!

school days by mia

mia is home sick today so i am going to interview her for her take on a typical school day for her.  mia is in year four at westburn school, housing ages 5-13.  her teacher is miss walker, a first time teacher who was a gymnast and an office assistant in her former life.  mia wears a uniform of dark green culottes shorts, a light blue polo and a dark green cardigan sweater with a blue "W".  the school day starts at 9am with everyone around the campus playing soccer in the grass or playing on the various playground equipment areas.  the school is constructed of several pods of brick buildings separated by pathways and canopies for shade.   when the morning bell rings they disperse to their classrooms and mia joins her class on the rug with her teacher.  every day they have fitness, running games or tag.    when they have PE, music or art it is the class teacher who conducta the lesson, either in the room or outside.  once a week they go to the library, and can check out a couple books for the week for home and their class, but there aren't library lessons like at home.  miss walker reads a book to the class everyday, right now they are reading "Blart" about dragons and knights.  a few days a week they have maori lessons, and at first mia felt at a huge disadvantage , not having had any knowledge of the language before now!  Maori is a simple language with eight  consanants k,m,n,t,p,r,w,h, and ng;  and all our vowels that get pronounced individually.  phrases she has learned so far are: how are you-kitay pai akay, i am good-kiti pai, hello-kia ora, new zealand-aotearoa (which means island of the long white cloud).  the national anthem of new zealand has a first verse in maori, and building and municipal signs are often dual language.

morning tea (snack!) is taken around 11, and is eaten outside on benches if not raining, then kids can run around for a recess time.   a couple hours later there is lunch in the same spots on outside benches, again with recess after they have eaten (kogen is in heaven- he went from no recess to two!).  there is no cafeteria, but twice a week kids can order sandwiches, baked goods and meat pies from a local bakery owned by one of the parents at the school.   there are 24 students in her class, and the kids say the teachers are strict.  there is very little homework, but all subjects are taught everyday. on mia's first spelling test, she got half of them wrong, which is surprising since mia is usually a good speller, but after checking in with mia and the teacher, we figured out that she was being graded on the 'new zealand' spellings: colour, flavour, centre, etc...her teacher is being more lenient with mia's words and mia has been getting better grades on her spelling now!

 once a week her teacher has a release day to work on lesson plans or further development, all first year teachers get this per ministry of education in NZ.  on those days mrs brown is a sub for the day, who is the daughter in law of the principal, and she teaches art to the class.  a new phrase learned from the teachers is "sort yourselves out" -seems synonymous with the hand clap rhythm learned at home to stop and listen.   mia has made some friends in her class-yasmine who is from malaysia and caitlyn from aukland.  daniel is from britain, and other students are from india, australia, middle east countries (just not sure which) and europe.  the student body is split into four houses : hillary, rutherford, te kanawa and sheppard named after important founders and contributing alumni (i know!  just like hogwarts!)  and there is a running count of house points, but it is unclear how they are earned!  kogen and mia are both in te kanawa (named after either maori chiefs from over a hundred years ago, or a famous maori opera singer.) and i am told families are put in the same house to avoid squabbles at home-good idea!

mia and kogen scooter to and from school, i join them in the scootering, the only scootering mom i have seen yet, but maybe i will start a new trend.  at the end of a day a kid said to kogen, "cheerio old chum!"

activities offered at the school are: chorus, orchestra, kapa haka (the maori chant dance), karate, religion, there are swimming, rugby and cricket teams as well.  mia is looking forward to netball- a version of basketball which involves passing and no dribbling, and the net has no backboard!

that is it from miss mia, and fear not, she is not too sick-as it is this took me a week to gather up and post so she is fine and dandy again!!  (the cold did sweep through the whole fam excluding me, knock on wood)