First post from NZ!

First Blog Post!

 Magnificent view off a sheep farm near Havelock North, New Zealand!

Friday, March 2 - 1:55pm Central

Welcome to the blog of my trip to New Zealand to student teach! I feel so incredibly blessed to have this amazing opportunity, and rest assured I’m going to extract every possible thing I can from it. There are so many people to thank for this I don’t even know where to begin! Big thanks to MaryBeth Petesch in the UWO Office of Field Experiences for filling me in about this in the first place! Many thanks as well to Erica Swenson, Leigh Golding, and John & Marian Meade with Educators Abroad for doing all the logistics of my entire experience. Many more thanks to all my family and friends for their support and well wishes, and very special thanks to Laura for taking me to Chicago to begin the whole thing!

Right now I’m sitting at gate C21 of Terminal 1 at Chicago/O’Hare International Airport, waiting for my first flight to take off. First flight leaves for San Francisco at 3pm ,which is only about an hour from now! After that, it’s a short layover and then the big 13-hour flight to Auckland, followed by a short flight to Napier. I’ve only flown once before this, and this is my first time flying overseas, solo, and with connecting flights! I got lost three different times in O’Hare but I was here early enough so I didn’t have any problems finding where I was supposed to go.

So many different thoughts and emotions are swirling in my head as I prepare to head out on this life-changing experience. I’m unbelievably excited to get to experience a completely new culture and lifestyle halfway around the world. I’m incredibly nervous and anxious as well. What if the students at Havelock North don’t like me? What if I can’t establish a good rapport with them? But strangely, even as I type these words my worries seem to escape me. I just completed an amazing 9-week placement with K-5 students in Oshkosh, and I did not have any problems with the students liking me or respecting me. I am optimistic that my difference in nationality will not make a difference. My good friend Lauren experienced this same thing and she has repeatedly said that it changed her life much for the better. I cannot see a reason why it would be any different for me!

I will do my absolute best to post an update to this blog at least once a week, if not more often. I’ll also try to sum up the post as best I can with a picture or video. For those of you that are friends with me on Facebook, I’ll try to post pictures as often as I can. Well, almost boarding time here at O’Hare. Until next time, have a good one!

Friday, March 2 - 7:50pm Pacific

            High above the Pacific Ocean! I’m currently on flight NZ 7 from San Francisco to Auckland! We took off about a half hour ago and it’s been smooth so far. The flight attendants are super nice and the Air New Zealand safety video was quite hilarious; a real treat to see humor in something so serious.

            I don’t even know where to begin right now. I had to put this trip together in September and October, when it seemed light years away. Now, all of a sudden, I’m high in the sky on my way there. It’s so hard to believe that it’s already happening! (side note: I’ll probably say that at least three more times before it’s all said and done!) I’m sitting next to a very nice couple from Washington; it’s a definite improvement over my last seat-mate who didn’t say anything the whole flight from Chicago to San Fran. Anyway, I just heard the announcement for dinner coming up, and it sounds good! Either a seasoned beef dish or macaroni & chicken tonight. I’m thinking the macaroni & chicken for now. So until then, good eatin’ and have a good one! :P

Sunday, March 4 - 6:10am New Zealand Time

            Kia Ora from Auckland, New Zealand! I don’t think I could have asked for a more perfect flight from San Francisco…the food was great, my neighbors were friendly, and I actually got some sleep! Dinner was served about an hour after takeoff, and yes I did have the macaroni & chicken dish, which was very good. Came with a (very small) side salad and a raspberry/chocolate cake for dessert. I talked to my neighbors for a while, a very pleasant couple from Washington state, then settled down for some TV. I watched a soccer match from Europe and fell asleep for a few minutes towards the end. Decided to try to sleep more after that but had difficulty doing so. I turned the TV back on and watched a few episodes of Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother before starting to fall asleep again. I still had my watch set to Pacific Time, and at this point it was about 1am. I put my jacket over me like a blanket and promptly zonked for about 4 hours! At this point I pulled out my computer again and changed the time zone to New Zealand time, and discovered that it was about 2:30am on Sunday and that we’d be landing in a little over 2 hours. Shortly after, the announcement came for breakfast, and I enjoyed an egg/cheese omelet with some fruit, yogurt, and apple juice. Yummy! I settled in for two more episodes of How I Met Your Mother before the call came for us to begin descent into Auckland, so I chatted with my neighbors the rest of the way. For my very first international flight, I have absolutely zero complaints, the service was wonderful, and the flight itself was very smooth with little turbulence. Right now, I’m waiting for the gate to open for my final flight to Napier, which leaves in an hour. Then it’s on to Linn and Neil’s for three amazing months! I’ll update again tonight after I’ve experienced my first full day in another country! Until then, have a good one!

Sunday, March 4 - 9:15pm NZ

            And what a first day it has been! The flight from Auckland to Napier was very smooth, and Leigh & Marian from EA met me there. So nice to finally meet people after emailing back and forth for so long! From there, it was a short drive through Napier and Hastings on the way to Havelock North, a short meet & greet with John, my EA Supervisor, and then to my host family’s place. Linn and Neil are wonderful people, simply put. Linn is a part-time ESL teacher at Havelock North High School, and Neil is a retired car salesman and does most of the cooking (which is quite wonderful!) and housework during the day. Linn provides the warm, mother-like guidance while Neil is chock full of witty sarcasm and quick jokes that keep the atmosphere light and friendly. After a quick tour of the high school and a meet & greet with my co-op Robbie Cargill, it was back to Napier with Leigh to meet the rest of the American student teachers! I finally met Liana and Ali face-to-face after being Facebook friends for a while, and met Jessi and Avery for the first time. We all clicked together really well and I can tell it’s going to be a phenomenal experience interacting with, getting to know, and traveling with these people. Plans are already in place for a biking/wine-tasting tour next weekend, as well as a potential weekend trip to Wellington and, of course, the Kiwi Experience (if I can afford it!).

            Well, I’ve been up for almost 20 hours now after my on-and-off 4 hours on the flight from San Francisco, so you can imagine how tired I am! Linn and I were chatting after dinner and I think she could sense how tired I was because she basically just stopped mid-thought and said “Ok, you’re tired, off to bed with you now!” I am definitely looking forward to a wonderful night’s sleep here in a few minutes. Tomorrow I start my time at HNHS already with the Stage Band (Jazz Band) rehearsal at 8am sharp! So until then my North American comrades, sleep well! (it is 2:30am Sunday morning by you right now! :P)