Funny Commercial

I was watching TV with J and the best commercial I have ever seen came on. I've actually seen it a couple times but didn't quite get it before.

The commercial is an attractive blonde female going around town with a beaver. They go to lunch, shop, and the beach. The blonde even gives the beaver a present. In the last scene while they are at the beach the over voice says... "You've only got one down there! Treat it with the best!" And a box of New Zealand brand tampons flashes on the screen.

Seriously!? How blatant and gross! What the hell is that?! The beaver is pretty funny but not in what it is in reference to! Sick!

One Week Down

I can't believe I've been here for a week already! It has flown by. 1 week down 9 to go! I know it's going to go by way too quickly.

School is a lot different and not so much different in a lot of ways. The school is very bright and open. There are individual buildings with classrooms all of which are surrounded by windows. Everyone here about died when I said my Indiana classroom had no windows. They kept asking me how students in Indiana could possibly work under such conditions. The students are really not that different from American ones. I have only seen one tattoo since I've been here and there are not piercings and things like you would normally see in an American high school. Part of that I think is not having access to tattoo and piercing parlors. There isn't one in town so they'd have to go to Napier or Hastings. They have to wear a uniform. The girls have to wear a plaid skirt and white button down. They have the option of black shoes that tie and tights or sandals. When they wear their sandals they are NOT allowed to have socks or tights on. the boys wear grey polo's and grey shorts. They also have the option of shoes or sandals and the same sock rule applies. When they have to "dress up" then everyone wears the white shirt and a blue and yellow striped tie except for head boy and girl who have a different tie. There is also blue sweaters and blazers that are a pretty awful color of blue to be seen everyday. The uniforms are hard to get used to. I've never been in a school with uniforms so I sort of always feel like I'm on a movie set or something. It's definitely not like "Gossip Girl" though trust me. The girls are required to keep their uniforms modest. The students also have to address everyone as Miss and Sir. It makes them sound very polite even when they are not being so. My first day there I got a massive headache from the sunshine. I'm not used to so much light! J laughed at me and gave me tamol (tylenol). They also call erasers, rubbers, which I knew before I came so it wasn't a surprise. It's still a bit funny though to have kids constantly be asking for rubbers. I am in school from 8-3:10 in the afternoon. J is always the first one at school so it's been tough for me to not be running behind and grabbing things last minute.

There are a ton of cultural differences. I was thought to be rude when I asked a little boy to please stop farting at gymnastics practice. Seriously. Also, that same day I guess I spoke too sharply at some kids when putting equipment away and snapping your fingers and clapping your hands is uncalled for. I was doing it in a hurry up lets get this done sort of way. For this, I got told I was going to get a reputation as a "right-bitch". I was a bit offended for probably a day but I'm not anymore. It's just a cultural difference and in all honestly (they also don't say honestly, it's always- to be honest- or If I'm being right honest) the term bitch is used pretty loosely.



CHBC has never had a student teacher before so a lot of the students think I am an exchange student. They think it's neat that I'm from American but have not asked me anything beyond "have you been to Disney Land." They also think it's really cool that I have not because I've only been to Disney World. Most have no idea where Indiana is. They mostly know California or New York where TV shows and Films are made.

I have four different classes with four different teachers. Being in the classes makes me miss OV because there my students were very relatable and here they are not. I'm going to have to find another way in. I am following years 10 (14 year olds) 11 (age 15-16) 12 (age 17) and 13 (age 18). It's more like they don't have Kindergarten it's just year 1. The students seem pretty un-interested in my being there. I'm still just trying to catch up though so I'm not real active yet. I lead a discussion today and had to keep asking the students what they were saying. Some of the students have a much thicker accent than the adults. They think it's funny when I can't understand and when they speak more slowly it often only makes it worse. The teacher interprets for me. One of the students said, "I think he just wanted to take the puss out of her" and she got in trouble. I don't know exactly what it means but I can imagine that it's not good. The students will throw around cuss words. Often it will just be ignored or other times I teacher will point and say something. The students aren't embarassed at all though to cuss in front of the teachers. The teachers, on the other hand, when alone, have horrible mouths! My first day there, J, was showing me around the school. There is a board in the teacher's lounge and on it a teacher had written he was looking for roosters and chickens. Another teacher as a joke wrote, "He's looking for c*ck and p*ssy." This was after knowing J for about 3 hours. I about fell on the floor! It took me like 10 minutes to actually laugh. J thought my reaction was more funny than the joke itself.

Last weekend (28-29) the school had it's 50th Jubilee. I went to the concert they put on of various acts from present day and songs from plays that were performed over the 50 years. The Maori Club started out. (The Maori are the indegenous people of NZ) They did traditional Maori song and dance. It was amazing. I was really impressed with the students. The boys part especially. They usually had one leader of the girls and guys and then the rest of the "choir" would follow. The boys were just great. They were down low to the groud and sang very forcefully and their motions were violent almost. They stick out their tongues and make like a hissing sound while stomping their feet and beating their chests. It may sound silly reading it but it was really something to see. There's some really talented people in the school which I don't get to see so often being in the English department.

That's all I've got for now. I'm going to see if I can figure out how to post some pictures!

ooo Wait I Forgot..

One of the flight attendants on the place had the MOST prominent chin I have ever seen. He put Jay Leno to shame. Seriously. It was like someone had glued a brick under his mouth. I could not get over it. I stared at him everytime he walked by me. I wish I would have taken a picture but the zoom on my camera was not working and I didn't want to be too obvious. He may have been serving me food later and that could be only a disaster for me.

Travel

Finally arriving in Auckland, New Zealand was crazy. I could never figure out quite what time it was back home or what the date was. I had been traveling for about 20 some odd hours but it felt like weeks. I felt really scrummy and like I had been dragged through a mud pit. I avoided mirrors the whole time. Luckily in Auckland, since it was so early there was hardly anyone in the airport. The flight from Chicago to LA was nearly the worst one. The girl seated next to me had no "flight manners." Her legs were all over the place, she took the arm rest between us, and she kept the windows shut! I couldn't see anything taking off or landing and it pissed me off. She also chose the exact moment I sat down and got my seat re-buckled to ask me to get up and let her out to use the restroom. She was reading Harry Potter and watching previews and interviews for Twilight. When her ipod died I thought she was going to cry. She bitched about it to me for about 15 minutes. Seriously, the flight was only 3 1/2 hours. I told her I only had the "old school" nano ipod that doesn't play video and she really seemed to take pity on me. I hid my face in my book and laughed. I read "Running with Scissors" by Anthony Burroughs. HILARIOUS book. I was cracking up right on the flight.

There was a lot of people on the plane to LA. It was a tight fit. I definitely couldn't throw any fits about personal space. People were likely to press their bodies right up against yours in the aisle to walk by without any reserve at all. I tried hard not to shiver and call whomever a "creeper".

LAX is completely intimidating. The airport is huge. I got told to go the wrong direction a few times and was thankful for the four hour layover. I gave up trying to find my gate and grudgingly bought a 10 dollar salad and some chips. (10 dollars?! Really!) I finally did find my gate and there were tons of people over there sitting and waiting. Two of the planes before mine were going to Hawaii. I was a little bit jealous until I remembered exactly what it was I was there for. There was an Ed Hardy shop across from my gate. I wondered in there to look at all the god awful clothing. Ed Hardy is so tacky and unflattering. I know it's very popular but I just don't get the trend. All of it is so busy. I guess I was making faces at the clothes because the sales person asked me if I were going to make a gross face at everything I looked at. Embarassed I slunk away.

The flight was not bad at all. I was originally sat next to two men. Quickly, it was recognized that we were not traveling together and three different flight attendants came over and told the two men they were welcome to move. I was certainly not going to complain. I was at the window and felt trapped. Plus, one of those men had some bad garlic breath and I could already imagine the headache I was going to get from it. I asked the third flight attendant (A very attractive male which I sort of found funny. I know it's a cliche but he fit it perfectly and he was gay as he told me) why the two men next to me got to move when on a flight of so many other people had to of been sitting next to people they didn't know. He said, "Well I may be gay but you are a very pretty American. New Zealanders love blonde Americans in their country." A bit creepy but yay for having my own asile! Who knew my American-ness and blonde hair would allow me such good luck. I got to lay down and sleep the whole time. I think I slept 7 hours of the flight. It was great. I also watched "Twilight" and enjoyed it more the second time than the first. I think the first time I was too distracted by horrible make up and special effects.

Like I said earlier we landed at 4:30 am in Auckland on Monday morning. I wandered about and played Nintendo DS to pass the time. The flight to Napier-Hastings was only 50 minutes and by then I felt like a seasoned flyer. It was strange that we got to walk out onto the runway and into the plane. The plane seemed teeny after the one from LA to Auckland. It shook a lot and made weird noises. Nobody else seemed bothered by it so I didn't get worried.

In Napier I met B and J at the airport. I was tired and had no energy so they probably didn't think I was as excited as I actually was to be there. It was about 65 and continued to warm up to about 75 by midday. New Zealand weather is odd. It's quite cold in the morning and gradually warms up. I would say the day is at it's warmest around 2 or 3. In Indiana we are going into summer and here summer is on its way out. It's so clear here though. I will post pictures as soon as I can.

Last Official Day of Student Teaching

Today was my last day teaching.  It hasn't set in yet that I'm actually leaving even though it's only a week away.  I didn't feel sad or sentimental about it.  I'm sure that I will next week.  

It's been such a great experience.  I will honestly be sad to leave.  I feel very fortunate to be placed where I was.  Before student teaching I wasn't entirely sure where I was going to fit in the teaching world.  Many of the other students in my cohort have always known they wanted to be a teacher or had that one great teacher somewhere along the way that inspired them.  I just knew that I didn't want to go to a job everyday that makes me miserable.  I hated being an apparel merchandising major and my grades were suffering because I had no interest in it. 

Teaching is fun.  I was so relieved about the laid back atmosphere that was already in place in my classroom.  I was worried about having to be super straight laced and buttoned up. I don’t think I would have survived.  It was the opposite though.  I got to be myself and wasn’t afraid to make mistakes.  I certainly did make mistakes but I learned from them and moved on.  I really have my cooperating teacher and supervisor to thank for my growth as a teacher in the last 11 weeks.  It was so nice to have a supportive system behind me that was helpful and encouraging.  My field experiences did not go nearly as smoothly and left me feeling doubtful about my abilities.  All the encouragement and wonderful feedback I have gotten has been so helpful.

I feel lucky to have meet all of my students in all of my classes.  All the students are such characters and I have been thoroughly entertained and challenged.  There really wasn’t a day that I didn’t laugh or crack up at something and there were a few comments, whether I was supposed to hear them or not, that have made my semester.  A lot of the students were so funny to me and I’ll never forget the first day of class when we did the survey.  Some of the answers from students were so great, off beat, and funny.  I knew nearly all of their names after that first day.  That day standing in front of all those kids I could barely choke out any words my voice was shaking so bad.  I kept moving my feet and hands to attempt to disguise my visibly shaking hands.  I can’t even imagine what my students were thinking when the first thing I admitted to was my crazy cat lady ways and how I’m obsessed with my cat who lovingly is named Grandma!

I have one last week to get everything in order before I leave.  I have done pretty well at staying organized.  I only have a few things left on my many lists that still need to be crossed out.  I’m so grateful to my parents.  They have been really wonderful and supportive about going overseas.  I don’t feel nervous about it yet but I’m sure my mother has twisted herself in knots over everything.  I’m so lucky to have such great parents and simply cannot thank them enough.  I’ll miss them when I’m gone.  I hope Grandma survives dad’s teasing while I’m away for 3 months!  J

Until Next time

-Madeline

Randy Pausch Last Lecture

Hello Everyone!

I don't know if any of you have seen this but I highly recommend watching it. Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was given 2-6 months to live. He put together a "last lecture"that has generated a ton of buzz and has been downloaded over 10,000 times. He gave a smaller ten minute version of the lecture on Oprah. It's a speech about achieving your childhood dreams. His wife always makes me teary eyed even after watching it three times in a row.