View of Bay of Islands from Russell
Today we were at the “tail of the fish” as they say in Maori culture. If you look at the north island of New Zealand it looks like an upside-down fish (or stingray) with the tail on the top, fins on the sides, and nose on the bottom.
In the morning, we took a ferry over to Russell which was the first capital of New Zealand – back when it was a main port for whalers. It used to be kind of like a wild western town, but now it is a resort area. Some of us hiked up this steep hill to get a look at all the islands in the Bay of Islands. I’m sorry to say I slowed my friends down a bit and almost gave up, but in the end I made it to the top with their encouragement. The view was spectacular.
Later in the day, we visited a Maori language immersion school, which is apparently not a usual occurrence. The school is called “Te Kura Kaupapa Maori” in Kaikohe and teaches around 150 children at both primary and secondary levels. We participated in the formal welcome ceremony (powhiri) which I explained earlier. Just as we were about to begin the ceremony, a parent and student arrived to enroll in school. They joined us in the ceremony since they had never been on school grounds before. Since they were also considered strangers to those at the school, they too need to be officially welcomed.
If you remember, part of the ceremony involves a speech where commonalities are found between visitor and host. I think this is the only powhiri in recent history that involved the mentioning of President Barack Obama and Michael Jackson. I’m not sure what the similarity was for Michael Jackson, but the speaker stated we were representatives of President Obama and they found hope in his presidency. This powhiri was different because of the presence of the upper grade children. As I sat studying the faces of the students I found myself smiling – they acted no differently than US students. Each time the students stood to sing after a speech, a group of boys were horsing around in the back, some girls in the front were whispering, and teachers were moving in among the lines separating students and pulling them to the side. Just like home.
We then took turns asking questions of each other – the Maori students and staff, and ourselves. We found out that the favorite subject to study was PE and that the students felt the best thing about their school was the individual help they got from the teachers. Some students wanted to be a rugby player, flight attendant, architect, chef, or basketball player, while others were uncertain about their futures. When it came to asking questions, the students were quite shy and not a single one would volunteer. We have 3 more school visits and it will be interesting to see the similarities/differences.
Don’t forget to ask questions and check previous blog entries! Write to you tomorrow from the forest!
