A Few More Pictures

Well, I thought I would add a couple of pictures. The first two are of Alison working at her restaurant. She did not know I was here. I was her personal stalker. The pictures did not come out very well. My camera was dying and would only allow a few shots and most of them were really blurry. Every time Alison was standing still, my camera decided not to take the shot. It was really frustrating. These two were the best. The third picture is of her restaurant.

I decided to add a couple more pictures of the Rugby game. The first is of the score. The Christchurch Crusaders had 45 and the South African Cheetahs had 6. It was a slaughter. The next picture is of the Crusader Mascots. The roamed around the stadium a couple times. Again, I did not have a lot of battery, so my camera only allowed a couple of pictures. Most of these shots did not look so good.

Happenings

Friday 30 April 2010

Well, my days have been pretty much the same for work. I have had a few incidents though. So I always take the 7:30 shuttle. It takes me about 15 minutes to walk to the stop. One time, as soon as I walked on the bus, a lady was talking. It was evident that she had been talking for some time. At first I thought she was rambling to herself, but she was speaking to the bus driver (and everyone else who would listen). The bus driver got tired of talking to her, and stopped answering her incessant talking. She asked frequently, "I'm not talking to myself am I bus driver?" She went on and on about dish washers and bus drivers should be ruling the country and that the country is controlling everyone. She talked about how the government has been making them do things even to the point of wearing a particular colour, because they say you have to wear that colour. She said that if people voice their opinion, they are considered crazy, but she will be heard and will show the world what is what, not by guns or violence, but by peace and love. She also said how Americans dump all their junk in this country and la dee da on Americans. I made it a point not to say a word, lest she hear my accent. She also talked a lot about alcoholics and how they need to be taken care of. I thought that was ironic, since I definitely smelled a lot of alcohol in her direction. She had a very interesting one-sided conversation. I was quite glad to get off.

After the shuttle stop, I have about 30 minutes to walk to work. During that walk, I pray, then read. People (kids and teachers) have told me that they see me walking and reading. They don't exactly make fun of me...but then again, they kind of do.

Work has been interesting. There have been good days...and there have been THOSE days. One of THOSE days was yesterday. Let's just say that one of the workers got sick all over her (she was puked on), a girl had wees twice and we had to clean it and clean her (actually, there have been numerous accidents, but these have been MAJOR accidents). There have been more and more injuries. Several kids have been sick. There have been better days, too, but those aren't as exciting to read about, I am sure. I was commended for teaching a few kids the Patience Song (that my mom taught me when I was little). I was also commended for a lesson I taught a group of kids. I was glad it was a good group time, because I have had kids run out of the room, and I have to chase them down. There are some interesting children.

Also, I was told that I might find out my schedule for work. I have been working four days a week for three weeks (this week I got five days), and I have one more week left of four days a week. After that, I didn't have a schedule. I heard there was a girl the preschool was interested in, but they weren't sure whether they would hire her or not. I wasn't too hopeful for more work, but I was asked yesterday if I would be okay work working 2 days a week until September. I said yes. I wasn't sure if that meant until the end of August or the end of September. I asked today and found out they weren't sure yet, because they are still working things out, but it looks like I may have a job until at least the end of July and probably August, but possibly September. I know, kind of confusing, but I will take what I can get. Also, I asked about switching days so that I could get two days a week in a row, so that it would be easier to travel. The preschool owner said she would ask someone. I am a little hopeful. I hope I will get it even if just for the time my mom will be visiting me. It will make traveling easier for us.

After work, I come home to do a couple things before dinner. Then comes preparation for dinner and interaction with the flatmates. So one day, Alison and I were going to prepare dinner, and the kitchen was a complete mess. One of our flatmates, and several of his friends decided, to go on a baking frenzy. There were muffins and chocolate cake, about a hundred dirty dishes in the sink and everywhere else, and flour and other food everywhere. We didn't have any place to put anything, and we were preparing a meal (not left overs). So we had to set stuff on the fridge and in obscure places so we could put things together. I ran into a couple of dishes and sent them clattering to the floor. At that point, the flatmate came out and apologized. He said he would clean it up. We believed him, as he has been good about cleaning (he was the one that cleaned the oven with acid. Wow, it made a difference...although, the difference didn't last long with every flatmate). He did clean it up.

We have had several people looking at the empty room. The last person seemed to want it, but that was kind of a strange situation. The landlady texted Alison to open the door for him. We did, but he wasn't there. When we asked a flatmate if anyone came in, he said the person came, but left. He apparently wanted to meet all the flatmates, but I never saw him. He kept coming in and out of the flat, but would only stay for a few seconds. Every time we went out to meet him, he was gone. It was strange. If he does move in, that makes four guy flatmates...and us.

The last thing to mention, is that Alison and I have reserved a flight to Australia. We are really excited about it. We will be there for a little less than a month. So that gives us a little time to explore what we can.

Well, I guess that is about it for the update. Until next time...

Pictures

I decided to post a couple of pictures since I haven't done that in a really long time. So here are a few pictures of the gardens. This is a picture of a dahlia. I really love this flower, especially this multicoloured one. These are two of the geese I see all the time here.

These two pictures show the Hidden Path that I wrote about a long time ago. See how it just seems to go into the brush? I thought the path ended there, but it continued on for a while. I have taken it a couple times since my first adventure. It isn't a long path, but it goes on longer than it looks.

This is a family of Wood Pigeons. You can hear them very easily. They make an interesting cooing sound as they fly. Their wings make a swishing noise as well. I really like the second picture, because the berry is in midair.

This tree was proof of the Autumn season. The leaves were bright yellow.

The rest of the photos are of the Rugby game. There is a Crusader in this picture. It is kind of hard to see, but he is on a horse. The next picture is one of the flames that would go off each time the Crusaders made a score. There were several pillars of fire all around the stadium.

Anzac Day

Monday 26 April, 2010



Saturday was a pretty good day, but it rained a lot. I went out for a walk in the rain, but as I did not bring an umbrella to New Zealand (genius I know) I got soaked. I stayed in the library for much of the time so that I could. There was one car accident and an arrest that I saw. Two guys were in handcuffs and the police officers were talking to them as they lowered them into the car.

One of our flatmates decided to clean the stove with acid. The stove was disgusting again (but not as bad as it had been). So now it is sparkling clean. It looks amazing. Let's see how long this lasts.

Yesterday was Anzac Day. There was a celebration at the Cathedral, but it was at 6:00 am, and I actually didn't know anything about it. Although, that is stinkin early! In Church, we got to sing the New Zealand National Anthem in Maori and English. Actually, we also sang God Save the Queen, but the music sounded like another national song for the States. It was kind of funny to sing it.

Today was pretty good. It started off great, when my favorite shuttle driver was driving. He always says hello to me and plays music that is pretty. Kind of like Celtic singing, but there is other stuff too. Well, after one of the songs played, I recognized the next song. It was a song that I learned here in a couple of the Churches and I love the words:

Here I am Lord,
Is it I Lord,
I can hear you calling in the night.
I will follow,
If you lead me,
I will hold your people to my heart.

There are versus that have really good words, but the chorus is the only one I have memorized. It was really cool to hear that song on the bus in the morning. It set the rest of my walk.

Well, that is about it for now. I will post more pictures a little later.

Cheers!

Work and a Musical

Saturday 24 April 2010

Now I am going to catch up on the rest of the week.

Work has been interesting. I have been doing a couple group times. It is fine, but I am told last minute and have to grab at whatever is available and make it up as I go. One time was okay, but the other time did not work quite so well. Both times, I had over fifteen 3 and 4 year olds. Those of you who are teachers probably will think this sounds ridiculous and a small number, but remember that New Zealand is different in the way they teach; and these children are all over the place. Lets just say Montessori comes to mind with them taking their shoes off all the time, and everything they play with is a learning experience (even using a decent size saw).

Actually both group times were fine in terms of discipline, but both of them had recently changed. They group kids by age, so some of them just turned three and some just turned four. They were going through a transition. Of course I am getting used to always being the teacher who helps children transitioning. Anyway, the four year old group was fine, but the tasks I was supposed to have them do, was not enough for the amount of children there were. So I had to figure out what to have them do. The three year old group had two very distracted children. One EXTREMELY defiant child and one child who is used to doing other things (like playing all day). All in all it was okay, but I would have liked for it to have gone better.

I have also been "trained" in Nappie time (diaper changes) and have had the privilege of changing them. I also had the pleasure of wiping a little girl's bottom after she soiled the toilet. I also got to do sleep time. I was supposed to be trained in that, but since there was no one to help me, I had to learn completely on my own. They have their own schedule that they mark every 10 minutes whether a child is sleeping or not. It is kind of interesting. Plus, I set out the mats a couple inches apart (which would have been illegal in the States...a hazard). I was told that I needed to have more mats down, because there were more children sleeping that day than normal. So mats would be overlapping and I would stumble to get from one child to the other. Do you think I was surprised at this information?

Anyway, I only have two more weeks left of work. There is a possibility I might have more, but my guess is no. I know they have interviewed someone. They said they may not even hire her, but I think they will. So now I am on the job hunt again. I really hate this.

Sleep has been interesting. One of our flatmates sings all the time. Another flatmate talks on skype during late hours (sometimes), and the other flatmate plays loud music at times. One night, all three were at it. One singing at the top of his lungs, one talking loudly to a friend on skype, and one playing music and talking to his friends. Alison and I would have fits of laughter at random times. It WOULD be like this for us. They are all guys and there is one room open. The only person we saw look at is was also a guy. We are not too sure about that.

So a lady at work asked if I travel on the weekends. Well, actually several people have asked me, and it is frustrating that we haven't been able to. I told her that we went to a Rugby game and we were going to see the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat of Colours. She told me, "Well, that's not very Kiwi." That offended me, I have to admit. Does it matter if we do something that is not "Very Kiwi"? At least we did something.

Anyway, moving on, we did see the musical. I have to admit, that I am really not a Musical type person. Many of you who know me, know I love music. For some reason, Musicals don't do it for me. There has to be REALLY good music, and a REALLY good story line. Well, I guess it just really depends. Anyway, I did not care for it at all. The scenes looked like they belonged back stage. People were flying everywhere, and there were scenes that were definitely not true. I did not care for the music either. I know I am complaining a lot, but actually I did't regret going. It was still a cultural experience.

Someone asked me, the other day, how my Maori was coming along. I told her, "Horribly." Several people laughed. I can sing a couple words to a song they teach in preschool, but I still do horribly with that song. It is hard for me to pick out the sounds.

Well, yesterday I went to my Beloved Gardens. I got some rest, and did some job searching. I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that again. We will see, we will see.

Rugby Time

Saturday 24 April 2010

I know it has been over a week since my last entry. It is hard to just sit down and write what has been happening. So what ends up happening is I don't write and I get really long entries. Although, I did warn everyone that this would probably happen. I just hate doing it.

So lately the Internet has been going at the slowest speed possible. Sometimes, it wouldn't show anything at all for over an hour. So Internet use has been quite limited. We have had interactions with our newest flatmate. He is quite the chatter box, to the point where he makes me feel out of breath. He has moved in and is quite excited about the flat. I don't really understand why, since he has already been making a lot of changes (such as painting his room, buying all kinds of bedding, and many other things). He said he was a compulsive, excessive spender. He wanted to buy things and just split the cost of ingredients. Alison and I kind of put our foot down on the since we are here to save money. Not spend it excessively (unless, that is, we are travelling). After a couple days, he told us that he has been here only 1/2 week and already things are working out for him. We almost laughed out loud. A whole 1/2 week! You must be doing great!!! He is still in his honeymoon stage. We will see how long that wears off. Our wore off LONG ago. He is planning on living here a long time, so it is going to be hard to relate to him, since we are here for a few months, and then the travelling begins!

So about the Rugby game (hence the title name). We decided to have a New Zealand experience of seeing Rugby. We have been told by numerous people that Rugby is not as crazy as European football. We though, "That sounds perfect." So we walked down to the stadium and got our bags checked. the guy checking our bags asked if we were rooting for the Cheetahs or Crusaders. Fortunately, we had found out that the Cheetahs were from South Africa and the Crusaders were from Christchurch. It still took me a couple seconds to process who was who, so my answer sounded a bit phony. Then and found our seats. Well, we were directly in the middle of the goal post and we were in the very front row. The players were practicing their kicks, so the balls would come directly at us. It frightened us, because neither one of us would be good at catching them, so we dodged out of the way of the flying balls. After a couple headed straight our way, we got up to ask if there was any way we could sit somewhere else. Fortunately, it was not a sold out game, and they allowed us to sit further back. It was also better, because the speakers were deafening.

So we sat, freezing in the Stadium, to watch a game that neither of us are familiar with. The mascot came out (a crusader on a horse) and went across the field. Then several other Crusaders started galloping across the field and there were flames of fire blazing in all sections of the stadium. It was kind of cool. I tried to take pictures and videos, but they did not come out all that well.

So the first half of the game, we tried to figure out the rules. The only reference I had was American football. Well, it is similar yet, very different. There are 2 halves and both are 40 minutes. The thing is, they never stop. When the ball hits the ground, it is up for grabs for either team. I think the only time the timer stops is when it is out of bounds or someone is hurt. There is a lot of kicking and throwing of the ball. They even lift players up to catch the ball if it is in the air. It was actually quite interesting.

1/2 time was quite ridiculous. They had two "bad guys" on the field shooting up in the air so the police dogs would attack them. The dogs would bite their arms, then they would be dragged of the field. We were not impressed.

Well, the score was 45 to 6. Crusaders won. It was not a difficult game, and not very exciting, but at least the Christchurch Crusaders won.

Back to the Flat

Friday 16 April 2010

Well, now we are getting back into the routine for being in our room. Now that I have a more stable work schedule (for the next several weeks) it is easier to be in a schedule. I have been getting up later than I should, for work, and have to run all the way to the shuttle stop. It has been on and off cold and hot lately. Fortunately in the morning, it has been cooler so running is not so bad. Then I walk to work after the last shuttle stop and read all along the way. I have finished the book Into the Wild and Blink. Now I am reading 100 Years of Solitude. I am giving this author another chance since I did not really like one of his books I read in high school.

At the preschool, there have been theme days (although I did not know what they were until I got there). Monday was crazy pattern day. I walk in and my eyes felt like they were on fire with all the crazy colours. It was an overload on my eyes and they started watering instantly. Tuesday was superhero day. That was interesting seeing all the costumes and everything. Wednesday was bike day...meaning many many injuries and hurt feelings as other kids would steal bikes and use them. Crashes were inevitable and consistent. Basically, the whole day revolved around crying children. One of the ladies drew a line around the playground for the children to go on. They were doing well following it with some of her and my redirection. Then another lady came and decided to fill the water and told me to tell them to go the other way. I tried to redirect them, but this irritated her. She told me, "Don't let them come over here." I said that the arrows were in a certain direction and if you told them to go the other way, it would just confuse them and cause more accidents. She said they weren't really paying attention to the arrows anyway. I wholeheartedly disagreed, but I didn't say anything. I honestly don't think it mattered if they went in her direction, because it wouldn't stop the flow of water. This kind of irritated me. Thursday was Teddy Bear day. That day made me sad, because I actually had a teddy bear; and I wanted to bring him. Maybe it was better though. I don't want him to get dirty.

Someone told me the other day that children at the preschool seem to be developing an American accent. She said she wasn't sure if it was the cartoons (since they are all American) or if they are listening to me a lot. I thought that was kind of cool. She tried to explain my accent, because I can't think of myself as having an accent; so I don't know what it sounds like to other people.

I have discovered that schools go by ages here. What I mean is that when a child turns five years old, they can go immediately into New Entrant (Year 0: meaning Kindergarten for us). Even if they turn 5 in the middle of the year, they can go as a New Entrant as soon as they turn 5. I just thought that was interesting.

So Alison and I had to get food the other day, since our refrigerator was completely empty (a chore that we hate the most). So we met on Colombo Street and walked to the store. We bought heaps of food and checked out, waddled to our room, and put everything away. We got a surprise though. My amazingly wonderful mom sent us a box with a lot of my favorite foods! She really knows me well. Plus, she sent me a most needed item. A journal that Alicia gave me, but I couldn't take because it would not fit in my obese bags. We were so excited to see all the wonderful things. Thanks!!!

One of the ladies at work asked how long I have been here. When I told her, she said that wasn't very long. I guess she thought I had been here longer. She asked if I missed some of the tastes in America. I said we did our own cooking mostly, so it wasn't too bad, but I desperately missed Mexican food. I told her how expensive the tortillas are here. She was surprised that I thought they were expensive.

Also, we have a new flatmate. He is a Kiwi, but does not look like a Kiwi. He looks Asian. I have not officially met him yet. Also, our Korean flatmate has left for Australia, so there is another empty room. We got our cleaner back, and she did a wonderful job, so we are quite pleased. We are hoping it will inspire people to clean after themselves. We are not to hopeful for that.

Well, today is Friday, and it is my day off. So I will be spending it relaxing and walking around (can we say it is a Garden day?) Haven't completely planned out this day, but I look forward to it!

House Sitting Days

Monday 12 April 2010

So I know I am getting worse and worse about updating this blog. It has been a little difficult to update when I have been house sitting. I have not had Internet, so the only way to get the Internet was to go back to the flat. It is not a close walk to the flat. Over 40 minutes. I have been interrupted here and there with the workers. I have had to answer the door, but they actually have their own key; so I haven't needed to let them in. Basically, when they come in, I go out. I don't like hanging around with a bunch of workers singing quite loudly or whistling quite loudly.

When I haven't been working, I have been walking around in the Gardens, or going to the library (especially when it is cold), or going to a cafe with Alison. I actually have been working more, so I haven't had that much time to be wandering around.

When I got up for work, I had to leave two hours early to get to work on time. Two times, I have had to run in Hagley Park (which is also part of a golf course). I actually enjoyed it. I haven't ran since I left (almost three months ago) and it felt good, even though it wasn't very far. It has been dark when I left the house, and when I go through the park, the sun starts rising and there is a really low mist that can be seen over the grass. It is quite beautiful...and freezing! My legs were so cold, it felt like they would fall off. I ran to keep a little warm.

At one point, Alison went to a work party and actually slept in the flat. So I had the whole house to myself. It was interesting having the whole place to myself. The TV is HUGE! We were excited to see some movies on it, but they had three remotes. We could not see any of our movies, because they were not the right format or something. Alison had a few movies she bought in London, so we saw those. Then we rented movies from the library. They had three remotes and it was torturous trying to figure out how to use all of them. I tried one thing after the other. It wasn't until our last day there that I finally figured out how to turn the volume down. There were a couple of times we had to cover our ears, since it was so stinkin loud!

Work has been good, but I am just under the impression that common sense is relative. There have been so many times that I have tried to prevent a catastrophe, and each time, someone stops me because it is a learning thing. So I feel like just stopping, but then I feel like a bump on the log, when I should be preventing something. Then they try and run to stop whatever is happening, and I figure I should not intervene. It is frustrating trying to interpret what is good and what should be stopped.

One of the girls in the preschool wanted to give me cuddles (a hug) when I was going home. Then she walked all the way to the window to say goodbye to me. It was so cute!

Also at work, I was "trained" to do nappies (diaper changes). It wasn't the most pleasant thing I have had to do. There is quite the system, and I had to mark everything of every child. I find it interesting what the preschool does in terms of records.

One day, my contacts fell in the sink and I could not get them back. So I had to wear my glasses that entire day, since I didn't have extras with me. By the end of the day, I had quite the headache. It was not fun. Plus, we set the house alarm off that day. We had a controller to disarm the house alarm, but it was not working properly. So the house alarm went off, and I frantically tried to push the button to stop it. After several pushes, it finally stopped. It scared us both to death. It was so LOUD. Apparently, one of the workers set off the alarm as well. It hasn't been easy dealing with these electronic things we are not used to.

Leaving the house was quite sad. We packed up and cleaned up around the house. We then walked back to our flat, emptied everything, and put everything away. Then we walked to Church for service. After Church, we got souvlakis. I finally got the lamb, and it was quite tasty. We went to the Gardens, because the other day, I discovered a book that I wanted. It was on a bench, but I didn't want to take it, it someone else was going to come back for it. I waited a day, then went back. It was still there, so I assumed no one was coming back for it. So it is mine! I finished the book Into the Wild. I also saw the movie. I became thoroughly depressed. No I am reading Blink. I have to say, I have loved reading Malcolm Gladwell. I want to read the rest of his books, but they are always checked out. I am keeping an eye on them though.

Today, work was fun. I met the preschool owner and her daughters. I got to take her daughters home by the buses again. We then met the rest of the family at the house. It was fun to see and talk to them again. They are a really nice family! Then I walked home and am actually looking for return tickets for home. Alison and I have discussed it for a while. We have been going back and forth for quite some time. I think we will be going back sometime mid November. We are not totally set in stone, and more than likely, we will not get the same flights. We have an estimate, and we will see how it goes.

Well, now that I am all caught up again, I am exhausted, and feel like going to bed soon. I am quite tired. I am going to work at least 4 days this week and the following three weeks. So I am almost working full time.

Well, goodnight and good luck!

Lemon Squares Make It Better

Wednesday 7 April 2010

So I decided to clean the kitty litter, but had to do it outside as the rubbish bins were outside. I opened the door and carried the heavy kitty litter box outside. When I opened the door, the cat ran out. I think the owners said it was okay, but I was so scared he wouldn't come back. He did come back later on that day, but it really made me nervous.

On Tuesday, I had to wake up even earlier as it takes me longer to walk to work from this house than my flat. I got to work early and started off the day. It was really cold outside, and we had the kids play inside for much of the day. Only about half of the kids turned up; probably due to the Easter Holiday. A little boy was rolling up paper today and would give it to me saying it was for my mummy. It was thoughtful of him to think of my mum (as they would say it).

Since I was not able to pay rent on Monday (due to the closing of the bank), I had to run in and pay it on Tuesday. Next to the bank, there was some kind of fire alarm and evacuation. There were fire trucks and firemen all over the place. I never found out what happened, but there was some excitement over there.

Then I met Alison and went home. We found out the room we were staying in was painted, so we had to move to another room. We were warned that it was possible this would happen, but the way it was explained, it seemed like it wouldn't happen. So we changed rooms.

After this, we decided to make lemon squares. We had the ingredients out and started putting it together. I was making the crust, and had it in my head that I needed to have 1 cup of butter. Well, it was supposed to be 1/2 cup. I realized the crust looked strange. Fortunately, I discovered this before I cooked it, so I had to double the recipe. Oh well. Twice as many lemon squares for us. We will put it to good use.

So today, I heard a knock on the door. So I rushed down and met two guys who said they were going to be working on the house. So I went back upstairs and changed. They came at 8:30, and I did not want to stick around. So I left the house around 9ish and went to the Botanical Gardens. It is quite cold outside, but not as cold as yesterday. It is quite obvious that we are moving into winter very soon.

Easter Weekend

Monday, 5 April 2010

So, the weekend has been nice. It has been nice to have a big house all to ourselves...and the cat. The cat is kind of interesting. To be honest, Alison and I are not pet people. Don't get us wrong, we love animals, but we are just not thrilled about having a cat following us around, rubbing his head on us, trying to jump on us, climb up on us, meowing loudly, and clawing at the door when we close ourselves in. We have actually been trying to get away from the cat. When we eat, we don't want him getting into our food, so we have closed him out of a room. We actually had to lure him into another section of the house (with the kitty litter, food, and water close by him), and close the door. Little did we realize that the door had no latch, so he got out anyway. Then we tried it again, and leaned a chair against the door. You may think this is cruel (you cat lovers), but we are just not fond of the attention the cat is giving us. He even jumped up on a piece of furniture, stretched his legs on the ledge of the door where a glass window was, and looked at us. It was kind of creepy.

Also, there have been people coming to the house. The people who live at the house are having work done on their house. So I have had to answer the door and answer questions, that is frankly making me uncomfortable, especially since I did not know I would have to deal with this.

We have been cooking, and Saturday, we made tortellini. Well, the pan was not coated and the handle was piping hot. Of course I did not realize this and was about to lift the pan off the burner. Of course my fingers were instantly scorched and I got a glass of ice water and soaked my finger in it the rest of the night.

Easter Sunday, we had planned to wear some light clothes (as it was sweltering on Saturday). Well, as soon as we stepped out the door, we felt light sprinkles. It was incredibly dark, so we couldn't see anything. We walked in the dark to the Church for sunrise service. Well, when we went down a street, the street lights instantly started turning off, so it was even darker. It was very very cold, and by the time we got to Victoria Park, we were frozen. We looked around and did not see any people. We were about 20 minutes early, so we decided to sit down and wait. We waited and waited and nothing happened. It got brighter, but no one showed up. We checked the time and the place. Then we went to the Church and it was closed and dark. So we finally went to breakfast and sat for an hour. By 8:00, we went back to the park and looked around and still no one was anywhere. So we went to a cafe and sat there until 10:30 when the regular service started. We thought maybe they cancelled, but didn't tell us. We found out that they did indeed have the service, so we think they must have been at a different park. We have no idea where though. So we got up early for nothing.

The 10:30 service was fun. The NewCastle University Orchestra, from Australia, was playing. We had a very short service, then the orchestra played for 1/2 hour. I loved it. Then we went to eat. There is a place we call The Gathering Place, that has food stands on the weekend. We had a particular place we wanted to eat at. Of course, with our luck, it was not there today. So we got food elsewhere. Then we got a crepe for a treat. We walked home early, because it was so cold to be out. We decided to take a different way home, and of course it ended up being longer to get home than it should have been. We got home and spent the rest of the day there. We even got to take a nap.

Today, I got up and planned on paying our rent. Well, the bank is closed. I was also going to meet Alison at the library after she gets off of work. The library is closed. It was open normal hours on Easter, so I am confused as to why it is closed on Monday! So little is being done as I had planned and that frustrates me. Well, the day is still young. Happy Easter everyone. I hope you had a wonderful day!

He is Risen!

Starting off the Easter Weekend

Saturday 3/4/2010

So another week has gone by without me updating this blog, so I will do my best. On Wednesday, I went to the Botanical Gardens. I have not been there in quite a long time, so it was a nice treat for me. As soon as I entered, I felt more calm and could somehow breathe easier. I saw a family of Wood Pigeons in a tree, and they are no small bird. About the size of an obese duck. Things are starting to get brown as we are in the fall and heading into winter. It is still warm out, but we get really cold days.

I met Alison and we went to the Cathedral to listen to the choir. It was Gregorian style singing and the choir was made up of 20 boys and 12 men. I have never heard such high singing, male or female. It was incredible. I had goosebumps for a long time. It started to get monotonous as they started singing in a long overdrawn note that would be more interesting if someone read it rather than sang it. We had an outline of the songs, psalms, reading...We did a lot of standing up and sitting down. Fortunately this time we could expect it as it was written in the outline. It lasted 1/2 hour and then we returned to the flat.

On Thursday (first day of April!), we got up and walked into town together. I took the shuttle to get to work, and there was major construction on the normal route, so we had a shuttle detour. Fortunately, the stop I wanted was still accessible. We had a fire drill in the preschool, and as soon as it was over, the preschool director asked me to take a group of kids in to clean a room. Well, that was fine, but afterwords was Whanua time (family time) where the kids break into groups and the teacher does something with them for 1/2 hour before lunch. The teacher came in and told me to do a song or read a book with them for a bit and she would come back. I had no idea what songs they knew, so I looked in the closet and found one song and did it with them. The teacher did not return. So I taught them a really easy song. The teacher did not return. So I grabbed the only book I saw in the room and read it to them and started conversations with them until the teacher did return. Although, at this time the 1/2 hour was up, so I asked if I should have them go to the bathroom. She asked if I was done, in a surprised tone. I did not know what else to say, but she said I could have them go in. So I did. I would not have had a problem with this, but it was kind of thrown at me, and I was not sure what I should do in this situation. Later, the same teacher told me to write stuff down of what we did. Then she asked if I would like to take every Thursday teaching. I said yes, but I really don't know what is expected of me. When it was time to clean up, the preschool director put all the "Lost Clothes" out on the front table in a huge pile. Well, parents just looked at the pile and if they saw something they recognized on top, they took it. They didn't sift though it as the director had hoped, although I don't blame them. They were not clean. I had the privilege of folding them and putting them back in the cupboard. A little girl threw up right before most of the kids were going home, so I rushed to get paper towels and a bucket of water as the preschool director was cleaning it. The smell was overwhelming. After the day, I walked back and just missed the shuttle. So I waited 15 minutes for the next shuttle. After that I just started heading back, but saw the shuttle come by on the next stop. So I boarded that shuttle and the traffic was HORRIBLE due to the construction. I realized that I would get home faster if I walked, so I got off. I arrived in the flat and saw that Alison had been working hard cleaning our room so that we will return to a clean flat. It was really sweet. Then we packed and left the flat to go house sitting. We walked to the house and I tried to work the key (it is an electronic key with an alarm and everything). So it didn't work for a long time. I finally got it to lift the garage, but couldn't close the garage. We manually closed the garage, and it landed with quite a loud THUD! Making us quite nervous. We have never gotten the key to work since. Fortunately, they gave us another key we could use. We quickly looked through the house and put our stuff down and walked to the store (which was quite an ordeal on it's own). We found a really tiny one and asked if they knew where a bigger one was. Well, we walked to the bigger one, but it was quite a ways down, so we quickly just bought pizzas you can throw in the oven. We walked back in the dark. Kind of made us nervous, but we got through it okay. While we were waiting for the pizza to bake, we took showers. I was first, and of course the water was FREEZING. I stood in the shower and waited for the water to get warm. When nothing happened for a while, I turned the knob. I wouldn't have believed it, but it actually got colder. So I switched it the other way thinking it would get warmer. Somehow, it got colder still. I kept switching the knob around (getting hypothermia in the process as my limbs were numb and purple) to no avail. Finally, I just put the knob in the middle and waited...and waited...and waited. Finally, it somehow turned warmer. By this time my feet were so cold, the warmer water made them hurt. Anyway, we ate the pizza...and it was...interesting. It was kind of like a ketchup pizza weird thing. I don't know how to describe it, but we were not very impressed. We went into our room and the bed is AMAZING!!! It is so nice and comfortable and the pillows are so nice to sleep on....So nice...

On Friday, we got up early, but felt like we were very well rested. Better than any other time. We were getting ready to leave, when we heard a knock on the door. There was a guy who was going to make plaster and asked if we were planning on being there later in the afternoon. I said I wasn't sure (not feeling comfortable saying no, but knowing more than likely we would be out). He said he would get key arrangements from the builder. So he came in to make plaster saying it would take 1/2 hour. We did not want to leave him alone in the house, when we were the only ones with the key. So we stayed while he worked. It took him more like an hour, and then he just left without saying anything. So then we left and went to a cafe to read. We finished both of our books, returned them to the library, and started new ones. We have really been doing a lot of reading lately. We decided to eat at a Greek place we haven't been to since we first moved here. Of course it was closed (most things are closed since it was Good Friday). So we found a Mexican restaurant and decided to try it. It was pretty expensive, so we got appetizers and split it. It was pretty good, but quite spicy, and not enough of it. They were really small appetizers for the price. We also drank a lot of water there. We got our moneys worth from the water I think.

So today...Saturday, I heard a knock at the door and heard someone say hello, but I was in bed. It just turned nine o'clock and was not ready to go greeting someone at the door. I went down, but he was already gone. I have no idea who it was. So then I got ready and walked into town. I walked around and then returned to our flat to do some laundry. Not a whole lot has happened today, but Alison and I will meet at the flat to get a few more things from the flat to the house we are sitting. I don't know anything after that. Tomorrow, we are planning on going to the Sunrise Service in Victoria Park. Kind of appropriate name, I think. Also, we will have to remember to set our clocks back. We get an extra hour of sleep!