Sugie's Visit!

Forgot to mention that two weeks ago my friend Paul came to visit. He's actually a friend of a friend as he went to school with my good uni friend Tor and I know him by his nickname, Sugie, but he was passing though Auckland on a cruise ship he's working on which is going round the whole world! It takes 3 and a half months and costs passengers about £10000 or something obscene like that!!

He was only in Auckland for one day after heading across the Pacific Ocean and before he gets to Australia and I was working so met him at about 5pm. I drove him along the coast and showed him where I live before going down to Mission Bay where we went and had pizza-yum! There's a few photos attached that he e-mailed to me of his fly-by visit including one featuring some English people we randomly met!

It was so lovely to see a familiar face and to catch up about news from home and our adventures. Sounds like he's having an amazing time on his trip of a lifetime and meeting some really cool people. Maybe a cruise ship will be my next adventures... ;) Not sure they need any teachers thought unfortunately!

There's also a photo here of the cruiseliner Sugie's working on-it looks huge to me but he assured me this is actually very small for a cruise ship. Looks cool all lit up doesn't it?!

Hello!

Hi Everyone,

I realise it's been ages since I last wrote and I do have some pictures from the weekend to put up soon. I've been so busy with school and spending all my time working so I haven't chance to update my blog.

I'm settling in better now and I'm enjoying getting to know my class. They're hard work but I'm learning fast...even picking up a few Samoan words along the way! They find it very funny when I try to say words or names, especially with my English accent I think! I'm finding it quite a challenge teaching in a completely different was to in the UK as the NZ way is very unique I think. I'm learning all the time and slowly getting my head around all the new things. Everyone is very friendly and try to help out when I'm stuck on something. :)

Good news-my car is now almost scratch free! :) My housemate Shaun gave me some magic scuff remover cream which really was magical so you can hardly see the damage and no paint required! I've had to try extremely hard not to scratch it again however as our gate is so narrow! Seems to be only me that has a problem getting out though...something I couldn't master even after 5 driving tests obviously! ;)

Promise to write soon with some proper news! x

PS It's Pancake Day here today but they don't celebrate it here :'( I was going to try to make some pancakes with my class but thought that might be a little adventurous, especially as we have no kitchen! Happy Pancake Day! :D

Mufti Day!

Yes, I'd never heard of one either but apparently it's a non-uniform day! We're having one at school tomorrow to raise funds for the bush fires in Australia. We've been talking about them lots at school, especially as some New Zealanders have been killed or injured and because we too are at risk here, although not to the same extent as in Australia. Some of the NZ fire service are going to help out, particularly with aircraft so they can tackle the fires from above. It's awful what's been happening, especially as they think some of the fires were started on purpose, and I'm sure you've seen lots about it on the news over there as well.

My poor car! :'(

I've managed to do so much damage to my poor little car despite only owning it for 2 weeks! I've already broken the parcel shelf when trying to cram furniture in and scratched the bumper on our gate but today I topped it all by scratching the paint off the whole driver's side of the car whilst pulling out of my drive! Grr! It's such a tight squeeze and I'm always first out so have to manoeuvre round 3 other cars, one of which is a huge V6 thing (whatever that is!) I'm hoping to just buy some spray paint and cover it up...at least I'll have it on hand then as I'm sure it's bound to happen again at some point!

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot!

Oh if only I had the energy to dance whilst singing that! ;) It's getting even hotter and reached 32.4degrees in Auckland today and feels it! It's far too hot to do any work and while your struggling with no heating at Bishop Wilson, we've not had any air conditioning today so everyone's hot and tired and very restless! Can't complain of course because the sun is shining and it's nearly the weekend! Woo! :D

xxx

Post! :D

Received a lovely little parcel in the post today from my sister Katy...she sent me a card, a red nose and some other goodies including a big bar of Dairy Milk which had melted in the 29 degree heat of my post box! Don't think the video captures quite how liquid it was but it's now well chilled and just a big slab! Yum! :P Thank you, Katy! xxx

Weekend...

I had a really quiet weekend and did nothing but work mainly but did go for a nice walk with Jennie around the West coast (I live on the East coast) and we went to see a waterfall and to the beach which was lovely. I forgot to take my camera but Jennie took some so photos to follow when I get them from her...

On Sunday my mission was to finish the book I'm reading, Half of a Yellow Sun (great recommendation, Jenny!), which I did just about! I spent the day walking around Kohi Bay where I live and went down to the park near me and the beach which was really busy because it was such a beautiful day-bit too hot for me though!

This week at school has again been very overwhelming; there's just so much to learn and so few resources that even planning a basic lesson is really laborious. I know I'll get used to it all but it's very exhausting working in the heat and we're only 2 weeks in to a 10 week term!

Hope you're still enjoying the snow-send me some pics of your snowmen; they sound awesome! :)

I've got a busy weekend ahead so will be sure to let you know what I get up to!

xxx

Videos show a little tour down my road and to my local park. I was really surprised how quiet the park was on a beautiful Sunday in the middle of summer!

Snow!

No not here! I'm very jealous of the snow you've had! It's so hot here (almost 30degrees) and although it's lovely when you can go to the beach and enjoy it, it's rubbish to be working in it and everyone is so tired! I showed the children in my class a video from BBC News of people playing in the snow and they said they've never ever seen snow! I was thinking how strange it is that you're all freezing cold and I'm baking but I guess I have the cold weather to look forward to in a few months so should make the most of summer really!

So glad to hear all your lovely messages and that you're enjoying lessons with your new teachers-I knew you would! ;) My class are lovely but I haven't forgotten you and miss you all lots. Say hi from me to everyone, especially the Year 4 crew! xxx