Live from the Southern Hemisphere

New Zealand Time – June 14, 9: 43pm

All is well, and continues to progress, down here in New Zealand.

Holly departed over a couple weeks ago, and has returned to that magical country most of us know as home, called Canada. Shortly she’ll be heading towards the northern area of the province to prepare and partake in her cousin’s wedding, which commences at the end of the month. Naturally she is missed. The last couple weeks have arguably been my busiest of the year though, and I’ve been very much immersed in my work. Not planned by any means, but it fit well. Plus, if Holly had been here for the past two weeks, she probably would have wanted to go home early. I’m sure I wouldn’t have been very exciting.

I finished my two week stint at a new school with a year 7/8 class. The two weeks flew by, as I was told they would. While teaching a year 7/8 class still wouldn’t be my primary choice, it was in the end a good time. There are definite pros and cons to teaching students around that age. I’m sure you can figure out what they might be. I got a going-away gift, a card and a chocolate bar. Slowly but surely, I am winning the hearts of all who dwell here.

Basketball is progressing. Mind you, since our win in the first game of the season we still haven’t won. We lost our game this evening by a single basket. Results aside, my team is getting better. They’ve learned to play defence, and now rebound fairly well. Now we just have to focus on shooting skills. Nonetheless, still having a ball coaching … pun not initially intended but I’ll take it. Next week we have a bye, so the kids do the score keeping while yours truly will carry a whistle and referee three games. No special shirt though. Coaching is fun. The players on my team for the most part believe me to be a basketball guru. Not that I’m not of course. I think they might believe I can dunk a basketball on a 10 foot net … which I have yet to prove or disprove. Might have to let that one sit for a while.

Some (also known as, my mother) will be glad to know that I do still manage to get out now and then. I don’t lock myself inside every weekend, rotating between sleep and work. The weekend before last, yes, but every weekend, no. A handful of us went to the bar last Friday, after what seemed like one of our longest weeks yet. Fun was had, money was spent, liquids were purchased and shortly after consumed. Good times. I’m starting to realize why the staff at both schools I’ve been at try to hit the bar right after work on Friday. Drinking and teaching surely have a symbiotic relationship.

An interesting experience at the bar: attempting to acquire a whiskey sour. Now, I was well aware based on previous experience at bars here in Palmy that nobody really knows what the hell a whiskey sour is. However, after talking to the bartender for a while (it was still fairly early in the evening so the bar was only filled with a couple tables that were eating … it was a long night …), I asked if he knew what a whiskey sour was out of curiosity. As expected, he didn’t, but I had intrigued him. A few minutes of discussion and some experimenting later I ended up with ‘whiskey and bitters’. I had no idea what ‘bitters’ were, and still don’t. Reading this article helped a bit, bit not a lot. I was excited. Would this really taste like a whiskey sour, or at least close to one? A hefty sip from the glass later, I soon realized that this ‘whiskey and bitters’ tasted like …….. straight whiskey. Disappointing, but I appreciated the effort. Stuck with whiskey-based drink that tasted exactly like whiskey, I quickly downed what was left and moved on in hopes on finding other things to please my palate.

The weather here is consistently fall-like. The temperature floats around 12-15 degrees, and lately it has been more overcast than not. Not amazing weather, but not that bad. The rain seems to turn on and off like a tap. A 10-minute downpour can be followed by an hour of dry weather, only to be interrupted by a 5-minute downpour, which will cease for several minutes entirely, after which there will be a 20-minute period of misting rain … and so on. I’m sure you get the picture.

Next week I find myself on placement for two days, and back at college for three. On Friday we have the fortune of getting out early according to my college timetable. No complaints, especially since after that I’m entering two weeks of vacation. A lot of work to get done, and I am going to look at moving if possible as well, but hopefully I can manage to do a few exciting things. Mind you, at this point in the year, my definition of exciting is probably very easily met. As long as an activity doesn’t involve managing behavior, writing lesson/unit plans, or sitting in class, I’ll probably be ecstatic. The inclusion of food and alcohol are very close to being requirements however.

Alas, I should depart and get to some work. I do have a bunch of photos I’ve still yet to put online. I believe they were all taken when Holly was still here, so perhaps I’ll get around to that this weekend. No promises however. Hopefully everyone is doing well. I keep forgetting that summer is only beginning at home.

Take care all.