Report 7

March 5. Rob and I went to the East Coast Bays and did some beach-walking. At three stops we witnessed a sight that would make my fellow retired teachers and me so happy that we taught in the USA and only had playground duty. At one seaside stop was a group of “happy grade schoolers” dancing around their teacher and other significant adults getting instructions before they went out on their two person “Sailboats”—Yep, a sailing class—it was fun to watch and the kids were pretty good. Teacher in a wet suit and other adults were in rubber motorized rafts awaiting any catastrophes. Then, down the shoreline, we saw a class of grade schoolers on surfboards and on a small river a group of novice canooers (is that a word?). I have an idea that these were kids from private schools, but I really don’t know. All I know is that they were typical—screaming, tumbling bundles of energy. Oh yes, then in a park with a nature walk there were MORE of those screaming bundles of energy on a field trip awaiting a tour along the nature walk. I think THEY are following me even to the other side of the world.

An observation I have made is that I am glad that I was not a first grade teacher in some of these schools with the Maori influence on names and had to teach a child to spell his street, his city and his name. Examples: Kohimaiama, Rotokakahi, Kaukapakapa, Whakarewarewa, Waimakariri. They don’t seem to accent the syllables we would by our conventions so we don’t pronounce these names very well at first guess. We were also told to pronounce each vowel.

Along the road we travel to town on we had seen a sign for Stillwater (as in Oklahoma, site of Rob’s alma mater, for those who don’t recognize the significance of this place name), so on the way home we checked it out. (You can take Stillwater out of the boy, but you can’t take the boy out of Stillwater, even if it is in NZ.) We followed a winding road several kilometers (which is equal to a few miles) to a pretty large collection of homes on an isolated cove. We were partly in search of some ice cream, but were unsuccessful – not a dairy or grocer in town -- strictly a bedroom/boating community. Felt like we were in the twilight zone, though, as the streets were virtually deserted. Where did everybody go? do-DO-do-do.

Short report, but we’ll send it along. For those with short atten…..

Cheers.

Rob and Susie

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