Today I had a unique experience. All of the teachers minus a select few left the school at 12:30 for a meeting with the teachers union. There's been some struggles with the government and teacher's pay as of late (sound familiar?) and so a meeting was scheduled that was mandatory for teachers to attend (who are part of the union). Unlike most schools the principal decided to keep the school open and not to have an early release day. So at the close of recess all of the students were gathered into the hall (the gym) and sorted into one of 9 groups. The remaining teachers were then assigned to one of those groups for the remainder of the day. It actually turned out to be 8 groups because one of the teachers who was supposed to help out was actually out sick.
Elise and I (one of my fellow BYU girls) were given a group of 52 kids to take care of for the rest of the day. The students were spread out from new entrants (kids start school when they turn five no matter when that is during the year and they can't start school before the age of 5 so new entrants or new kids come in randomly during the school year and are sent to a special class before mixing with the rest of the school) to year 6. I know- quite the spread. Last night Elise and I had worked out a rotation with one other teacher where we would have 20 minute stations. Station 1- with me making patterns out of blocks and also drawing them on paper. Station 2- Elise reading a story and asking comprehension questions to the kids. Station 3- puzzels of all shapes and sizes.
I'll admit it was a bit daunting to have 52 pairs of eyes staring up at you as you divide the students and send them off to the stations but I loved it! I loved having the freedom of planning and working with my new class even if it was for a short period of time. It made me wonder how the teachers back in the olden days succeeded with students at every age level. We didn't have time for much instruction but the kids were able to enjoy two of the three rotations. At the end of the day we had to line them up and bring them back to the hall. I was proud of my students they lined up quietly and quickly. There were a few backpacks left in one of the rooms that we used and some of the older learners volunteered to help me sort out who had left their backpack behind.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Silly Hats and an Earthshaking St. Patty's Day!
Friday Night: There was a huge regional dance for all of the YSA. The church dances here are church dress and tight security. Meaning they have adults stationed at each entrance making sure people arrive wearing modest clothing and that nothing is "brought in." There were SO many people! I have never been to a dance quite that packed before. We didn't arrive until almost 11 so we only got to dance for about an hourish but it was a lot of fun! Hot but great! It's funny though because a lot of the music that they played was from the 80s and 90s instead of more modern type stuff. It was St. Patty's day themed so there was a giant paper rainbow spread out across the whole cultural hall as well as little golden kiwi chocolate dollars (like our chocolate coins) scattered all over the floor.
After the dance the people I was with stopped by for a "feed" just another word for getting food. We stopped at a place kind of like a stand but more like a shop with no seating. We got the healthy stuff- you know burgers, fries, and of course milk shakes (Cultural note: if you ask for a milk shake that is what you will get- milk that has been shaken with some sort of flavor in it. If you want an American milk shake then you must ask for a thick shake. They use the same flavoring that we put on snow cones to flavor the thick/non thick milk shakes). A couple of Maori boys saw us eating and came over to make conversation. One of the girls in our group was part Maori and so she started chatting with them. It was (for lack of a better word) hilarious to hear them talk back and forth because the NZ accent really came out super strong as well as the lingo. Just hearing them talk to each other was a cultural experience. Their favorite words- "choice bro" were used at the end of almost every sentence (even though it was a girl doing some of the talking they called her bro). That made for a late night but it was a cultural experience all the same.
Saturday: Beau's birthday party! We had one of the biggest cakes I've ever seen! It took both Sara and I to carry it to the table but boy was it delicious. It was a silly hat themed party so everyone that showed up brought a silly hat. Sara and I had a chance to get creative since our resources were a bit limited but as you'll see below it turned out pretty good. We had tons of food and even more dessert! Although it sprinkled rain on and off throughout the day it turned out to be perfect for the party. We had a silly hat parade and a treasure hunt. We had the chance to meet more of Beau's cousins (on his dad's side) and enjoy some delicious NZ dishes.
Sunday: St. Patty's Day! Although it's not really a big deal here in NZ we wore green anyway. Julie made us green pancakes which we ate with green milk for dinner (they are green but it's hard to tell in the actual photos!). The most exciting part of the day happened around 4pm in the afternoon. I had just settled down for a nice Sunday nap. Rain was lightly tapping the window and I was just reaching that in between state of not sleeping and yet not awake when suddenly the bed shook and I head some weird rattling noise. I jumped awake thinking that some how Beau had gotten into our house and was trying to wake me up by shaking the bed. I sat up and looked around for Beau but he was no where to be seen. Confused as to what had just happened, I decided to just dismiss it as a weird dream and I fell back asleep.
About an hour later Sara and I got up to go have our green pancakes with Julie. The first thing she said to us when we walked in was if we had felt the earthquake. What?! Earthquake?! She said that about 4 there was a small earthquake (3.9 on the richter scale) that shook the house for just a second. The news reporters gaged it coming from the volcano Rangitoto and said that another one had followed but that it was barely discernable compared to the first rumble. So that explained my mysterious jolt! Not the most pleasant thing to experience (especially during a Sunday nap) but hey I can now add earthquake to my list of NZ experiences.
NZ Herald Article
After the dance the people I was with stopped by for a "feed" just another word for getting food. We stopped at a place kind of like a stand but more like a shop with no seating. We got the healthy stuff- you know burgers, fries, and of course milk shakes (Cultural note: if you ask for a milk shake that is what you will get- milk that has been shaken with some sort of flavor in it. If you want an American milk shake then you must ask for a thick shake. They use the same flavoring that we put on snow cones to flavor the thick/non thick milk shakes). A couple of Maori boys saw us eating and came over to make conversation. One of the girls in our group was part Maori and so she started chatting with them. It was (for lack of a better word) hilarious to hear them talk back and forth because the NZ accent really came out super strong as well as the lingo. Just hearing them talk to each other was a cultural experience. Their favorite words- "choice bro" were used at the end of almost every sentence (even though it was a girl doing some of the talking they called her bro). That made for a late night but it was a cultural experience all the same.
Saturday: Beau's birthday party! We had one of the biggest cakes I've ever seen! It took both Sara and I to carry it to the table but boy was it delicious. It was a silly hat themed party so everyone that showed up brought a silly hat. Sara and I had a chance to get creative since our resources were a bit limited but as you'll see below it turned out pretty good. We had tons of food and even more dessert! Although it sprinkled rain on and off throughout the day it turned out to be perfect for the party. We had a silly hat parade and a treasure hunt. We had the chance to meet more of Beau's cousins (on his dad's side) and enjoy some delicious NZ dishes.
Sunday: St. Patty's Day! Although it's not really a big deal here in NZ we wore green anyway. Julie made us green pancakes which we ate with green milk for dinner (they are green but it's hard to tell in the actual photos!). The most exciting part of the day happened around 4pm in the afternoon. I had just settled down for a nice Sunday nap. Rain was lightly tapping the window and I was just reaching that in between state of not sleeping and yet not awake when suddenly the bed shook and I head some weird rattling noise. I jumped awake thinking that some how Beau had gotten into our house and was trying to wake me up by shaking the bed. I sat up and looked around for Beau but he was no where to be seen. Confused as to what had just happened, I decided to just dismiss it as a weird dream and I fell back asleep.
About an hour later Sara and I got up to go have our green pancakes with Julie. The first thing she said to us when we walked in was if we had felt the earthquake. What?! Earthquake?! She said that about 4 there was a small earthquake (3.9 on the richter scale) that shook the house for just a second. The news reporters gaged it coming from the volcano Rangitoto and said that another one had followed but that it was barely discernable compared to the first rumble. So that explained my mysterious jolt! Not the most pleasant thing to experience (especially during a Sunday nap) but hey I can now add earthquake to my list of NZ experiences.
NZ Herald Article
A cool sunset
Some of the food at Beau's party. The silver pot on the left has something called Taro root that they boil and eat with coconut cream (kind of like a potato but more bitter)
A dessert called banana poke (poo-key). The lumps are just boiled bananas (did you know that boiling a banana for 2 hours turns it a purple color?) with coconut cream over the top. It has a consistency like pudding and it's pretty tasty.
Sara and I with Beau's cake and of course our silly hats :)
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Sweet Home Alabama Biscuits
Week three of working in the schools and this week has been quite the adventure. Starting on Monday I was in control of the class pretty much the whole day. I followed Mrs. Rihari's example but a lot of the planning was up to me as well as the organization of the day. I took control of management both in small group and whole class situations. Mrs. Rihari has opened the door for me to experience teaching as a New Zealand primary school teacher and although I realize that I have a long way to go I am absolutely loving it!
This week has reminded me that teaching is much more than just standing in front of a class and spouting information. A true teacher knows that she is the facilitator of learning not the fountain of knowledge. It's also been a good reminder that there is never a dull moment when it comes to teaching and classroom management. There have been good moments and bad but all for my benefit. Teaching involves reflective practice and I've had a chance to reflect every single day. My teacher is an awesome mentor! She provides helpful feedback and suggestions while allowing me to take the reigns and experience those ups and downs myself.
Fridays are cooking days in room 8 and today I got to add my own cultural bit into our usual activities. I've been trying as much as possible to include cultural parts of myself in our lessons just to give the kids a taste of my experiences versus theres. It's been SO awesome. The other day I talked to them about some new foods I've tried since being here and then shared some foods from my culture that they've probably never heard of like biscuits and gravy (when I say that they picture cookies with gravy poured over them). So today Mrs. Rihari let me make Sweet Home Alabama Biscuits with the kids.
For starters we told the kids it was a surprise until right before we were going to make them. Then I had a chance to talk more about my culture and actually bring out a real live banjo! Mrs. Rihari just happened to have one at her house that her dad picked up a long time ago and gave to her! Although I don't play myself I told the kids a little bit about blue grass music and where the banjo originated (Africa). Then we had the students close their eyes and imagine they were walking through an Alabama county fair (I was acting as narrator) and Mrs. Rihari brought out the banjo and with the help of a youtube video actually played the banjo! Ok well, maybe it wasn't really her playing but her air banjo skills rock. The students were so surprised to hear that kind of music that their eyes popped right open to see where it was coming from. The principal even stopped by the class to see what we were up to. It was SO much fun! Next came the actual baking part.
We divided the kids up into 4 small groups and there was a teacher/teacher aid working with each group. While they were baking I had a countryfied playlist going on in the background with some banjo jams and of course the classic Sweet Home Alabama song. The kids absolutely LOVED the experience! The cooking was all done by them. I specifically had written up the recipe and adapted it to the NZ method of cooking while making it easy for the year 6s to follow the directions. They had a chance to mix together all of the ingredients, roll out the dough, and then cut out the biscuits (we actually used cookie cutters so most of the biscuits turned out looking like gingerbread men and stars and hearts but that made the experience that much cooler.) They were surprised to see the biscuits raise up when they were baking in the oven.
After all of the groups had finished and the tables were clean (the flour was a bit tricky to clean up since the students had gotten it everywhere!) we had our taste test where the students went outside and were able to eat the biscuits with their choice of jam with butter. I showed them how we cut and eat the biscuits at home. Some of the students ate as many as four (and kept asking for more!). They said that they were so delicious and I even heard one girl tell her friends that she was going to go home and make them for her mum.
I loved this experience for so many reasons but mostly because we were able to share in a culture experience together. After the baking the students had to write about the experience in their master chiefs book. This book includes a copy of the recipe of what they made and their reflection of how it turned out. Cooking is definitely a tradition that I'm going to continue doing in my own classroom. True, we do have a full kitchen in our classroom (only because we've been relocated to the staffroom until our rooms has been renovated) but there are still so many possibilites for cooking that don't involve an oven or a stove. Plus the kids get SO excited about the chance to make something themselves. It was such a great experience!
This week has reminded me that teaching is much more than just standing in front of a class and spouting information. A true teacher knows that she is the facilitator of learning not the fountain of knowledge. It's also been a good reminder that there is never a dull moment when it comes to teaching and classroom management. There have been good moments and bad but all for my benefit. Teaching involves reflective practice and I've had a chance to reflect every single day. My teacher is an awesome mentor! She provides helpful feedback and suggestions while allowing me to take the reigns and experience those ups and downs myself.
Fridays are cooking days in room 8 and today I got to add my own cultural bit into our usual activities. I've been trying as much as possible to include cultural parts of myself in our lessons just to give the kids a taste of my experiences versus theres. It's been SO awesome. The other day I talked to them about some new foods I've tried since being here and then shared some foods from my culture that they've probably never heard of like biscuits and gravy (when I say that they picture cookies with gravy poured over them). So today Mrs. Rihari let me make Sweet Home Alabama Biscuits with the kids.
For starters we told the kids it was a surprise until right before we were going to make them. Then I had a chance to talk more about my culture and actually bring out a real live banjo! Mrs. Rihari just happened to have one at her house that her dad picked up a long time ago and gave to her! Although I don't play myself I told the kids a little bit about blue grass music and where the banjo originated (Africa). Then we had the students close their eyes and imagine they were walking through an Alabama county fair (I was acting as narrator) and Mrs. Rihari brought out the banjo and with the help of a youtube video actually played the banjo! Ok well, maybe it wasn't really her playing but her air banjo skills rock. The students were so surprised to hear that kind of music that their eyes popped right open to see where it was coming from. The principal even stopped by the class to see what we were up to. It was SO much fun! Next came the actual baking part.
We divided the kids up into 4 small groups and there was a teacher/teacher aid working with each group. While they were baking I had a countryfied playlist going on in the background with some banjo jams and of course the classic Sweet Home Alabama song. The kids absolutely LOVED the experience! The cooking was all done by them. I specifically had written up the recipe and adapted it to the NZ method of cooking while making it easy for the year 6s to follow the directions. They had a chance to mix together all of the ingredients, roll out the dough, and then cut out the biscuits (we actually used cookie cutters so most of the biscuits turned out looking like gingerbread men and stars and hearts but that made the experience that much cooler.) They were surprised to see the biscuits raise up when they were baking in the oven.
After all of the groups had finished and the tables were clean (the flour was a bit tricky to clean up since the students had gotten it everywhere!) we had our taste test where the students went outside and were able to eat the biscuits with their choice of jam with butter. I showed them how we cut and eat the biscuits at home. Some of the students ate as many as four (and kept asking for more!). They said that they were so delicious and I even heard one girl tell her friends that she was going to go home and make them for her mum.
I loved this experience for so many reasons but mostly because we were able to share in a culture experience together. After the baking the students had to write about the experience in their master chiefs book. This book includes a copy of the recipe of what they made and their reflection of how it turned out. Cooking is definitely a tradition that I'm going to continue doing in my own classroom. True, we do have a full kitchen in our classroom (only because we've been relocated to the staffroom until our rooms has been renovated) but there are still so many possibilites for cooking that don't involve an oven or a stove. Plus the kids get SO excited about the chance to make something themselves. It was such a great experience!
Monday, March 11, 2013
Happy Birthday Beau!
Today was a very special day! Beau's 12th birthday!! Boy was he excited! We've been hearing about his birthday every day since we got home from our south island trip. On Saturday we are having a big birthday party with a hangi (where they cook the food underground by heating up rocks and then sticking the food on leaves by the rocks and covering everything with dirt for a few hours- I'll give more detail on Saturday) and a silly hat parade. So today we just had a quiet celebration with Jean and Jayceen. Jean brought a cheese cake and they had family home evening with us. We played snakes and ladders (just like chutes and ladders) and sang popcorn popping. For Beau's birthday, Sara and I bought him a gangnam style t-shirt from one of the local shops. He absolutely loved it!
Teaching also went well today. We had a reliever (a substitute) because it was my teacher's planning day (they get two every term). Tomorrow I start taking over for half day control. I'm actually really excited about it! I feel ready and although I'm a little nervous I know that I can do it. Yes there are kids who always give you trouble and I'm learning how to handle them in the classroom but I just love teaching so much! It's such a fulfilling job and I know that no matter how tired I am that at the end of the day I made a difference, even if it was only a small one. So tomorrow begins the real teaching adventures! Bring it on :)
Teaching also went well today. We had a reliever (a substitute) because it was my teacher's planning day (they get two every term). Tomorrow I start taking over for half day control. I'm actually really excited about it! I feel ready and although I'm a little nervous I know that I can do it. Yes there are kids who always give you trouble and I'm learning how to handle them in the classroom but I just love teaching so much! It's such a fulfilling job and I know that no matter how tired I am that at the end of the day I made a difference, even if it was only a small one. So tomorrow begins the real teaching adventures! Bring it on :)
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Pacifica and a Party
Julie had a caretaker come for Beau for a few hours and she took us to Pacifika. It's an awesome festival that has been going on for quite some time. There's a park called Western Springs right across from the zoo and every year about this time the city sets aside an entire weekend devoted to Pacifika or the celebration of all of the island cultures. We walked by booths representing Tahiti, Tonga, Tokelau, Fiji, Niue, Kibati, Samoa, the Cook Islands, and Tuvalu. We were there early in the day (smart idea to beat the crowds and the heat) which made looking around the different booths really easy to do. There was so much dancing going on at every one of the different stages. The costumes and dances were amazing! While we were wandering around the Cook Islands a bunch of girls between 5-7 got on the stage dressed in traditional clothes and did a little dance. It was so cute! They had the hip shake down and everything- simply amazing!
The island culture is definitely something else. Very colorful and always with heaps of flowers. I was SO many beautiful things and amazing food. I tried something they call raw fish... it's fish soaked in coconut juice with other veggies and stuff mixed in. I only had a small bite (I believe it's still raw but I decided NOT to ask and just to try some) and it tasted good with the coconut but also very fishy... one of those things you try once and that's enough. The coconut ice cream on the other hand was SO delicious! They also had the option of getting a half slice of watermelon with ice cream as well but the pineapple seemed more tropical.
On our way home we stopped for some fish and chips another Kiwi classic. We spent the afternoon relaxing for a bit (and planning for my lessons for the next week) before leaving with Julie and Beau to a birthday party. This party was for Julie's sister's partner. Let's just say this was one of the most interesting parties I have ever been to... It involved lots and lots of alcohol and an interesting crowd of people. All of them super nice and very hospitable but I was grateful that we didn't stay too long. That experience reminded me how grateful I am for the gospel and my upbringing.
Pictures:
The island culture is definitely something else. Very colorful and always with heaps of flowers. I was SO many beautiful things and amazing food. I tried something they call raw fish... it's fish soaked in coconut juice with other veggies and stuff mixed in. I only had a small bite (I believe it's still raw but I decided NOT to ask and just to try some) and it tasted good with the coconut but also very fishy... one of those things you try once and that's enough. The coconut ice cream on the other hand was SO delicious! They also had the option of getting a half slice of watermelon with ice cream as well but the pineapple seemed more tropical.
On our way home we stopped for some fish and chips another Kiwi classic. We spent the afternoon relaxing for a bit (and planning for my lessons for the next week) before leaving with Julie and Beau to a birthday party. This party was for Julie's sister's partner. Let's just say this was one of the most interesting parties I have ever been to... It involved lots and lots of alcohol and an interesting crowd of people. All of them super nice and very hospitable but I was grateful that we didn't stay too long. That experience reminded me how grateful I am for the gospel and my upbringing.
Pictures:
I got my hair done at one of the booths to practice putting a flower in my hair.
Even dogs wear leis around here
Best dessert ever! Pineapple with ice cream inside!
Friday, March 8, 2013
Skytower and Stargazing
Friday off :) meaning we slept in. We spent the morning writing our science philosophy paper. Sounds exciting right? Well, all the hard work in the morning made playing the rest of the day that much more fun!
Julie and Beau ended up joining our group and taking us into town. While waiting for the rest of our group to join us we got to watch a man bungy jump off of the tower (it was more this fly down thing because they didn't really bounce back up). We got to ride up the elevator all the way up to the first observation deck and then we got onto another elevator to go up to the highest of the observation decks. We were really lucky because the weather was perfect, making the view spectacular. Beau was a little nervous to go up to the top at first but he enjoyed being up there. It was a little hard with him up there because he kept wandering off. Not that he could really go anywhere but we were just worried about him getting into the elevator without us. It made me realize yet again how patient Julie is when it comes to Beau.
It was really nice having Julie with us because she could point out different things that we were seeing. We also stopped by the lounge just to see what it was like. They have a restaurant that rotates around the top (just like the Space Needle in Seattle). It was a cool place and a nice view but definitely only one of those things that you need to do once.
Afterwards we head over to a place called One Tree Hill. It's called One Tree Hill because of of the solitary tree that was planted on the summit (which is actually a volcano) in 1640 (they've been replacing the solitary tree over time). Anyway, it's important to the Maori culture (you can look up for more info if you'd like. Anyway, we just had a picnic there up near the top with the group. There were some really awesome trees that had their roots growing straight out of their branches from the branch to the ground. They made for excellent climbing. After our picnic we ventured to the top of the hill/mountain/volcano and although it was windy we enjoyed another excellent view of the city and the surrounding area.
By this point Beau was pretty tired so Julie left with him but the rest of our group stayed for our final event of the night: the observatory! I was really looking forward to this because it was a chance for us to learn all about the southern night sky- not something that I experience very often. We had an hour presentation that talked about different constellations and formations (such as the southern cross- only available in the southern sky). We also learned about the southern pole or place where the night sky rotates around. It was all very interesting. We were supposed to finish our evening with a look through some telescopes at some of the things they had showed us in the presentation but some clouds rolled in making it poor visibility. But we did get some vouchers for us to come back on a clearer night which is cool. It was a pretty fun day :)
Julie and Beau ended up joining our group and taking us into town. While waiting for the rest of our group to join us we got to watch a man bungy jump off of the tower (it was more this fly down thing because they didn't really bounce back up). We got to ride up the elevator all the way up to the first observation deck and then we got onto another elevator to go up to the highest of the observation decks. We were really lucky because the weather was perfect, making the view spectacular. Beau was a little nervous to go up to the top at first but he enjoyed being up there. It was a little hard with him up there because he kept wandering off. Not that he could really go anywhere but we were just worried about him getting into the elevator without us. It made me realize yet again how patient Julie is when it comes to Beau.
It was really nice having Julie with us because she could point out different things that we were seeing. We also stopped by the lounge just to see what it was like. They have a restaurant that rotates around the top (just like the Space Needle in Seattle). It was a cool place and a nice view but definitely only one of those things that you need to do once.
Afterwards we head over to a place called One Tree Hill. It's called One Tree Hill because of of the solitary tree that was planted on the summit (which is actually a volcano) in 1640 (they've been replacing the solitary tree over time). Anyway, it's important to the Maori culture (you can look up for more info if you'd like. Anyway, we just had a picnic there up near the top with the group. There were some really awesome trees that had their roots growing straight out of their branches from the branch to the ground. They made for excellent climbing. After our picnic we ventured to the top of the hill/mountain/volcano and although it was windy we enjoyed another excellent view of the city and the surrounding area.
By this point Beau was pretty tired so Julie left with him but the rest of our group stayed for our final event of the night: the observatory! I was really looking forward to this because it was a chance for us to learn all about the southern night sky- not something that I experience very often. We had an hour presentation that talked about different constellations and formations (such as the southern cross- only available in the southern sky). We also learned about the southern pole or place where the night sky rotates around. It was all very interesting. We were supposed to finish our evening with a look through some telescopes at some of the things they had showed us in the presentation but some clouds rolled in making it poor visibility. But we did get some vouchers for us to come back on a clearer night which is cool. It was a pretty fun day :)
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Mt. Zion
Yesterday after school Sara and I walked to the mall. Not that far of a walk- only about half hour or so. Julie had told us about a movie called Mt. Zion (nothing to do with the church) about some Kiwi boys from back in the 70s who hear about a competition to be the band who opens for Bob Marley (side note: Bob Marley is VERY popular over here. They had a festival going on while we were in Rotarua in his honor to keep his music alive. A bunch of bands play his type of genre). Since it's a Kiwi produced movie, not available in the states Sara and I decided to pay the 13.50 (yes movies are really expensive here) and go see it. Click here to see the trailer: Mt. Zion Trailer
Their movie theaters are just like ours except that you buy your ticket for the movie at the concessions counter... kind of weird. We spent about five minutes wandering around until we finally asked someone and got it sorted out. Haha oh well. Sara saw DDR over in the arcade games and since we had a few minutes to kill before the movie we played a few rounds. She is hard core and goes straight to the difficult level and as for me well lets just say that I'm on the "I haven't played this in years" level but it was still fun.
Although the movie was a bit different than I expected I loved it! It was so cool to see all of the Kiwi customs and traditions actually on the big screen. They had boil-up (something that we ate with Julie), we heard their national anthem on an electric guitar, and the film had a lot of the characters speaking in Maori (there were subtitles for us pakeha- white folk). The message (at least what I got out of it) was that we should be careful who (or what) we decide to make our role model/idol because sacrificing all to that person (or thing) will not necessarily give you anything in return.
Here's just another interesting part of being in another country: their rating system (the movie was only PG):
Their movie theaters are just like ours except that you buy your ticket for the movie at the concessions counter... kind of weird. We spent about five minutes wandering around until we finally asked someone and got it sorted out. Haha oh well. Sara saw DDR over in the arcade games and since we had a few minutes to kill before the movie we played a few rounds. She is hard core and goes straight to the difficult level and as for me well lets just say that I'm on the "I haven't played this in years" level but it was still fun.
Although the movie was a bit different than I expected I loved it! It was so cool to see all of the Kiwi customs and traditions actually on the big screen. They had boil-up (something that we ate with Julie), we heard their national anthem on an electric guitar, and the film had a lot of the characters speaking in Maori (there were subtitles for us pakeha- white folk). The message (at least what I got out of it) was that we should be careful who (or what) we decide to make our role model/idol because sacrificing all to that person (or thing) will not necessarily give you anything in return.
Here's just another interesting part of being in another country: their rating system (the movie was only PG):
| RATING | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| G | Suitable for General Audience. |
| PG | All ages admitted, Parental Guidance recommended. Possible descriptors: Violence; Coarse language; Sexual references; Offensive behaviour; Cruelty; Crime; Horror. |
| M | Suitable for Mature Audiences 16 and over (but still unrestricted). Possible descriptors: Anti-social behaviour; Horror scenes; Scenes of cruelty; Offensive language; Violence; Sex scenes; Violence and offensive language; Violence, offensive language and sex scenes. |
| R?? | The OFLC can apply any age rating they deem suitable to their Restricted rating. For example, an R13 would be restricted to persons aged 13 and over. More examples... |
| R16 | Restricted to 16 years of age and over. Possible descriptors: Offensive language; Violence; Sex scenes; Violence, offensive language and sex scenes. |
| R18 | Restricted to 18 years of age and over. Possible descriptors: Graphic violence; Explicit sex scenes; Violence and sex scenes; Violence, offensive language and sex scenes. |
Our part of town
Their movie theaters looks just like ours! (if you can tell)
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