After one 5 hour pane ride and one 12 hour plane ride, I am finally in New Zealand! Even with the long flights and the 17 hour time difference, I don’t feel tired or jet lagged at all (yeay!).
I haven’t started teaching yet, but today I got to go to the school where I will be teaching. I spent some time in two different first year (kindergarten) classes this morning. First in the classroom of the little girl who I am staying with, then in the classroom I will be teaching in. l met the teacher I will be with and visited with students and families in her classroom for a bit while they worked on writing. I was surpised when the teacher stopped and announced it was time for morning tea! Morning tea is a time when the students eat a small snack (and maybe they drink tea! I don’t know because I wasn’t there to see.) and the teachers go into a nice big teacher’s lounge, with lots of windows and a porch, to drink tea and coffee together. When I told the teacher we don’t do that at home, she said “what? you mean you teach straight through to lunch?”
Some of the differences I have noticed so far are:
1. When parents bring their children to school, the children all run around outside until the bell rings for class to begin!
2. There is a lot of outdoor space and are many, many large windows. Every classroom has a door to the outside area!
3. The children don’t have to wear shoes at school, not even when they are playing outside!
So far I am absolutely loving New Zealand! Oh, and have I mentioned that it is beautiful?
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