Week 2 of classes!
Kia Ora again everyone!
views from walking in town :)
My last post about my first week of classes was pretty brief mainly because I was very behind on writing it! It has also been a couple weeks since that course ended.
After returning from Abel Tasman on Sunday we launched into our next week of school on Monday. This week called our reading week for daytime classes. So, we had numerous readings from select books or articles to get us prepared for semester full of classes. Usually, our class time starts at 9am and goes till noon but this week we had that time frame open to read at our pace.
During this week one of the books, I read was “Against the Tide: Toward the Kingdom” by Jenny and Justin Duckworth. It was a great book about pursuing God’s call and not letting societies norms hold this couple back. I defiently recommend reading this book and there are some things I didn’t completely agree on, but it is still a great book. I was inspired to live a life of surrender and want to carry that with me in my life.
At night we have class time from 7:15-9:15pm. This week it was Te Reo Māori in which we learned the language and more about the Māori people/culture. It was a challenging week in this class because my professor is a Māori man, and I did not want to say things wrong in fears of offending him or his people. He told us though that he and his people love when kiwi’s or pakeha (Europeans) speak their language. He said many people don’t speak it very much anymore and they feel respect and love when they are spoken to in Te Reo. I learned how to count in Te Reo and to say a Mihi Mihi. A Mihi Mihi is a speech or introduction of yourself in the Māori culture. Here is mine (also if anyone reads this and understands Te Reo more than me there are probably errors in this speech, but I did try my best!)
(Okay I did not end up finding the image of it anywhere so I will try to upload it next time I post here)
In this speech I am saying welcome to everyone who is present at the beginning. Then I state my connection to the land. The Māori people have a deep connection to the land and where they are from. So, my river is the Rock River, and my lake is Lake Worthington. Then I state my university or place of learning. Then my tribe which is European. Then my hometown where I am not at currently. Then after this section I explain my family origins with myself last because in this speech, you yourself are completely last. Then at the end you acknowledge everyone along with yourself!
We also learned a culturally appropriate haka to do at an end of the week ceremony. Learning this and the meaning behind the haka was probably one of my favorite parts of the week. The Haka is used to prevent wars from occurring so the men and women involved must give it their all because this could be the last thing they do before war. So, learning that significance as well as the significance of women in their culture was incredible. The Māori people see their women as important and significant compared to my culture background where men tend to be leaders in all areas. It was cool that one of the Māori men I met said “you women are important because we came from you” Which was super cool.
The end of the week was a celebration of all that we learned, and we had guests come to hear our mihi mihi’s, haka, and other things about ourselves. It was a great way to end the week of class and another week in Aotearoa. At the end of week, we had a free Saturday and part of a Sunday before we headed to Wellington for a trip! Which is a whole story in itself, but we managed to make it there and back safety! More to come on this trip.
I can’t believe how fast my time is going here! We have done so much in these few weeks that we have been here which is crazy.
A more sheltered approach to birding when its rainy out
God has been continuing to work in the people I have met and the new creatures I have seen while being here. I just still can’t get over that I am living here, and that God has brought me here. I love the experiences I have gained here and living the lifestyle I am with CCSP.
Thank you all again for reading! I know it is springtime back in the Northern Hemisphere, so I hope you guys start to feel the warmth soon! I am close to transitioning to fall here so the air will be a little cooler, but I am looking forward to it. God bless you all!
-April
