I started this obscenely long day of travel with my dad, leaving Denver around 230pm on Feb 17. We flew in the very back of the plane with barely enough room to put our legs. When we got to LA we met up with Alex and had a nice dinner near LAX. Then a little after 7pm they dropped me off at the airport. It took me forever to get through the line at the Air New Zealand counter to get my seat assignment, and just about that long again to get through security. I then found my gate and sat in a quiet corner to call my mom. As we talked I noticed a group of nervous looking college kids making awkward small talk and looking around a lot. I figured they were some of the kids on my program. After hanging up with my mom I went over to introduce myself.
There were 8 or 9 there and we discovered we weren’t all sitting together on the plane which was disappointing. All of us were pretty delirious from traveling. Some girls from the east coast had their first flights of the day at 7:45am. None of us were really making sense and I only vaguely remember a few people’s names. Anyway, then we boarded and it all felt a little more real. The security video they showed us was HILARIOUS and stared Richard Simmons. It turned out my three seats only had one other occupant. We were seated in a “SKY COUCH” area, which is essentially a set of three seats that can fold up into a couch of sorts. People purchase these so they can sleep on the plane. After about three stewardesses awkwardly asked us if we were traveling together and more awkwardly implied that I was “with” this much older man with grey hair and, I do admit, a pretty rockin handlebar moustache, they finally left us alone. I sat on the aisle and he was on the window seat and we shared the middle seat. It was great for me and made sleeping much easier, as I could lift the bottom of my seat up and curl up into a little ball and sleep, which was wonderful. I watched almost an entire season of “How I Met Your Mother”, had a strange block of chicken chunks and variety pasta in “cheese” sauce (quite likely CheeZ). But I also got a little thing of Hagen daz ice cream. After a glass of wine, some spotty sleep and watching more TV I had breakfast and lounged in my couch!
I actually slept through a lot of the flight and it was pretty pleasant, I thought it was going to be much worse. When we got off the plane at 8am on Feb 19th, all the American students kind of banded together and made our way through preliminary custom. Got our bags and then went through more customs. When we finally emerged from it all, the IFSA Butler staff was there to greet us. I tried to call my mom but she didn’t pick up the phone! Silly. After everyone was all collected together, we were herded to a bus, got some snacks and then started the 90 min drive to Shakespear Regional Park. When we got there, we pulled up to the YMCA Lodge, got more food, moved into our rooms and got a little info session about what we would be doing in the next four days. After that we had lunch and then we got to go kayaking! We kayaked around the bays near the park and jumped off rocks into the water all over, it was so much fun and I barely noticed how tired I was while we were doing it.
Sheepy Hills!
When we got back from kayaking, we had more food, known as Kai in Maori, and then drove to the Waiwera Hot Spring park nearby. Waiwera is Maori for hot water. After lounging in some hot pools we went across the street to our first pub experience, then drove back to the lodge and had more Kai. After dinner a bunch of us hiked up a huge hill across from the lodge and watched the sun set and waited for the stars to come out while listening to the ocean. It really made me miss SEA Semester but at the same time this new experience was already so much fun, and I’d only been in the country for about 12 hours.
Some of the hikers, struggling to take a decent picture.
The bay we were in, across the bay is Auckland.
After hiking home in the dark we all took well deserved showers and had some ‘MOE’, or sleep.
The next morning we got up somewhat early, had some kai and headed into the meeting house. We played a publess quiz (pub quiz, minus the pub!) in teams of five where we racked up points and learned NZ trivia at the same time. After that we had a bit of tea and kai and then headed out on a ROGAINE or a Rugged Outdoor Group Activity Involving Navigation and Endurance. Our teams had to go out into the park and find as many of the labeled markers on our list as possible. They were worth different points and some were harder to find or get to than the others. My team didn’t win but it was still lots of fun! After some more Kai… it really is true that they eat like hobbits here… we separated into groups for archery, rock climbing and mountain biking. I went mountain biking and we took a cruise of the entire park, which was really amazingly beautiful. Then we ate some more after the bike ride, learned how to play touch rugby which was lots of fun… better than American Football. After rugby we went swimming in the ocean and then had dinner. After dinner three Maori people came to give us a briefing on the Marae visit we were going to take part in. Matua (elder) Tom, Lee and Mata told us what we would be doing at the Marae, the sequence of events. They taught us waiata (Songs) and we had to elect two chiefs to introduce us to the tribe. After choosing Kyle and John, the two newly appointed chiefs had to go off with Matua Tom to learn what they were going to say. After a while, the Maori people left and we went to bed.
Mountain Biking Crew
The next day we got up early again and had some info sessions about academics and campus life at Vic. There was lots of kai interspersed in there and then we headed out on the bus towards the Marae. We stopped at a mall near Auckland and most people bought their new mobile phones. I luckily got one from my friend from Colorado, Fergus, because he studied in NZ last semester. So I just waited around while everyone bought and then proceeded to play with their phones. After that we headed to the Marae. When we arrived we put all our stuff down and stood at the entry to the no man’s land in front of the Marae. We were welcomed in by a woman singing a traditional waiata, and we processed, women first into the Wharenui (pronounced FAIRY-NEWIE), or meeting house. When in the house, the chief of the tribe of Te Hana Te Ao Marama said a prayer and welcomed our chiefs to speak. Kyle said his speech in Maori and then we supported him with a song. Next john said his speech and we supported HIM with a song too. Next the final formal portion of our visit started. We all preformed the hongi with each member of the tribe. After the hongi we had a light snack which they reffered to as supper… but reminded us that dinner would be later. (THEY REALLY EAT LIKE HOBBITS!) After eating we regrouped in the Wharenui and started going through our mihi’s or introductions. Within this introduction you say where you are from my designating your mountain, your river, your harbour or lake, and your name. This was basically the simplist form of a mihi we could possibly do, but everything was said in Maori and it was really interesting to start learning the language a bit already because I’m slated to take Introduction to Maori (The language) at Vic. My mihi went something like this:
Tihei Mauri ora
Tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa
Ko Rockies te maunga
Ko Colorado te awa
Ko Kristen ahau
No reira, tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa.
Which translates roughly to
The breath of life
Hello to you, hello to you, hello to you all
The Rockies are my mountain
The Colorado is my River
Kristen is my name
Therefore, hello to you, hello to you, hello to you all.
The two waiatas we learned were called Te Aroha (with love) and Maku Ra Pea (It is I). Those were beautiful and perhaps if I remember them I’ll record them and put them up here!
Learning and participating in the traditions of the culture/religion was really amazing to me. I had an amazing time and really enjoyed myself. Later in the night we got to experience what it was like in a Maori village in the 17th century! At Te Hana they have a really amazing recreation of a Maori village and they “perform” in it, acting out what would have happened if our “tribe” approached their village and how they would have dealt with new comers. It’s a very intimidating experience and of course a natural reaction is to laugh at the yelling and aggressive actions, but we tried to keep it serious. After touring the village the Maori preformed some songs and the traditional haka which was used when going into battle… as well as before any All Blacks game. It was a really fun night and I got chosen to learn a little poi dance on the stage with a few other IFSA students. Then we all got in out little makeshift beds in the Wharenui and fell asleep.
Village Recreation
All the IFSA kids with the Maori preformers
The next morning we cleaned up and had breakfast and then sat in the Wharenui again to say goodbye and thank you. During the thanks and goodbye time, Mata one of the Maori who had come to brief us stood and spoke about how great it is to get to know a new group of people by hearing their mihi’s and having them participate in the Maori tradition. She pointed to me and said that I reminded her/looked very similar to a friend she had in high school and that when she first saw me she almost came over and said “Why are you saying hi?!” but she realized I wasn’t her friend. So the whole way home from the YMCA lodge we were staying at she told Matua Tom and Lee just how much I looked like her friend. And by hearing my mihi, she learned where I was really from, and who I am, and she thought that was amazing and a great experience. After saying thanks and goodbyes we did the hongi again with the tribe and when I got to Mata she gave me one of the woven roses that decorated much of the Marae. I was so flattered and honestly the only way I can really describe the feeling is heartwarmed. It was a great welcoming to the country. As we were all grabbing our bags and putting on our shoes I went over to Mata and said thank you again for the rose and she told me that not only do I look like her friend from high school but that I also look like Khloe Kardashian. Once we were on the bus, Mata ran over again and told me not to be surprised if the Wellingtonians called me Khloe. Overall it was a really great experience and I had a wonderful time!
After finally, and a bit regretfully leaving the Marae, we headed to Auckland to board our flight to Wellington. There was a bit of luggage drama at the airport because your bag can’t be over 23 kg (50 pounds). No matter what. You can’t even pay them off. And your carryon can’t be more than 7 kg (15lbs). So a lot of people had to repack, and repack and repack and use other peoples bags and the lot, but it all worked out eventually. We took a short flight to Wellington and then were quickly hearded into groups based on where we lived and then shoved into vans. It was all very hectic and it was pouring rain (a very characteristic welcome to Wet and Windy Wellington). When I showed up at my flat my kiwimate, Tianna, let me into my house but none of my housemates were there yet. And she informed me they weren’t coming for a few days… so I had an entire house to myself! It was nice but also kind of sad, because I didn’t want to be lonely! IT turned out to be fine because I almost immediately went on a grocery hunt with a bunch of IFSA kids and some kiwimates. Kiwimates are just New Zealand students who choose to live in the international housing and help out when people have questions or need help with anything. It’s really nice and Tianna lives next door to me so she’s readily available to help!
In my own defense - my phone never rang. . . so I didn't know to answer it! Kristen wisely sent a text to reassure me that she was alive and well and in NZ.
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