Ninth Week

Monday: This week I got a new teacher in the morning classes. I had the luck to have a personal one-to-one teacher this week, because my English level was a bit higher than the average in the upper-intermediate group and I sometimes was bored. To provide as much progress as possible to me, James now offered me to have my own teacher, Dillwyn. This way, classes can be tailored to me, very efficient and I was a little bit exhausted when the clock showed quarter past twelve. That’s the challenge I was looking for! In the evening I tried to do as much homework as possible, to get ahead as far as possible at school the next day.
Tuesday: James said it was a difficult story, but he needed Dillwyn for another class. So I discussed the homework with him instead. Working with him was not bad at all, especially because he explained to me the way British people think about Churchill, and why they are so proud of their role in the Second World War. That was a lot of cultural knowledge conveyed to me in a much more authentic way than I had experienced it in any of my history lessons at school. After school I agreed with Hanna and Mayumi to hire a car on Saturday and go to the Queen Charlotte Track in the Marlborough Sounds. Therefore we went to the car company Rent-a-Dent to book a vehicle.
Wednesday: This evening I went to a swimming pool with people from church. It was so relaxing to be in this warm pool usually used by the hospital for disabled people. Especially after another yoga lesson when you can feel almost every muscle of your body. First I enjoyed fighting for an air filled plastic rugby ball and after that I played with a little girl called Marguerite some games she obviously found interesting: holding your breath as long as you can, jumping into the pool with as much of a splash as possible or even diving with her on my back with her arms around my neck. The funniest thing came at the end: I had to pretend to be unconscious or dead and she would rescue me. Apparently she was fascinated by how long I could hold my breath and that was now useful for playing dead. Although the last game in particular was a bit strange, it showed me again how much I love children. It’s just intriguing how they think and act and how easy it is to make them happy. The Icing on the cake was eating chips after all that. I just felt so comfortable and fresh that everything smelled twice as good as normal.
Thursdays are Thursdays. For me that meant salsa dancing and band practice after school. The only special thing was that I had two dances in the Little Rock after band practice. One with teacher Sarah and the other with Liza, who I got to know some weeks ago in the Little Rock.
Friday: In the afternoon some students were watching a movie provided by Sarah. I was one of them. After that, I had an interesting discussion with Hanna, who had told me I was like a brother to her. That was a big compliment to me, and I really enjoyed talking about all kinds of things with her.
Saturday: On my birthday I got up early and prepared for the journey. At nine o’clock I had to be in town, but Jude told me to open a present from her first. I could share the Chocolates with my friends, she said and that was a good idea. I met Hanna at the Rent-a-Dent before going to pick up Jörn and Mayumi. Jörn from Germany decided on Friday afternoon to come with us and we were happy to share the costs with one more person. First we drove to Havelock and walked up a hill to a lookout point from where we had a great view of the surrounding countryside. Unfortunately there were a lot of dark, high cloud and it even looked a bit like rain. Later we went to a place called Te Mahia. Now almost all the clouds had gone, there were only a few leftovers on the horizon. The clear water of the fiord-like “sounds” reflected the whole landscape and it was just wonderful. From there we set off up a hill with our lunch-backpacks. During the ascent we were accompanied by a fantail, a little bird, who entertained us with his sounds and showed off his artistic abilities all the way up and even stayed with us for lunch. Unfortunately I had forgotten to recharge my Camera, and after a couple of pictures from the top of this hill, the battery was empty. Fortunately there had just been enough energy to capture the stunning panorama. Now we intended to go to French Pass, but as we were driving over a winding hill heading to Okiwi Bay, Hanna got terribly carsick and even wanted to walk the rest of the way. But that would have been too dangerous and I didn’t want to let her do that so we just waited some minutes until she felt a little bit better. At Okiwi Bay I realized that it was too much to continue as far as French Pass. After skimming some stones over the sea we all agreed to go back to Nelson, not only because of carsick Hanna but also because it was already half past four and would be getting dark soon. I had expected more but it was a beautiful day all the same. Back home I ate my dinner and because it was my birthday, Jude had even baked a cake for me. With a full belly I sat down in front of my computer, wondering whether I could contact somebody in Switzerland. My mother was already waiting for me and phoned me when she saw that I was online. That was the first phone call for nine weeks and naturally I enjoyed it. After reading all my e-mails I went tired but happy to bed.
Sunday: I started reading 1984 by George Orwell at about ten o’clock in the morning. It was so engrossing that I read it through in one go. I was only interrupted twice. The first time because of lunch and the second time Jude was waiting with popcorn for me and Ashley, when I was only three pages before the end. Finishing the book at about four o’clock I just had time to have a shower and prepare myself for the evening. At half past four Michel, a friend from school, picked me up to go shopping. We only needed some white wine and bread for the Fondue. Back at my home-stay we started to prepare everything for this traditional Swiss meal. Even the appetizer, consisting as it did of a cheese board, bread and white wine was typically Swiss. The cheeses were three different Swiss types, an Italian one and a New Zealand one. At the smell of the Fondue both Michel and I felt as if we were at home and we were even a little bit homesick. The meal smelled exactly like in Switzerland, though it was an imported Swiss product. Only the bread wasn’t the same, but it was a fantastic meal all the same. To stay with the theme of the evening, Jude prepared a bread-based dessert, though I had to give my stomach some minutes to process the fondue before I could eat any more. This was one of the most enjoyable evenings I’ve ever had in New Zealand. If only it hadn’t left me with a sore stomach from overeating!