Kindergarten Locks of Love

Well, I promised an exciting post, and now I'm realizing that perhaps hair cuts and donations are not as interesting to other people as they are to me. Oh well. Here it is anyway.

Some of you may know that last March, I had my class of children in Canada cut my hair to donate to Locks of Love. It was a great success, and so I thought I would do it again. My hair was not nearly as long this time, but I was feeling like it was time for a change, and it was plenty long enough to give quite a bit more than the required 10 inches, so I thought I'd just go for it. 

I believe that we need to be teaching children that they are agents of change in the world, and that part of the way we can do that is through supporting them in doing real, meaningful things. That is part of why I feel so good about working within an environment that involves children in sustainability and environmentalism. It is also a big part of the reason I have the children help me cut my hair instead of hacking it off myself at home. For several days before the cut, I showed the children many different pictures of children who had no hair, and had great discussions with them about why those children had no hair, and how hard it might be to have no hair. They were particularly impacted by a picture of a little girl who was dressed up as a fairy, and was a picture-perfect fairy princess, except for her bald head. I was impressed with their empathy and concern. I heard one of my kids explain to her grandmother, "This girl has no hair because she's sick, but it's okay because we're going to give her Emma's hair and then she'll be happy." I am so honoured to be able to participate in children's empowerment to help make the world a better place.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the process.

This is what my hair looked like most days up until Sunday.

This is what my hair looked like after I straightened it on Sunday afternoon. I decided that the whole process would go much better with my hair straight, because it makes it smooth and easy to manage, and actually allows the children to brush it, which they could never do when it's curly.

Front view. Straight and long. I always feel like I look like my sister, Patty, when my hair is straight, because when I was little I loved brushing her beautiful, naturally straight hair.

Okay, I know this picture looks very odd with the children so blurred out, but that is the best I can do, given my need to protect my children. They have all given permission for the pictures to be used in the newspaper, so they're not too worried, but it's better to be safe.

Anyway, this is right before the chopping happened. All the children had been brushing my hair and experimenting with how it felt and moved, and they were so thrilled at the idea that soon it would be used for a child who needed it.

As you can see, I used hair ties to divide the hair into 30 sections, one for each child. Each lock of hair had two hair ties in it - one above and one below where they could cut. This allowed them to be fairly independent in the actual cutting, and it also meant that when the locks were cut, they were neatly contained by the bottom hair tie, which is important for Locks of Love.

Also, notice the boy in the red shirt's hand - he is practicing scissor motions so that he will be ready to be an excellent barber when it's his turn. 

The children were both unbelievably excited and impressively responsible. I had no concerns at all that the children would cut at the wrong place, and they totally lived up to that trust. I find that with very few exceptions, children rise to the occasion when you trust them to do so.

This is all the locks of hair when we were done.

It might not look too impressive, but trust me, that is a lot of hair!

You may notice, but the resulting cut was not exactly even, but I trimmed it up a bit when I got home, with no catastrophic consequences.

After the first wash, I realized that it was definitely a lot shorter than I had anticipated! I think I was a bit duped by how much longer it seemed when it was straight, and put the hair ties in much higher than I should have. Oh well, more for Locks of Love!

Unfortunately, when I twisted it a bit and it went into my ringlets, it looked even shorter! I have not had hair this short since... I can't even tell you when, but I know that it's been at least 8 years. Yikes!

I am pretty much okay with it, except it does not all stay in a ponytail, which I find fairly unacceptable, as I like to throw it back out of my face. But it grows quickly, and in the meantime, I am seeing it as an interesting change of pace.

Morals of the story: Children are wonderful, empathic, and responsible when trusted with responsibility; Locks of Love is a fantastic company; and straight hair seems much longer than curly hair. The end.

Kiwi Foods (and yes, I still exist)

Hello everyone. I apologize for the long silence. I had no idea that it had been that long - I would have guessed about a week, but no way would I have thought that it was almost two! Sorry about that.

Unfortunately, not only have I been silent for a while, I do not have an amazing story to come back with. Well, I do have a quite exciting story in the works, but I have succeeded in forgetting the necessary pictures at work for 3 days straight now. Which also partially explains the lack of posting.

Anyway, what I do have are some pictures of foods that you are unlikely to see in the States or Canada, or at least in the parts I'm familiar with, so I thought I would share them.

These are feijoas (emphasis on the first syllable). They are native to South America, but they are grown all over the place in NZ. In April, it seemed that everyone I knew had a feijoa tree that was producing way more fruit than they could eat, and so I was given bags and bags of feijoas! It was great! They are related to the guava, although I don't see much similarity, really. They have a very potent and unique taste, which almost seems like it would be unpleasant if you really thought about it, but I actually really like them. You are supposed to eat them by cutting them in half and then spooning out the inside (like a Kiwifruit). Nobody has given me any in awhile, but I look forward to next fall when it will be feijoa time again!

This is Marmite, which is a lot like Australian vegemite. In fact, I find the two indistinguishable, but many people here say that they like one and not the other, so there must be a difference. Anyway, they are both very salty/bitter spreads made from yeast. When I first tried Marmite (because I felt that I should), I hated it. But it is high in protein and has lots of good vitamins, and since it is such a Kiwi thing, I thought I should see if it could grow on me. And... it has. Mostly it still just tastes like bitter salt, but with enough cheese and bread along with it, those flavours can be good. So, I have been eating marmite and cheese sandwiches for lunch just like my kindergarteners, and actually quite enjoying it, as long as I spread it very thin.

On the topic of sandwiches, I have just been informed that "a Kiwi staple" is a sandwich with luncheon (balogna), butter, and tomato sauce (the closest thing they have to ketchup). That seems like an extremely strange combination to me, but perhaps we have that in the States? Anyway, I tried it, and it's not bad.

This is one of my favourite inventions - healthy(ish) hot chocolate! Brilliant! Now, you'll notice that it says, "Made from malted barley." Which doesn't sound particularly good - but it tastes like hot chocolate! And it has vitamins and minerals and protein! It's a win-win-win! 

All jokes aside, it is actually quite a good drink, and if it didn't have quite a lot of sugar in it, it would be pretty perfect. But I figure that since my other drink of choice is tea, in which I put sugar, I shouldn't fuss too much about that part.

My first few experiences with Milo were not great, as I thought that it was to be mixed with cold milk. Turns out, thick malted barley powder doesn't dissolve particularly well in cold milk. I have since been told that if you stir it vigorously enough you can succeed, but I maintain that it's not worth it. But once I discovered using it for hot drinks, all was well. My morning routine now includes having a Milo when I get to work, as I'm setting up before the kids arrive. I find it to be both pleasant and helpfully filling, so that I don't get hungry before my morning tea break.

This is a carmel pear upside down cake that I made with Anna a few months ago. It doesn't really belong on this list, but I'm quite proud that we made it and it was phenomenal! So here it is.

Last but not least: It's a bit hard to see, but the label above this grocery story aisle is "International." And although I am aware that when you live in NZ, the States is "International," it still makes me laugh to see Skittles, 7Up, pancake mix, and Kool-Aid in that aisle. Zoom in on the picture - you'll see a lot of familiar items!

I promise not to wait as long to post again - especially because I am determined to actually remember those pictures tomorrow, and then I will write a better post.

Still learning new words, aye?

Well, after 10ish months in NZ, you might be starting to think that I've learned most of the Kiwi lingo. But no. They keep throwing new things at me. Or, perhaps to be more honest, I keep picking up on things that I might have subconsciously tuned out at first. For example, "aye." I believe I actually wrote "hey" as the Kiwi version of the Canadian "eh." But, thanks to friends who enjoy texting enough to insert unnecessary words like "aye" or "eh" into their messages, I have learned that they are saying "aye." As in "aye or nay," which I firmly believed died out a hundred million years ago with the dinosaurs. In reality, however, the "nay" is extinct, but the "aye" is thriving in this part of the world. Now we know.

Anyway, I thought it was about time for an update on Kiwi-isms, so here goes:

~ Heaps (Lots) - Eg. "We have heaps of glue sticks, so don't worry about using them up."

~ Reckon (Figure/Think) - Eg.1 "I reckon it will turn into a fine (sunny) day." Eg.2 "I reckon so."

~ Stroppy (Grumpy/Irritable) - Eg. "I wanted to take him to the park, but he was a bit stroppy, so I reckoned it wasn't worth it."

~ Hard Case (Funny in an un-PC kind of way) - Eg. "He's our hard-case teacher, so be prepared."

~ Sussed (Figured Out/Accomplished) - Eg. "I think some of your paperwork might be missing, but don't worry, we'll get it sussed." (Note: This is one of my favourites. Not sure why, but I love it.)

~ Choice (Excellent/The Best) - Eg.1 "Seeing as I'm a really choice guy, I'm going to make you a deal."  Eg.2 "It wasn't a great party, but the food was choice!" (Note: This is slang, and not used that much by people I'm around."

~ Pop (Used for all sorts of movement-related words) - Eg.1 "Just pop over to the dairy and buy some." Eg.2 "Pop it in the oven for half an hour."

~ Hop (Get - Used for getting on and off things) - Eg.1 "Hop off the bike and we'll get you a helmet." Eg.2 "Hop up next to her and we'll take a picture."

~ Bits and Pieces - I really think this means the same thing as in the States, but it applied much more liberally here. I feel like I hear it all the time. Eg.1 "I'm not ready to leave yet, I have a lot of bits and pieces to finish." Eg.2 "Yeah, I know my car is dirty. I just fills up with bits and pieces."

~ Known, Grown, Shown - These are (obviously) not new words, but they are pronounced very differently than I am used to. Basically, they pronounce the "w" here. So it sounds like "no-when," "gro-when," "sho-when." Unfortunately, my gut reaction to this pronunciation is something like when people say "libary," which is to subconsciously downgrade my opinion of their education. Which I know is wrong, because they are just speaking the way they have heard the people around them speak. And in this case, actually, they are pronouncing a "w" that is in the word (rather than leaving out the "r" in "library"). So I am working hard to modify my reaction to this pronunciation, and making excellent headway.

I'm sure I will keep noticing more lovely colloquialisms, but those are the ones I have for now.

Mount Taranaki: Veronica Loop

It's been another lovely week in Taranaki (the region we live in now, and the most beautiful place ever). 

Last weekend, as I mentioned, J and I went hiking. We drove 20 minutes to the Visitor's Centre of Mount Taranaki, then headed up the mountain. The peak of Mount Taranaki is 2518m, which I find very impressive, considering its proximity to the ocean.

We walked the Veronica Loop, which is just a couple hours, up one bit and then down another. It wasn't too challenging, although it was quite intensely uphill for most of it. We just took our time and enjoyed it, which was lovely.

There's not too much to say about each picture, so just enjoy them!

This one is first because it's my favourite!

This is the view of Mount Ruapehu, which is in Tongariro National Park, near Whanganui, where J and I went hiking last year.

There is often significantly more snow up there than that, but it's been quite a warm winter so far.

You can see Ruapehu in the background if you really look and know it's there.

This is the closest we got to the top - not particularly close, actually, but that's okay.

We had a lovely hike, and were glad to have explored the mountain we see every day. I really want to go back and hike all the way up to the top, and Anna and Ollie want to do it, too, so hopefully we can do it together. It is highly recommended to do it during the summer, though. Apparently, a lot of people have died on Mount Taranaki due to sudden storms especially, so I will definitely be waiting for summer.

Holly and the Bike Trailer go to the Beach

This was a wonderful weekend. We had today (Monday) off, because it is the Queen of England's birthday, and Kiwis are thinking about taking the Union Jack off their flag, but there is no way that they're giving up a public holiday just because the Queen is on the other side of the world. This is why I like Kiwis.

Anyway, lots of good stuff this weekend, starting with lovely weather for being outside. J and I went hiking on Mount Taranaki on Sunday, but I'll save those pictures for another post. For the moment, I am most excited to show/tell you that Holly and I made very good use of our new bike trailer today.

Here we are, heading out of the driveway. You might have to zoom in on the picture to be able to tell, but Holly is perched quite charmingly in her trailer. I clip the seat belt to her collar, because otherwise she sits very nicely for a while and then randomly jumps out in the middle of the road. Anyway, with her collar fastened in, she can move around in it a bit, but she can't get out. For the most part, as soon as she figured out that staying in that position gives her a similar sensation to sticking her head out the window of the car, she decided that that was just the right spot.

New Plymouth is quite hilly, so it's a workout getting all that extra weight up and down hills, but its completely worth it! And it is only about a 7 minute ride to the beach, so there's only so tiring it can be.

I parked the bike and trailer in a little parking lot, and then we walked down the hill. The plank of wood you see is the first of a set of stairs that leads the last little way to the beach. I know that it is a public pathway, but it still feels like Holly's and my secret path.

Just in case you weren't already sick of beach pictures. 

Well, here it is. I took this picture of a snow-capped mountain with my feet in the ocean. Amazing. Unfortunately, the mountain looks a lot smaller and further away in the picture. Remember, it is only a 20 minute drive from me and my oceany feet.

After Holly and I took our walk, we sat and relaxed on a big piece of driftwood. I was watching the ocean, and I noticed that something about the way the sun was hitting the waves was lighting them up greenish-yellow! Perhaps this is a common phenomenon that I have just missed or forgotten, but I was surprised and amazed! It was so beautiful!

Here is a zoomed out view of the illuminated waves. I was delighted each time it happened - I always thought, "No, this one has gone to far, it missed its chance," - and then it would light up, just for a moment, and be stunning!

What a lovely day. I can't believe how warm it was, either. Even though it is almost winter, it was 16C (61F), and it felt much warmer than that with the sun beating down on me! That being said, I can't wait for spring/summer when it stays light later, so I can go to the beach on weekdays, too.