The students, hoping for a bit of a holiday from learning, were a bit disappointed to find that I knew the material and even assign regular homework. Some talkative NZ students said that they made their last reliever teacher cry. Ha!
I trained in the American public school system, so if they were hoping to "get me good" they were dead wrong. NZ students are quiet little angels for the most part. There are always a few mischief makers in each class.
The kids at home have been missing Mommy Time, as I am in bed by 7:30 pm some nights and too tired to read them a goodnight story.
This job is supposed to last a total of 2 weeks. Hopefully, the word will get out that I am a good teacher and I will find more teaching work.
26 May 2013
Emergency reliever to the rescue!
It has been no secret that it has been hard to find work here in NZ for me. After months of "...you have been UNSUCCESSFUL "letters from potential employers, I lucked out and got a job at Quick Help as a reliever teacher.
They call you when a teacher has an emergency and has to leave school ASAP. In this case, a male science teacher happened to go in for a routine health check and ended up having a heart stint surgery.
I got the call and was glad to be able to work as a teacher again.
This week has been a bit rough though, as I have been teaching year 12 and 13 level chemistry, year 10 general science, and a 2 hr daily seminar on nuclear article physics. Needless to say, I have been up for hours at night lesson planning and learning the material again.
Here was the rainbow near the school on Friday before I gave my lesson on nuclear particle physics. I took this as a good sign.
The students, hoping for a bit of a holiday from learning, were a bit disappointed to find that I knew the material and even assign regular homework. Some talkative NZ students said that they made their last reliever teacher cry. Ha!
I trained in the American public school system, so if they were hoping to "get me good" they were dead wrong. NZ students are quiet little angels for the most part. There are always a few mischief makers in each class.
The kids at home have been missing Mommy Time, as I am in bed by 7:30 pm some nights and too tired to read them a goodnight story.
This job is supposed to last a total of 2 weeks. Hopefully, the word will get out that I am a good teacher and I will find more teaching work.
The students, hoping for a bit of a holiday from learning, were a bit disappointed to find that I knew the material and even assign regular homework. Some talkative NZ students said that they made their last reliever teacher cry. Ha!
I trained in the American public school system, so if they were hoping to "get me good" they were dead wrong. NZ students are quiet little angels for the most part. There are always a few mischief makers in each class.
The kids at home have been missing Mommy Time, as I am in bed by 7:30 pm some nights and too tired to read them a goodnight story.
This job is supposed to last a total of 2 weeks. Hopefully, the word will get out that I am a good teacher and I will find more teaching work.
19 May 2013
Spider's Revenge
On my weekend to Palmerston North, Zack started to itch his leg. Then two nasty bites on his knee started to swell. Concerned, I took him to the local pharmacy to have the pharmacist evaluate. Bug bites, she proclaimed, and gave us antihistamine.
Then at bath time this morning, I discover that Zack has 12 new patches of bites and red marks. It is starting to look like poison ivy or chicken pox. Time to take him to the City Dr. Clinic on a Sat.
The doctor evaluates him after a 40 min wait, and decides that he has a bacterial infection from a bug bite, likely a whitetail spider.
Zack is given antibiotics three times a day for 7-10 days.
Whitey the badass spider has had his revenge from the grave, as clearly his cousin Fang sunk his mandibles into poor Zack before we left our house in Christchurch.
Evil little spider!
16 May 2013
Spider Scare
One day this week, I woke up early at 5 am and entered the lounge. Next to my picture on the wall was a large spider with a white tip on its abdomen. Looking at it, it was like a supersized wolf spider. Oh, how cool! I took a picture and let it crawl up into the closet.
Sharing pics online, my NZ friends screamed out, "Smash it! It's a whitetail!"
So, looking it up online, it turns out that white tail spiders can bite and transmit flesh eating bacteria that can cause horrible wounds and may lead to permanent disfigurement.
Not a friendly spider after all.
By the time I realized it was poisonous, it had disappeared. Five days later, the kids finally spotted it crawling out from under the lounge sofa.
Quickly, I smashed it with a large selenite rock crystal. It fought fiercely, but the rock won.
Sharing pics online, my NZ friends screamed out, "Smash it! It's a whitetail!"So, looking it up online, it turns out that white tail spiders can bite and transmit flesh eating bacteria that can cause horrible wounds and may lead to permanent disfigurement.
Not a friendly spider after all.
By the time I realized it was poisonous, it had disappeared. Five days later, the kids finally spotted it crawling out from under the lounge sofa.
Quickly, I smashed it with a large selenite rock crystal. It fought fiercely, but the rock won.
10 May 2013
Kiwi dentist
So, the last teeth check up that we had was in September before we moved to New Zealand. Our insurance in the states covered all preventative care appointments every 6 months or so, with a mere $5 copayment.
Mike and I have been fortunate to have great teeth and neither of us have ever had a cavity. We both had wisdom teeth removed in our20s and otherwise have healthy dental hygiene.
Getting my teeth cleaned in NZ, however, cost me $137 dollars, and that was after I talked my way out of getting $30 X-rays of my teeth. Expensive!
The dentist then explained that NZ dentistry is 100 percent private and that many Kiwis simply cannot afford dentistry. Hence, the common knowledge that poor Kiwis are often missing teeth in their grin.
Puzzling that health care is funded by govt. , but dental care past 18 is not. School nurse dentists clean roughly and fix cavities of children yearly in school health checks, but no preventative maintenance on adults is funded by the government.
The dentist also did not give me a cute merchandise packet like in the states, no toothbrush or floss was handed out. I asked her for some freebies and I got some Sensodyne toothpaste sample and some pink tablets to chew to see hidden plaque after brushing.
Will I go back in 6 months? Maybe. The dentist is hoping I come back in 1-2 years! Craziness!
Mike and I have been fortunate to have great teeth and neither of us have ever had a cavity. We both had wisdom teeth removed in our20s and otherwise have healthy dental hygiene.
Getting my teeth cleaned in NZ, however, cost me $137 dollars, and that was after I talked my way out of getting $30 X-rays of my teeth. Expensive!
The dentist then explained that NZ dentistry is 100 percent private and that many Kiwis simply cannot afford dentistry. Hence, the common knowledge that poor Kiwis are often missing teeth in their grin.
Puzzling that health care is funded by govt. , but dental care past 18 is not. School nurse dentists clean roughly and fix cavities of children yearly in school health checks, but no preventative maintenance on adults is funded by the government.
The dentist also did not give me a cute merchandise packet like in the states, no toothbrush or floss was handed out. I asked her for some freebies and I got some Sensodyne toothpaste sample and some pink tablets to chew to see hidden plaque after brushing.
Will I go back in 6 months? Maybe. The dentist is hoping I come back in 1-2 years! Craziness!
05 May 2013
Canterbury Museum
Looking for some fun in downtown Christchurch? The Canterbury Museum is free to enter, and most exhibits are free.
The Paua Shell house was cool. It was a house taken from southern part of SouthIsland and literally rebuilt inside the museum. The couple who were married 73 years spend 50 years collecting shells and decorating their house with them. The lounge you walk through has 1150 Paua shells decorating the walls. Cool!
They also had two different Antarctic explorer wings of the museum, and a bird hall. The kids were not at all interested in the Far East exhibit or the mummy.
They did like the snow mobile simulator though and the dinosaurs-allosaurus and triceratops.
We brought a packed lunch and ate in the cafe. We got some hot chips ( French fries) and were sad to discover the tomato sauce (ketchup) was only enough for four hot chips, and extra ketchup costs heaps extra. Bummer!
Nice view of the botanical gardens and pine trees from the 3rd floor cafe,too.
We paid $2/ person to go to Discovery Zone for kids, which was cool and filled with all sorts of fossils, stuffed creatures, and spiders. The boys "looked for fossils" and examined bugs under the microscope. Classic nerdy fun for the Fried family.
The Paua Shell house was cool. It was a house taken from southern part of SouthIsland and literally rebuilt inside the museum. The couple who were married 73 years spend 50 years collecting shells and decorating their house with them. The lounge you walk through has 1150 Paua shells decorating the walls. Cool!
They also had two different Antarctic explorer wings of the museum, and a bird hall. The kids were not at all interested in the Far East exhibit or the mummy.
They did like the snow mobile simulator though and the dinosaurs-allosaurus and triceratops.
We brought a packed lunch and ate in the cafe. We got some hot chips ( French fries) and were sad to discover the tomato sauce (ketchup) was only enough for four hot chips, and extra ketchup costs heaps extra. Bummer!
Nice view of the botanical gardens and pine trees from the 3rd floor cafe,too.
We paid $2/ person to go to Discovery Zone for kids, which was cool and filled with all sorts of fossils, stuffed creatures, and spiders. The boys "looked for fossils" and examined bugs under the microscope. Classic nerdy fun for the Fried family.
Ferrymeade Heritage Park
Today we went to the Ferrymeade Heritage Park, which recreates a small town built 100 years ago in ferrymeade, complete with a double decker bus, running trams, and a steam engine. Zack is really into trains, so he has been asking to go back since we went on Easter 6 weeks ago.
We got to ride a double decker steam tram today, the last of its kind in Christchurch. There were 7 of them running people around Christchurch 100 years ago, but only one runs today. It was really cool.
Ben and Zack played for quite a while at the playground there, which has a stegosaurus slide and a sea serpent ride on toy.
The weather cooperated nicly, and it was warm and partly cloudy for the afternoon. We had a picnic lunch at the picnic area of the park, which helps to keep costs down. Food at the park is pricy, so bringing your own is just being wallet smart.
We got to ride a double decker steam tram today, the last of its kind in Christchurch. There were 7 of them running people around Christchurch 100 years ago, but only one runs today. It was really cool.
Ben and Zack played for quite a while at the playground there, which has a stegosaurus slide and a sea serpent ride on toy.
The weather cooperated nicly, and it was warm and partly cloudy for the afternoon. We had a picnic lunch at the picnic area of the park, which helps to keep costs down. Food at the park is pricy, so bringing your own is just being wallet smart.
02 May 2013
License to Drive!
The time has come to get a Kiwi driver's license. I waited about 6 months or so, but people would kind of laugh at my American driver's license if I gave it over as ID. "Where is Massachusetts?" "Why don't you have a NZ ID? " "Hmmm...do you have your passport instead as ID? We don't take international licenses."
Turns out,the process of learning to drive on the left and signal at roundabouts was way harder than getting the license. That took at least two months to learn.
Just a 35 min wait in line at AA store with Zack circling me and pulling on the stands and travel merchandise - then an eye test and $55 NZD later, and I was getting a photo for my new license to drive down under!
Very cool! Out with the old and in with the new!
Turns out,the process of learning to drive on the left and signal at roundabouts was way harder than getting the license. That took at least two months to learn.
Just a 35 min wait in line at AA store with Zack circling me and pulling on the stands and travel merchandise - then an eye test and $55 NZD later, and I was getting a photo for my new license to drive down under!
Very cool! Out with the old and in with the new!
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