The way to a man's heart is through his stomach...

Often a lot of the schools we visit put on a big morning tea for us that includes a variety of fresh fruits (mangoes, paw paw, star fruit, bananas, guava, grated coconut etc), home baking, fish and so on.  It is excellent and we have now learned to time our visits specifically around morning tea time!  Well I say morning tea but in most schools here the break at 10:00am is there big break of the day and goes for 40 odd minutes.  This is the time they do all their eating. They then have another short snack break around 1.00pm.  Remembering that they start school at 8.00am and finish around 2.00pm.  I think it's an excellent idea and would instigate such a timetable in my next school in NZ!  I also like the teeth brushing routines they implement in schools here.  I would go further and have hand washing and toilet time too, although not necessarily in that order!  Another custom here is that when offered food to take away you accept, regardless of whether you want or like the food or not.  At a wedding or other such function you will find guests piling up their doggie bags before tucking in themselves.  I guess it's a compliment to the chefs and hosts, as well as a neccessity with the food prices here!
Anyway, at this mornings morning tea, opps I mean school visit, one teacher was heard to say "Have a banana - a banana a day keeps the doctor way" to which I replied "That's because apples are so expensive here!"  Much hilarity was had by all as I tucked into another banana (and we were given a bunch to take away with us!) so I don't expect to see a doctor anytime soon.  Although, a couple of mozzy bites under my right arm are giving me grief and the roll-on deodorant stings like crazy.  Janine wonders what all the grunting and groaning is coming from the bathroom in the morning!  I dare not go without though as the heat and humidity means that sweating is a national sport here!

Noted in the front of the set of Thorndike dictionaries that a Year 8 class were using at a school I visited earlier in the week "St Michael's School, Remuera."  This is typical here with a lot of their resources coming from donations.  Where a certain sized school may get $3.5million of funding in NZ, an equivalent school here would get $150,000.  You can see the problem they have - and teacher's earn half as much here as well.  A similar situation exists with the national library here.  I joined up and had a discussion with the librarian - a woman who volunteers here time, like all library staff.  She stated that all the books in the library are from donations.  A lot of tourists leave their reading material with the library on their departure - a nice touch.

I was almost knocked off my scooter whilst riding home yesterday by a lot of over hanging tree branches dangling from the flat bed of a truck coming the other way.  I was travelling on the 'Back Road' which is much narrower than the Main Road and perhaps was going a little faster than I should've but I did have to take evasive action.  I had my ipod on listening to music so they may well have been shouting a warning at me but I didn't hear, nor do i suspect this was the case.  They certainly didn't have a white rag tied to their overhanging cargo!  They have a very 'everyman for himself" approach to road rules, which I like.  I see it as a commonsensical approach.  No helmets needed on pushbikes or motorbikes at 40km (yes for speed limit of 50km).  No seat belts needed.  Kids standing up in the back of utes.  Everyone is aware of the risks and everyone is responsible for their own safety.  Given the low levels of traffic that makes sense to me.  We use a baby seat for Milly but not George.  He sits up the front with the passenger.  I wear a motorbike helmet, when I remember, for three reasons - to help block out the road noise so I can hear my music better, help to keep the sun from my eyes as I ride into it both to and from work, and probably most importantly, so I don't end up a dribbling mess, eating through a straw and going toilet into a bag IF I should ever come off, be it my fault or not!

It's also humorous to see the things people carry on their scooters.  Gas bottles, weed eaters, spare tyres, their groceries, boogie boards.  I want to build a trailer I can tow behind the scooter but I fear anything I attach it to may come off when I pull away, given that my scooter appears to be currently held together by plastic ties and best intentions!  I guess that's a fourth reason to wear a helmet - that one day I may see either of my tyre's roll off into the sunset as I tumble down the road after them!

Attended my first of eight Cook Island Maori lessons after work this afternoon at the University of The South Pacific.  The lessons started at 5.00pm and as we finish work at 4.00pm a colleague and I went for a swim in the harbour beforehand.  Very refreshing and some beautiful fish to be seen but the pull of the tide was quite strong.  Think I'll look into doing a dive course.  Anyway, as to the Maori lessons - I can now sing 'Head, shoulders, knees, and toes' in Maori, or 'Kuta, pakuivi, turi, manga vaevae' as it's now known!

Until later, ka kite akaou

Ol' Time Rock n Roll

The old addage that good music lasts the test of time is never more illustrated than hearing Josh walking around the house singing "You say goodbye, and I say hello - hello, hello, I don't know why you say goodbye..." and "Come together, right now, over me" among others.  Even if he sometimes gets the lyrics wrong it's interesting, and pleasing, to hear him sing Beatles songs.  This new fad has come about because of the movie Across The Universe.  Well worth seeing, and great to see Bono playing a wonderful cameo in it.  Wanting to encourage this we bought him the Beatles Greatest Hits 19something to 19somethingelse.  Long may it continue as I dispair at the new garbage he still does listen to from time to time - "Baby, baby, baby etc" - give me strength!  And with that I hereby acknowledge and confirm my membership of the 'Old Fuddy Duddy's Club'

Janine recieved her first pay yesterday - and what a very pleasent suprise!  As much as I don't like it, money is an issue as I took a significant pay cut to come here and the cost of living can be, if you are unwise, more than NZ.  Certainly the utilities are more costly.  The minimum wage here is $5 an hour and they don't tip so there's no supplement.  We were expecting the worst, hoping to obviously cover the resultant daycare required and perhaps have enough to step up to the next Broadband level of 3gb per month for $99 rather than the $59 a month for 1.5gb which we are currently on.  We blew that within half a month with a couple of Skype video calls and Janine uploading photos to the interweb!  I've since taught her how to reduce the size of the photos!  But it was actualy much more than expected so we're delighted that we'll now be able to afford food!

Just been part of a three day Principals conference where I facilitated 3 presentations, 2 of which were in three rotations each (6 in total) so I was hoarse by the end of Thursday, added to the fact I wasn't feeling too well anyway - still aren't.  Bali Hague, the deputy CEO of NZQA was the key note speaker.  He was excellent.  The conference was held at the Crown Resort in Rarotonga so it was nice to work in an air conditioned environment for three days!

I've noticed that my Westpac debit card has my name spelt as Bredon and my Cook Island drivers license has my date of birth as 1965.  Some things get lost in translation I guess.  You just accept those things here.  I've been told that when dealing with service staff who are typing our personal details ask to see the screen as they type as things do actually get lost in translation - like Chinese whispers...or Rarotongan whispers!

I have to say that with all the drama that is going on in the world it is comforting to be so far away and isolated!  All we have to be wary of is tornado's, typhon's, floods etc.  Certainly not radiation poisoning...that we know of.  Although I'm just watching the coverage on TV and seeing the devastation 10km inland in Japan.  We aren't even 1 km from the beach but I have been told that the land formation of Rarotonga is such that a tsunami wouldn't build up pressure through the gradual rise of the sea bed to land.  Rather, Rarotonga has a huge drop off all around the island, as well as the reef that circulates the island.  Fingers crossed that's sufficient.  We did have the harbour drain out noticably though.

My thoughts and prayers are with all those in Japan and of course Christchurch.

Wild Kingdom

I've just noticed that crawling beneath my office desk was a little crab, or maybe a not so little crab.  I guess the term is relative to the amount of pain that it could impart by nipping a toe!  I'm seriously reconsidering changing my jandals for shoes!  The last thing I need is yet another creature biting at my feet while I work!  You will notice in the photo I already have a mosquito coil under there as I get eaten alive when I forget to spray on repellant, which wears off mid afternoon anyway.  Still on things animalistic, a colleague called out across the office this morning if anyone knew how to set a mouse trap?  Always one to add to my 'mancard', especially as I failed to stop a leak in a bathroom pipe last night, I volunteered (it was still early in the morning and not many others had arrived at work to volunteer!).  Well this wasn't a mouse trap, it was more a horse trap!  "Well, it's more of a rat" she said - no kidding!  This trap was like a solid steel guillotine like thing, with spikes at one end and a seriously strong spring mechanism at the other, like a catapult.  So, worrying that it might go off on me and impale a finger, I set it rather gingerly.  I suggested peanut butter would be the best bait, assuming there wasn't a t-bone steak in the fridge, but the best that could be got was some taro.  Do rats like taro?  Well I guess Rarotongan ones do.  So we are all now eagerly awaiting an ear shattering twang and the anguished cries from a decapitated rat!  Will my 'mancard' extend to disposing of the body??  I'm still to chicken to pick up a geckho!  Until that point what I envisage happening is some huge survival of the fittest battle between rat and crab - can you imagne the scence, and sound!  It would be cartoonesque.  Now all we need is a giant centipede to enter the scene for a three-way!  Sounds like a Chinese kung-fu programme!
So what else is happening...

Well, the kids have started daycare and seem to be enjoying it.  Sooo much different from NZ but that's too be expected.  I'm absolutely loving the time I get to play with the kids, go for a swim etc after work.  We finish at 4.00 and no one hangs around past 4.01!  So I'm home by 4.30pm.  Janine and I settle down eventually to watch New Zealand's TV1 news at 8.30pm and then maybe catch an episode of Breaking Bad.  Where does the time go, and where did we get it from in NZ?!

Just returned from a walk at lunchtime in the midday sun - only mad dogs and Englishmen indeed!  Inlcude Kiwi expats in that lot.  And there are a lot of maddogs here.  I was accosted by one while scootering to work this morning.  I went to kick it but then remebered that I had open toed jandals on and should it get hold of me I'd probably be dragged off the scooter and mawled to pieces!  Best to outrun it, which on my scooter could be a close run thing!  Actually, my $500 is still running like clockwork - a clunky, spluttering clock whose speedo doesn't work - but still gets me from A to B!

Tomorrow night we have a Ministry and Teachers quiz night at the golf club and my team of six - aptly named Dazed & Confused - will provail!  The prizes are really good - a series of flash printers - which all teams have agreed to donate to an outter island school should they be successful.  Somewhat like Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire...without the celebrities, nor the millions.

Incidentally, here is the transcript from 'email rounders' this afternoon in relation to the quiz night;

"For those preparing for tomorrow night…………….

Quiz questions

1. If you bumped a ginglymus, which part of your body might you have bruised?
2. The Mesozoic era is better known as ‘The Age of the Dinosaurs’ and is made up of three periods. Triassic is the first – what are the second and third?
3. What does the unit ‘candela’ describe?
4. What is the group of muscles surrounding an eye’s pupil called?
5. The weed Salvinia molesta is a problem for which ecosystem – a) deserts, b) wheat crops, c) waterways.

Please make sure all answers to number 1 are repeatable in public

My Answer:
If this is the level of difficulty of tomorrows questions I might just perch myself at the bar and knock my ‘ginglymus’ against the wall!

A reply:
Answer No. 2, the Jusassic Period and the Cretacious Period (do we get penalised for wrong spelling?) :(
And no...we didn't google it!

  
My Reply:
Ah yes ‘Cretacious Park’ that was the sequel wasn’t it?


I think those outer schools better start fundraising if they want a new printer!!

I've also just registered for a 5-a-side football side that will play after work.  Let's pray for cooler weather!  We are called "The Sons of Pitches", very clever I thought!  I've heard they play rough...

But for now I must sign off or this will become a book!

Ka Kite

Brendon