Oh oh the places we go
And so we are settling into daily life here in Mangawhai. School has started on a Wednesday so the first week was nice and short. We had Waitangi Day on the next Saturday, but Skyler got Monday off for that so another short week. If a holiday happens to be on a weekend day, it gets Mondayised, meaning you get Monday off! Skyler has been settling into school life really well. He said he wasn't nervous for the first day AT ALL (but we know better). It is a small country school with 154 kids, a big rugby/play field, lots of space to play and run around and a swimming pool. The main object for Skyler being at school (from his point of view) is making new friends. At the end of the first day he was smiling all over and said he had already made 6 new friends... He is in room 5, which is a combination of year 5 (groep 6 for NL) and year 6 (groep 7) students, so he can do different things on different levels. His teacher Mrs Salt has been at the school for many years and has made him feel welcome and at ease. We are amazed at the speed at which Skyler's English is developing. He is having complete conversations with correct grammar and he mostly understands what is going on. He got access to MathsWhizz, a computer program he can also use at home. He has been working very hard on that. As soon as he gets home he wants to start and goes at it for a long time. It is a really fun way to learn math and it is giving him confidence when he succeeds at certain subjects. When he comes across one that is harder for him, we sit down together and work through the problem. Instead of throwing his hands in the air in despair crying out "This is IMPOSSIBLE" he now is starting to realize nothing is impossible :-) There is also the Maori language class. So far he has learned to count to 20 and do several greetings. On Fridays someone comes to the school to teach the kids Maori songs.
A NZ school day is quite different from a Dutch school day. Starting at 8.30 they have a "Brainbreak" at 9 for some food, then a half hour break at 10.30 and lunch break from 12.10 to 1 PM. School ends at 2.30. So lots of time to run around and get rid of some of that energy, making it easier for Skyler to concentrate and pay attention for the shorter periods of lessons, which in the end is more effective. Also there is swimming everyday! This week cricket practice has begun. As Skyler is always a bit scared of balls being thrown at him, Bart has been taking him to the Domain for extra practice to make him feel more confident.
There is no school uniform but wearing a hat in term 1 is mandatory. With Skyler's hair it has been a challenge finding him a hat that fits but we found one in the end and he is no longer opposed to wearing it. Driving him to school in the morning is a pleasure compared to before in Holland. It takes 12 minutes to get him to school (14 km) and of course we cruise through the fantastic landscape as opposed to standing in traffic all through Nesselande for at least 20 minutes and then not being able to find a parking space at school. So all good! Although we are happy to go and pick him up at the end of the day he prefers to take the school bus. Unfortunately it doesn't go all the way to Mangawhai. We meet him at the end of School Road. It gives us half an hour extra before pick up time, which is good.
Every other Friday afternoon is Assembly. The whole school gets together (parents welcome) and they start of by singing the NZ national anthem in Maori and then English. It was actually the first time for us of ever hearing the national anthem and it was quite touching to hear it with all the children's voices, a bit quiet at the Maori part but then loud and clear when the English part came. I thought I caught it on video but must have pressed the wrong button cause when I got home nothing was there. Bummer. Assembly is a time for sharing achievements, have some song and dance or whatever, announcements, birthday wishes and awards ceremonies. It is a way to positively encourage the kids and I like it. There are awards for all sorts of achievements, not just scholastic ones, and Skyler got one for settling in so well. There is also an award for "good citizen of the week" if you have done something extra nice for someone else. It makes the kids proud. Luckily this is all done in a very relaxed way as opposed to the assembly I witnessed at Matakana school when I was scouting for schools earlier in October. That was more like a military operation which was horrible. Totally put me off that school.
We are very very happy with the way Skyler has been handling this major change in his life. He is relaxed, happy, cheerful and adapting so well. The fact that he willingly starts to do math in his spare time amazes us. This country seems to fit him (and us) like a glove and he loves the challenge of speaking English. He is not shy to speak at all. He might still be a little shy with the other kids in school, but once we get some play dates going he will be more at ease.
We hosted our first BBQ last weekend. When I came in October I stayed at two lovely places through Airbnb with lovely people. Glenda and Don in Warkworth, who made me feel like a member of their family from the start. They are a retired couple. And there is Barry up in Wellsford. He is a designer for film and television and he has designed and built his own sustainable house.
When people come over they bring you stuff like salads and fruits from their garden. So lovely.
We took in some local culture by means of the Warkworth Rodeo. The rodeo comes to town once a year and is a major event. It was a beautiful sunny and hot day and Skyler ran into a school friend. I was planning on doing some photography as I had done at a rodeo 12 years ago, but they would not let me enter the "backstage" area so there was no fun in it. I do have photo's of that old rodeo on my website www.chrissieseye.com
We also engaged in a 5km walk over the weekend, an annual event here in Kaiwaka. Some sporty types run up the hill towards the rock in a 10km run, some walk the 10km, or run 5 km, but we thought we'd take it easy and check it out first before getting in over our heads, so we took a leasurely 5 km walk. Skyler ran most of the way because he wanted to win (where did this competitive streak suddenly come from??? He has never had this before) but then slowed down once he realized there were no prizes for walkers! He might now get into running, as he saw kids smaller than him do the 5km run and some even ran 10 km. Such a sporty nation.
As for buying a house plans have slightly changed. Not a lot of new lifestyle properties (for Dutchies huis met een stuk land eromheen) come on the market and the ones we have seen so far did not do it for us, however beautiful some are. We are looking for a house with a soul. We could get a house in town, close to the beach or even with a sea view, but then we would have no land, as these are build on sections no larger than 600 m2. We don't need a lot of land, but want something slightly larger than a walkway around the house :-) . So now we have been looking at blocks of land instead. We are starting to know a lot of real estate agents and we know who to go to and who to avoid. One of them has taken us all around, showing us what is available and what are the pros and cons. Some good land was just too far away for a reasonable commute. We found a really good piece, with a (bit distant but still) ocean view, just outside town but still in Mangawhai, which is good for Bart as he will be commuting to Auckland once or twice a week. We are putting an offer on it this week!!! We asked Barry to come and have a look at the land with us. He told me I am driving like a Kiwi already! (which means going 90 to 100 km on the small country roads LOL). We also asked him to design a house for us that would fit the spot well. He came up with a beautiful drawing of a nice big house, sleep out and garage. But it would be way over our budget to have that built so he had to downscale it a bit. It is quite exciting but daunting at the same time to do a project like this. To be continued!
Our container is supposed to be in Singapore by now. We realized that if we build our own house we won't be able to get to our stuff for a long time. We'd build the garage first so we could live in it and there would be no space to unpack anything! But we will worry about that when the time comes.
Bart has indulged in buying himself a new golf set and he tries to get in as much practice as he can on a daily base. I am still doing the Pilates thing. It is in the teacher's living room and there is a little dog, Rosie, that runs around during class and asks for attention!
Tonight I am going to a PTA (ouderraad) meeting at school to see if I want to get involved. Tomarata school calls the PTA the SWAT team, which does make it sound more exciting than it really is :-)
Bart has officially started work today. He had his first meeting with actual clients already last week.
We are making it all work here in our tiny cottage. The people we are renting from, Marina and Mike, are nice and friendly.
We are feeling good and have not for one moment regretted our decision just yet.
And there you have it, the update on our lives here in Mangawhai. Greetings from paradise!
Skyler on his first day before school started.
Skyler on his first day after school finished.
Award for a great start at his new school. Ka pai!
Hosting the BBQ
Our esteemd guests, fltr Barry, Glenda and Don and nice food on the table.
Finished the 5km walk through the wonderful countryside of Kaiwaka at the Top of the Rock annual event.