Mackenzie and Veronica are attending a very small "model" school at the edge of the business district. I'll let them tell you about it:
Mackenzie:
To get to school we skateboard along the harbour, cut through a hotel lobby then climb steep steps. We pass near the cable car track then return to the Clifton Terrace neighborhood sidewalk. Then we're at school. The school may be small but there's a lot of things you can do thee, for instance, go on the rope swing before school starts or pop into your classroom before class starts. Because its a small school we can do neat things. Seventh and eighth graders are allowed to leave school to go to town with a special passport to get lunch pr even shop around or do some research. I am a seventh grader, so once I get my passport I'll be able to go downtown whenever I want to. In NZ there is primary school and secondary school. which is basically high school so the 7th and 8th graders that are about to leave for seconday school need to learn to be more independent and so they get jobs and privileges. We have a lounge where we can heat u food, read a bok or just relax, and its only for seventh and eighth graders.
Veronica: When Mackenzie gets her passport at school she can bring me lunches and stuff, but first she has to take a test. I can do a lot of skateboarding. I cna do a half pipe, which is straight down then flat then up again, and then you go back and forth. We ride our skateboards to school. My Mom says she'll let us walk to school alone but she'll follow us and she won't say anything and let us lead the way. Even though I was in third grade at home I am in Year 5 here and in the same classroom with Mackenzie. The first day I didn't really meet anyone but now I have a lot of friends. There are only 17 people in the whole class, including me and my sister.
Mom: I have to say this is a different experience for us car-bound suburbanites. We have about a half hour walk to school, either through the city sidewalks or along the harbor. To get to the street parallel to the school we catch the elevator at the James Cook hotel and cut through the loby, coming out on the other side and a level higher. Then we cross the street head towards what looks like a parking lot then climb a series of steps up the terrace, alongside the cable car track.
Wellington is a lot like a small version of San Francisco - it's windy and parts of it are much higher than others! They even have cable cars.
We went to dinner at one of the other fulbright families house the other night - one of the ones who were fortunate enough to live in the Chevening House. It was built in 1929 and is further up the cable car path and further up the hill. the girls were a little jealous at the space they had - more rooms and even a backyard/patio area. Their kids are a little jealous of our proximity to the skatepark (all 6 kids have acquired skateboards) and the parents are a little envious of our proximity to the grocery store. The grass is always greener. All things considered I think I prefer being downtown, though that morning walk may be more of a burden in June and July.
A few observations on food here. We haven;t gotten the hang of everythign yet, but we are finding our way. We learned that bell peppers are called capsicums, ground beef is known as mince and we don't know what chicken feet are used for, but they sell them in the grocery. The most popular coffee drink is called a "flat white" which is kind of like a latte, but there is something on offer called a latte. The latte and the flat white look the same, but the latte is usually bigger. They cost about $4NZ, while a can of coke will run you $3.5NZ, so I usually go ahead and get the latte.
School seems much more laid back - noe of that FCAT or other testing hysteria. It may just be the smaller school, but I think they are more interested in kids mastering concepts then achieving test scores. Go figure.
We are starting to make additional travel plans - for business, to explore and to work with the wants and desires of our parade of visitors. There are so many things we want to do and see that I just hoping we can get most of it done.
This weekend is a Chinese New Year festival downtown even a parade! One thing nice - there is always something going on. Soon there will be the international arts festival, and the fringe festival, and next week there is even a skateboard tournament. Busy, busy,busy.
We are having a lot of fun and enjoying the lack of activities and schedule. It may be hard to go back to our old lives after this.
