The Wellington Episodes

So on Monday I arrived in Wellington. I have been staying with Hilary, my staff worker for a week because my host family have been on holiday (I'm going there tomorrow and I haven't met them yet!).

I had an easy day on Tuesday, just went into the office to meet everybody.

The rest of the week I did a bit of research on the SupaKids clubs and the church programme. Our first Kids' programme was on Sunday, so a lot of the week was also dedicated to getting that ready. I did the story and Hilary did the rest, but this week I have done a lot more and have pretty much sorted my end of things today. That's the great thing about my placement - the preparation for the kids work I do is done during work time which is a totally alien concept to me! I also get a half day off each week because I'm doing the Kids Programme in church - crazy!

I have learned that Auckland is actually built on an active Volcanic field - and is in danger of an eruption (don't worry though, the last one was 600 years ago, so the chances of me becoming caught up in one are very, very slim!) New Zealand also experiences earthquakes quite frequently. I really will have to read up on all that safety stuff like where you stand when there's an earthquake etc! Fortunately all the houses here are built of wood so if one did fall on your head, there's less chance that it would kill you! On a less morbid note and a slightly more spiritual one, I also learned today while preparing my Ten Commandments story, how the Levites came to be the priestly tribe! It's because when the Israelites sinned by making the golden calf and Moses said 'Who is on the Lord's side?' the men who came forward were those of the tribe of Levi! The things you discover when working with children, eh? I am sure that I read that passage before, but that didn't click with me that that was when it happend! It might seem like I'm not talking about that much work stuff at the minute, but that's just because everything's just starting up and also because a lot of what I'm doing at the minute is admin stuff.

Last weekend I decided to try out my Snapper card and take the bus into town! I actually got the wrong bus by looking at the destination instead of the number, but it got me there so I'm really not bothered. The bus will be my main form of transportation while I'm here, so it was a good idea to make sure the card worked/make sure I could work out the times etc before I had to use it! I dandered round the shops, then walked down Lambton Quay (also with shops) and arrived nearly at the end where the BeeHive is (the parliament buildings!) Then I got the bus back to Te Papa, the museum of New Zealand, which is really good. I then sat down at the wharf for a bit and sunned myself. At night we had some people over for a barbeque - this was my first Barbeque in a Barbie-orientated country!

On Sunday I had my first church service in NZ. It was interesting because all I was there for was the praise, but it was very different to our church at home... a lot more unstructured ie people would just read passages or pray during the worship, a bit like our Communion service! It will be interesting to see the differences as I go to more services. In the afternoon Hilary took me up Mount Victoria which has a view over all the city. This was an even better way to orient myself than using a map! We then went to Lyall bay (prime surfing destination in the city) to have coffee at the Surf Club. In the evening I went to a farewell do for someone I had just met and who is going to Spain for 6 months! But this was actually a really good opportunity to meet some of the people from the church in a more relaxed atmosphere. I'm really disappointed because one woman who seemed lovely and I chatted to for ages, is actually going to be a missionary in Europe soon so won't really be there while I'm around! I'm going to go to a small group on Tuesday night. There are two young people's small groups so I'm going to go to both to see which one is better for me.

Based on the above it would be easy to believe that New Zealand was exactly the same as us and would be easy to work in. In fact I came here with that impression already. But there are subtle differences. New Zealand is a very secular country and that is the official line I think. Which makes for some challenges. It's also very multi-cultural so you need to have an understanding of a wide range of cultures, not just the Maori people.

It's so hard to find the time to sit down and write a long bit like this but everyone's out so I have a bit of time! I will blog again soon, now that I've caught up to date!