First Day of School

In New Zealand, children start school on their 5th birthday. While school is super exciting, I think the privilege of wearing a uniform like the big kids is the biggest draw. Anna could not wait to model her school duds for the camera.

Anna's school is a very short walk from our house; even so, the foggy winter morning froze us solid by the time we arrived. I loved her new teacher, and the classroom was vibrant with letters, pictures, a winter learning tree, colourful murals. With only 12 children in the class, too, Anna had heaps of individual attention. All the girls were so happy to show her where to put her things and she even got invited on a play date her first day! Here's hoping the NZ education system does a great job with our little girl.

In closing, I would like to acknowledge the awesome job James did with Anna when I was away. I don't really care how messy the house was. Anna is so happy and has such a great relationship with James that things are even better than before I left. In fact, Anna seems to be smarter and healthier too. That's so awesome. Thanks James for being a great father and house-Dad. You rock.

Port Town

Even today, getting to New Zealand is no easy business. Back before GPS and accurate clocks, it was even harder. One of the greatest scientific problems of the 17th century was determining a ship's longitude (that's how far East or West of the Prime Meridian a ship is located). This made for serious sailing issues! Following Galileo, ship captains used the moon and stars to determine position for most of the 1600s, but this method is unreliable.

Finally, in 1730, British Clockmaker John Harrison built the first precise marine clock. By knowing the difference between local time and Greenwich Mean Time, captains could finally know with great accuracy their longitude. Longitude at a point may be determined because there are 24 hours in a day and 360 degrees in a circle, so the sun moves across the sky at a rate of 15 degrees per hour (360°/24 hours = 15° per hour).

Which brings us to this fair island. Without a copy of a John Harrison clock, Captain James Cook probably would not have mapped Neuseeland in 1770. Without a map in hand, the English settlers would not have sailed on The First Four Ships to settle Christchurch in 1850. The first colonists arrived in Port Lyttelton:

scaled the Port Hills and started clearing swampland to establish this city. For the next 100 years, New Zealand colonists relied heavily on importing goods from and exporting goods to England. Ships sailed in and out of Port Lyttelton. How did they know the time? With a timeball, of course! On a cold grey winter Sunday, we played captains, sailors, and pirates. We visited the timeball, a castle like place high on a hill above the port:

The ball on the mast has dropped every day at exactly 1pm since 1876 to tell mariners the true time (it should make you think of New Year's Eve on Times Square).

We also had a treasure hunt at Corsair Bay. Anna drew a very cool treasure map and James hid the treasure while we played on the wooden pirate ship. Anna didn't want a mutiny; we were mateys and we shared the captaincy. I love the fact that Anna's honing her map skills and having fun at the same time.


Ships sailed, treasure found, time clocks calibrated, it was at last time to go home and have hot curries for dinner:-)

Anna Turns Five

I spent seven weeks in State College; when I got home, I found a beautiful, funny, confident, capable and courageous five-year-old. In my absence (or maybe because I grew fonder), Anna perfected taking care of herself, telling funny jokes, and entertaining herself for hours with creative play. Sure the house was a mess, but when I cleaned, I found hidden "I love Mummy" cards and letters everywhere.

To top off the hugs and letters, Anna turned five on Tuesday. We had cupcakes at Kindercare and the party was so cute. In fact, the party was hilarious. Between Anna and her sly jokes and her teachers' excellent sense of humour, I was in stitches. First, during mat time, Anna got to stand in front of the class and tell everyone about her birthday, presents, and where she's going to school next week. After the Q and A, Anna said sideways "there's a song you can sing to me."

Teacher Emma laughed and said "let's wait for the cake." Before the cake, hand washing, a Maori blessing (which Anna said by herself perfectly pronouncing 10 lines of Maori verse!!), and fruit. I asked Teacher Adele to translate the Maori words for me (Maori words are full of vowels and very pretty), so she took out the dictionary and started laughing. Not being bilingual, she translated the first line as "bless this potato peeler." We still don't know the English version, but here's Anna waiting patiently to say the blessing and eat her fruit.

Finally, fruit eaten, it was time for the birthday song. Almost. Adele got out the matches to light the 5 candle, and Teacher Holly launched into a discussion about what to do if the kids found matches on the floor. The boys suggested light a fire, but Holly eventually elicited "give the matches to an adult" from them. Adele (matches in hand) asked if the fire safety course was over yet because it really was time for the song (gotta love that British humour). Yay! The Birthday Song! Happy Birthday to You Anna!!

When Anna blew out her candle, Holly asked what she wished for. Anna said she didn't wish for anything because she had everything she wanted. To which Holly said, "not even world peace?" Ok, those teachers are hilarious. I left feeling proud and entertained and totally happy. My little girl has arrived at five fully content. She even got the chocolate icing stain off her dress herself before I left (without prompting!).