Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Dani's blog to her class at Hillcrest. They are the best
Hi Everyone, 
The funniest thing about being here in New Zealand is the time difference. When I'm getting up, you are getting out of school on the previous day. So if you are in Minnesota, you count 1 day ahead and then 7 hours back. So 8:00 am New Zealand time on April 10th, is 3:00 pm Minnesota time on April 9th. Wierd huh?
So by the time you read this on Tuesday morning, it will be the middle of the night for me the next day. Just in case you are missing my morning radio show. Here are some pictures of Taja and me doing the show.
I have a great teacher, Lee Nelson. And a great 3rd grade class.
Thank you so much for reading the blog. To answer your questions.
Alec - The bathrooms are called Toilets here. Everyone has to go to the toilet, not the bathroom. The school has a set of Toilets in each of the sections. See their web site for more info on the school and a map of the sections. (site listed below).
Here is a picture of the water draining out of the bathtub. The water flows counter clockwise.
The islands are bigger than you think. We have been staying in Wellington and seeing sites around here. Next week, we will drive 5 hours north to the top of a volcano. We can't see a lot of other places because it takes to long to drive. We have 6 kids with us. My brother Matt, my sisters Faith and Erin, (5), my cousins Haidyn (6) and Athea (2). We are seeing a lot around here though.
The funniest thing about being here in New Zealand is the time difference. When I'm getting up, you are getting out of school on the previous day. So if you are in Minnesota, you count 1 day ahead and then 7 hours back. So 8:00 am New Zealand time on April 10th, is 3:00 pm Minnesota time on April 9th. Wierd huh?
So by the time you read this on Tuesday morning, it will be the middle of the night for me the next day. Just in case you are missing my morning radio show. Here are some pictures of Taja and me doing the show.
I have a great teacher, Lee Nelson. And a great 3rd grade class.
Thank you so much for reading the blog. To answer your questions.
Alec - The bathrooms are called Toilets here. Everyone has to go to the toilet, not the bathroom. The school has a set of Toilets in each of the sections. See their web site for more info on the school and a map of the sections. (site listed below).
When kids have to use the toilet, they make a T with their hands.
Rachel - How many students are in Haidyn's school? It is one of the smaller sized public schools. It is a community school. About 150 kids total. Grades 0 - 6 is the same as K - 5 in the states. I would be in year 4.
Shelby - Yes, the toilets flush funny, but you can't tell which way the water flushes. It is a little funnier than that. The toilets have 2 buttons to flush. One produces a small amount of water and the other a lot. Guess why?
Here is a picture of the water draining out of the bathtub. The water flows counter clockwise.
Is this different than in the states? Try an experiment. I really never noticed before.
Kole - What did I get in my Easter basket? I got a bunny ears headband, gold chocolate Australian coins, chocolate eggs, a stuffed dolfin and some Easter eggs filled with jelly beans. However, they do not taste like the jelly beans from home. They are sweeter and gooier.
Sarah - How big is that slide? Well my mom and Aunty Anna took us back to that park so we could measure the slide. We only have a tape measure with centimeters and meters. We will give you the measurements and you can figure out how big it is in feet. OK!
The slide from the top to the bottom, when the slant stops is 1,060 centimeters. The height is about 600 centimeters.
Answer is 36 feet long and 20 feet high. Yes it is steep.
Navarre - What are the differences for a New Zealand Easter? Easter happens in the fall here, so people do not dress up in spring time Easter outfits like we do.
Also, it is pretty religious here. Easter is a 4 day weekend. Everyone has Friday and Monday off because they are religious holidays. The stores are not open on Friday, Sunday or Monday. They eat Hot Cross buns as a tradition on Good Friday. They do not color Easter eggs. And you cannot find jelly beans anywhere. We celebrated Easter like our family does in the states. (Except we had Turkey instead of Ham). We didn't ask anyone who is from here how they celebrate, but we will find out more information for you later.
I've got to go to bed now. It is 9:40 pm and I'm going to bed just as some of you are getting up for school. I miss you too. Love Dani.
# posted by The Reynoldz : 1:09 PM
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We just finished looking at the posting you did for our class. Thank you so much for doing that! We really enjoyed hearing from you and learning the answers to our questions.
We have a few more questions if you have some time to answer them.
Keegan was wondering about how kids get to the school. Are there busses?
Also, when we looked at the school map, Ian wanted to know if they have rooms for things like gym, music, art and a lunch room.
What are the names of the teachers your cousins have. (Leah) do they get called by their first names like we do here at HC?
Gina is curious about New Zealand's leader. What is his/her name? Is it a president?
Collette is wondering if New Zealand has any different laws or rules.
Thanks again. We are looking forward to hearing from you next and we'll be sure to keep checking back to the blog.
Keep having fun and know that we are thinking about you!
Lee & class
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We have a few more questions if you have some time to answer them.
Keegan was wondering about how kids get to the school. Are there busses?
Also, when we looked at the school map, Ian wanted to know if they have rooms for things like gym, music, art and a lunch room.
What are the names of the teachers your cousins have. (Leah) do they get called by their first names like we do here at HC?
Gina is curious about New Zealand's leader. What is his/her name? Is it a president?
Collette is wondering if New Zealand has any different laws or rules.
Thanks again. We are looking forward to hearing from you next and we'll be sure to keep checking back to the blog.
Keep having fun and know that we are thinking about you!
Lee & class
# posted by 
: 5:56 AM GMT+12
: 5:56 AM GMT+12<< Home
