South Pacific Journal, Fall 2009

We Miss You

2009-12-22T00:22:00.000-08:00

Hey CCSP Fall 2009,

Allie here, just wanted to write down a few things you should know.

Kaikoura is still nice and sunny, no snow here.
We have been drinking out of all of your mugs.
We got a real Christmas tree.
I have worn Kellsie’s sweatpants every day since you left
Tim and Isaac, your bathroom light was on when we got back from the airport... Seriously.

This place is pretty quiet. Please know that you are missed.

Much love,

CCSP SoPac Staff

I Can't Imagine That We Won't Miss This

2009-12-19T21:32:00.000-08:00

As integration week turned into debrief week students made preparations to return home to North America. Some were ready to go home, others weren’t so keen to leave life at the OC.

A few of the highlights of the week included;

· Christmas celebration service at New Life Church followed by a potluck at which eel, freshly caught by CCSP students, was served.

· Hiking up Sawcut Gorge and swimming as we went.

· A White Possum gift exchange. Some of the gifts were truly terrific. A number of hand-made bags were exchanged, as well as treasured earrings, books, and an empty twice-imported hot sauce bottle.

· Watching a Zen garden materialize in our back yard thanks to Kelley, Mike, Tyler and Curtis and possibly others.

The entire program took to the high seas on Wednesday afternoon to go Whale watching with our very own Lisa Bond at the helm. We saw three sperm whales, dusky dolphins and various seals and albatross. It was an incredibly meaningful trip. Lisa has been an invaluable member of our community here in Kaikoura and someone none of us are likely to forget any time soon. As the whales flipped their tails and headed for the depths some of us were close to tears (to be fair this could also be attributed to sea sickness or getting locked in the bathroom, nonetheless, it was unforgettable).

Which brings us to our final celebration night. I won’t attempt to describe it here. If you have attended CCSP then you know, if you haven’t, well perhaps you should come and find out. Suffice it to say that at one point our neighbor looked out his window and saw 24 people watching the New Zealand sunset for the last time, he said it was one of the more moving things he’s seen.

Plant a Tree, Sew a Bag, Make a Home

2009-12-08T21:22:00.000-08:00

Integration week was a combination of student presentations, work projects and tree planting. After being asked by Tyler at least once every day for most of the semester to go plant trees with him and Kevin from “Tree for Travelers” we finally gave in and went along in the form of an organized CCSP activity. Kevin tells us that we planted close to 400 trees, and we were all reminded of the necessity of good work.

On Thursday night everyone had the opportunity to participate in a “Trash Fashion Show.” Contestants created outfits and accessories out of various recycled items. Robyn Haarsma (Trinity Western ’11) won the contest with a lovely garbage bag dress crafted by Rachel Stutzman (Messiah ’11).

Birthday(s) Coffee House

2009-12-02T23:56:00.000-08:00

As the semester winds down the number of birthdays has actually picked up in the last several weeks.

December 1^st was a day of mixed emotions. Sara Barrett, our wonderful Program Administrator finished her two-and-a-half years with CCSP and returned to the States (Stewart the lamb-turned-sheep misses her terribly, as do the rest of us), however it was also the birthday of not one but TWO loved members of our community.

Jess St. John (Staff) turned 24

And Curtis Davenport (Westmont, Dec ’09) turned 22.

Without these two friends of ours the convent would not have had nearly as much music this semester, and our community would have been sadly lacking without their laid back, free spirited presences. So to celebrate them both we decided to throw the best coffee house possible.

We decorated the dinning room, moved in the couches, set up some appropriate mood lighting, filled vases with flowers from the garden, and made coffee.

It’s hard to describe the incredible wonderfulness of that night. At one point several people were concerned that their hearts might actually burst with happiness (seriously, this sentiment was verbally expressed by more than one person).

Following some stellar musical acts and a magic show like none we had ever seen, the whole group took a break to eat ice cream, cookie bars and a guitar-shaped chocolate cake made by Mike Whitner (Messiah ’12) and Kellsie Ebbeling (Messiah ’12) while admiring artwork by Julia Johnson (Westmont ’11) and Allie (SLC). The evening continued with more music, violin solos and guitar performances by both the birthday boy and girl.

Curtis sang “O My Sweet Carolina” with Kayti Christianson (Westmont ’11) to the joy of everyone who really likes that song. And Jess sang an absolutely beautiful song, which several members of the audience decided on the spot they would purchase off itunes. However, when asked whom the song was by at the end of her performance, Jess answered “By me,” and we were all blown away.

The evening ended with an impromptu carol sing and some of us half expected to see snow falling outside the windows.

Birthday Parties: West Coast Style

2009-12-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

Our West Coast trip also included two birthdays.

Lizzy King (Westmont ‘10) turned 22 on the 26th. She loves music, The Lord of the Rings, and swing dancing so the evening included a game of Four on the Couch, complete with a Lord of the Rings name for each individual. The girl’s team won each round, although the staff/guy’s team put up a good fight. Following the game everyone took part in a newly invented game called Swing Dancing Musical Chairs. Everyone found a dance partner and danced their heart’s out until the music stopped, upon which every pair would rush to a pair of seats. The finer points of dance were lost on some, somehow Tim Molloy (Westmont, ’11) managed to actually tear a huge hole in his shirt while playing this game.

Stacie Westervelt, (Dordt ’11) turned 20 on the 28^th. She is from Canada and apparently as a child always wanted to play hockey. Unfortunately this dream was never realized, until the night at the Marae when we played spoon hockey in the Wharekai. Just to give you some idea of what this group is like, they promptly divided up into two teams, Team USA, and Team Canada. The penalty box was always full, and when the game ended with Team USA winning 2-0 both teams good-naturedly high-fived each other in the middle of the rink.

The West Coast, As Requested by Mrs Amy

2009-12-01T20:38:00.000-08:00

The Monday after our Thanksgiving dinner everyone packed their bags and themselves into CCSP’s three white vans and headed off for a week of “Terrestrial Ecology” on the West Coast of the South Island.

On our way to our first night’s lodging we stopped by Castle Hill, famous to most of the world as a location in the first Narnia movie. Although talking animals failed to appear we did spend an hour wandering around the beautiful and somewhat surreal landscape.

Our first two nights were spent at a field station run by the University of Canterbury in a little town called Cass. Cass has a population of 1 (one), train tracks, a half constructed mini-golf course, and some spectacular views. The next two days we went on field trips and attending class. Eric Lindquist, an ecology professor from Messiah College traveled all the way from Bolivia to spend a few weeks here with us. He has a wealth of information on everything from weather patterns, and kiwi birds to dolphins.

Although the Cass field station was great, eventually we moved on to Arthur’s Pass. Students spent a lovely afternoon identifying plants, hiking, visiting waterfalls, and studying in coffee shops before returning to our cozy accommodation for an evening quiz, games of euchre and a good night’s sleep.

On our way to Bruce Bay Marae where we would spend the last few days of our trip we stopped at Franz Josef Glacier. Many of us had never seen a glacier in real life before. Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers on New Zealand’s West Coast are two of the few glaciers in the world that are actually growing due to global warming. All of the water that is being evaporated from drought stricken Australia is coming across the ocean and falling in New Zealand’s Southern Alps.

A Marae is a traditional Maroi meeting house and includes a “Wharenui,” pronounced “far-a-new-ie,” which is used for meetings and sleeping in, and a “Wharekai,” pronounced “Far-aye-ka-i,” which functions as a dining hall. Upon arriving students and staff were welcomed onto the Marae by a Powhiri ceremony.

After the welcoming ceremony we quickly unloaded our bags and headed off to scout out the Copland track for the following day’s research projects. The track wound it’s way through the New Zealand rain forest and it was impossible to turn around without seeing treeferns, orchids, Rimu and Miro trees and more epiphytes than you can possibly imagine (unless you happened to have done a research project that involved counting them).

The next few days were full of research, birthday parties, and presentations, and for a few of us, an evening Kiwi bird hunt.

If you have never gone looking for Kiwi birds I imagine that you must be missing out just a little. Nine of us drove up to Okarito to search for the elusive Okarito Brown Kiwi, a sub-species of which only about 120 remain. As evening fell and the sun went down behind rain clouds we crouched on the path, waiting for a sound from the surrounding bush. Our ears pricked up at anything that sounded like an ascending whistle or tapping footsteps. Instead all that we heard was the rain, a chorus of noisy frogs, and Morepork owls calling out in the dusk. Eventually we drove to a nearby beach where we searched the undergrowth for any signs of the birds. We found footprints, but still heard only frogs. As we prepared to leave a few of us wandered dejectedly along the road, still shining our red lights into roadside bushes. And then, through the wet night air we heard it, two shrill ascending whistles coming from the field on our right. And that was all. We heard nothing else and eventually returned to the Marae and fell asleep thinking of small brown whistling birds. Maybe next time we’ll have more luck.

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-20T20:13:00.000-08:00

November found many of us missing our families, American football (if you’re into that type of thing), and traditional American Thanksgiving dinners with our Mom’s homemade pie, cheesecake, green bean casserole, turduckin or what-have-you. Add to that the fact that we were planning to be on our West Coast field trip on Thanksgiving and holiday spirit seemed to have no chance...

Until it was announced that we would in fact be having Thanksgiving after all, a week early, minus football and Moms. Instead everyone made their favorite Thanksgiving dish and we invited some of our Kiwi friends over. For some of them it was their first Thanksgiving EVER.

Some things that Kiwis may have thought were interesting or crazy:

The amount of food.
Mixing of sweet and savory dishes (this is not common here).
The “Turduckin.” The local butcher was thrilled to help Curtis and Tyler figure this one out. Finding out how to debone a turkey, duck and chicken online proved to be a nearly impossible task.
Americans dress up for Thanksgiving dinner.
Pumpkin pie. Pumpkin here is not something that one makes pie out of.

It turned out to be quite the evening, and resulted in several family recipes being exchanged, except for Stephen’s sister’s cheesecake recipe which he dutifully incinerated as she requested after making the cake.

Note from a Quiet Convent

2009-11-11T21:14:00.000-08:00

The Old Convent is quiet this week. Where have all the students gone? Well... I imagine that some of them must be riding a bus through the green rolling hills of the North Island on their way to see Hobbiton. Others could be tramping along on the Kepler Track in the Southern Alps, a few more may be fly-fishing in Nelson, and I suspect that there may be at least one group who is enjoying scenic highways in a crowded campervan. Because, after all this week is TERM BREAK, affectionately known as “Nine-Day,” that being the number of days available for travel and relaxation.

Stories about their adventures will be forthcoming soon enough as they return on Sunday.

Included is a photo of a presentation group seated on their presentation during God & Nature week 1.

Where Can One Find a "Ten Commandment" Costume?

2009-11-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

October 30^th was our good friend Stephen’s birthday. He hails from Arizona, attends Westmont and really loves the Bible. Given the proximity of his birthday to Halloween the SLCs figured that a dress up party was in order. Seriously, what better way to celebrate your 22^nd birthday than with a biblical-themed costume party, complete with apple carving, pin-the-tail-on-the sheep, and (completely unrelated to the theme), Cheesecake!

Some notable costumes included:

Courtney Jones (Westmont ’11) – The Holy Bible

Marcel Visser (SLC) – Goliath

Erin Horst (Messiah ’12) – The Burning Bush

Stephen Dickson (Westmont ’10) & Tyler Amy (Waynesburg ’10) – The Ten Commandments

Corey Beals (George Fox University Faculty) – Daniel (having a dream)

Josh Peterson (Westmont ’11) – Mystery

Jo Larson (Messiah ’12) & Sarah Roberts (Westmont ’11) – Salt & Light

Marine Ecology

2009-10-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

Our first ecology course of the semester found students and staff eagerly following our professor, Laurie Furlong of Northeastern University (Iowa), as she led the way through tidal pools and other shore habitats commenting on gastropods and cetaceans along the way. They were able to examine sea stars and traveling anemones as well as a small octopus and a host of other sea creatures. When the sun rose on Wednesday morning students and staff were already gearing up for their Dolphin Encounter” tour. Most of the students chose to swim with the dolphins (which is pretty sweet, it’s not every day that you get to swim with wild dolphins out in the middle of the ocean). The whole crew looked pretty great in their matching wetsuits and snorkel gear.

There is a deep-sea trench right off the Kaikoura coast, which means that there is TONS of sea life here including whales, dolphins, seals, and lots of sea birds. On our tour we got the chance to see Dusky dolphins, they would play in the waves at the bow of our boat and would turn summersaults and jumps out of the water. Apparently the dusky dolphin is one of the most playful dolphins in the world and only lives in the Southern hemisphere. We also saw albatrosses (14 of the 22 species in the world can be found in Kaikoura), as well as a whole flock of Huttons shearwaters, a rare sea bird that nests in high alpine environments.

You’ll all be glad to hear that everyone avoided seasickness thanks to motion sickness medication and ginger biscuits.

One evening during the week we were also able to see Little Blue Penguins, the world’s smallest penguin. Around 7-9 PM the whole group of students, professor and SLCs all went down to the Kaikoura coast guard headquarters to see the penguins that nest in the open basement of the building. According to locals the penguins can get quite noisy at times, especially during coastguard meetings.

SAMOA

2009-10-26T00:12:00.000-07:00

We’re back from Samoa!

What a week. It’s difficult to really describe everything that we did, that we learned, what surprised us, the things we want to remember as well as the things we might like to forget. From the moment we stepped off the airplane in Apia until the time we pulled up back at the Old Convent on Saturday our time was pretty much packed with traveling, field trips, cultural experiences, home stays and eating taro.

Our plane touched down in Apia on Friday night. Sarah (Westmont ’11) enthusiastically shouted “Samoa” to the open tarmac and waiting customs officials as students and staff climbed down the steps and walked to the airport terminal. We were greeted at the airport by Chris Jackson, our host from Safua hotel before driving to Apia. The next morning students ventured out to spend some time in the various markets in Apia. They came back with many lava lavas, stories of chatting with locals over kava, and bags full of mangos and coconuts. Following the market visit we took the ferry from Upolu to Savaii and arrived at Safua hotel in time for an afternoon spent learning about Samoan culture. Students were able to try their hand at basket weaving, Tapas cloth making, and food preparation using the traditional Umu method. They also heard about the Samoan tattooing tradition and saw some authentic Samoan fire dancing.

While at Safua Hotel we also met Warren Jopling an outspoken eighty-year-old Australian geologist who has lived in Samoa for the last twenty-five years. Warren took us on several field trips to lava fields from an eruption between 1906 and 1911, as well as older lava flows, freshwater waterfalls, volcanic craters (now home to flying foxes) and other geological and cultural points of interest. Most of his phrases began with the words “Now look here...” and rumor has it that he called at least one or two students “young fools,” however as usual field trips with Warren were a highlight.

On Monday afternoon we packed our bags and headed down the road to Faga village, a small village on Savaii that CCSP has been doing home stays at for a number of years. We were welcomed into the village with a traditional Kava ceremony during which chiefs of the village gave speeches, and each person was presented with a bowl of kava to drink. Almost everyone remembered to raise the cup and shout “Manuea” which translates roughly to “It is good,” before drinking. Students were escorted shortly thereafter to the fales they would be staying at during their home stay.

The next several days looked a little like this:

5:30-7:30 Wake up in the morning (maybe in time to see the sunrise at 5:30)

6:30- 7:30 Assuming you did get up to see the sun rise, morning snorkel on the coral reef.

7:45- 8:30 Breakfast time, which might include coco rice, papaya, pancakes, taro, and coffee.

9:00 You try to overcome Samoan hospitality and get your host family to let you go with them to their plantation where they grow coconuts and taro, instead of going snorkeling again.

10:00 They agree to take you.

10:15 You realize that the plantation is a 40-minute walk away.

11:20 As you leave the plantation an old man passes you carrying a tree; you kindly offer to carry it for him. Your host tells you that the tree is to heavy for you, but you insist (Tim Molloy, Westmont ’11 and Tyler Amy, Waynesburg ’10).

11:40 You barely manage to make it back to the village carrying a tree that must weigh close to 150 lbs.

12:00 lunch time. Papaya, soup, taro, fried chicken, and sausages.

Afternoon options include playing with village kids on the beach (Kellsie Ebbeling, Messiah ‘12), reading, or perhaps going spear fishing in the lagoon. Our very own Isaac Smith (Messiah ‘12) was able to spear a fish. It was approximately the size of a credit card, which is actually quite a feat if you think about it.

5:00 CCSP meets on the beach.

7:00 Village “Sa.” Everyone in the village returns to their homes for the Samoan equivalent of family devotions.

8:00 Dinnertime. Soup, papaya, fried taro, curry chicken, breadfruit, and “Coco Samoa.”

9:00 You stay up trying to overcome cultural and language barriers while learning about Samoan folk medicine from your host family (Allie, SLC).

Our village home stays culminated in a celebration called a “FiaFia” on Wednesday night. Everyone’s home stay families decked them out in new lava lavas, leis, and pulitasis. Village teens performed traditional Samoan dances and CCSP sang songs that we had prepared in a back and forth exchange. Thankfully we have some really enthusiastic voices and foot-stompers in our group including Abe (SLC) and Josh Peterson (Westmont ’11). Everyone left the FiaFia in high spirits.

Our journey home was long but thankfully mostly uneventful. Seasickness, long airport waits, rushing to catch flights, and car rides all passed as those things do. And we found ourselves back at the Old Convent recovering before diving into Marine ecology on Monday.

We Leave for Samoa Tomorrow!

2009-10-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

It’s rainy and a cool 12 degrees C (54 F) here in Kaikoura. That means it’s a good day for coffee, wool socks, and a fire in the wood stove. For those of us who have been missing flip flops, shorts and warm weather, the good news is that around 8 PM on Friday Oct 16^th we will be landing at the airport in Apia, Samoa and stepping off of the airplane into the 22C (71F) Samoan night. Clearly the wool socks will be staying at home.

You may be wondering how it is that we’ll be arriving in Samoa five hours from now when we are all still at the Old Convent, and most of us haven’t even packed yet. This is the beauty of the International Date Line, Samoa and New Zealand share the same time, only they are one day apart. So, when it is 8 PM on Friday in Samoa, it will be 8 PM on Saturday in New Zealand. The only drawback to this is that we lose an entire day on our trip back from Samoa and will arrive back at the Old Convent around lunch time on October 24th.

This week Mick Duncan returned to Kaikoura to teach the second week of Sustainable Community Development. Students were able to hear Mick tell about the years he and his family spent living in a slum in the Philippines and also to learn a little about what empowerment and coming alongside the marginalized might look like once they return to their homes in the States.

On Wednesday Rich Pennisi (Messiah ‘12) celebrated his 20^th birthday. In recognition of this exciting event the Old Convent hosted the 1^st Annual Richard Pennisi Classic, a decathlon in Rich’s honor. The events included, leg wrestling, arm wrestling, Marmite eating, Frisbee throwing, thumb wrestling, a Dutch Blitz Off (doubles style) contest, paper airplane throwing, handstand contest, rock-paper-scissors, and a terrestrial synchronized swimming contest. There was a lot of sacrificial marmite eating, some fantastic Frisbee throws, and an epic arm wrestling match between Stephen Dickson (Westmont ‘10) and Rich.

A Typical Sunday Afternoon

2009-10-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon here in Kaikoura. On returning from a post-church coffee stop, Josh, Tim, Sarah and Allie found the new waste-water sprinkler system up and running. Marcel Visser, one of our fantastic SLCs, has spent some of his free time over the past eight months building a bicycle-powered pump to water our gardens with grey water from our laundry station.

Some of the stars of this video include;

On the bike: Kelley Salem, (Northwestern (Iowa) ’10)

Clothes washer: Kayti Christianson (Westmont ’11)

Guy with one trouser leg rolled up: Marcel Visser (SLC)

Red shirt w/ huge beard: Abe Weiner (SLC)

Julia's Andy Goldsworthy Inspired Birthday Party

2009-10-06T01:04:00.000-07:00

Julia Johnson (Westmont ’11) celebrated her 21^st birthday on Monday. Julia enjoys hugs, ultimate Frisbee, art and biology, so what better way to celebrate her birthday than to give her lots of hugs, play a game ultimate in the cold New Zealand rain, and then have an Andy Goldsworthy inspired art show?Little did we know when groups and individuals scattered throughout the yard, but on reconvening an hour later we discovered that there are some fairly talented artists among us! Some of the art pieces included a nearly life-sized sculpture of Julia herself, a work incorporating hundreds if not thousands of tiny daisies that were growing in our yard, and a beautiful tree created by Issac (Messiah ’12) right next to our recycling bin. There was also a tunnel of New Zealand flax plants and a willow tree branches, made by our very own Student Life Coordinators, affectionately known as SLCs, they’re quiet a resourceful bunch.

Environmental Literature

2009-10-06T00:48:00.000-07:00

During Environmental Literature, the elective course of the semester, 14 of the 24 students spent their days reading works by Emily Dickenson, Robert Frost, Jack London, William Blake, Thoreau, Wendell Berry, Francis Collins, Lynn White, Annie Dillard, and Aldo Leopold to name a few. Our excellent professor, Pauline Stevick shared her love of poetry, her thoughts on the Land Ethic, and a video presentation of To Build a Fire, a short story by Jack London.

While some students watched the movie, four students who had decided not to take the elective course were actually out in the wilderness battling the elements. Although the temperature never got to 75 bellow zero, and they did not have any issues with frostbite, Lizzy, Sarah, Julia, and Meaghan did return with stories of river crossings, some rain, and post-holing in 2 feet of snow on top of Mt Fyffe.

Those students who weren’t hiking, or taking Environmental Literature spent the week reading Samoan Planters by O-Meara, baking cookies for their friends in class, and playing Bananagrams.

We woke up on Wednesday to the news that a tsunami had hit Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga. This was pretty difficult to hear, especially for those staff members who had been to Samoa on numerous occasions in the past. The village of Lalomanu, the former location of the marine ecology course, is on the side of Upolu that was most affected by the tsunami. Although the island of Savaii, our intended destination, was far less affected (there was little damage and only one death from a heart attack) the travel warning issued by the New Zealand travel authority caused us to postpone our departure which had originally been planned for Saturday. Students and staff spent time praying for the country of Samoa on Friday. On one level most of us are disappointed not to be in Samoa, but at the same time our disappointment is a small thing compared to the tragedy going on in that country right now.

We’re thankful that Rich Stevick, a professor from Messiah College could be with us this week and, although we are not in Samoa, we will still have the opportunity to reflect on cross cultural learning under his guidance.

Homestay Week Reflections

2009-09-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

Josh Peterson, Westmont ’11 writes,

Last weekend Issac and I joined the O’conner family for three days and two nights. On Friday evening Brian picked us up and took us to his comfortable home located on the edge of the peninsula with a stunning view of the coastline and the Pacific Ocean. Once we arrived we were introduced to the rest of family, but on the first pass of names were unable to retain any of their names due to Brian’s pleasantly thick New Zealand accent. That evening we had hamburgers New Zealand style with thick slices of bacon, eggs, a beef patty, tomato sauce and all the regular fixings. We also learned that first night that New Zealanders, well at least Brian’s family, all get plenty of sleep at night (8 to 11 hours).

The next morning after peering through their telescope to scope out the local surf breaks, we got in the four-wheel drive van to check out the local surf spots, drove off road up grass and muddy slopes, and power slid the car to a stop in the gravel parking lots. In the afternoon we had a pleasant bonfire at the beach and collected Paua (abalone) shells, which we later ground down into beautiful works of art at Brian’s Paua Factory. That evening we had a delicious venison roast and went to bed with full stomachs and the sound of crashing waves on the beach below.

After church on Sunday morning we attended a local ecumenical BBQ and played some touch rugby and volleyball. Later that afternoon Issac, Brian and I went on an ATV in South Bay. The ATV’s battery was dead, so anytime we stalled the engine we had to drive Brian’s off road van near the ATV and jump-start it. It was strenuous exercise, but a lot of fun. Tea that night was another tasty delight and then Issac and I gave our thanks and said our goodbyes to our new, New Zealand family. By the way what is a ‘Zealand?’

Paul Figueroa, Westmont ’11 writes:

Living in the Old Convent has been one of my greatest experiences; the chance to live in community with an amazing group of young believers. The problem with living with only North Americans is that you don’t get to really experience Kiwi culture from the “home” perspective. This is why I was completely ecstatic when it came time to do homestays with local Kiwi families. I got paired with two other students and we got placed in the home of a local farming family. Coming from Southern California, this was a completely new experience for me. The farm was a sheep farm (they had over 3,000) and the couple that owned it were some of the nicest and warmest people I have ever met. Mealtimes at the farm were some of the best times. A highlight of our first tea together was while eating mutton we were told that it was fresh from right outside. I guess with 3,000 sheep what more would be expected? Owning as much land as our host family did was incomprehensible to me. I could not wrap my mind around the fact that two people owned pretty much an entire mountain. The biggest highlight of my time at their farm was actually getting to explore the mountain. The group of us spent the morning hiking up to some of the best views of the snow-capped mountains above us and the sprawling landscape below us. All in all, it was a relaxing weekend where I really got to see the Kiwi culture in action and form a strong relationship with a local family.

Reading Week was Great!

2009-09-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

Reading week flew by with Bananagram and Euchre games, reading lists, homework parties and beautiful weather. A number of optional activities occurred throughout the week including a swing dance lesson taught by Paul, Canadian trivia night hosted by Marcel, Courtnay, Robyn and Stacie, and line dancing taught by Courtney. Dinner on Tuesday was prepared by this semester’s PA contingent. After an explanation of the approximate English translation of “Stillers,” “Iggles,” and “Chooeat,” everyone dug into a huge meal of sandwiches with coleslaw and fries on top and pirogies.

Students enjoyed some small group time as well during the week. Several groups went to visit a nearby waterfall where seal pups come to play, while others visited a local pottery studio and still others went to an establishment called The Fudge Factory for breakfast.

This past weekend just happened to be NEW ZEALAND HOMESTAY WEEKEND! Students were picked up by their host families and spent the weekend getting to know some of our local friends and neighbors better and experiencing a bit more of Kiwi culture.

Birthday Parties Are A Big Deal!

2009-09-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

Birthdays are a big deal at CCSP and this semester promises to be no exception. Three of the eleven birthdays of the semester have happened already. Sara’s special celebratory day included recognition not only of her birthday but also the fact that she has recently become the caretaker of a lamb named Stewart. Marcel was greeted on his birthday morning by a scrumptious crumpet contest in full swing. He sampled a number of scrumptious crumpets before announcing the winner.

Courtnay woke up on her birthday to find everyone in the convent dressed as a twin. Matching coats from Christchurch made their debut, Marcel and Stephen both wore plaid, and Rich managed to look enough like Mick Duncan that a few people were startled once or twice when asking about class assignments.

Courtnay may not have known when she arrived at the pool deck on the afternoon of the 16th, but a life-long dream of hers, that she might not have known that she had, was about to come true. LIFE SIZED BOGGLE! Sixteen “bogglers” in the empty swimming pool took turns playing the part of Boggle pieces while everyone else stood on the deck frantically writing down great Boggle words like “Poise,” “Ion,” and “Yeah.” It turns out that Lizzy and Rachel are quite good at Boggle, and Tyler can be an excellent Boggle piece.

Student Trip Weekend

2009-09-17T13:47:00.000-07:00

Student trip weekend was adventure-filled as seven of the guys tramped through the Seaward Kaikoura Mountains over the Kowhai (pronounced Co-fie) saddle.

They stayed at huts along their way to Mt Fyffe. All of the ladies, as well as Mike and Paul spent the weekend in Christchurch attending rugby games, exploring the botanic gardens and the cathedral and visiting costume shops.

After many loads of laundry on the part of the hiking group, and some time spent recovering from unfortunate nachos on the part of the Christchurch group everyone was ready to welcome our Sustainable Community Development professor, Mick Duncan, a New Zealander who lives in South Auckland.

Photos courtesy of Tyler Amy (Waynesburg '10) and Robyn Haarsma (Trinity Western '11).

Orientation Part II

2009-09-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

The rest of orientation week flew by with visits to the Peninsula during which students examined seals (from the suggested viewing distance of 10 meters), looked out for Hutton’s Shearwaters, an endangered bird that is being reintroduced to Kaikoura, and planted some cabbage trees and flax plants for the local DOC (Department of Conservation).

The following afternoon everyone went to visit the Marae that is located in Kaikoura. Students remembered all of the instructions for their entry onto the Marae, Marcel gave a great speech and everyone sang a song in Maori. We were able to hear part of the history of the people of this Marae, an oral tradition that has been passed down for generations.Students also enjoyed an evening filled with an introduction to Maori culture. The origins of the Haka were explained, along with the fact that the Haka that most westerners know from it’s performance at the beginning of each All Blacks rugby game, is actually a North Island Maori Haka, and is not performed by South Island Maori. Instead we learned a Haka that may or may not have had something to do with oranges and apples? The translation was a bit obscure.

Other highlights of the week included;

Visits to the Resource Recovery Centre where all of the recycling goes. In Kaikoura recycling is free, getting rid of trash or “Rubbish” as it is known here costs money.
Several students and staff went to see a showing of The Cove in the little Kaikoura theatre, the Mayfair, home to one of the oldest movie projectors in New Zealand. The projector only broke down once, as the audience learned about the annual slaughter of 23,000 dolphins in the small Japanese fishing village of Taiji. The dolphin meat which contains approximately 500 times the amount of mercury that the Japanese government stipulates is acceptable to sell to consumers is used in mandatory school lunches and is mislabeled and sold in supermarkets as whale meat.

The weekend at the Old Convent was quiet as all 24 students left on their “Student Trip Weekend.” A number of them took the bus to Christchurch and spent the weekend exploring the city which another group ventured into the Seaward Kaikoura Mountains to go “Tramping.”

Welcome to Kaikoura!

2009-09-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Creation Care Study Program South Pacific Fall 2009 blog. Hopefully the coming weeks will find this page filling up with accounts of the adventures and discoveries the 24 students and 8 staff members who are living here in Kaikoura, New Zealand.

Kaikoura is a small town on New Zealand’s South Island located a two and a half hour car ride northeast of Christchurch. CCSP makes it’s home at the Old Convent a beautiful building that was built as a convent and school house in 1911. It became a bed and breakfast in 1980, and then in the fall of 2008 welcomed it’s first group of CCSP students.

All of the students arrived on the afternoon of the 2^nd after many long hours of flying from The States and Canada, some via Australia and Papua New Guinea. After several hectic moments of introductions...

“Hi I’m Kelley, Kellsie, Kayti, Rich, Isaac, Beth, Sarah, Paul, Mike, Rachel, Stacie, Josh, Curtis, Stephen, Lizzy, Meaghan, Jo, Tyler, Tim, Kat, Julia, Courtney, Erin, Robyn.”

“Welcome to New Zealand, we’re Courtnay, Sara, Jess, Marcel, Abe, Derek, Ashley and Allie.”

...everyone piled into the van for the drive home to Kaikoura. During the drive back Rich took approximately 971 pictures, it was just that beautiful.

After a supper of fish and chips on the beach, the students and staff gathered for a service of dedication for the coming semester before all 24 jet lagged students went to sleep. The convent was completely quiet with lights out by 9:30 PM.

The last few days have been jam packed with orientation to life at the Old Convent and Kaikoura. Students had the chance to learn a little about doing laundry, recycling, bicycle care, and Stewart, CCSP’s resident lamb. Their first bike ride into town may have turned a few heads. It’s not every day 26 people bike through Kaikoura. But they soon made some new friends as they searched the town for photos of items such as “gum boots,” the “Why Not Café,” and the most reasonably priced accommodation for any guests that might come to visit them. I should note here that any readers who decide to come visit could find themselves sleeping on park benches, the beach, or unoccupied garages.

The second full day of orientation included a forest walk with Barry, a local who explained the ecological history of Kaikoura and what the land would have looked like before the Maori came and then after European settlers came 200 years ago. Some of the highlights of the walk included listening to Bellbirds and Fantails, hearing about trapping Australian Possums (a destructive invasive species in New Zealand), and staring up into the high branches of Matai and Rimu trees. After the hike small groups gathered for their first small group outing. One group ate lunch at the lookout, others went to the Thai food restaurant and still others went to the lavender farm, a 3km bike ride up the road.

On Saturday the whole crew drove up to Kevin and Sandy Top’s farm to learn about sheep shearing. On their farm the Tops raise Romney and Merino sheep. Not only does wool come from a renewable resource, unlike most synthetic petroleum based materials, but students have discovered over the last few days that wool socks are a must have in the often chilly Convent. An interesting fact that Kevin explained to us sheep shearers from New Zealand are in high demand worldwide, a New Zealand sheep shearer can shear 500 sheep in a day while shearers from Britain can only shear 50. As far as I know this is information that you can’t find on Wikipedia!