I See Broken Glass

Time for an update on my bicycle commuting adventure. I'll admit that I haven't been as steadfast in my dedication to saving the planet by reducing the demand for fossil fuels. This winter, there were some cold, blustery rainy mornings when I just didn't have the gumption to pedal 14km to work through horizontal sheet rain, and so I drove the car instead. Even though I've wussed out more than a few times, I still manage to ride to work about four days out of five,

One of my frustrations on the bicycle is my propensity for getting flat tyres, or "punctures" as they call them here. I would get a flat tyre about once every couple of weeks. I carry extra inner tubes in my backpack and a hand pump and tools to change tubes, but it still takes at least 20 minutes to change a tube and re-inflate the tyre. Plus my hands get filthy with road grime and bike chain oil. I would have to inflate the punctured inner tube to try to locate the leak so that I could use the relative position from the valve stem to find the glass shard still lodged in the tyre. If I didn't locate the glass shard, then I would risk puncturing the new tube as soon as I re-inflated. I learned this the hard way. Aargh!

I was willing to live with this minor incovenience as long as the frquency of punctures was only once every two or three weeks. I found myself becoming quite paranoid about riding over broken glass. I never used to notice how much broken glass there is on the road before. Believe me, it's everywhere! I guess you don't see it unless it affects your life. Remember that goofy line from the movie, "The Sixth Sense" when Haley Joel Osment whispers to his therapist played by Bruce Willis, "I see dead people." Well I see broken glass, for which I've developed an acute sixth sense. If I passed over a particularly bad patch, I would stop my bike ride and carefully inspect each tyre to try pick out the embeded shards before they could do their dirty deed, those bastards.

I finally had to take drastic measures when I got four punctures in three days, two one Friday evening coming home, front and back tyres. Sheesh. One of my colleagues at work told me that they make tyres using Kevlar reinforcing which is the same material they use in bullet-proof vests. Ha! Just what the doctor ordered. I went to the Bike Barn to see if they had stocked these alleged tyres with the space age technology. Indeed they did; Vittoria Kevlar reinforced tyres using belts of dense nylon thread count, 120 threads per inch or about three or four times more dense than my regular tyres. The salesperson assured me that these would be much better at resisting punctures. At $80 per tyre I hope he's right. Steel belted radial car tyres don't even cost that much, but then they're not bullet-proof either.

I've had the new tyres now for two weeks, and I'm happy to report that I have not yet had another puncture. I'm not nearly as paranoid about broken glass anymore, although the rain still annoys me.

Curt

Librarian - week 1

I am born to be a librarian. OK, I was born to be a teacher, too, but being a librarian sure comes naturally.

As many of you know, I am addicted to 2 things: chocolate and books. So letting me loose in a library is like letting me loose in a chocolate store. (I couldn't go to Powell's Books in Portland without spending $100) So here I am all day, surrounded by books. As I process the returns, I eye each one and think "Ooh I'd like to read that." As I choose a few books for display, I think "I want to read that one." I easily find 20 books a day that I want to read, but sadly I don't have time to read 20 books a day. If only I did! I love to organise books, to line them all up evenly on the shelf, and to recommend reading ideas for both students and teachers. I am in charge of book talks for each class that comes weekly to borrow books, which is one of my strengths. I love to promote books.

Working at a library has a totally different pace to it than teaching. First of all, there's the luxury of being a trainee and operating at only 50% for the first few weeks. In teaching, you are 100% responsible for everything the first day school starts. I've never been in a job where you had time to learn, time to rummage around and find out where things are, time to explore, and people to guide you. It's strange to have time to acclimate and discover at my own pace; it's amazingly foreign to me.

The people I work with are amazing. They're patient. They explain things without making it seem like I should already know. Nobody has a prickly personality. Everyone is fun and funny. There's 5 of us librarian ladies and we're all the literate type (naturally) without being a library dragonlady who shushes kids all day and wears their hair in a tight grey bun. No, we got the giggles on Friday and couldn't stop laughing.

Besides laughing too much, we also had a balanced discussion on Friday about the merits of purchasing a book on Paris Hilton, Confessions of an Heiress. Students asked for more biographies of celebrities so the head librarians had purchased this one about Paris Hilton. The book will be popular, no doubt. The girls can't wait to read it. Does it send the wrong message to young girls? Absolutely. And here's what our debate was about: Is it the library's job to decide which messages to send? Ultimately it was decided to keep the book, but not before flipping through its pages and getting a few handy tips on how to be an heiress ("If you expect people to do everything for you, they will. It works for me.") If only there was a genre label we could affix that said IRONY instead of BIOGRAPHY.

This school is also well-funded. There's no rationing of copy paper, and the book budget is huge! Besides, the girls are exceptionally well behaved. It's such a difference compared to my last school. I recently went back and read my diary about the first week of my teaching job. Oh my. I was in tears by the 3rd day. Compared to my last experience, this place is absolute heaven! I feel like I belong here.

Rugby convert

I watched my first rugby game on TV over the weekend, and I'm sold on this sport!

First of all, I learned it's called a test or a test match, not a game. The All Blacks were playing the hated Australian national team, the Wallabies, for a GIANT trophy called the Bledisloe Cup which truly is a silver cup but it's about 3 feet high. Fortunately, the winning team captain is buff enough to lift it over his head effortlessly.

We're starting to pick up more of the rules, but are still a little fuzzy on some of them. Sometimes when there's a penalty, the other team gets to kick for 3 points. Sometimes there's a penalty and the other team gets a scrum. I'm not sure why. Anyway, I knew it would be good to watch a game and try to figure it out. But I also found myself watching the game just to marvel at it and appreciate it.

Here's some of the reasons why I love this game:

1. Just before the game, the All Blacks perform a Maori war dance called a haka. They really get themselves riled up, and it intimidates the opposing team. It's quite impressive.

2. When they run across the line at the end of the field (to score), the guy carrying the ball always slides on his belly in the grass, even if nobody is trying to tackle him. It looks like fun; like boys who can't stay out of the mud.

3. When the ball goes across the touch line (out of bounds), the play from the sidelines to throw the ball back in is called a Line Out. Here's what is so cool about it, though - the teams each LIFT a player up high to try to catch the inbounds throw. So there's about 4 guys at ground level who grab the legs (calves, thighs) of the catcher-guy so he becomes 10 feet tall. It's a little like lifts in pairs ice skating except the guy they're lifting is probably 250 pounds instead of 98. (that's why it takes 4 guys to lift him) And admittedly it's not quite as graceful as ice skating. But it's pretty phenomenal to watch nonetheless.

4. The game doesn't stop! When someone gets tackled, he has to give it to one of his teammates behind him, and everyone has to get off him and go chase the new guy with the ball. There's no huddle. No standing around for 3 minutes to catch your breath. No strategizing or calling plays or talking to the coach on the sidelines. They think on their feet.

5. These guys are tough. They are huge and strong, and they don't fall down and pretend they're hurt like soccer players do. They don't wear pads or helmets although recently some have begun taping their ears because they keep getting torn off. (in the next picture, you can see the player on the left has black tape around his head which protects his ears)

6. In spite of all that adrenaline and yes, testosterone, the game is still pretty structured and under control. There's just one ref on the field in charge of the game. He blows his whistle every few seconds to tell everyone to get off the tackled guy ... and they're already in the process of getting up anyway so it goes pretty smoothly. He calls offsides or some penalty, and nobody complains. They just line up for the kick or whatever. He's also exceedingly polite: "Line up, Gentlemen." "Step back, Sir" "Up you go." I half expect him to offer tea to the bleeding players any moment. The ref can also ask for confirmation from another official who is in charge of the videotaped replays, so if there's any question, he can get a second opinion. The overall rugby organisation even assesses penalties after the game is over: One Aussie spear-tackled a Kiwi and could have easily broken his neck. The next day, the offender was suspended for 5 games, even though there was no penalty called at the time. The fans weren't too concerned about the ref missing that illegal tackle because everyone knew it would still be dealt with after the game.

7. There's no 30 minute pre-game show from a studio that looks like it belongs in Vegas. There are no cameras during the game zooming in on the cheerleaders. There's not even much time for commercials - just halftime and injuries. There are no feature vignettes about the players visiting a children's hospital earlier in the day. There are no post-game interviews with big dumb athletes who can only give monosyllabic answers. Perhaps the New Zealand media realises that these athletes are good at playing a sport, but not necessarily good at talking.

8. And finally, WE WON! The All Blacks were down 11-20 at the half but came back to win 34-27. Not only did they win the Bledisloe Cup (which is the championship between NZ and Australia), they also clinched the Tri-Nations Cup (which is between NZ/Australia/South Africa).

PS - There's another reason why I like this game. The players don't wear saggy pants; they wear short shorts that show off their powerful thighs. They wear tight shirts that show off their physique. They're really buff and quite cute!

Megan's New Job at Dio

Here I go again. I'm starting a new job on Monday and I sure hope it goes better than the last job! I really don't think there will be a problem, considering I will be working as a school librarian at Diocesan School for Girls, a wealthy private school. Somehow, I don't expect these girls are likely to throw chairs through the window like what happened at my last school.

After I returned from the States, I applied for 4 jobs and went to 5 interviews and eventually got the job at "Dio" as they call it. One of the positions I applied for was at a public library, but I was worried it would include evenings and weekends, so I'm glad I'll be at a school library instead.

Dio is an Anglican school for 1500 girls from ages 5-18 and their parents pay thousands of dollars each year for them to attend. The girls all wear uniforms (of course) and the school recently began issuing each girl a laptop too. As you can imagine, they are far more technologically advanced than my previous school which didn't have internet or networking or a full computer lab.

In addition, this school has 5 librarians. I was attracted to the notion of being part of a team of librarians, rather than being the ONLY librarian at a school where I would be expected to know how to do everything ... because (I know you'll find this hard to believe) I don't always know everything. So this way, I can learn all about being a school librarian by working with the other ladies, and eventually I could go run my own school library if I want. Plus librarians don't have to grade papers or write report cards or plan lessons. Yea! And I'll be surrounded by books all day. Ahhh. Heavenly.

It's a bit of a relief to have a job again, although I've thoroughly enjoyed my 6 weeks of unemployment. I loved to sleep in and loll around doing nothing. But I knew I'd get bored eventually so I guess it's a good thing that I got a job. After being the cook for the last 5 years, Curt was starting to like having me home too, because I would have a hot meal waiting for him every night. But we wouldn't want him to get spoiled.

The only downside might be the commute. Dio is located in the center of Auckland, not far from Curt's work and we live in a western suburb about 11 kilometers away. But the traffic during rush hour is so slow that he prefers to ride a bike. I'm not sure what I'll do. I think he should put a seat on the back of his bike and give me a ride into town every day.

Commonwealthy Names

New Zealand is definitely a former British colony. There is an especially strong Scottish influence. As such, we've noticed different naming trends here compared to the US.

Curt works with a lot of men named Colin and Graham and Nigel. In addition, there seems to be a lot of Simons and Frasers. There's also plenty of people named Hamish and Angus, young and old. I'm afraid Hamish and Angus aren't very common names in the States. In fact, if you named your baby Hamish or Angus, your poor kid would probably be the laughing stock of the school.

Female names in New Zealand are not as distinctive except for Phillippa (or Pippa) which is common. As far as I can tell, most NZ female names are relatively similar to US female names. There's Emily and Jenny and Katie, etc. But there doesn't seem to be very many females named Tiffany or Jordan or Ashley, and there's few males named Justin or Taylor or Dakota.

Some British-sounding last names are: Doherty, Lawry, and Haworth. But I don't notice as much difference between NZ last names and US last names.

So far, all my observations have been concerning the "white" or Pakeha population. But NZ has a high number of immigrants and their names are becoming more prevalent. There's plenty of Chinese names and Indian names (the subcontinent, not Native-Americans) and a noticeable dearth of Spanish/Mexican names which I was accustomed to in the US.

There are also heaps of Maori names and Pacific Islander names that roll off your tongue lyrically. I had Maori students named Rangi, Teina, Arama, and Parai. There's beautiful Maori place names too like Papakura and Timaru and Rangitoto. Some Pacific Islanders' names can be really long and confusing for me. There's a man at church whose last name is Taule'ale'ausumai. The others at church can pronounce it, but I can't yet. Other islanders' names are easier for me such as Sapolu and Lolohea.

Of course, I'm not really pronouncing any of these names "right" whether they're Pakeha or Maori, because I say them all with an American accent instead of a Kiwi accent. But that's a whole 'nother topic.