Nationwide 2 Minutes of Silence

Today at 12:51pm, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key asked that everyone in NZ observe two minutes of silence for the Christchurch Earthquake victims. He said it was important "that we all stand together as one whoever we are, whatever place we are in." So, it has been exactly one week since the earthquake, and we all stood in silence and turned our thoughts and prayers to those affected by the earthquake. The current death toll is up to over 150, with many still missing. It was quite moving to see the entire school--staff, students, parents--sing the New Zealand National Anthem (with great emphasis when singing the phrase "God defend New Zealand!") and then observe these two minutes. For about 300 primary school students, two minutes of complete silence is a pretty big accomplishment.

New Zealand National Anthem
Māori verse: "Aotearoa" E Ihowā Atua, O ngā iwi mātou rā Āta whakarangona; Me aroha noa Kia hua ko te pai; Kia tau tō atawhai; Manaakitia mai Aotearoa	English verse: "God Defend New Zealand" God of Nations at Thy feet In the bonds of love we meet; Hear our voices we entreat; God defend our free land; Guard Pacific's triple star; From the shafts of strife and war; Make her praises heard afar God defend New Zealand.

I love how every time they sing their national anthem, they first sing it in Maori, and then in English. It really is beautiful!

I had some time to observe a few other classes today. It was great for me to see different styles of teaching and management, all of which I felt much more comfortable with. I observed a Year 1 class and these new entrants were sooo cute! They just kept asking me question after question. Almost every other question was, "What's your name again?" I would reply, "Miss Burnett," and then, without fail, a little boy named Bailey would laugh and say, "That sounds like a boy name. hahaha." I would just laugh and keep answering their questions. Too bad I'm a mature and respectable teacher--otherwise I could have laughed and said, "Oh yeah? Well Bailey is a girl's name in the states!" ;) Also while in this classroom, they read a book where some monsters had a popcorn and soda fight. The kids weren't sure what soda was, and the teacher told them it was the same as lemonade. She looked at me for confirmation, "Right?" Initially, I almost said no, but then I remembered that they call Sprite "lemonade" here. Even when the bottle clearly says Sprite, they still refer to it as lemonade. So I confirmed that yes soda is like lemonade even though it didn't sound right in my head. We sure have some funny little differences!