A little less mountains and a little more humor.

It is approximately 10.30pm at the Convent, and I am in my bunk bed with my entire sleeping bag, 2 blankets, and a comforter over me because my room is the only one without a space heater (even though I am in what once was Mother Superior’s room). It has been warming up in NZ in the past week, but a cold front came through today along with some precipitation. I was amazed at how many people were enamored by sleet. I can make an exception for the Californians here, but, hello… sleet in New Zealand looks exactly like sleet in the US. It’s slightly frozen rain. 

Anyways, today’s blog is in sections, so feel free to read it all or skim to find the catchiest one! 

When Chickens Attack

So in an “intentional Christian community”, chores are given in order to make this old convent run smoothly.

This week? Chicken coop duty.

 

Jess, my small group leader, asked me last night if I could feed the chickens in the morning and pick up any eggs they’d laid. Well… I forgot to tend to our chickens until 5pm today. Jess told me that they were probably fine – there would be food leftover from yesterday. 

 

I walked into the coop, and these 4 chickens came towards me like, “WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN? WE WILL KILL YOU FOR THIS NEGLECT!” I reached for the bucket and a chicken hopped up on the table with a vicious look on its face. Naturally, I screamed. I tried putting the pellets in the feeder (by the way, there was plenty there already= these birds were overreacting), and their beaks got way too close to my hand. Naturally, I screamed. If only someone had been videotaping, I think I’d have a shot at YouTube fame. Alas, each of them did lay an egg, so props to them for popping out those things. You think you know eggs, but it brings you to a whole new level in your human-egg relationship to be able to say you were the first one to touch it. From chicken butt and into my hands. Pure poetry. I escaped the coop both unscathed and transformed.

The Coop

Real World: Kaikoura

Anyways, I figured now is a good time to even out the deceptively continuous high points of my time in New Zealand. Because there are some times during the week when I’d rather not be in New Zealand. You’re thinking, “What? How could she not want to be there? It’s pure amazement 24/7!” Let me explain. 

I live in a Convent with 24 people, in a town so small that if you start talking about Helen, everyone knows who Helen is, no last name required. There are no Kiwis my age around here, which severely reduces my chances of finding love. Which I told God was okay, because having a boyfriend on the other side of the world would be too complicated anyways. So, my community here is kind of…it. I’m thankful to have met some people that I really get along with…

...but, as in any station in life, there are people who you’d rather put in the corner with duct tape over their mouth. (Don’t judge me – you’ve thought about it too). I won’t go into detail on this one.. let’s just say that the number of in-depth Lord of the Rings discussions I’ve had to listen to is enough to make anyone want to wish, along with Frodo, that the ring really hadn’t ever come to him. 

A bare bones idea of a normal schedule for me consists of breakfast, class, lunch, free time until 6, dinner, and class. We are also assigned “gardening groups” for 2x/week gardening duty. After being equipped with gum boots (kiwi language for rubber boots; no, I don’t understand it either), a shovel, and a bucket, my gardening army was assigned weeding of the front gardens. You wouldn’t think weeding at 8 am would be fun, but even I have been surprised at how often I laugh. I got Caleb, a Wheaton grad and a staff member here, practically rolling in the dirt when, upon him pulling up a neglected bulb from the ground, I mumbled “Bulbasaur”. The rest of weeding time was reminiscing about playing Pokemon on GameBoy Color, and me recalling my childhood failure that I could never beat the Elite 4.

I digress. 

Class. (Yes, I am actually learning and doing homework here)

Last week was our first week of class – Sustainable Community Development. Our Kiwi professor, Mick Duncan, is a character to say the least. He has one of those faces that can assume the entire range of human emotions in seconds. He challenged us on our views on war, poverty, social action, evangelism, and of course, how all of those things relate to community development (all the while making his position quite known). One of many things that I appreciate about my Wheaton professors is that they taught me to be critical and to seek truth, not just automatically accept everything I hear. I definitely applied that to this class. You can ask me more about that if you like. Shout out to Matt Jones, an exceptional debater– I wish you were around to challenge Mick with me! It’d be a blast.

Living with Real Kiwi People

And as you may recall, I had my kiwi homestay this past weekend. I was nervous about it at first, especially when we were all waiting around the convent like little orphan Annies. I stayed with a really fun, young family that goes to the Anglican church I attend here. I hung out with Tane (tah-ney) and Teresa and their three kids – ages 13, 5, and 2. (I have some adorable pictures of them, but I’m not putting them on the internet). I had an awesome time with them, and already have an invite back!

Some funny moments from my homestay:

Isaiah, the 2 year old, devouring “Marmite”, which is the NZ version of Vegemite. I tried some and could not believe that a 2 year old found it enjoyable. I’ll pass on putting toxic yeast spread on my bread, thank you.

Watching my first rugby game – the Rugby World Cup is being hosted by NZ this year, which is a HUGE deal! Even Isaiah’s “nappys” (diapers) had the NZ All-Black symbol on them. Line, crossed. 

Trying all sorts of kiwi candy, the majority of which incorporated marshmallows. These people love marshmallows.

Going on a walk up to the Kaikoura look-out, and finding a new friend along the way.

Watching 4 kids movies – Spirit (horse movie = loved it), Yogi Bear (stupid), Two Brothers (tiger movie - so sad that we had to pause in the middle b/c the 5 year old was crying), and Hop (PLEASE give me those 91 minutes of my life back). 

Their neighbor’s cat visited often – Erik and Scott this kitteh is for you.

Being in New Zealand has been great, but it’s not without its downsides. I’m guaranteed great scenery here, but those mountains cannot bring me constant happiness or joy. Being in an intentional Christian community can be great, but sometimes I’ll really miss my Wheaton friends who know me best. Good thing I serve a God who can bring me joy in abundance, and who is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

That’s all folks! Sunday we leave for Wellington for a week-long sustainable community development field trip! Don’t quite know what that entails yet… more to come.

Weekend in Nelson

While orientation was great and full of field trips…there comes a time when you need to get away and do your own thing. Hence the very appropriately timed 3 day weekend where 20 Americans are set free to go wherever they please in New Zealand. My trip of choice? A road trip 3 hours north of Kaikoura to the small city of Nelson!

So myself, Halle, Paige, Sophie and Gabe drove our white Honda accord (affectionately named Cool-Whip Clarence) all over the northern part of the South Island.  After 3 hours, a long stop at New World (NZ grocery store), and many sheep sightings later, we arrived in Nelson. The hostel we stayed at, Accents on the Park, was perfect for the weekend – it was right outside of downtown so we could walk everywhere. When we checked in, Royce, the owner, exclaimed, “ah, the harem room!”. Gabe was a good sport throughout the weekend and handled being with all girls very well. Here’s the group pictured below!

(L to R) Halle, Paige, Gabe, Sophie, Kristen

There was a beautiful cathedral right next to the hostel that overlooked the main street of Nelson.

If you look closely at this picture, you might get a laugh.

 

We heard a lot about Nelson’s Saturday market, and it didn’t disappoint! Tents were set up with local craftsmen and artists, and of course, delicious food stands. I’m enjoying a falafel while wearing my first NZ souvenir (you would have loved it Dad, Erik, and Scott!)

 

Next up on Saturday’s agenda was a walk to the geographical center of New Zealand! It was way cooler than I expected, and the view from the top of the mountain was spectacular.

My reaction to "Do something interesting Kristen!" haha. My hand is exactly on the center of NZ!

View from the top

 

Then we picked up CWC and drove down to Tahunanui beach. Honestly it’s the most beautiful beach I’ve been to. The sand felt like I was walking on flour, and the coast itself stretched so gradually in the water that you could walk far out in just an inch of water. The way the sun hit the water, and the view of the mountains was “breath-kidnapping” as my friend said. We enjoyed some chocolate, cheese and crackers on the beach. Quite sophisticated, I know. And I even made a definite life decision – someday I will own a dog. My cat-loving family just gasped at my treason. But some friendly dogs came over to me and were incredibly passionate about playing fetch, and I thought to myself, “this is the life”. Playing with my dog on the beach would be just awesome. Worthy of a catchy Colbie Caillat song.

As if the weekend couldn’t get any better, we drove an extra hour north to Tasman Bay National Park. The roads to get there were ridiculous – winding around the mountains. But the adventure was worth it! When we got there the tide was really far out so we walked for ages out on the beach. We even found a little island (below) that we thought we could have lunch on. However… the tide came in MUCH quicker than we thought. And we ended up abandoning our beloved island, hiking up our pants as high as we could, and making our way back to mainland. Fortunately we found some cool rocks to sit on, and we devoured some PB&J, the meal of the weekend.

On our short-lived island.

 

Lastly, I think one of the best things about New Zealand is you’re almost guaranteed a beautiful drive no matter where you go. There’s only one main road that connects the main cities (making directions a no-brainer), but the routes are all along beautiful scenery that makes the journey as good as the destination. Pause for dramatic effect.

It was enjoyable to be back at the Convent and to be reunited with everyone and exchanging stories over a very loud dinner table. With Monday morning came the beginning of class! More on that another time. So next blog post will be about Sustainable Community Development and a re-cap of this upcoming weekend homestay with a local Kiwi family! 

Much love to you all!