all blacks, all whites, tall blacks, small whites

Heather's New Zealand sports primer:

All Blacks = the national rugby team you've all heard of

All Whites = the national soccer team you've now all heard of (and the ONLY undefeated team in the 2010 World Cup) 

Tall Blacks = the national basketball team

Small Whites = youth soccer, organized by New Zealand Football

Rugby Sevens = tournament of rugby games with 7-man teams (known as the biggest 2-day party in Wellington of the year) - now an official Olympic sport, premiering in 2016.

Super 14 (now Super 15), however, does not refer to number of players, rather the number of teams in this rugby union (largest union competition in southern hemisphere).

Silver Ferns = national net ball team. Seems you have to be a guy to be part of the black/white thing?  (net ball is a women's sport kinda like basketball without a backboard, if you've never seen it - very popular in the southern hemisphere)
But Black Sticks, is the name of both men's and women's field hockey teams, so things must be changing . . .

Last night I went to the All Blacks match vs. South Africa (world champions) -- just the second 'test' match in the Tri Nations tournament (NZ, South Africa & Australia). We played S.Africa in Auckland last week and with the dirty play by the Springboks (nasty head butting), the Wellington game this week had some wild anticipation of retaliation by the Boks. I was glad to have a ticket (I bought the cheapest one several weeks ago), as it was a packed house as Westpac Stadium. We creamed them again, so it's a great start to the tournament, and wind up for the rugby World Cup in NZ in 2011. Somehow I lucked out with a 7th-row seat right by the team entrance. Fantastic seeing the All Blacks haka live and a couple tries right in front of me at the corner of the NZ tryline.
 

So I guess this country is just in the habit of beating world champions this year! Speaking of the new world champions (in soccer), Spain, we used some paul-the-octopus logic last week at quiz night. My team couldn't come up with a name and just decided to be 'Spain' and we ended up winning! (definitely a step up from my second-to-last-place finish at the last quiz night I participated in)  Coincidentally, the prize came with a picture of the soccer world cup trophy with our quiz night inscribed on it -- meant to be.

Well it hasn't been all about competition lately, just the last 3 days. I'm busy planning the Samoa trip with my sister (or rather not planning it, as we just plan to hop local buses and stay in fales wherever we think looks good). I'll be attending a conference in Auckland with my Te Papa supervisor the first week in August, then straight to Samoa from there. Good news that I have a job when I come back from my 3-week vacation with sis. The college of GPs has created a job to keep me until the end of my stay in NZ! They are a really fun bunch, so I'm happy not to have to leave them for good in 2 weeks.

Next weekend my choir (Kapiti Chamber Choir) performs Handel's Dixit Dominus in Wellington Cathedral (among other works, including Moses Hogan where yours truly taught them how to move like a gospel choir). We rehearsed there yesterday -- hadn't been inside since I sang there with the St Olaf Choir in 1997! Great organ + that lovely cathedral 10-second return on sound. Should be fun next week . . .

Since that reminds me that I heard the Three Pacific Tenors sing at the opening of the All Blacks game (above, singing national anthem), I'll leave you with some warm up shots of our favorite rugby team. Don't try this at home! 

 

(Okay, Sarah, you can practice if you want.)

just the 4th of july

No independence day festivities to report in wellywood -- just a great walk on the beach in full sunshine this morning. It was one of those days where you can see the cliffs and mountains of the south island across cook strait crisp and clear. My friends Leeann and Cat are sailing to the sounds today and invited me along for the 2-week holiday back at port ligar (it's "winter" holidays for school now), but I need to stay here and work to save $$ for samoa next month.

This week my grandpa Archie died, so it's been difficult sending all the hugs over the phone lines, but I'm thankful for skype and cheap calling cards that can keep my family so connected. You can honor Archie this weekend by going to a garage sale and offering "2 bucks" for something (well, everything, in Archie's case) or quoting him saying, "I don't know what it is, but it's the best one I ever saw." Here's a pic of Archie, Norma, me & my sis in '05. 

I've been keeping pretty busy w/work/music/etc. Already finished 6 weeks at the Royal College of GPs as the Southern Regional Coordinator and they start me on a new project this week (though my temp stint there was supposed to end, they found another project to keep me). Te Papa work this week included attending one of our off-site workshops. We traveled up to Otaki to present a taonga conservation workshop, bringing Te Papa conservator Rangi Te Kanawa, who is the only Maori textile conservator in the world. It was facsinating, though I only attended one day. Our iwi hosts provided heaps of kai (food) and it fueled great discussions!

I had a fun Alaska coincidence at Te Papa a week or so ago. I was in the library doing some research and overheard a school group presentation on volcanoes... I perked up when the guy mentioned Redoubt and a recent trip to Alaska + collaboration with AVO. I caught him afterward and, sure enough, he'd been to Homer in May, met plenty of my peeps and is still in contact with Elizabeth W (Pratt ranger extraordinaire). Small world. If you want to learn about AVO's counterpart in NZ and our exciting geologic behavior, check out GNS Science (a partner w/Te Papa) and their GeoNet link (recent seismic activity).

But the AK coincidences didn't stop there. The same week I was up at Paraparaumu singing a choir concert and a guy from the US Embassy attended. Turns out he's from Anchorage (there's probably only 3 Foreign Service Officers in the world from Alaska, if that). Conversation turned to lamenting the fact that FSOs and Peace Corps staff can't get Alaska's PFD, whereas US military can. Seems like anyone serving our country abroad for peace should be eligible, especially when they don't claim any other state as their residence. Military working stateside, on the other hand, own homes in other states, live very much as residents of other states, and still collect PFD. Not saying they shouldn't, but it seems discriminatory not to allow Alaskans in other branches of US service abroad. Oh well. I'll eat the sacrifice and stick it out for the PC Country Director position.

The news on that front is a return in October for final DC interview w/Director's Office, then back to AK to work until they offer me a country (12 months into the process now and I fear it could go to 24). Timing is a little bit of a bummer, as I'd really like to stay here through the end of the year. Had an invitation to present at the National Digital Forum conference @Te Papa later in Oct, and that will likely be where we get a larger forum together for the taonga database project I've been working on. Definitely hard to depart just before that opportunity, but I've taken the last possible date for the final PC interview. I am, however, excited to have time in AK before the unknown date of Peace Corps placement. Certainly if their process pushes 24 months it will be hard to keep me interested . . . it is still something I very much want to do, though. I'll be visiting the Samoa post next month to get a taste of the real job . . . happily their Country Director is in and willing to meet with me.

And on that note, I'm dreaming of my Samoa week in August, looking forward to my sister joining me there and our 2 weeks roundabout NZ. Sistas beggs take on the south pacific...

Have a flash Independence Day! I was going to celebrate our freedom from the British colonial yoke by inviting a Brit couple over for dinner, but they had to cancel. So please eat a burger and down a beer for me at your 4th of July barbie!

New Zealand shocks the world!

How about our boys humbling Italy Sunday at the World Cup in South Africa? They're calling it the biggest shock so far at the 2010 World Cup (and it's definitely NZ's best soccer result ever). Ranked 78th in the world, the New Zealand All Whites managed to hold Italy, the defending world champs! And we're happy to take the draw (1-1) in spite of the bad ref call that allowed Italy's penalty kick goal (whereas our goal was perfect). 

This is only NZ's second World Cup ever for soccer (we're a rugby nation) and there's only 25 professional players in the whole country. (Some of our boys are bankers by day, not making the $100,000 per week soccer salary the Italians manage, for example.) Well, the All Whites sure stole the headlines from the All Blacks today! The match was actually at 2-4am NZ time, so I set the alarm just in case we had an historic moment -- and we did! (nevermind I about knocked myself out in the dark, bashing my head on a wall corner on my way to the living room -- I bounced away and did another header on the opposite wall -- that knocked me flat!) Definitely hard to get back to sleep after that match . . . and the revelling continued all morning -- on the news, at work, on the streets. Fun day to be in New Zealand!

Sorry if you're not a soccer fan, but this is big! I suppose I should report other news, like it was over 60 today, on WINTER solstice (perhaps warmer than Homer's summer solstice, we'll see when they hit June 21st -- our day is almost over). I was outside on my lunch break, making a Father's Day call to my grandpa, sitting in the sun, gazing out at the harbor, jacket-less -- that's a new one for winter solstice.

Fantastic tapa cloth exhibit opened at Te Papa this week: PaperSkin. I participated in the blessing (staff only, before public opening of all exhibits) and went in for a curator talk on Samoan siapo -- interesting since we always had them hanging in our home growing up from my dad's peace corps days in Samoa. One fijian piece is almost 23 meters long and it's the first time it has been displayed since it's creation. The musical soundscape developed for the exhibit is pretty cool too. Other than that, I went planting native cabbage trees with a conservation group last weekend -- got to do some wetland planting too. I don't know how those little guys don't just float away . . .

Well, that's about it for the last couple weeks other than the highs and lows of being away from home . . . enjoyed a great skype chat with my Homer marimba band, Tamba Hadzi, after their performance at the Kenai River Festival. I'll spare them by not posting the snapshot I took! Here's a better one from last year's Seward Music Fest:

 

Miss you girls!

Matariki - Happy New Year!

 

The Māori new year began this morning with my 4am alarm to get me to the 5am train for the 5:45 beginning of festivities at Te Papa. A Matariki ceremony, staff breakfast and performances were all part of the 3-hour PARTY. I feel pretty honored to have been part of this this staff-only event . . . and what a brilliant morning it was!
  
Matariki is the name for the Pleiades star cluster (aka Seven Sisters), that signifies the Māori New Year, June 10 (and other seasonal celebrations worldwide). Coincidentally, the name is Subaru in Japanese and it's part of the constellation Taurus, so I'm clearly connected by my only two owned vehicles in life. Now you see why we started at 6am -- gotta see the stars for this one! 

The ceremony began with taonga pūoro (traditional instruments) and a procession around the Marae to bless the seven taonga (treasures) on display from collections. We then processed outside to the Pūwhara deck area where again pūoro (music: instruments & voice) introduced the karanga (call) and karakia (prayers). It was sure windy, but no rain and plenty of stars peeking through the clouds. Hearing the chants welcoming Matariki from the roof of Te Papa with a huge group of staff in the dark was pretty awesome. 

I work with Tracy (#2), Kylie (#4) and Jade (#5 from the left)

Kylie is my supervisor and Tracy is the boss - clearly here!

Sufficiently frozen (well, not the Alaskan) and wind-blown (Alaskan included), we processed back inside and were served an excellent breakfast. The acting CEO/Kaihautū (Māori leader) served us personally as part of the wait staff. A curator spoke about the seven taonga and then a wild party of staff performances (mostly karaoke) was kicked off and didn't end until 9am. From the new moon, to full sunshine illuminating a singer just as he broke into his grand finale of My Way, to a misty rain moving on to a glorious day, it was a New Year celebration full of signs and Haumanu (revival). Wish you could've been there!

 

Our staff waiata (singing group) closed the ceremony with Te Hokinga Mai, a popular song written to welcome the taonga home in 1986 after the Te Māori exhibition at the Met. Then, it was performed by the Pakipaki elementary school children (video below) -- we did much of the same choreography this morning. Matariki festivities continue until June 27 and we'll sing tomorrow at the powhiri (welcome) ceremony for the Kaumātua Kapa Haka (elders' performance).

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

Te Hokinga Mai - by Te Taite Cooper and Father Mariu

busking bagpipers and other distractions

I love this place. Though I frequently see a piper busking at the outdoor markets, yesterday one greeted the 5pm rush front & center at the entrance to Wellington station. Since I had a little extra time I got out the ghillies and did a highland gigue (okay, in my head), but it does put a nice cap on your day to be serenaded past Platform 9 3/4 and even find a seat on the Paraparaumu express. So yes, I did work on Memorial Day, but we get Queen's Birthday off next Monday, so there. Between pipers, platform 9 3/4 and royal holidays, it's no secret New Zealand's under the Crown. Oh, you can add castles to that list...

Castle Point day-trip wraps up today's blog (scroll down)

Things are going swimmingly in the new home. Fun first week of PT temp work at the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (I coordinate the South Island program for 1st-year resident doctors). Super nice staff and it brings home the bacon while I have fun at Te Papa the rest of the time. Here's me and my new Te Papa staff badge!

Yes, I'm still on my Te Papa dream boat. After a bit of time on the job, I'm realizing that in fact I really like being a volunteer. It takes the pressure off when I want to attend meetings and activities that are not closely related to my project, but quite valuable to me personally and my New Zealand experience. Here's a smattering of my distractions at my personal "school of Te Papa":

• staff Waiata every Thursday afternoon on the Marae (meeting place) where a new Maori song and dance is taught every week
• Maori language classes -- one hour/week "term" class or just hour shots of a topic: pronunciation, using Te Reo in business correspondence, and others . . .
• public events like the upcoming Matariki festival (Maori new year) -- including staff only breakfast and performances at 6am on the 10th!
• back-of-house tours, library access (and of course, my own swipe key + badge)
• but most of all, getting to work with the National Services Te Paerangi staff -- they do an amazing amount for the museum community of NZ and iwi. Not only do they have forward-looking programmes like an alternative to accreditation and models for a bicultural workplace, but just a really collegial atmosphere where I feel accepted and valued for my contribution (iwi taonga database project, if you missed that post)

Getting to know the whole institution is very valuable to me, especially working with a big multicultural staff. I'm taking notes for the potential Peace Corps Country Director position (next January) when I would manage a staff of country nationals as well as a few Americans. Te Papa does a lot right. And if the next thing is back in Alaska museums, I've got a ton of ideas to share! 

So, besides distractions at work, I have been out playing lately too. Liew, my Malaysian friend you'll remember from South Island journeys, stopped by last week to say goodbye before heading home (she travelled NZ for 3 months). We took a day trip out to Castle Point in the Waiararapa. Zigzagged across the Rimutaka Range on Route 2 northeast of Wellington and drove through the Wairarapa -- sheep and wine country. 

look closely (click) -- it's all sheep!

On our way out we sampled and drooled over Schoc Chocolate's spicey wonders (I came home with a bar of lime-chili chocolate) and on the way back, made a stop at the Martinborough wine centre, home of New Zealand's finest pinot noirs (got the necessary bottle to go with the chocolate). 

Castlepoint is a long fossil-encrusted limestone reef with 162m high castle rock at one end and a lighthouse at the other. Liew and I braved the cliffs and were almost punished on our alternate route back with a push off the edge from the gusts. 

Having survived the day, we celebrated our existence and had a farewell dinner at a funky lounge in Carterton on the way home and Liew took off the next day. She's been a fun travel bud and I love it that I've carried a few friends with me to different places (Liew, Alex, Cat, Leeann). Speaking of those harbour-dwellers, Cat picked us up for a jaunt to the market saturday + a new one with heaps of samples! She brought a british lady who'd washed up in Mana Harbour, sailing around the world for eight years (including 3 stops in Sitka). She was just waiting for a good northerly to take her to Hawaii. Good company on a Saturday morning! Well, we've come full british circle now, so I'll quit.

working on being under-qualified

sunny day on Wellington Harbour with Mt Vic

(this is winter in New Zealand, kids!)

MY EMPLOYMENT SAGA 

(or TIPS ON JOB HAPPINESS FOR YOUR WORK-HOLIDAY):

1. Don't be afraid to rely on your lips

Well, I think my friend Jeanne put it best (Alaska's most awesome horn player):

“Who’d of thunk it?   Haven’t we all been told that you better get a 'real' degree so you can pay the bills… Here is Heather- who can’t get a job because of her 'real education' and is having to rely on PLAYING HER HORN!!!  WOW!  That is the best story I have heard all year!” 

Although I'm proud my first NZ paid job offer was indeed a pit orchestra gig for principal horn, I'm pleased to report I am now officially EMPLOYED with a steady paycheck and won't have to rely on my lips. (I let the pit gig go since performances are during my sister's visit, but I am joining a community orchestra and not giving up on a few more auditions -- horn players are in short supply here!) 

2. Try at least five temp agencies 

After relentless storming of temp agencies I finally convinced them I'm not overqualified. (A girl's gotta eat--geez!) I'd been having trouble finding some mindless admin position to support the extra (volunteer) time I'm putting in at Te Papa, but no one wanted me -- claiming I'd be too bored, would move on, etc. Well, I do understand the recruitment dilemma, but shouldn't I decide what I can tolerate? After all, I came here for a little less responsibility. I thought about removing all reference of CEO and lawyer from my resume and just citing my thrilling MS Office capabilities, but I didn't have to go that far. Instead, I just caused a scene in the temp agency office. Started taking all their little tests: typing, Word, Excel, data entry, on and on . . . and as my scores started rolling in (I'm told later) the office folks gathered 'round, in awe of my 100% in Word (they'd never seen it before). I had two job offers by the end of the day. Temping will be great -- accept/reject what you want, plan around your vacations (sister visits), and leave it at the end of the day. Love it. (and just ask my friend Char, sometimes it will lead to a fat Princeton job that doubles your salary - go Char!) 

3. Compensation is subjective: Seek out something stimulating! 

Te Papa from the air . . .

So, I've got a part-time temp job and the other part-time I spend at Te Papa doing a project for the National Services department. THAT is fantastic! I work with a great (though small) team, which is essentially providing services to NZ museums and iwi (Maori tribes) equivalent to the services of AAM, IMLS and the Smithsonian rolled into one. Though my project focuses on models and resources for creating taonga databases (taonga = treasure or object) R&D, case studies, and organizing a forum for iwi to share info, I'm also dipping into other projects, as appropriate. There's some great work going on here with innovative museum standards to apply nationally that build on Te Papa's bi-cultural approach to museum management. Huge parallels to Alaska and serving small and/or isolated museums and the problem of national standards (in US) not catching up with needs of the field. We could learn a lot from Te Papa. The team's on the lookout for short-term paid gigs for me, as well as travel opportunities, and I may even get to present my project findings on the The Marae at Te Papa before I go! (image below is of youth refugees from Myanmar performing on The Marae at opening of The Mixing Room exhibit on NZ's refugees)

So that's the scoop on New Zealand jobs -- my other news is that I will be returning in early October for my final interview with the big cheez in DC for a Peace Corps Country Director job (in some yet-unnamed country -Mongolia?). That would start in January 2011, though I'm still on the watch for tempting Alaska jobs available in the fall/winter. Regardless, I'll be back in Homer for a month to start (Oct 24-Nov 24) . . . Stay tuned!

tongariro crossing

Back from the 20K Tongariro Alpine Crossing (above is Mt Ngauruhoe, or Mt Doom for you LOTR fans). Kiwi friend Cat and I drove up to National Park and met her sister Sunni and Sunni's boyfriend Matt, both from Auckland. (Tongariro NP is about mid-way between Auckland & Wellington.) Stayed at a backpackers for 2 nights and did the crossing on Saturday. Excellent weather for a hike -- cool and partly cloudy (surely falling under the common NZ weather term "fine"). But the top was WINDY AS! ("as what," you ask? well, that is the eternal question with this kiwi slang - tell me when you figure it out)

The famed lunar landscape delivered + great volcanic features: steaming vents, colorful lava flows, and pools smelling of sulphur. (Check out my Tongariro photo album for more shots.) The old knee injury survived the straight up/straight down trail, although she's usually not keen on more than 10 miles/day (this was 12), especially with extended downhill. Here's the gang at our first snack stop below the 2287m peak of Mt Ngauruhoe. Clearly the altitude is affecting us!

Sunni, Matt, Cat

We stopped by Whanganui Bay, north of the park, on Sunday and marveled at skipping pumice stones into the lake and watching them float. Nasty road down to this Maori marae -- usually off limits, but they allow climbers/campers and Cat had been several times before. Nice walk before spending the rest of the day in the car back to Wellington. Although we did make a quick stop at tree trunk gorge (below).

Home Sunday night to my empty house in Camborne -- Wendy (house owner) left for Europe Saturday. My french friend Alex was in Wellington this week taking an english exam before heading off to South America next week, so we hung out a couple days -- climbing Mt Victoria and spending an afternoon on the beaches near my place. We had to skip the tatoo museum because the weather has been too perfect and sunny to be inside -- all the locals say it's unusual for fall. 

Last night we capped off the day with Quiz Night at the local brew pub. Cat met us for a drink, but left after round 3 (quiz round 3, not drink round 3). Alex and I, however, persevered and managed to finish all 8 rounds -- in second to last place! (hey, it's tough when you're not a kiwi) Little did we know, 2nd to last carries a cash prize!!! Here we are with our $35 voucher, which of course enabled us to have another beer!