Christmas parties, climbing volcanoes, and Thanksgiving

This country is incredible!

Last Saturday I went along on the Forrest Hill staff Christmas party.  Stephanie, the other American student teacher at my school also joined.  It was held at a winery out in the country and it will also be the venue for my wedding!! haha.  We had an amazing lunch and wine tasting followed by a game out in the field which resembled bocce ball.  There was a bus that took us from the school to the winery and back.  It was Stephanies birthday so her and Justine came over that night, we had champagne and went out in Takapuna.

On Sunday we went to the flea market in Takapuna and got a nice breakfast from the kiosks there.  Then we took a 20 minute ferry out to Rangitoto Island.  Rangitoto is a volcano that errupted about 600 years ago.  I have a perfect view of the island/volcano from the beach by my house and I see it every morning on our walks.  Justine (Iowa), Bridget (Indiana) and Sara (Indiana) went to hike this fabulous mountain.  On the hike we also went through caves which were made from the flow of lava years and years ago.  We were supposed to bring torches (flashlights) but missed that memo so it was extra scary since we couldn't see much!! There is no one living on the island although some people camp there for a few days at a time, and the views from the top crater look out at the entire North Shore and Auckland City.  

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving, and believe it or not it was one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever had.  In my classroom we talked about Thanksgiving and read the book I had brought for the class from home.  We also baked pumpkin bars as a class and before they ate them my students had to write what they were thankful for and read it to the class.  I also visited two other classrooms and shared with them my picture book and my usual family traditions.  After school Christine and I cooked a wonderful feast with turkey, scalloped corn (mom's recipe), potatoes, and pumpkin pie (mom's recipe).  I was a little worried about the pumpkin pie since we used fresh pumpkin instead of canned, but it was absolutely to die for.  Justine came over for our dinner, we decorated the table nicely, and even had paper turkey table settings.  It was such a treat to be able to share all about my holiday with the kiwi's here.  They were eager to learn about it and it made me that much more thankful for being here.