New Zealand - Part 1

As many of you know, I eventually want to move to New Zealand. Provided this happens, I didn't see the need to to pay for an expensive plane ticket when at some point I'll be living there. Yet, after some consideration, I decided it was probably in my best interest to visit the country. I figured that when I finally do leave Korea & venture on to NZ, it might look better to an employer if I've already been there. It was an expensive plane ticket, but I'm glad I made the trip. I was able to spend just over two weeks there & luckily had the chance to visit some other countries en route. Prior to visiting, I had done much research on NZ & different towns that I might be interested in calling my future home. There were a number of places I thought would be great to live in, but not all would be good for gainful employment. Therefore, many nights of research lead me to choose three different towns that I wanted to check out. I visited Wellington, Christchurch & Dunedin. Yet deep down, I already knew in which town I had the greatest interest. Now it was time to see if all my research had correctly steered me to the right town of my future living intentions.

On this last vacation, I was able to use an international website community called, "Couch Surfing." I highly recommend this to anyone who may be open to allowing people to stay at your place, or who are looking to travel. I thank all those I've met through this network both in the past, present & in the future!



Wellington

Oriental Bay as the sun descends.

Viewing downtown Wellington from Mt. Victoria.

Looking toward Wellington Harbor from the same viewpoint as above.

From above, the walk is only a short three minutes to the opposite side, & it shows a much quieter Wellington.

The cable car provided a different perspective of Wellington. Mt. Victoria is in the background. Yes, I know that's it's not a mountain... Perhaps a hill & it would be more aptly named?

Looking downtown, this was taken just off the Oriental Parade in Lamton Harbour.

From downtown the boardwalk along the ocean is perfect for a scenic run!

The boardwalk, Oriental Parade, extends around this peninsula & continues for many kilometers beyond!

As you may know, I have an affinity towards flowers, but this isn't quite one. Well, perhaps this could be proven otherwise. This Bromeliad struck me as something different. The botanist at the Botanic Gardens was incredibly kind as to offer me a beer & tell me all about this beautiful plant. Please expand this photo to appreciate its beauty.

I've seen this email passed around, but can you figure out the pattern? Someone evidently put it in writing.

There's a trail that continues to be improved & will apparently connect a multitude of trails together. I believe it will extend from one end of Wellington to the other in it's final completion. What I do know is that this particular section does happen to be on the path of trails to be combined & also skirts by one of the old cemeteries of some of the original settlers.

In Commute


From Wellington I took a ferry to the town of Picton, which is on the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island. It was a cold day, but a beautiful one.


In Picton I had to wait to take the train. I grabbed a sandwich & kicked back to enjoy the day.

This was taken on the train ride to Christchurch. The train ride followed the coast for much of the way & yes, if I turned around the other direction, the east coast was visible.

Taipai, Taiwan

I finished my contract back in May of this year, but am now getting the opportunity to update my pictures. My goal was to visit New Zealand in order to find the town I wanted to live in after I finish in S. Korea. On my way down south, I learned that it was cheaper to stop over at several countries rather than take a direct flight to NZ! My buddy, Josh, happens to live in Taipai, which I've been wanting to visit for a long time. After all, this is where I originally thought I was going to live when I was first considering living overseas. So, it was great to see my traveling buddy from last year, a great friend & also see the place I thought I was going to live!

Taoist temple on the way to the beach.

Yilan Daxi's Honeymoon Bay, about an hour outside of Taipai, where I tried surfing for the first time!

After a beautiful day, & even a little rain, the beach became fairly silent.

The train ride back was fun, & we were able to meet some of the local surfers. I believe my buddy, Josh, still keeps in touch with them.

From time to time, the train would start pouring water from the air vent above; all of us got a little wet on the train ride home. However, despite the leaking roof, this guy was happy to put on a show for the whole train. Here's he's getting warmed up for his acrobatic debut.

After several times of these train talents, another guy from the train next to us had to come over & make an attempt of showing him up. He couldn't compete at the same level as you see here.

Changing of the guards at the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.

Josh lives right next to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. They're currently changing the name to the National Taiwan Democracy Hall.

Here's a view of the hall at night. They were doing some restorative work in the whole area while I was there.

National Concert Hall near the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall.

Behind The Concert Hall.

Viewing the The National Theater & The National Concert Hall.

Entrance of the National Taiwan Democracy Hall.

Same entrance, viewing the opposite direction.

On all sides of the National Concert Hall are beautifully landscaped areas.

The whole Memorial Hall area is surrounded by this long walkway wall. It separates the busy noise from of the city & allows a relaxing region inside this park. Some of the public want this wall removed because it reminds them of the past, when walls kept the common public out of closed areas.

A friendly, hungry bird I was able to capture with my camera.

A view of Taipai 101, the world's tallest building in three of the main four categories. It towers over Taipai!

While the camera doesn't do it's height justice, it's quite an industrial marvel.

Here's a view from the top of Taipai 101! Quite a polluted day, but you can gather how much taller this building is than anything else around it.

This is the dampening weight, tuned mass damper, allows the Taipai 101 to withstand earthquakes, typhoons or any other high wind storms that may attack it's integrity .

An Iris I found in the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall area.

Teaching

This year in Jeju-do was great! This island has a different look & feel than the mainland, & this is why I've decided to stay for one more year!

This posting is dedicated to the students I have taught this year. I took these photos about three months ago, & since then I have had many different classes & students. Unfortunately, many of the students don't like to have their pictures taken. So, I only have a fraction of the classes/students I would enjoy posting.

Adorable...

This is a video still; so it's not that clear. One of these days I'll post all the videos... The girls' team is praying for a good throw at the English board. They really want to beat the boys!

"Okay class, please listen to Zach Teacher. " To show respect, this is how I'm addressed, "Zach Teacher. "

"Yeah, whatever Zach Teacher!" Perhaps I'm interpreting this incorrectly. Maybe Eddie is really stating, "I thoroughly enjoy this particular English lesson & am greatly appreciative of your teachings today. I can't wait to study phonics & our grammatically simple, conversational sentences."

This is before they knew I had a camera.

This is after they learned of the camera.

Cindy, her English name, is focusing on an English assignment.

In this kindergarten class, one of the kids is caught in the act of digging for something.

This is what happens when you lose control of the class.

This is what happens when the class is motivated.

The peace sign will live on forever.

They seem to be more interested in writing my name on my water bottle.

As opposed to one of the earlier class photos, this class enjoyed their picture being taken.

Pencil cases are very popular, & I couldn't resist taking a picture of this one.

What?

Don't you dare point that thing at me young man!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why am I teaching again? Rough day...

Sure, I'm tired... Go ahead & play Heads Up Seven Up.

Paul is not usually this happy to study English.

I think I caught them doing something, but I'll never know.

An English motivational activity using dice.

I just enjoyed the expression on the right.

One of the middle school classes.

The students attend many private schools, so it's no wonder they become creative with their pencils. This is a fully functional mechanical pencil cleverly hidden in a glue case.

A snow day might disappoint one student.

Taekwondo is fairly popular here. The style & grace are brilliantly displayed on this tree which will then shower snow on the both of them.

The day is over, I can take off my indoor slippers & head home.

A view of the outdoors, taken from the hallway. It's time to go home!