CCSP Wedding

You may have heard rumors that birthdays at CCSP are a big deal. It’s true. We like to celebrate them with fun, at time ridiculous and always memorable parties. This week wasn’t actually anyone’s birthday, however, Sarah McCormack’s (Wheaton, ’11) birthday happened to fall on January 27^th which was the day that disappeared thanks to the international date line while she was traveling to New Zealand at the beginning of the semester. Obviously this is sad, so after biding their time and getting to know Sarah a little better our two Student Life Coordinators, Abe and Marcel threw a highly memorable surprise birthday party for her.

One unique thing about Sarah that we’ve learned over the past couple of weeks is that she LOVES weddings. So when Abe and Marcel announced that she would be having a birthday party with a WEDDING theme everyone, including Sarah, cheered.

The ladies spent about forty minutes in the study room upstairs crafting the most impressive newspaper wedding dress many of us have ever seen, complete with a newsprint veil and princess skirt.

The guys were given the task of procuring a groom. Thankfully, there was a handy CPR dummy who, after extensive decoration became one of the most creepy grooms in recent memory. He was christened “Hamish” and (with assistance from Lance), managed to make it all the way through a completely hilarious mock wedding ceremony. 

With Caleb playing the wedding march on our out-of-tune piano, Courtnay Wilson (The Director) officiating, Morgan acting as mother of the bride, Gellie sprinkling newsprint “flowers,” and Marcel as an encouraging groomsman, Hamish and Sarah were happily married in time for dessert. Fresh peaches and ice cream, or crushed TimTams and cream (for those who didn’t give up delectable chocolate cookies for Lent).

Amidst All This Stunning Marine Diversity...

Angelica (Gellie) Tambornino (Messiah '10) writes,

"Marine Ecology started on Monday with our professor, Dave Lundquist, who has lived here in Kaikoura for the last 2 years studying Dusky dolphins.  With no time to waste, we had a quick lecture on Monday morning and then headed out into the field (peninsula).  Dave split us into three groups and each of us were assigned a portion of the beach to observe and record.  Beginning our explorations at low tide made it easy to venture out pretty far and still be standing on dry rock, which we definitely took advantage of...  In addition to recording our initial observations, each group also had the task of finding a few limpets – snail-like creatures that don't move much – and marking them with a white-out pen on their shell and on the rock next to them.  This way we could return to the same limpets on subsequent days and see if they had moved at all. 

            Alas, our second trip on Tuesday, which was again at low tide, revealed no apparent limpet movement (at least in my group.  I think other groups had some more active limpets).  On this day we also had to start far out from the shore, placing a “quadrat” (aka a square of PVC piping) down every ten meters (that's about 33 feet for you USA'ans) and record what we saw inside of it.  Using our handy Kaikoura marine life identification guidebook, we recorded about 13 quadrats of intertidal marine life that you don't see upon first glance.  Each group saw different interesting things, including starfish, jellyfish, and hermit crabs. 

            Day three = snorkeling!  Although the day was overcast, we all geared up with wetsuits (or “ninja penguin” suits), snorkels and masks, and got ready to see some good ol' marine life in action.  Dave took us out to a small wharf, we buddied up, and dove right in (not literally).  Although the visibility in the water was pretty low, and we saw an awful lot of bull kelp, a few in our company caught glimpses of good stuff:  jellyfish, stingrays, paua, and a seal, to name a few. 

            On day four we returned to our beach sites to catch high tide...and catch it we did (although some would argue that the high tide really caught us).  We checked up on our limpets and were overjoyed to find that some had moved as much as .6 centimeters!  Amazing!  (Or you may find it more amazing that we could be so entertained by the barely-measurable movements of a few stubborn creatures).  A couple groups even had limpets that were completely gone, which was kind of sad since we didn't even get to say goodbye, but for scientific purposes it was interesting.  We also repeated the quadrat process to see what changed in our quadrats from low to high tide.  The water was about 3 feet deep, and some people wore wetsuits so they could observe the quadrats more closely.  As we went further away from shore, the waves brought immediate regret to those of us who had chosen to forego the wetsuits.  It became a ridiculous yet hilarious battle to stay standing, keep notebooks out of the water, and write down our observations all amidst the crashing waves.  But we stayed strong – all in the name of science, I suppose. 

            That night around 9pm, we went to the beach in the dark (with headlamps) to see what was different at night.  However, we were plagued by fierce winds and sideways rain, so if any living creatures had been unfortunate enough to be out in the open in such conditions, it would've surely gotten blown or rained away before we found it.  But we did happen upon some fish and crayfish carcasses, and at least 13 different varieties of seaweed...  

            Day five wrapped it up as we compiled everything we had learned into exams, journals, written reports and group presentations.  I think we all learned a lot from this jam-packed week, and it was nice to finish it off with some creative and entertaining presentations, which took the form of a few skits, a bit of improv, and a tv game-show.  Well done, fellow classmates. " 

Homestays - Kiwi Style

Homestay weekend through the eyes of Sandy and Morgan.

Morgan Lister (Messiah ’12) writes,

My homestay family was right next-door to the old convent, with Michael and Hilary.  They have two grandchildren living with them, Louie and Alice.  Louie is a very talkative three year old while Alice just turned one.  To be perfectly honest, I was quite nervous going into this experience because I’ve never actually done something like stay with complete strangers for the weekend.  But, this situation, I realized, was very good for trusting God.  I had to trust that He was with me and after I reminded myself about that, I was able to enjoy myself and open up to the family. I spent much of the weekend playing with Louie in the dirt pile in the backyard with his Tonka trucks, and reading the same book to Alice over and over again.  On Saturday, Hilary took me to see a plot of land that her daughter Bridget and her husband were planting flowers on, and getting ready to build a new house for their family.  She also took me to a remote sandy beach off of Beach Road where we walked along the water line and looked for interesting rocks and shells.  I only found one shell which surprised me, since the New Jersey beaches are full of shells.  I decided that this part of the beach would be good to go back to when I am in need of a time of relaxation and reflection.  Sunday was a full day with a service at the Angelican church (complete with a budget meeting as our sermon) and then back to the house to play for about five hours in the dirt with Louie.  Boy, that kid can talk and talk and talk.  One thing that I learned about Kiwis is, the food is really bland.  I missed Jess’s cooking so much this weekend as the food had really no spice to it at all.  We had green beans at every meal; a whole heaping.  I must have eaten four pounds of green beans.  But, other than the blandness, I could not complain about the cooking as it was very good.  I also realized that Kiwis drink so much tea.  We would have tea in the morning during breakfast, a mid-morning break with tea, tea with lunch, a mid-afternoon break with tea, and then tea after dinner.  That was a lot of tea!  Overall, I would have to say, living with a local New Zealand family was quite a new and exciting experience for me.

-Morgan

 

Sandy Dzielak (Messiah ’12) writes,

“Lance Clevinger and Sandra Dzielak (aka me, Sandy), went to the Kevin and Sandy Topp’s sheep farm for our home stay weekend. (Note there are two Sandy’s, Sandy Topp and me, and yes, it made for an interesting weekend when someone’s name was called) Kevin and Sandy live in the Puhi Puhi valley right between two gorgeous, towering mountains.  They have a variety of animals such as cows, working dogs, dogs as pets, cats, two wild boars, chickens, roosters, and of course sheep. 

As soon as Sandy picked Lance and I up from the Convent she was talking about all of the fun plans we could do for the weekend.  We divided up our chores, Lance was going to take care of the dogs and the puppy, and I was going to take care of the chooks (aka chickens). Not too long after we arrived we got ready for dinner and chatted up a storm during the meal.  We all ate way too much (at least I did) and we decided to play tennis before dessert.  I had heard from CCSP staff that Sandy can be pretty brutal playing tennis and will tease you if you mess up, but she really just remembered making fun of Abe and we laughed about that.  Sandy and Kevin have a great sense of humor and it made the weekend fun and light-hearted.  The next day Lance and I worked a lot with Kevin and the sheep.  We watched Kevin sheer the sheep and Lance and I went through the wool to pick out the dirt or short pieces and put them in one pile and the good long wool in another.  The stacks of wool were well over our heads but Lance and I tackled it by the afternoon. Oh and how could I forget, Lance and I also got to sheer a sheep!  And of course we have pictures to prove it!

After lunch Lance and I tagged along to gather up sheep, which actually took quite a while.  Kevin also brought a dog along, Sky, who is one of the working dogs and it was a really cool experience to watch Sky and Kevin work together to gather up the sheep.  It was also a lot of fun to watch the sheep scramble around. That evening we watched rugby, took a walk in the rain around the pond, gave Kevin and Sandy our home stay gifts and looked at family photos.  It was quite a long, but very fun day.

The next morning we all went to church together to the Anglican Church in Kaikoura. It was nice chatting with new Kiwi’s and experiencing the church for the first time.  After the service we went on a picnic and of course had fish and chips for lunch, the infamous Kiwi picnic meal and then took a long walk around the Peninsula.   It was quite a weekend, it was filled with a lot of long talks, both deep and silly, of course lots of laughs and a lot of new experiences. Lance and I both really enjoyed our weekend at the Topps and we look forward to visiting again soon.”

Photo Credit: Topps with Sandy & Lance – Sandy Dzielak

"Have You Heard This One?"

Sustainable Community Development is one of those classes that just might change your life. Class discussion and the insights of our excellent Kiwi professor Mick Duncan contributed towards making the class a highlight for both students and staff.

It’s not every class that you get to debate Pacifism and Just War with your peers, or put together dramatic presentations to illustrate different development models. Mick tells a lot of stories which tend to stick with you, and doesn’t hesitate to ask you to “talk to your neighbor,” i.e. the person sitting next to you, about your position on the relative importance of evangelism and social action. Altogether it was a thought-provoking week and one I’m sure will stick with us in the future.

A Weekend of Exploring

Everyone returned from student trip weekend with a story, some came home with a sunburn, photographs, and a few came home in need of a good night’s sleep.

Caleb, Alex, Lance and Scott all traveled up the coast and then inland to attempt to climb the highest peak outside of the Southern Alps on New Zealand’s South Island. They counted 120 river crossings on their way in to their campsite where they enjoyed a meal of easy-to-prepare-food-that-didn’t-sound-terribly-appetizing and a night of rest before their summit climb the next morning. Tapuae-o-Uenuku is a less technical climb despite it’s height, and the guys ended up having great weather for their climb. Thanks to topo-map reading skills and some ramen they were able to make it to the top from where they could actually see the North Island.

Sarah, Alyssa, Gellie, Morgan, Kelsey, and Sandy meanwhile were enjoying a weekend in Christchurch. They had some of photographs of good-looking pancakes when they came home, as well as stories of beach trips, Sunday services in the Cathedral and a hostel bunk room that was unfortunately located directly above a noisy hallway (hence the need for a good nights sleep upon their return).

And finally Jody spent some time with her brother and friends as they prepared for the “Coast to Coast” race, a multisport event in which racers run, bike, and kayak from one side of the South Island to the other.

Photo Credits:

Guys on the Mountain: Scott Markley

Ladies in Christchurch: Sandy Dzielak  

Orientation CCSP Style

Before one can start to feel at home in a new place and a new community there is a lot to learn, experience and discover. This is true for every student as they begin a new semester at CCSP.

To begin with most wonder, how does living in an Old Convent with 17 other people work? We do our best to answer this with explanations of everything from composting, bicycle tire changing, and recycling to our meals and chore rotations. Fact: Did you know that hot drinks are ALWAYS available? This includes fair trade coffee and teas, plus hot chocolate. We also begin to get to know each through a variety of community events throughout the week.

Most newcomers to CCSP also wonder, “How far away is the Kaikoura downtown?” “Is there an internet café within biking distance?” and “What is the mayor’s name?” These questions and more we attempt to answer by way of a fun filled afternoon scavenger hunt. Students came home with stories of kind strangers who fixed broken bicycle chains, the mayor’s name, and a wealth of knowledge about downtown Kaikoura.

On Sunday evening students and staff welcomed our friends and neighbors to the Old Convent for a barbeque dinner. Alex Gilbert (Point Loma ’12) and Scott Markley (Messiah ’12) put up a slack line in the backyard that turned out to be a big hit, and Jess (Kitchen Manager) made a banana cake and zucchini cake that words can’t really describe.

The rest of the week was full with orientation to various aspects of CCSP. In addition, we all traveled to Sawcut Gorge on Wednesday for an excellent day-hike, complete with swimming, picnic lunch, and more photo opportunities than you can possibly imagine, unless you happen to be Scott, Alyssa Kunkle (Messiah ’12), or Sandy Dzielak (Messiah ’12) all who happen to be avid photographers.

Which brings us to this weekend. All of the students are enjoying a weekend of exploring New Zealand a little more before classes start on Monday. Scott, Caleb King (Wheaton ’11), Alex, and Lance Clevinger (Wheaton ’11) all went tramping in the Inland Kaikoura Mountains. The rest of the crew traveled down to Christchurch where they intended to spend the weekend exploring the city.