We were bombarded when we got to school this morning! The kids were all so happy and bubbling with news of their weekend. Many of them went by boat to another island with some staying on their boat. Julia and Gabby went whale watching and saw about 12 of them! Their photos are amazing!
They all had a lovely weekend with the families all doing something special with them. Quite a few went to the Blue River which is apparently beautiful and each year we have some of our kids taken there.
At 7.45 we headed into town to the Hotel de Ville, or Council building to begin our civic reception.
They always make it a special time for us and it is obvious that they put great store by our cultural exchange. There were a few speeches and then a Powerpoint delivered on the city of Noumea and the work of the Council here. They give a substantial amount of funding to schools participating in international cultural exchanges.
We then left the council chamber and went upstairs where we performed for them and were given breakfast - not a kiwi breakfast, but pastries and croissants!
The boys into it!
Receiving their goodie bags
Group photo with billets
The kids were all given a goodie bag from the city to welcome us here and then we were off to Daniel Talon.
We then went into the various classrooms, except for the new entrants as they have no English yet.
Their kids are so fascinated by ours, especially those with blond hair or long straight hair because it is so different from theirs! Our kids were split into small groups and spent the rest of the day doing various art activities or joined a sport class. Bill soon had those kids doing netball drills with a couple of balls he brought over. They have no concept of netball but loved the games they played to the point where the teachers were happy to have their groups all join Bill's one!
Bougna
The kids all had lunch in their school canteen, which they all liked - chicken and rice and fruit to follow. We ate with the teachers and started with Tahitienne salad, then Bougna as the main course. This is the kanak version of a hangi. The meat, vegetables and coconut milk are wrapt in banana leaves before being steamed underground. We are always touched at the effort the teachers go to when we visit.
Craft activities after lunch
Towards the end of our visit we went outside under some shade (it was 29deg!), and our boys taught their's the haka and our girls taught a big group of girls our Tuwharetoa waiata. It sounded so good and they picked it up really quickly. Their boys are so into the haka and know of our All Blacks. At the moment there are many ex All Blacks here for the Classic Tournment. Jonty got autographs from all the ex All Blacks who were staying where he was yesterday - he thought that very cool! Someone else stayed where the Fijian team was also.
After we'd taught our haka and waiata, they taught us a traditional dance from the island of Wallis, a french island to the north of New Caledonia. There was a young boy leading them who was awesome.
Teaching us a Wallisian dance
Below are some photos of the school playground. Most of it is in gravel. They sure must go through some plasters in the sick bay with kids falling over when they're running around!
This is the soccer field! It was surprisingly green compared to what it normally looks like. It's usually a dust bowl filled with potholes!
There is a tar-sealed basketball court to the left and the building on the right is the school cantine where they all eat their hot lunch each day.
Peeping through the bush surrounding the school could be seen 'huts' like this built out of corrugated iron and anything else that could be found to shape some sort of structure as a home - with dirt floors, and a number of kids from Daniel Talon live in conditions like this. Jed found it hard to understand why they'd have a satellite dish on the top of a shack like this! Seeing these homes was certainly food for thought for our kids.
Our kids were a bit overwhelmed when we departed! Daniel Talon all gathered on the school balcony and along the front fence to say goodbye to us and the noise was deafening! Bill told our kids that it may well be the only time in their lives that they will be treated like movie stars!
All in all it was a fabulous day and the real sharing of our cultures makes our visit here very special.
Tomorrow brings a morning of classes at Jean Mariotti and then some orienteering at Le Parc Forestier!
Au revoir from the travelling TIS crew!
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