Monday, Sept 1st – Sunday, September 7th

In addition to my two days at Kaka Street Special School this week, I spent this Tuesday traveling with their itinerant special ed teacher. She serves students out in the regular ed schools. She currently has three students, all at Tahatai Coast School. Tahatai Coast is a year 1 – year 8 school and is located just south of Mount Maunganui in Papamoa. Papamoa is another “suburb” of Tauranga, and like many other small towns in the area, has melded into the city, it’s boundaries indistinguishable.

It was an interesting day, observing the three students, their numerous aides, and their regular ed teachers and classmates. I haven’t spent much time around younger kids recently and continue to be amazed by them. Adding to my awe was the 10:00 assembly where the recently crowned “Best Kiwi Boy Band” performed. If somehow you haven’t heard of them, they are a group of students of Tahatai Coast School who won NZ Nickelodeon’s Best Kiwi Boy Band Challenge, performing a song they had written themselves. On Thursday they were going to Auckland to record it and film a music video. The young men displayed quite a bit of stage presence, which can be tough when you are barely three inches taller than your electric guitars.

In addition to collecting Kiwi boy band hits, Cory and I have been sampling other local music. He’s been picking the brains of co-workers and I’ve been reading newspaper reviews and scouring the library. We also bought a compilation of local bands that had some good songs. We’ll keep you posted, but so far we’ve become fans of the Black Seeds and Evermore.

We have not, as so many Kiwis apparently have, become fans of Phil Collins. I was surprised to find that the music we listen to on the radio in Iowa sounds a lot like the music we listen to on the radio in New Zealand. There is however, on many stations, a scattering from across several decades, as opposed to a “Top 40s” station. Which means we get to hear a lot of older favorites that wouldn’t get much radio play in the US, unless on a themed station (ie, hits from the 80s, etc). It also means you get to hear some older not-so-favorites. While Phil Collins has his place in music history (you are singing Pseu-Pseu-Pseudeo to yourself right now), it is a small place. However, apparently in New Zealand, the guy is big time. Frightening.

Kylie Minogue has also apparently deigned to cross “the ditch” for the first time ever and folks here are thrilled. I was appalled she’d not been able to make it here before, being from Australia, but no one else is as vindictive as I. That or they are just blinded by their Kylie-lust, which has clearly not affected me...yet.