Letter to Students 24 February 2008

Dear Reader

It is the eve of another week of work and study, and what a glorious day from which to launch our week.  What did you do this past weekend?  Han and I headed off on Friday night to Glenorchy, about forty kilometres along LakeWakatipu from Queenstown.  As we drove along the windy road, the surrounding mountains majestically towered over us, piercing the sky to teach us that our problems were very small.

As I write, Han is drifting off to sleep beside me, an indication that the weekend’s festivities have caught up with us.  One of our best friends celebrated her sixtieth birthday with an eclectic group of friends, and we were privileged to share this special party with our dear friend.  Our friend is a woman who proves that the power of positive thinking can bring our dreams to fruition.  She is a woman who brought up three children on her own, so money was always tight, but she managed to make ends meet by working as a primary school teacher.  However, the principal of her school was a bullying tyrant who continually eroded what little confidence she had.  At the height of the conflict with this bully, our friend decided that she was unsuitable to be a teacher, and decided to give up the job for which she had a passion, and work in a supermarket.  It was at this time that, through some self reflection and help with a good friend, she identified what she really wanted to do, and came to the realization that there was more to her life than the narrow marginalized strip along which she was walking.  Her dream of having a log cabin built, which had for so long lain languishing, was resurrected, and her passion for teaching was reignited.  Within a year, she was the principal of a successful school, and two years later was having her own house built.  She couldn’t afford her log cabin, but she now has a brand new home which overlooks the lake and mountains beyond.  What an amazing achievement, and is wonderful testimony to the power of creative visualization.  It has been a rocky road for her, but through each step she has become stronger, and she is the most confident she has ever been.  It certainly was an evening of celebration on Saturday night! However the festivities on Friday night, when we cracked open a bottle of gin, as is our ritual when we meet.  There was so much to catch up on, and we talked into the small hours of the night. 

Although we polished off the bottle of gin between seven of us, Han and I awoke early to go for a glorious early morning run along the boardwalk, a series of wooden planks which enabled us to navigate the wetlands.  The lake was as still as a millpond, and the reflections of the mountains in the still water made me stop and drink in the awe inspiring scene.  Awesome seems an inadequate description, and I wish I had taken my camera.  It is true that a picture says a thousand words, although some gifted writers can allow you to capture the scene in your mind’s eye.  I wish I had that creative talent, but I have to be contented with using the inadequate string of words in my limited brain!  Are you good with words?

As I write, I am watching a reenactment of the Bali bombings which robbed so many young people of their precious lives.  People from twenty two countries lost their lives, and forty four of over two hundred people were from Australia.  Three were from New Zealand, and one young Kiwi man was the brother in law of a friend of mine.  In New Zealand, we seem to all be related in some way! There is a saying that there is only six degrees of separation between everyone in the world!  Although the bombing was a tragedy which affected the lives of so many, there was a miraculous story of sisters who had gone to Bali on their first holiday since the older sister’s husband had died four years earlier.  Both were caught in the fire, and although they were burnt in the fierce flames, they were reunited through their father’s efforts.  We will never know why some people live and others die.  This is the biggest riddle in life, isn’t it?

Tomorrow, we begin the TESOL course, and I am really looking forward to helping others achieve their dreams.  I had better get to bed now or I won’t be good for anything!

I hope you had a good night’s sleep, feel rested, and are looking forward to a successful week ahead.  Please write back to me, and share your thoughts and dreams.

PS

It is now Monday morning, and I have just done the vacuuming of the school.  I love to water the plants, and make sure all is in order at the start of a busy week.  Like Han, I begin from the outer perimeters and work in, so I sat down at my computer in my office after completing my other tasks. 

Wasn’t the weather amazing yesterday?  On our return from Glenorchy with bags of delicious Central Otago fruit which we bought at a roadside stall, we greeted our children and sat out in the sun with a bubbly.  We drank not only our wine but also drank in the view of the harbour which glistened in the sunlight.  People were swimming in the harbour and I felt so blessed.  Han and the children went down to the vegetable garden and picked about forty kilos of different coloured beans which were ready, so my job tonight is to blanch and freeze them for the winter.  Do you like gardening and preparing food?  I love squirreling away food, and like squirrels, I need that feeling of security that food is always available!

I am now away to catch up on my emails, and pick up the mail.  Another glorious sunny day awaits us, so let’s make the most of it!

Love

Sharron