Letter to Students 20 April 2008

Dear Reader

It is Sunday night, and I am so pleased to be writing to you after a two week break.  Last week, I had spent three days away from home, as I had to go to the New Zealand Sister City Conference in Rotorua, so when I returned home on Saturday night, I thought it was important to spend that evening and all the next day with Han and the children.  My family is my highest priority, and I never take my family for granted.  What is your highest priority?  I have always loved travelling, and for most of my university life, studying and travelling took equal pegging as my highest priorities.  However, when I met Han and his four children eighteen years ago, Han and I decided to make our home in Portobello our base, and as Han often says, he took my rollerskates away!

Although Han prefers staying at home to going abroad, we are finally going to Europe together for a month at the end of May.  The reason for this is that our second son is getting married just outside London, and we are going to celebrate this special day with our oldest son and his partner.  We are so sorry our other five children can not be with us, but we haven’t won Lotto yet, and can’t afford to take them all.  However, the most important thing is for Han to return to his homeland, to Holland where he grew up but left when he was nine years of age.  He has never been back, so this trip will be very special for him especially returning with his oldest son.  Being from a large peasant family, there are seventy four first cousins he has to meet.  It will be a wonderful reunion, although Han is feeling very nervous as he is the oldest son.  His Dutch is a little rusty as he only speaks Dutch with his mother, on occasion, but I know he will quickly get into the groove of speaking Dutch once he is there.  Our language really defines us as a person, and although Han speaks English with no Dutch accent, he speaks his native language, but with the old forms which they used in his village fifty years ago.  As I write this letter, I am watching a French television programme, which is subtitled in English, and I love listening to other languages.  What languages do you speak?  The only language I speak reasonably well now is Japanese, although I can understand bits of other languages.  I wish I had time to learn lots of languages!! Oh, if only I had more time, I would do so much!  I would love to have the time to write, and to study more.  It will happen one day!  What would you love to do if you had more time?

Wasn’t today a beautiful day?  We got up really early, and after a hurried breakfast, headed off to Timaru to watch our fifteen year old son play in the South Island regional basketball tournament. The scenery was spectacular, and the sun glistened on the sea.  We loved watching our son play for Otago, and although they lost one of the two games, the team played their heart out, and what more can you expect of a team? In between games, we headed off to a café which overlooked CarolineBay, and had a coffee outside in the sun.  Memories flooded back of Christmas time in my childhood when my parents used to take us to Timaru to play in the amusement park at CarolineBay.  I still vividly remember the first pair of jeans I was given, and a trendy green and white striped pirate shirt I wore.  I felt so cool in it, and wish I still had that outfit. I feel quite nostalgic as I write, knowing my father is no longer with me and he was so much a part of making my childhood so happy.  Apparently Timaru was the hottest place to be yesterday, and we had a leisurely lunch with the sun warming our backs.  I felt like I was really on holiday.  I t is important to make the most of these moments!

 Yesterday was also a special day, as my seventeen year old daughter and I presented a speech at the national AFS conference on Saturday morning.  We were asked to speak as I had been selected to go on the AFS programme to the United States when I was seventeen years old, and thirty four years later, my daughter was selected to go to Japan.  Shahan’s scholarship involved a more rigorous selection process, but we both learnt a lot from our time away.  AFS was conceived by some return soldiers from the Second World War who had made friends with Japanese servicemen after the war had ended.  Through their friendship they realized that, if young people could live in other countries and develop friendships, how could they ever go to war against each other?  It is a wonderful question to ponder. I really loved working with my daughter, and although a little worried about how to approach the delivery of the speech, it was “right on the night,” as they say.

My youngest daughter, Shahan and I, are also committee members of the Dunedin Otaru Sister City Society, and both of us are presidents at the moment.  Shahan’s youth committee organized a quiz night at our school on Friday night, and it was a lot of fun.  Have you ever been to a quiz night?  There were a lot of interesting questions, and our team came last!  We lost badly in the entertainment section but nailed the Japan section!!

On Saturday night, all the family came out to celebrate my thirty four year old son’s birthday and my birthday as well.  I made a big Japanese curry, which we had with rice, and I had baked lots of bread which we had with cheese and good olive oil as we sat around and chatted.  It was a cold evening, and I loved sitting around with the fires on, talking and playing with the grandchildren. 

Don’t you think that birthdays are a special event?  I love making birthdays special for others, but I was blown away when so much fuss was lavished on me on Friday.  I was speechless when I saw the big cake, the glorious flowers, and all the students and teachers waiting with big smiles.  I felt so truly blessed.  I don’t take my wonderful life for granted. 

Hasn’t the weather been changeable the last week or so?  Last Sunday, after returning from Rotorua, it was a stunningly beautiful day, and after dropping off our sponsored son Abilio in town, we returned to have a cuppa in the sun with our daughter and family before returning home to do some gardening.  My daughter, Nicky, has a two week old son called Jade, who was born four weeks early by Caesarian section.  It was such a shock as Nicky and Colin do everything the natural way, and had had their first daughter at home, a natural childbirth.  Unfortunately, this next baby was not able to be delivered naturally, but we are lucky to have an excellent hospital service, and wee Jade was born healthy, though small.  It was a stressful first couple of weeks, but Jade seems to be out of the woods now, and Nicky and Colin can relax a little more, and enjoy their treasure.

I have so much more to tell you, but will write again soon.  I have only had a few hours sleep over the past two weeks, and need to get to bed a little earlier tonight.  We were very late last night with my birthday party, and with getting up at the crack of dawn, I am in sleep deficit at the moment.  Last week at the conference, I lived on very little sleep, and it catches up with you eventually!  Do you have much sleep each night?  People operate on different hours of sleep, and I am lucky I don’t need too much.  Unfortunately, I have had two teachers off work sick, and I feel so sorry for them.  Fortunately, it gives me a chance to work with different students, and this is wonderful as I love teaching so much.

I hope you have a wonderful week, and remember that Anzac Day is on Friday, so it is a short week.  Will you do anything over the long weekend?  It is school holidays, but we will potter at home, and enjoy each other’s company.  Whatever you do, enjoy each day, as we don’t know which day will be our last.  I am very conscious of the fragility of our lives, and want to make sure that we all make the most of each day. The funerals for the six talented students and their amazing teacher, who lost their lives in the canyoning accident last week, are being held at the moment. Did you read the story in the newspaper last week?  It is a timely reminder that we are mere mortals whose lives hang on a tenuous thread.  Live well.

Love

Sharron