Quinn had also expressed a desire to play chess on the giant chessboard in Cathedral Square. These two activites were the highlight of this last week. Quinn was particularly thrilled with a chess game that he and Mark played during our last Sunday morning. A local chess shark engaged the two of them in a rousing game. After an attempt at a gambit that would end the game early (he had underestimated our abilities), we proceeded to play a drawn out two hour game that came down to an end game of pawns. A clever combinations of moves by Quinn led to a checkmate that drew clapping from the dozens of spectators that had gathered. The thrill of this very public engagement indicates this will not be the last game he plays.

During this time we have all expressed regret at having to leave behind the places and people for whom we have develope a great fondness. This has been a difficult time for all of us primarily because of the personal connections we have all made. But in this meloncholy we have come to appreciate how fortunate we have been to spend time in this place with these people.

In departing let us leave with a few wee tales and observations of our time in the land of the long white cloud.

So it came to pass that the father desired cheese. Not the bland, jejune, budget variety available at the local convienence store, but a rich, nutty, quality fare. What better place to purchase a cheese of reknown than from the local cheesemonger in the Saturday market. Said craftsman had cart replete with dozens of cheeses ranging from soft ripe brie to crumbly and unripened Wensleydales.Wheels, bricks, and giant slabs ranging from golden brown to milky white.
On this particular Saturday, said father approached our intrepid merchant to purchase his comestible wares. Without warning the crowd ringing this merchant suddenly dispersed and there only one remained in the que. The wrapping paper was torn, scale was readied, and the sampling commenced. A lovely variety thusly selected, all that remained was to request an amount. The words "half a pound" had already been conjured and sent to the lips when they were interecepted by the metric monitoring subroutine of halving. How gauche to request a colonial quantity when the amount could be smoothly converted into metric on the fly. So in that fleeting instant, "half a pound" was converted to "500 kilograms".
Oh that we could show you the proud look on the face of this craftsman of cream: or was it amusement? It only took only a few flushed heartbeats to allow a more thorough calculation and realization that aproximately a half a ton of cheese had just been requested. The merchant was mercifully good-natured. For his part the consumer, dairy desires now sufficuenly sated, shares his tale of self deprecation in the hopes that it will serve as a monition of the dangers of impetuous metric conversion.

Education. We did not visit an exhaustive number of schools in New Zealand. We did however visit with quite a few teachers and we spend a huge percentage of our time volunteering at Discovery 1. Based on my (Mark) observations, I have come to believe that there is a more ubiquitous recognition of the process of learning in NZ than is manifest in the states. The techniques that teachers used in the classrooms and the language that they use with me indicated a committment to active engagement on the part of the students that was more prevelant than generally witnessed in the public school classrooms in America. The use of technological tools to foster this learning was also less conntrived and a more natural extension of the other available learning tools.

In many respects I beleive that the goals of the two systems are very similar, however, it was obvious that there there are differences in prioritization. This is not the place for an animadversion on the US system of teaching and testing. However, I will note that based on my limited sample, students were at least intellectually and academically well prepared, and they appeared to be less stressed. There is something to be said for this tea time that allows teachers and students to take a mid morning break. Where I feel that the disctinction between a coffee and tea based social pause is a metaphor for the nature of our two different social approaches, I will save this reflection for a later time.

This is a magnificent country of natural wonders. While man has despoiled and deflied parts of it, your ethic of protecting your resources and keeping your country Nuclear free are to be commended. We encourage you to reject the seeming short-term benefits of introducing GMOs into your ecosystem. Do not compromise you principles for the sake of a few dollars. It has been your physical and therefore genetic isolation that has led to much of what is unique and irreplaceable about NZ.

And finally some suggestions for those Kiwis is seats of great power who might spend their tea time traipsing through these pages.

Since a 120% (note that this figure has been metrically converted) of the human body is water, it is very useful to replentish this liquid frequently. Thererfore a few more judiciously placed drinking fountains (bubblers) would be a welcome addition.

Ice. We were surprised by a relative lack of ice for water or other sorts of beverages. While recognizing the environmental cost of such referigeration, maybe a wee bit more in the way of cubes would be well appreciated.

While I narry had problems with staying left on the road, finding my way through cities was a at times a Maro Poloean efffort.