Kei te pehea koe?
Door: Pieternel
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Pieternel
20 Mei 2008 | Nieuw Zeeland, Christchurch
Ko Vaalserberg te maunga.
Ko Swalm te awa.
No ngati Horana au.
Ko Ton toku matua.
Ko Neelke toku whaea.
Ko Pieternel toku ingoa.
Kia ora!
Kei te pehea koe? Kei te pai au me kei te matemoe au.
Right, I bet you’re wondering what all of the above is??!! Well, I have started Maori language and culture classes last week. I had wanted to do this when I first arrived in New Zealand, but got caught up with the typical New Zealand dance called salsa at that stage.... So, I decided to let the salsa be for now and take up Maori classes at the local high school. Every Tuesday I am back in the classroom, a marae classroom in this case, which is the Maori meeting house. A lovely Maori lady is teaching us and it is very interesting and nice to gain a bit more insight into the culture, language and how to pronounce it all. Many New Zealand towns and cities have Maori names and it’s pretty cool to find out what they actually stand for.
When a Maori person starts a speech, they first have to introduce themselves and that is what I did at the top. They are strongly committed to their ancestors, iwi (tribe) and each iwi has its own mountain and river/sea or lake. I’ll quickly translate it:
Vaalserberg is my mountain (With no other options really...haha)
Swalm is my river
The Dutch are my people
Ton is my father
Neelke is my mother
My name is Pieternel
Welcome!
How are you? I am fine and I am tired.
Pretty cool ey!!! I really enjoy the classes!
Now that we’re talking Maori anyways, I might as well tell you the news of my 23rd birthday present. As a present, Rachel, my colleague, had given me a voucher to get a tattoo as a souvenir of NZ. After lots of doubt and drawing on my foot I decided on where I wanted it to be and what it was gonna be. So last Saturday Ange, Ayaka, Rach and I went out for brunch (although I found it quite hard to eat) and at 11.30 it was time for me to take a deep breath and enter the tattoo shop on Colombo Street. We were in there for about 30 minutes, and the actual tattooing only took 10 minutes or so. Surprisingly, it did not hurt at all!! A few times it sorta gave an annoying feeling, but couldn’t call it real pain! So that was all good!! Not having people draw random stuff on me, of course, so I’ll quickly explain what it stands for: the turtle is the Maori/Polynesian symbol for ‘navigator’, which I thought fits well with my travel-filled life. The shell/shield is made up of a Koru, which is the Maori word for the beginning of a fern leaf (see pic) and stands for life, strength and peace. According to my colleagues a turtle is Australian, so it also adds that big love to it. Haha! Could mention some more, but also don’t want a ‘meanings overdose’!
Anyways, that will be all for now!
Ka kite ano me po marie! (See ya later and good night!)
Arohanui,
Pep
Ko Swalm te awa.
No ngati Horana au.
Ko Ton toku matua.
Ko Neelke toku whaea.
Ko Pieternel toku ingoa.
Kia ora!
Kei te pehea koe? Kei te pai au me kei te matemoe au.
Right, I bet you’re wondering what all of the above is??!! Well, I have started Maori language and culture classes last week. I had wanted to do this when I first arrived in New Zealand, but got caught up with the typical New Zealand dance called salsa at that stage.... So, I decided to let the salsa be for now and take up Maori classes at the local high school. Every Tuesday I am back in the classroom, a marae classroom in this case, which is the Maori meeting house. A lovely Maori lady is teaching us and it is very interesting and nice to gain a bit more insight into the culture, language and how to pronounce it all. Many New Zealand towns and cities have Maori names and it’s pretty cool to find out what they actually stand for.
When a Maori person starts a speech, they first have to introduce themselves and that is what I did at the top. They are strongly committed to their ancestors, iwi (tribe) and each iwi has its own mountain and river/sea or lake. I’ll quickly translate it:
Vaalserberg is my mountain (With no other options really...haha)
Swalm is my river
The Dutch are my people
Ton is my father
Neelke is my mother
My name is Pieternel
Welcome!
How are you? I am fine and I am tired.
Pretty cool ey!!! I really enjoy the classes!
Now that we’re talking Maori anyways, I might as well tell you the news of my 23rd birthday present. As a present, Rachel, my colleague, had given me a voucher to get a tattoo as a souvenir of NZ. After lots of doubt and drawing on my foot I decided on where I wanted it to be and what it was gonna be. So last Saturday Ange, Ayaka, Rach and I went out for brunch (although I found it quite hard to eat) and at 11.30 it was time for me to take a deep breath and enter the tattoo shop on Colombo Street. We were in there for about 30 minutes, and the actual tattooing only took 10 minutes or so. Surprisingly, it did not hurt at all!! A few times it sorta gave an annoying feeling, but couldn’t call it real pain! So that was all good!! Not having people draw random stuff on me, of course, so I’ll quickly explain what it stands for: the turtle is the Maori/Polynesian symbol for ‘navigator’, which I thought fits well with my travel-filled life. The shell/shield is made up of a Koru, which is the Maori word for the beginning of a fern leaf (see pic) and stands for life, strength and peace. According to my colleagues a turtle is Australian, so it also adds that big love to it. Haha! Could mention some more, but also don’t want a ‘meanings overdose’!
Anyways, that will be all for now!
Ka kite ano me po marie! (See ya later and good night!)
Arohanui,
Pep
-
20 Mei 2008 - 14:47
Malou:
Kiora! Wat leuk dat je maori aan het leren bent! Echt gaaf! En die tattoo past echt helemaal bij je! Xx -
20 Mei 2008 - 14:48
Malou:
Kiora! Wat leuk dat je maori aan het leren bent! Echt gaaf! En die tattoo past echt helemaal bij je! Xx -
20 Mei 2008 - 16:05
Esther:
Doen ze daar niet aan stiefmoeders? Man, het lijkt wel of je niet een, maar al vele lessen gehad hebt. Eens kijken of je hier iets mee kunt (niet spieken in een boek dat je gelezen hebt!):
Pas op voor: Ponaturi.
Op je voet heb je geen tukutuku.
Kia ora en arohanui!!! -
20 Mei 2008 - 23:25
Lou:
Ko Caselse Berg te maunga.
Ko Maas te awa.
No ngati Horana au.
Ko Jos toku matua.
Ko Mia toku whaea.
Ko Malou toku ingoa.
Kia ora!
Yeej, ik kan ook Maori :) Super leuk dat je die lessen volgt! Kun je mij de uitspraak ook een beetje bijbrengen voordat ik naar NZ vertrek :D Ik heb het al vaak gezegd, maar die tattoo is echt heel erg mooi! We spreken elkaar snel! Kus! -
21 Mei 2008 - 17:41
Chantal:
Nou Pieternel, eindelijk dan ziet er toppie uit hoor!!!!
Veel plezier daar nog in nz en hoop je snel weer te zien met mooie verhalen.
Groetjes Chantal -
23 Mei 2008 - 14:31
Joyce:
Maori!!! Verbreed je talenkennis in de meeste breede manier hahaha
Super vet joh! En dan ook nog een vette tattoo op je voet! goed bezig hoor meis!!
xxx -
31 Mei 2008 - 18:09
Leo:
Jeetje!.... Dat jij dat durft! :-) Ik vind m mooi. Maar dat had ik al gezegd he!
Ik zit aan de rand van het Titicacameer te wachten totdat mijn bus de grens van Bolivia over wil... Jammer dat je niet even online bent om te kletsen!... kussie zussie -
03 Juni 2008 - 19:47
Rob:
Sexy hoor zon tattoo....
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