Week 1

Newton’s Third Law: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This week has been a lot about exchange—I have exchanged landscapes, language, ideas, thoughts, and items. And like Newton’s First law, “Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it,” I intend to continue this cultural exchange until some force makes me stop.
The second that I boarded the plane in Philadelphia, I exchanged a dull gray, flat winter’s landscape for the pursuit of breathtaking summer beaches with clear blue-green water. I have exchanged the dormant deciduous trees for the enormous kauri trees. I exchanged words, no just hellos and goodbyes, but also words for simple things like “wai” for water, “awa” for river, “papa” for plain, or “tomo” for hole. I’ve exchanged items in my suitcase for whirl-paks of New Zealand sediment and an assortment of molluscs. I have exchanged bumper-to-bumper traffic interstates and intersections for 2-lane country roads dotted with rotaries. I have exchanged American money for Kiwi dollars and coins. I have exchanged countless handshakes, laughs, and friendly smiles. The list goes on and on…
And for all you readers near and far, I want this exchange to continue for you, too. Provided here is the Maori story for the Creation of the world: http://history-nz.org/maori9.html (it’s the 3rd story if you scroll down, although the other stories are interesting as well!). I had the privilege of meeting Tane Mahuta. A few additional facts about him that the story doesn’t go into detail about: He is 51 metres (169 feet) tall, has a girth of 13.8 metres (45 feet), and is estimated to be between 1250 and 2500 years old. Have you figured out what he is?? Tane Mahuta is the largest Kauri tree known standing today. If you guessed correctly, congrats!
Awaiting the exchanges of next week,
Cheers,
Liv