I have just come to the end of my first three hour teaching session. I was a bit nervous before hand but I think it all went well. I think a key factor will be figuring out how to help students apply what I am speaking to them about.
Everyone is very kind and I am being overwhelmed with hospitality. I made the mistake of saying in NZ I usually drink about 10 cups of tea a day which is a slight exaggeration probably. Hopefully. Anyway every time I walk into the kitchen  someone asks me if I want a cup of tea! Or else they bring me one without  me asking.
My next challenge will be to wash my clothes without anyone taking over.
The place where I am staying now is about an hour and a half from where I usually stay. Traditionally it is an area where leather is manufactured. There are piles of leather scraps decomposing on the road sides. I have grave concerns about the water quality here. It very quickly turned my silver rings black. We only wash in the water and so far no-one's hair has fallen out so am not concerned for  myself but for the people who live long term here. They have an ingenious water filter system set up with sand, charcoal and bricks in a large bucket which takes out some of the nasties.
There is very loud music playing in the park 50m away next door. I was warned in this puja/worship season it would play loudly for long periods of time for most of the week.  A couple of times I have prayed for God to stop the music and it has stopped immediately. My good friend Dave from Hokitika told me to expect miracles. Fortunately the loud music  does not affect our teaching sessions.