Haere rā

Time sure does fly! And what better way to end the semester than with lots of celebrating?!

After returning from the West Coast, we celebrated Thanksgiving like the big happy family we've all become. Everyone contributed their favorite Thanksgiving dish to the feast. Emma (Staff) made her first Thanksgiving turkey! And Jacob's (Messiah) homemade strawberry ice cream, with strawberries straight from the garden, stole the show.

Top Left: Emma (Staff) our wonderful kitchen manager put on a great Thanksgiving feast!
Top Right: Everyone is seated and ready to eat!
Bottom Left: Toni (Westmont) is about to enjoy Jacob's amazing strawberry ice cream.
Bottom Right: You better believe we had plenty of leftovers!

For our final homemaking session of the year, Emma taught everyone how to concoct their own herbal remedies. We made lip balm, tooth whitener, massage creams, and body butters. Most of the ingredients came from our garden.

Emma teaches everyone to make herbal remedies.

Up on the housetop reindeer pause. Out jumps good old Santa Claus! Oh, the Christmas joys!

While sipping some peppermint hot chocolate and decorating christmas cookies, we pulled everyone out one by one for a special surprise in the other room: a visit from Santa! Pay no attention to the resemblance Santa has to Lisa Bond. We gathered together to see everyone's photo on Santa's lap and sang the 12 Kiwi Days of Christmas. It was just what we all needed to get into the holiday spirit!

Everyone got a chance to tell Santa what they want for Christmas. The elves sure have some work to do, arranging all of the pony deliveries that were requested!

 During debrief week we spent time remembering, reflecting, and thinking about returning home. We shared fond memories, had a "white possum" gift exchange, made timelines for the semester, and much more! It was great to have these special times together to begin the process of saying our goodbyes.

As part of our "reflecting" session, we mapped out the many memories of the semester on a timeline.

Tuesday, we went to Sawcut Gorge for one of the best hikes of the semester! We walked along the river to the gorge, splashed around in the water, and even saw a few eels!

Everyone had a great day on our hike to Sawcut Gorge.

 A night of celebration was our grand finale to the Fall 2012 semester. We headed to the beach for fish and chips and one last opportunity to soak in the beauty of Kaikoura's coast. Once we returned, we began "Celebration". Everyone came ready with a gift to share with the group. We shared photos, songs, videos, and special handmade gifts with one another. After sharing Communion with one another, we watched a semester slideshow and concluded the evening.

As part of Celebration, SLCs Caleb and Kristen arranged some memorable items specific to the semester in the classroom. The Amish ice cream maker, bicycle helmet, Rummikub, research nets, wool sweater, and Minties all scream, "CCSP NZ FALL 2012!"

After Celebration we stayed up late playing Celebrity and sharing photos. The next morning, with everyone packed and ready to go, we headed to the Christchurch airport to send everyone off . We hope nobody had to embark on an "unexpected journey" aboard Air New Zealand on their way home!

Photo from http://www.tntmagazine.com/news/weird/video-air-new-zealands-hobbit-safety-video-goes-viral

We hope you enjoyed your hobbit themed safety videos and had a safe journey back to your families!

It has been a wonderful past few months getting to know all of the students here and we will all look back on the Fall 2012 semester with fond memories. It has been a blessing to live in community with all of you! We wish you the best as you finish off your college careers and start your next adventures.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever he may send you;

May he guide you through the wilderness, protect you in the storm;

May he bring you home rejoicing at the wonders he has shown you;

May he bring you home rejoicing, once again, into our doors.