One-Hour Layover – Fiji

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I’m sitting in the lounge at some airport in Fiji.  It was an interesting place with lots of shops and comfortable furniture.  The scenery out the windows indicated a magnificently beautiful island.

I’m on a one-hour layover in Fiji.  I didn’t even know we would be stopping here.  It is just dawn, and the main impression I’ve gotten about this exotic island is when we disembarked the plane onto an outdoor walkway, the sounds of birds were louder than the jet, whose engines were still wining.  It’s been 11 hours already, since I left Los Angeles, and that was a five hour flight from Washington, which was 35 minutes from Richmond.  It makes me tired.

It was a very good day at the Maggie Walker School.  Patti Chapel, their tech coordinator, did a fabulous  job of bringing people in from the area to do presentations on GIS, podcasting, using Excel to process data, and others.  Several were presenters that I know of, and I would love to have been able to attend some of those presentations.  Alas, I had to do my gig, and then hit the road.  Seems like weeks ago, but it was just yesterday.  Or was it two days ago.  This date line truly confuses me.

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I’m now in the Auckland airport, and I’ve put in my cholesterol walk for the day.  It’s another 45 minutes before they let us in to board, what’s sure to be a very small plane to Rotorua.  I’m glad that I decided not to drive, though.  The steering wheel is in the wrong place.  It would be awkward for me to drive, having to reach all the  way over to the other side of the car to tend the steering wheel.

So, sitting here, after a sausage and egg sandwich (delicious), I decided to thumb through a magazine that was handed to us as we disembarked the 777 from Los Angeles (by way of Fiji).  The magazine is called Arrival: A Guide to New Zealand.  It is mostly descriptions of the tourist centers of the country, including a lot of references to Maori Culture, wine making, water sports,  and a lot of fun having to do with rocks. Then I ran across this article called Wanted: Skilled Migrants.  It opens with…

Many industries within New Zealand say that one of the most significant factors holding them back from achieving growth is the lack of qualified staff.

All indications are that this is a country on the move, trying to find its place and to make its contributions to the 21st century.  Here are the professions they are especially keen to attract:

  • Engineering
  • Teaching
  • Biotechnology
  • Construction
  • Creative Arts
  • Healthcare
  • Information Technology
  • Banking & Finance

Something to think about.

8 thoughts on “One-Hour Layover – Fiji”

  1. David – welcome to NZ. Our 90 min session on classblogmeister gave teachers a nice taste of what we have been doing with your superb tool.

    There are now about 30 new blogmeister blogs for the kiwi kids to start their blogging and podcasting experiences.

    Looking forward to catching up with you.

    Tom

  2. For all those teachers looking for adventure and great pace of life, you can’t do much better than New Zealand. Truly one of the most beautiful countries I’ve been too. If they really are looking for teachers as Dave says, then it’s a place to go. Bluest skies I’ve seen.

  3. Dear David, Just completed comparable itinerary, stopped in Hawaii at International Pacific Marine Educators Conference in Hawaii (moved from Fiji after the coup, attended by educators from the small island nations of the Pacific) to demonstrate on-line interactive educational events program linking scientists and experts in the field with secondary school classrooms worldwide. The World Ocean Observatory (see http://www.thew2o.net) is a web-based place of exchange about the ocean defined as “an integrated global social system,” transcending species and habitat to relate the ocean to fresh water, climate, energy, food, public health, trade, transportation, finance, governance, culture and community development. Site contains key links on the physical and cultural ocean, a daily posted ocean news service, monthly letter on ocean issues, and a large compendium of on-line resources organized by them for secondary school teachers.

    Using an interactive system, we provide events and educational services that can be accessed by teachers and indviduals live AT NO COST TO THE USERS. To see an archived event (on ocean acidification), the resources in place for our next event on High Seas Fisheries, and a calendar of future events, go to http://www.thew2o-events.net. From there you can also link to downloadable interviews of ocean experts on ocean literacy. At the Hawaii demo on Coral Reef Protection, we linked a policy expert in DC, a conservationist in South Australia, and a research scientist in the north on the Great Barrier Reef. Our audience include the conference attendees, independent individuals is six time zones, and classroom in Mexico, Peru, and the US (Las Vegas, Nevada!). We have connected in the past to pilots docking ships in busy harbors and to divers down taking DNA samples from dolphins — all live and interactive, that is, kids can ask questions directly with immediate response (even from underwater) or in an assoicated chatroom. Each event, and all its materials, are archived for continuous access and use by teachers.

    The key here is high content events, centrally produced and funded, delivered in real time at no cost, removing as many barriers as posssible between the best information and the inquisitive student using an exciting, immediate format. it is indeed a live global classroom. To maximize the effect, we need teachers and networks of teachers, home schoolers, and educators in museums, aquariums, and science centers to know about us and to participate. Take a look and, if you like what you see, join us. Peter Neill, Director, The World Ocean Observatory

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