Today was the orientation day for the College of Creative arts.
We had several important persons of the college give a welcome speech to the new students, and after that we got a tour around the campus showing us where's where. Considering that the quick and easy route through Massey is now a construction site for a new building... this was very welcome.
Around 1 there was a traditional Maori Powhiri. It is a ceremony where one would be welcomed into the Marae, the Maori's meeting house. It involved a lot of singing in the native tongue, where leaders of our group would answer the calls of the Maori inviting us and then we'd shuffle in.
After everyone got seated in the main hall of Tokomaru, which is the name of the museum building, we got more speeches. Most of it was in Maori.
The language is very expressive in both tone and body language, with wide gestures and sharp deviations in how words sound. I couldn't understand most of it, but still it was very inspiring.
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