Mairangi Notes #11 — 2026.06.19

MHJ

my mairangi

Issue

#11

2026.06.19

Yussi's Note

The Season for Running Wild

The sharp heat of summer has eased, but the cold winds and steady rain haven't arrived yet. In this brief in-between, the children are outside every day, running in the sun.
The grown-ups watching from the sidelines feel the chill in the air. The children don't seem to notice. In shorts and a single layer of school uniform, they tumble across the grass, dart through the playground, bounce on the trampoline — laughing without stopping.
It occurs to me that vitality runs on warmth. Children still full of it carry that heat inside them, and it keeps them going long after the rest of us have reached for a jacket. Mine certainly do. My quiet wish to bundle them up properly goes entirely unacknowledged, as they tear off across the field again.

Main Story

Life in Aotearoa · 2026.06.16.

Our library haul

38 books, four library cards, and three children with completely different tastes. How to choose books for bilingual kids in New Zealand Library.

Read Story →

Lunch Box

MON

Everyone Has Their Own Taste

Chicken Rice for Min. Steamed Egg Rice for Hyun. Chicken & Rice Balls for Jin. Three girls, three completely different lunchboxes — every single day. Their tastes don't overlap much, so some mornings the bench looks more like a short-order kitchen than a family kitchen. It takes more time, more effort, and honestly, more containers than I'd like to count. But it works. They come home with empty boxes and something close to a smile.

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Campus Notes

TUE

Joyful Gathering Outside Campus

This week I met up with my close friend from the Maldives — our first time spending time together outside of class. We wandered through the supermarket, comparing prices and debating choices the way you only do with someone you're genuinely comfortable with. Back at hers, she made me a Maldivian Lambada — rich and warming in a way I didn't expect. I showed her how to make Samgak Gimbap for her son. Two kitchens' worth of knowledge, swapped over one morning. Somewhere between the food and the easy conversation, it struck me: a good friend makes anywhere feel like home. We parted slowly, neither of us quite ready to close out the morning.

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English with Jin

This Week's Expression

“I don't like it.”

Simple. Direct. And surprisingly hard to say out loud.
Jin has been using this one lately — when a friend sits too close during mat time, when someone crumples a paper doll she made. Not a big scene. Just four words, said clearly.
At this age, children are still learning how to live alongside each other. How to say what they like and don't like. How to hear it when someone else does the same.

StoryPress →

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Local Guide

📷

Science Activity

MOTAT LIVE Day: Photography

Sunday 21 June · 10am–4pm · General Admission (Adult $19 · Child $10 · Family $45)
Photo ops around the museum, cyanotype photograms, a Photography Decipher Hunt — and you can make and take home your own camera. Pair it with the Get Smart exhibit on 200 years of communications and technology. Park outside the Aviation Hall and take the free heritage tram between sites.

📍 MOTAT, 805 Great North Road and 98 Motions Road, Western Springs, Auckland

🦕

Nature Education

Dinosaur Discovery Track at Auckland Zoo

Until 7 February 2027 · Daily 9.30am–4pm (closed Christmas Day)
Twenty animatronic dinosaurs — 15 species, all moving and roaring — across a dedicated track at Auckland Zoo. Cretaceous and Jurassic periods, keeper talks with Dinosaur Rangers, and fossil digs for budding palaeontologists. Included with general admission.

📍 Auckland Zoo, 99 Motions Road, Western Springs, Auckland

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From the Archive

Settlement

Life Came Without a Manual

Visa paperwork, shipping containers, and saying goodbye to eight years of life in Korea — the overwhelming reality of preparing to emigrate.

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www.mhj.nz · Mairangi Bay, Auckland, New Zealand

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