A Tiny Strip called Dannevirke

The first time I arrived in Dannevirke, my heart was pounding. A new place where I know no one. Not even one soul. And I have to live here for more than a month. It was a feeling I didn't care to have, but a feeling that was inescapable nonetheless. And to make matters worse, it was so small it made my hometown look like an entire country! Of course, since a long time ago, I've become a master at disguising my emotions, and disguise I did.

Slowly, one by one, I got to know the people of Dannevirke, and as pinoys tend to stick closely to their own kind, especially in another country, I got to know the pinoy community of Danne too! And let me tell you, they're an awesome bunch! I guess the loneliness of the place and the homesickness bonds everyone more than any other feeling. Missing your home country makes one want to spend more time with people who have the same background as they do. It makes the "missing" part so much more bearable.

At first, I hated the place. Or, wait, "disliked" might be the proper term since "hate" is so much stronger and my discontent isn't anywhere close to that strong a feeling. But you get the picture. I didn't like how there was so little to discover. How there were so few people in the town. It was barely a town. Almost ghost town-ish. That's how quiet it was. And being a girl who grew up in the big city, well, this was deafeningly silent for me.

Waikanae

It's been a roller coaster ride from the very moment I step foot in this country. It's been fun, yes, but it's been lonely too. Of course, no one really appreciates true happiness until one experiences the bad things, and not having my family and friends here? That's definitely a bad thing. So I guess I'm more appreciative of what I had before leaving my home country, I guess.

Anyway, the upside to all this is, to name a few, meeting new friends, visiting new places, eating good food and experiencing new things. Letting my adventurous side loose, I am definitely enjoying the nature and greenery that surrounds, almost hypnotically, the entirety of New Zealand.

And Waikanae definitely proved a good place to have all of those. Tracy, June and Ate Recy invited me over to have a wee good time with them post-CAP (that one short time where stress piles up on you more than you could imagine and you get to feel like a student again), before I head off to Hamilton to spend my Christmas holidays and my lull whilst job hunting.