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.

2012 Christmas Wishlist

My 2012 Christmas Wishlist. Just some of the things I wish I had but I don't. A few wishes and dreams can't hurt anyone. Especially if someone somewhere out there is willing enough to answer your prayers. <3

 

PS: These are in random order.

1. Samsung Galaxy Camera

          One of the first of its kind, its a product that incorporates all good things about a digital camera and Samsung Galaxy SIII Android system. It's not just awesome, it's AWE and then some. =D

2. Pink Lamborghini Murcielago LP460

             I recall having this same car as part of my previous Christmas wishlists and I have a feeling it's gonna be part of many other wishlists in the years to come. But hey, what can I say? It's my dream car. <3

3. Pink Trenchcoat

               I'm not really big on the designer outfits and I could care less on who made that. But if I get a pink trenchcoat this Christmas, I would be in cloud 9. =)

4. Tramping Shoes

            I'm not the most athletic person in the world, but since I'm going tramping with a bunch of friends in a few months, I'd better get prepared and not mess up the uber awesome adidas shoes I got from sisterette. =D

5. My Family

            Because I miss them more than I miss anyone else in this world. There's a void in my heart that only their presence could fill. And thinking about them not only makes my heart ache and my tears fall, it also makes me realize how incomplete I am without them. I've been to every Christmas tradition for the last 24 years and now, I'd have to spend my first Christmas holidays far away, in a new place, away from home, away from warmth, away from noche buena, away from the crazy pictures we take, away from them. I miss them every second of every day, and if I could wish for anything, it would be to spend Christmas with my family.

So there you go...have the most awesome holiday season everyone! <3

xoxo

-hny-

Squiggles and Long Walks

I don't really have anything sensible to say right now. Except maybe that I'm bored and want to go out but haven't bathed so I can't and it's too cold outside anyway even if it is summer and I still have to get my watch fixed and some batteries on it and that I need to get my hitachi flashdrive from nanay which I was supposed to get 2 days ago and I am getting the urge to buy something but I'm trying to save money and I have to finish writing my critical analysis on all my clinical skills for my workbook and a bunch of other stuff that seems to escape me right now. So there. Whew. That was a mouthful. =p

Things are going slow and yet somehow fast too. It's that kind of day when you know you have too much to do that you just freeze up and end up not doing any of it and then at the end of the day realize you just wasted an entire day thinking of what to do first. Yeah. It's a bummer. But I can't help it. My lazy bones are at its prime and I can't put up a fight.

Across Boundaries

It's not easy being the new girl. And being the new girl in a different country is even harder. But if you find the right company, no matter the challenge, no matter the hardship, the journey will always be fun. =D

It's my last study day with them today and I found it imperative to right something to show them at least some gratitude for sharing the experience with me and making the situation more...acceptable. =D If it weren't for these group of people, I never would have survived the many weeks of studying and bookworming (yes, I know that's not a word. It's called neologism. ^^), so I am extremely thankful to these beautiful ladies and handsome gents (I think an "s" in this case is appropriate =D) for having shared some of its burden and making the entire time more fun. =D

Life and Death

Let's face it. We see death all around us and we are either too scared we ignore it or too wound up we overemphasize it. Either way, it's not really living.

I'm not saying that I've lived a full life, because frankly, I'm not sure if I've lived it to the fullest, but looking back, I can say that, yes, I do have regrets (I mean, who doesn't right?), but generally, I'm quite happy with how my life has turned out and with how my past and present has shaped itself to be. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for the future to be the best that it can be. =D

Moving on, what I'm getting to in this blog is that, in my line of work, we see death more often than the average person that it becomes almost a "monotony" to a point. And it's the worst feeling one could ever have. Because who want's to feel numb with death facing you in the face? Nobody wants that. I'm pretty sure my patients and their families don't.

Penny for My Thoughts

In life, we don't always get what we want. But we do get what we need. That has been a line that's been passed down from several generations ago and I've tried researching who the originator of that line is, but all to no avail (as is the case for most "words to live by" we encounter daily). But regardless of who that was, it's interesting how selfless he got. How much of the world and that of beyond he sees that he is able to grasp the concept of just getting what you need and then being contented with it.

As humans, we aspire to have a lot of things. We want. Always want. Sometimes, greedily. Getting it and then wanting even more, always not having enough. I'm not sure if you can call that human nature, but if you want to, then so be it.

Quit Complaining

In the last month that I've lived here in New Zealand, I've noticed how much I have complained and got depressed about my situation. I keep saying things about being homesick, being lonely, feeling isolated, and generally just being unhappy. I have an insecure side I just can't seem to rectify. And then, one day, someone told me this: "You have got something others could only dream of having." And that got me thinking straight.

A year ago, I could only hope my application pushes through with little obstacles. I could only dream of being able to travel and experience these "greener pastures" everyone's been raving about. I, too, was complaining then. Of how unappreciated I was at my job and how unhappy I was with my place in life. And then, the good news came, and finally, after a lot of hard work, I got to be here. To be able to step forward and start realizing my dreams of the future.

Dannevirke - Week 1

Notice how my movement in New Zealand has been from a populated area -Auckland-, to a lesser populated area -Palmerston  North-, to a barely populated area -Dannevirke-. Funny, actually. It's like, I'm being sent to a place with less and less people everytime. Tsk.

Anyway, my first week here in Dannevirke hasn't been as eventful as one would think. Yes, its a new place to explore, but well, with Dannevirke's size, there really isn't much to explore. And because of a lack of public transportation, being in Dannevirke has limited me to either being at the rest home where I work, being at home, or at New World for some emergency shopping needs. And that's about it.

It's funny how much I've changed in just a couple of weeks. 4 weeks ago, I never would've thought I'd muster enough courage to ask someone I haven't met yet to give me a ride to work. And yet, somehow, I did just that. Crazy how this place changes you.

Palmerston North - Week 3

So, my third and last week at Palmerston. It was uneventful, to be honest. No pictures (new ones anyway) were taken because, well, we've pretty much seen what we can see. =)

The same routine as the week before were done this week. Wake up, go to school, attend lectures, go home, go on the internet, freeze to death, sleep...and the cycle goes on everyday. =p

However, we were getting a bit restless because since it was our last week of lectures, it could only mean one thing. Practicals. Placements. And work. More work. Which is fine if not for the fact that we were being sent away from Palmerston to some places we didn't even know existed until then, to workplaces where we knew no one, and to do work we weren't even sure how to do. So yes, it was a struggle.

My Birthday Weekend: Hamilton, Hobbiton

I've been meaning to write this for a while now. It's been more than a week ago since I had my birthday weekend, and still, all the details are fresh in my memory like it was just yesterday. Maybe because the past weeks have been far monotonous than I expected that the sudden change of pace, and not to mention place, was a welcome sunshine in my world.

So, 19th to 22nd October 2012. My Birthday Weekend.

Since my birthday fell on a friday, I had to endure classes for the entire day and take a Drug Calc test (which I passed with flying colors, thank you very much). Later that night, I gathered my stuff, hopped on a taxi and then a bus, and was finally on my way to Hamilton.

Marae: Experiencing the Maori Culture

One of the most unexpected moments I've had since I've arrived (let's face it, I've had this a lot for a while now) was being able to go to a Marae and getting to experience a day in the life of a Maori tribe.

For some bits of information, just so we are on the same page, let's get some definitions of these words in (I know they sound foreign). A marae "is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies" (wikipedia.org). And Maori is the general term used for native New Zealand tribes or people. A marae is typically a small unit of the Maori community that houses a particular Maori tribe (or at least lets put it in that sense just so we understand each other).

Now that we've got that straightened out, let me get on to my story-telling.

Palmerston North - Week 2

It hasn't been long since I've been here and I feel like I've been here forever. Yep, that's how I feel. It's been tough, and though my first few days have been great, the next ones were tougher than I expected.

Here's the story of my 2nd week in the land of wind and rain.

Palmerston North.

Monday to Thursday

15th-18th October 2012

Palmerston North - Week 1

Sunday, 7th October, 2012

As I said in Auckland - City of Sails Day 2, I arrived to a freakishly cold, barren, ghost-town-like Palmerston North. Not a very good first impression, I thought to myself. But as I had no other choice, I braved the winds, the 2-degree Celsius temperature, and the constant chills I began to exhibit and made my way to my homestay. By this time, I had Elbert (boyfie who so kindly accompanied me in my long journey toward Palmy) and Ishi (roommate who I met in the bus terminal about half an hour after I arrived so I had some company with me to battle the unforgiving cold night air. =D

Auckland - City of Sails Day 2

So it's taken a while before this blog...been quite busy these days. Lotsa things to do in school, and lotsa things to adjust to in a new land. =D Anyway, as outlined in my previous blog, I've just spent my first day in Auckland. First day in a new country EVER, and it was one helluva day. =D

Here's the story of my second day...

Auckland, New Zealand: Day 2

So I woke up to a really warm bed, courtesy of Demi Luv's heated bed (cool aye? =D), and immediately went to preparing for Mark's birthday celebration. What a way to start my first few days here in NZ, right? Thought so too! =D

Auckland - City of Sails Day 1

I was waiting for when I could get hold of my camera but lo and behold, it'll be another week before that happens and it'll be too late to make this blog by then so what the hell. :)

So here's finally my blog about my adventures in New Zealand. This'll be a several-part blog, designed to divide my activities in Auckland and Palmerston. :)

So. AUCKLAND.

Arrival

Arrived at the Auckland International Airport at around 12-something pm. Immigration went smoothly which was great luck. Heard of stories otherwise. Went out of the gate expecting boyfie, Elbert, and his friends greet me only to find myself surrounded by huge white people. Knowing you're going to a white country and then totally seeing it for yourself is totally different.

Last Days in Pinas

I don't really know what to say coz right now my brain and fingers are freezing off from the cold. So let me just narrate what happened in the past week.


CEBU

September 30, 2012

Me and my family went out for lunch for some yummy grub. This time, I loved where we ate coz it was Japanese food (Nonki at SM) so I had the grandest time. I wasn't really thinking about the reason WHY we were having this meal. I was just sort of enjoying the entire experience. It was mine and my sister's treat for my family. :) Then, since we wanted more (although we were practically bursting from a full stomach), we stopped by Fudge (one of my dessert places) for some mouthwatering cakes (their mud cakes are incre-delicious-ble!).'

Open Letter to My Family

So I'm leaving Cebu 5 hours from now. I'm not leaving for good, of course, but since this will be the longest and farthest we'll be from each other, I'm writing this blog entry as my personal tribute to my beloved family, who's been with me through thick and thin. And because I will miss them. So much.

09302012

Dear Family,

I've made you cards which I placed on my top dresser so if you could just read them all personally, I would really appreciate it. There are just some things I can't write here. :)

Sweet, Stormy Escape

Since I'll be MIA for the next few months - I'm hoping it's only months, not years - I took a little trip down our little, cozy island to bid my "hi's" and "bye's" to some of my super extended family members. It wasn't as bittersweet as I hoped it'd be, owing I guess to my already being MIA for the past years. However, this short little trip reminded me of my upbringing and kept me even more deeply rooted to the ground that I've been standing on for the past number of years of my existence. It was a humbling experience.

Left for Leyte at around 9pm of Sept. 21, 2012 and arrived around 3am the following day. Of course, I didn't get much sleep since sleeping on a boat was rather uncomfortable so I busied myself with reading. A lot of reading. But I kept surprising myself at how I've gradually developed a sort of immunity to sleepless nights - probably since I've had lots of these in the past decade and a half. It was somehow comforting finding myself still well rested despite the barely 2-hour sleep that I've gotten in almost 36 hours.

books vs internet

I've been practically internet-less these past days. Same old problem with our stupid and inefficient network provider. Tsk.

But surprisingly, the absence of an internet connection gave me more time to snuggle up with my long lost bookish self. I haven't read a book in a long time and well, now, I'm feverish and greedy to read more books. Quite a satisfying change of pace for me.

I guess, I'm more surprised with myself seeing how well I'm coping with less than minimal internet connection. I'm more of a bookworm than I thought. :)

Just saying.

xoxo

~hny~