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.

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.

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.