The Kiwi Experience - 1 Year

I started this post almost a month ago and forgot about i. now i've been living here a year and a month. Tina encouraged me to post it anyway. So...

There is a bus that takes college students around New Zealand - it's called the Kiwi Experience. I've been having my own Kiwi Experience for the past year. 1 year and 1 month. I can't believe it. I've been thinking back to when I first moved here - to Pukekohe - and how everything was new and how I really didn't like everything I was experiencing.

Most of you know that I just had knee surgery, and if you didn't, you can check out the previous post. For the past couple of weeks I've had to let other people do things for me and my friends have been absolutely wonderful. But when you have others do things for you, they tend to do it their own way. I've been staying at a friends place for the past week about 4 hours away from where I live. The house is at the base of Mount Ruapehu which is next to Mount Ngarahoe (aka Mt Doom). I'll post the photos in a little bit. But, while I was staying there, I really started experiencing Kiwi culture. The first experience that I've tried to stay away from since I've been here is the breakfast dishes. Most mornings we had porridge, but then I finally had a Kiwi favorite: baked beans on toast one morning and canned spaghetti on toast another morning. I've experienced it, but i don't think I will eat it for breakfast again.


The next Kiwi experience that I've been fighting against is not rinsing dishes. They fill the sink up with hot soapy water, wash the dishes, then put them in the drainer. When I was a kid, I always got in trouble if I didn't rinse the dishes. For the first time a few weeks ago, I washed then put them right in the drainer. I felt guilty at first - like mom was going to make me wash everything again, but then it was very freeing feeling, an took a lot less time.

A bunch of friends went skiing and snowboarding and were nice enough to let take me up the lift and I sat in the cafe at the top of the mountain. I graded papers and did Sudoku while they skied. It wasn't the most exciting day for me, but I'm trying to be okay with taking it easy. At least I got to go to the top and see an incredible view.


Here is a photo of the town of Ohakune, where my friend's place is. The weather was in the 60s this particular day and I got a beautiful view of the mountain.

This was also the first day that i was able to get out and take a walk. I found a wheelchair accessible path that was labelled a 15 minute walk. I finished it in about 25 minutes

So, how do I sum up a year? I've been thinking if I've changed or grown this year at all. I guess that's a bt silly because I hope everyone grows and deepens every year. There's been so much more that's happened than eating spaghetti for breakfast. (although that was quite an experience) I don't think I can sum up this past year in one blog. I've shared with you all the 'big things' that i've done and experienced, but most of my favorite memories are from so many little day to day things - work, conversations, hiking, sitting at the beach, road trips, coffee with friends, movies, walks, etc. It's the day to day stuff I'd love for you all on the other side of the world to see. I would love for you to have conversations with and meet the people that I have gotten to know and to hear them use words like heaps, reckon, and keen.

One of the most difficult things about being away is having a life that is so removed from those of you that I'm so close to. I don't know how long I will be staying on this side of the world - this year has been full of newness but it's also been full of those things that make up life - friends, work, hope, disappointment, growing pains, laughter, crying, questioning - all those things did not go away when I came here. That's probably the biggest lesson that I've learned - there is beauty, ugliness, excitement, and the mundane wherever you go. I didn't leave the states because i was running away from anything - I left to experience life in another country and to have an adventure. I've done some adventurous stuff but what has surprised me the most is how it's starting to feel like home. I suppose that's been a big part of the adventure for me that I wasn't expecting - to feel so at home in the opposite corner of the world from where I call home.

I'm going to try to be more diligent with my blog this year and hopefully write more about you the day to day happenings. hopefully through that, we can be a bit more connected and my worlds won't seem so removed. Thank you all for reading this past year.