Thursday, June 7, 2007

Kia ora



Haere Mai. Homai te wairoa ki ahau e tutehua nei.

Welcome. Give me the water of life as I stand here restless. (No pressure though. ;)

As you may have guessed from my wee intro, I come from Aotearoa, New Zealand. I`m proud to call myself a Kiwi and feel that it is a privilege; a rare privilege at that. New Zealand is an amazing place to grow up. I spent most of my childhood wandering around in bare feet, climbing trees, fishing at the inlet or jumping off sand dunes that had been carved by thumping surf which I could hear from my bed every night .We are blessed in NZ, there`s no doubt about it. Our tiny population affords us acres of space to enjoy, we have no predatory animals or poisonous snakes, we enjoy a temperate climate, beautiful beaches, stunning mountains, glaciers, geysers, and sub-tropical rainforests. We also have modern cities, a burgeoning economy and the best rugby team in the world. (OK,that last one might be a bit contentious, but come October I`m sure my claim will be solid as a Jerry Collins tackle.)


Yup, NZ is sweet. Like Tim Finn said in the song `6 Months in a Leaky Boat`:
"Aotearoa. Rugged Individual. Glisten like a pearl. At the bottom of the world."
It`s a beautiful,clean safe country. So I decided to leave.



I left paradise. Scrammed Jan. Fled Fred. Took off like I owed the place money! (Well, actually... I guess there`s the small matter of my student loan. So I DID owe it money, but she`s sweet. No worries there eh Helen?) I left because as idyllic as my country is, I felt the need for excitement. We live in an amazing bubble of beauty and tranquility in the South Pacific Ocean. But it`s a bubble.

If you can humour me a little here and imagine the world as a pool table, NZ is the right corner pocket. I wanted to get out of the pocket and spend some time on the table, with all the colours and dangers, collisions and close calls that occur during the game. It`s all well and good chilling out in the pocket, but I was aware the game was going on, and I was missing out!



I poked my head out of my pocket, and saw Japan. Asia intrigued me, and I saw Japan as a chance for me to spread my wings and gander around. I have been here for nearly three years, seeing various parts of Asia (although not nearly enough yet) and being constantly intrigued, baffled, excited and amused by the culture in this part of the world.
I hope to use this weeblog to share the quirks and adventures I have in my daily life in Japan with you out there, and hear of yours too. Wherever you are on the pool table.

9 comments:

Kay Cooke said...

You are making me homesick and I haven't even left!
Awesome writing! I'll be back! (Mind if I leave a link to you on my blog and make you one of my favs?)

Joyce Ellen Davis said...

Great spot!

Ochi kochi
taki no oto kiku
wakaba kana

(The Chief sent me....)

Joyce Ellen Davis said...

PS My son and his family leave for Japan next week for the summer...Kobe!

rel said...

kumonkey,
Your mom sent me over to welcome you to the blogsphere. I see you've inherited her gift with words. I look forward to reading of your exploits. I lived in Yokosuka for a month and a half while recuperating from a gun shot wound that i entertained while in VietNam in 1965. Yup...I'm older than dirt, but still able to hold my own and make my way in the world.
Again, welcome!
rel

Kamsin said...

Hi! Welcome to the blogosphere! Your Mum sent me over here. I lived in Osaka from 2001-2004 and I love all things Japanese, so am looking forward to reading about your life there. Anyway, awesome first post!

McDinzie said...

well hello there....yes your mother sent me over...ok so I might be an oldy too....gee whiz i hope you find some young ones!!!
oh and I'm your aunt as well...hope that give me some brownie points...if not...well you just wait till you come back over young man!!!

Japan...djd and I dream of visiting but my golly gosh (I'm being polite ok!!) the exchange rate and the cost makes it unbelievably hard to dream of doing.

Now the question is can you work out which aunt this is?

said...

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read my weeblog.
Sounds like Japan strikes a chord with a few of you too, which is cool. I love the place.
McDinzie... hmm, well through a process of elimination I think I have you pegged as my Mum`s youngest sibling.... would I be right?
Pepek I`m sure your son is going to love Kobe, it`s a beautiful, modern city with a very cosmopolitan feel.
For those who`ve spent some time in Japan, perhaps I can make you a little natsukashii!

Jan said...

Awesome writing, to quote your mum, but I WONDER where you get this talent from?!

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

Very good page, love the writing, love the images. Will be back to visit often, so keep writing.


PS - good analogy on this one. So... you seem to be doing well with your game so far. Good.


Scarlett & V.

PS - Remiman (Rel) up there on the comments list is a wonderful guy, very smart and lots of fun. Keep track of that one, he's very worth the time.