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.
