A face on the bus
that one companion
or study buddy.
Travelers on the road
from necessity relationships born
and friendships formed
or not.
And then they are gone.
But the faces remain imprinted
on my mind like footprints
of a long gone wanderer in a
long gone wood.
Fading.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Going home
It has been a long time since Independence Day. I say that because it was on the 4th of July that I boarded a plane and came to New Zealand. Tomorrow I board a plane and return to the US, and all I can say is that it has been a long time since the 4th of July.
It has been a long time since I waved goodbye to my parents at the airport, as the escalator descended into the subway. It has been a long time since I showed up in Palmerston North and they didn't even have a room ready for me. It has been a long time since I started classes, and thought they would be a breeze. It has been a long time since everyone I thought of as friends abandoned me and went to Wellington one weekend early on without even telling me. Since I met up with a crazy American named Jackie, and she invited me to her Christian small group. Since I went tramping with the alpine club. Since I first had to stay up all night to get some of the assignments done. And since I did a million other things which all defined my experiences here.
People ask me if I've had a good time in New Zealand. Of course I have, and of course I tell them that. I know that I most definitely have. And yet, such qualities are tough to measure. When I first left for New Zealand, I was very apprehensive to say the least. At times I wasn't even sure I wanted to go. And now, it is the eve of my return home and I can think of nowhere on Earth I would rather be than home. So if I barely wanted to go, and now I want to be home, how can I possibly say that I had a good time?
I believe the measure of my experience rests in the relationships and bonds I formed. Put aside my 'vacation' around the South Island for a moment. How I really measure and prove that my time in New Zealand was worthwhile was in how difficult it was to leave Palmerston North. The city itself was not very exciting, nor was the weather any good, but out of everything I have done in my entire trip, leaving Palmerston North was the hardest. It was so hard because I had to say so many goodbyes. I tried to deeply imprint the faces of all my friends in my mind so that I would not forget them. I would try to hang out with a group again, just so that some event would not be the last time I saw someone.
I guess what I am saying is that I am very excited to get home, but I will undoubtedly miss Palmerston North. And in someways, I can't even imagine what it will be like to return home.
It has been a long time since I waved goodbye to my parents at the airport, as the escalator descended into the subway. It has been a long time since I showed up in Palmerston North and they didn't even have a room ready for me. It has been a long time since I started classes, and thought they would be a breeze. It has been a long time since everyone I thought of as friends abandoned me and went to Wellington one weekend early on without even telling me. Since I met up with a crazy American named Jackie, and she invited me to her Christian small group. Since I went tramping with the alpine club. Since I first had to stay up all night to get some of the assignments done. And since I did a million other things which all defined my experiences here.
People ask me if I've had a good time in New Zealand. Of course I have, and of course I tell them that. I know that I most definitely have. And yet, such qualities are tough to measure. When I first left for New Zealand, I was very apprehensive to say the least. At times I wasn't even sure I wanted to go. And now, it is the eve of my return home and I can think of nowhere on Earth I would rather be than home. So if I barely wanted to go, and now I want to be home, how can I possibly say that I had a good time?
I believe the measure of my experience rests in the relationships and bonds I formed. Put aside my 'vacation' around the South Island for a moment. How I really measure and prove that my time in New Zealand was worthwhile was in how difficult it was to leave Palmerston North. The city itself was not very exciting, nor was the weather any good, but out of everything I have done in my entire trip, leaving Palmerston North was the hardest. It was so hard because I had to say so many goodbyes. I tried to deeply imprint the faces of all my friends in my mind so that I would not forget them. I would try to hang out with a group again, just so that some event would not be the last time I saw someone.
I guess what I am saying is that I am very excited to get home, but I will undoubtedly miss Palmerston North. And in someways, I can't even imagine what it will be like to return home.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Life on a farm
A farm? Yes. A farm. A sheep farm at the bottom of the world.
For the past couple days I have taken a break from travelling and settled down on a sheep farm near Invercargill, the southern most city in New Zealand. The farm is run by two people who are old friends of my mother, and coincidentally friends of several other family friends.
This farm is a quiet place in the countryside, and it does provide a much needed rest from travelling. The Kiwi Experience bus I have been on has been very fun. However, seeing sites and travelling every day, and then seeing more sites gets a bit exhausting. On the day I arrived here I had been up since early in the morning either on a bus, or hiking through the rain in the Catlins. That day I got to see seals, sea lions, and a penguin who belonged to the worlds rarest species of penguin.
So here I am on a farm. It is a small farm, only about twelve hundred sheep. We are in a quiet house surrounded by rolling green hills dotted with white sheep. The birds sing and the sheep 'baa'. Betty and Gillian (the owners of the farm) have made it my job to feed a group of lambs who have no mothers each night. They always run out to greet me.
Yesterday Betty and Gillian took me out to see some of the southern coastline around here, and I got to see a whole lot more seals, as well as the southern-most point of the southern Island. I have stood at the northernmost point of the North Island, and the southernmost point of the South Island.
Tomorrow I am getting up early. I have a big day, I am travelling from here to Invercargill, then to Te Anau, to Milford Sound, a boat cruise on Milford Sound, and then back to Queenstown. And it's even more amazing to think that I will be home next Monday. Wow.
For the past couple days I have taken a break from travelling and settled down on a sheep farm near Invercargill, the southern most city in New Zealand. The farm is run by two people who are old friends of my mother, and coincidentally friends of several other family friends.
This farm is a quiet place in the countryside, and it does provide a much needed rest from travelling. The Kiwi Experience bus I have been on has been very fun. However, seeing sites and travelling every day, and then seeing more sites gets a bit exhausting. On the day I arrived here I had been up since early in the morning either on a bus, or hiking through the rain in the Catlins. That day I got to see seals, sea lions, and a penguin who belonged to the worlds rarest species of penguin.
So here I am on a farm. It is a small farm, only about twelve hundred sheep. We are in a quiet house surrounded by rolling green hills dotted with white sheep. The birds sing and the sheep 'baa'. Betty and Gillian (the owners of the farm) have made it my job to feed a group of lambs who have no mothers each night. They always run out to greet me.
Yesterday Betty and Gillian took me out to see some of the southern coastline around here, and I got to see a whole lot more seals, as well as the southern-most point of the southern Island. I have stood at the northernmost point of the North Island, and the southernmost point of the South Island.
Tomorrow I am getting up early. I have a big day, I am travelling from here to Invercargill, then to Te Anau, to Milford Sound, a boat cruise on Milford Sound, and then back to Queenstown. And it's even more amazing to think that I will be home next Monday. Wow.
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