It’s been a week since we returned from Vietnam, and I’ve been going back through my journal and reflecting on all of the amazing experiences. I wish I could share everything about my time there, but you probably don’t have time to read a whole novel. So instead, I thought I would share a snapshot…Continue Reading Looking Back
Time indeed went very fast on this trip. A few weeks before returning to New Zealand, I visited Gyeongbokgung Palace with another friend from Auckland. Surprisingly, the tour took shorter than we expected. There were two exits, both near a different tourist attraction. One was right next to the National Folk Museum and the other…Continue Reading Final Weeks + Going Home
At times in India, I felt like a fish out of water. I loved getting to experience and appreciate India but I definitely felt like a foreigner at first, often unsure how to get from A to B. We were on the move a lot during our trip, visiting new and vastly different cities every…Continue Reading People and places in India
Readjustment When I search “reverse culture shock” google tells me it is a “common reaction to returning home from studying abroad. It is an emotional and psychological stage of re-adjustment, similar to your initial adjustment to living abroad.” I keep on toying with the word: readjustment There is something about it that acknowledges a changing…Continue Reading Readjustment
It’s the final week, and I feel like I have barely touched the surface of India whilst also having had so many adventures and opportunities that I cannot wait to share with friends, family, and anyone who will listen upon my return to New Zealand. I don’t have any words good enough to express my…Continue Reading Where did all the time go?
“Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua” “I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past. This whakataukī or ‘proverb’ speaks to Māori perspectives of time, where the past, the present and the future are viewed as intertwined, and life as a continuous cosmic process.” The final week is here! The time went…Continue Reading Times flies make the most of it!
“He aha te mea nui o te aoWhat is the most important thing in the world?He tangata, he tangata, he tangataIt is the people, it is the people, it is the people” Coming back home has undoubtedly been a reverse cultural shock and a new beginning in the sense that we have all changed so…Continue Reading Dhanyavād! (Thank you!)
This title was inspired by this week’s experiences of meeting women similar in age to me but with completely different life experiences. Again opening my eyes to all the privileges I have had throughout every year and stage of my life. Whether it be the privilege of the things I had, people around me, opportunities,…Continue Reading Same age. Different life.
“Ko te pae tawhiti whāia kia tata, ko te pae tata whakamaua ka tina.” “Seek out distant horizons and cherish those you attain.” The Mon-Fri rundown is going to be short and sweet. It was quite rough. Delhi belly got me good. Yet, I have some very important new appreciations. The week was quite challenging…Continue Reading You don’t truly appreciate it until it’s gone!
This title was inspired by my supervisior Seema. Her and the team at Aastha Parivaar have faced so many obstacles to keep the organisation going. Yet, despite all of this they persisted and continue to do such essential work for the sex workers and their children in the community. This idea is encapsulated in the…Continue Reading What if you didn’t give up?