There are so many things to love about Christchurch. So many things that go beyond the family and friends that we have there. The resilience of the community shows itself in the tenacious way they have clung to each other and their city through the earthquakes that have wracked them.
It is amazing to see the centre of town being rebuilt using shipping containers. Shipping containers as shops, shipping containers as banks, shipping containers as a mall … Would you like to know more?
We’ve done it again! Been away, had a holiday, on the other side of the world! As we set out, we made it to the airport with lots of time, and were joined for dinner by Reginald and Pukeko.
For those of you following along on Twitter or Facebook, you will know that there was enough ice in Amsterdam that our wings froze over and we had to wait two and a half hours before take-off, resulting in a missed connection and an over-night in Dubai. Would you like to know more?
For those of you that are unaware, there is a sameness to airports. A scrubbed down, antiseptic, characterless sameness. It’s difficult for me to remember if we were in Amsterdam, Dubai …
… Hong Kong, Sydney … Would you like to know more?
Next we wanted to see friends. Facebook is one thing, but it’s so much better to actually see the people you care about and sit with them around a table having a pink cider and gossiping about all of life’s little intricacies! So we found a likely looking venue …
… and commenced with the pink cider drinking. Mmm … berries … All was right with the world. Would you like to know more?
Who’d have thought this day would come upon us so fast? We flew out of Sydney a year ago. It’s one of those strange sets of circumstances where it simultaneously feels like we’ve been here forever, and like we only just got here. Time has passed in the blink of an eye, yet has taken so long for some events to pass or come to fruition, that we thought they’d never arrive. We’ve learnt and grown so much, and yet, there is still so much further to go.
As my first semester of Dutch language class draws to a close, I realise there is still a long way for me to go. I try hard not to feel inundated or intimidated, and remind myself that I’m still learning and refining my use of the English language every day. Some days I’m a better self-motivational speaker than others. I plug on.
ghoti industries 