Loathing Leaving
Trip Start
May 31, 2008
1
24
28
Trip End
Dec 15, 2008
Auckland,
North Island,
New Zealand
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Text messages along the lines of "It was lovely knowing you" and "I hope we see each other again someday" really don't help. They sound so final. And not to sound dramatically fatalistic but when you make friends all over the world, no matter how much they end up meaning to you by the time you leave, there's no certainty that you'll ever see them again. So unlike leaving my family and friends in my country of origin (where I know I will always go back, more often than not), this leaving feels more difficult. It had me walking home last night from a great night out and wanting to hang onto the telephone poles as if they could keep me rooted here, in the lives of people I've come to really care for.
It's a funny feeling to be asked "hey! you're going home tomorrow, how do you feel?" and not be able to answer because you're so rooted in the leaving that you can't even begin to think about the arriving. Though I've always been like that. I've never really been excited about the arrival until I see the city lights from the airplane window and then it feels real and I think "wow, I am HERE" and I get butterflies in my stomach (even just flying from Toronto to Calgary or Calgary to Toronto) and my foot starts tapping and I feel alive with my excitement. And I know this time will be even more heightened because I have been away from everything familiar for so long.
But for now I'd just like to wallow a bit and reflect on the differences a handful of truly amazing people have made in my life this year; acknowledge that it is because of them and their fingerprints on my soul that I'm getting on a plane today fighting back tears. For those of you I'm talking about, thanks for having such an impact on me, I sincerely hope we will remain in each other's lives even from afar. Much love from me to you.
As for New Zealand as a country, I've come to love it to for it's quirky magical ruggedness.
Things I will miss:
- the sound of the sea
- the sky/clouds/stars
- driving on the left side of the road
- swirly crazy roads
- roundabouts
- one lane bridges!!
- penguins
- signs about random wildlife
- Maori (both language and people)
- television with an accent
- timtams
- morning tea
What I won't miss:
- rotten egg smell
- swirly crazy roads
- the rain
- the lack of insulation
- tight leggings
- mullets
- milo
- afternoon tea
And there are probably a million more things to go on these two lists but I should really see about checking in for my flight. I will write more about the south island once I'm stuck in Singapore.
Lots of love,
K
