Throwback Thursday - Moving To New Zealand

It's THROWBACK THURSDAY. Today, I'll be sharing with you what happened during my first week here in New Zealand.

My family moved here in New Zealand on May 2008. At first, I really didn't want to go anywhere. I was 16 years old, just graduated high school and I didn't want to leave all my friends behind. I had a fun high school and we made plans to go to college together. I was excited until I heard the news that we were moving out of the country. I was upset but at the same time, what can I do? I just went with whatever plan they had in mind. We then started to have medical check ups, preparing our passports, etc. Only a few of my friends knew about it. I wanted to have a "leaving party" but we were too busy arranging everything. After graduation, we just had a little celebration but I wasn't able to see all of my friends. It was really sad and before I knew it, I was about to board our plane to Sydney. I remember that night, my friends were texting and calling me like crazy. It was hard to say good bye when you've been with such good company. Also, leaving my family behind and the country that I grew up in came way too fast. We left the Philippines at 8:30pm but it wasn't all of us. My three sisters had to stay behind because my parents thought it will be hard for them to travel around because they were too young. They decided that they will just follow us the next month because by then, for sure, we have a house to stay in. 

We arrived at Sydney airport the next morning and had to wait for two hours. The first thing I did was to find a computer that had internet on it. I may sound crazy but I did that. I logged into Friendster (it was the "Facebook" during that time) and checked whether my friends sent me messages. Of course, I couldn't stay long in the computer because there were also other people waiting. We waited near the boarding area so that we won't miss it when they called the boarding time. We arrived at Wellington around 2:30 pm I think it was. We were greeted by my parents' friends from college. When I stepped out of the airport, I felt a sudden cold breeze and I thought it was just an air conditioner or something but I realised it stayed that way even though we were at the car park. That's when I realised that we are in a different country now, it's cold. We stayed at their house for one week until we found a house to rent. They were really nice and they helped us in all that they could. 

Our first week in New Zealand was quite busy. My dad had his job interview and we walked around, familiarizing the place. Walking probably wasn't a good thing when you think about it because that time, it was nearing winter and for us, getting used to the cold took some time. Well, for me it did, because I hate being cold. They said we were crazy for walking around the neighbourhood, in the cold, but we didn't have any other option left. We had to look for a house. But amidst everything, we still managed to go to Wellington city and we did some sight seeing. After all, we are still tourists (in a way). 

With my sister at the Queens Wharf, Wellington

We went to museums, rode the train for the first time, walked around town. We went to places without having to spend too much money. It was really different, in a good way. There were lots of people but nothing compared back home. I was surprised to see a lot of Filipinos. I thought we were going to a country which only a few know about. People were nice too. This is where I learned that smiling and saying good day to people was not weird at all. It was fun but of course, we had to go back to reality. We eventually found a house beside Burger King, my parents got a job and me and my sister started going to school. We had to learn quite a few things but it opened us into so much more. Now, it's been five years and it feels like we've been here forever. I am happy that my family moved here.