My first orientation is in Rotorua, a small town on north island. The town is filled with geysers and, consequently, smells pungently of sulfur. Nevertheless, we have heaps of fun. We learn the haka, (which is a war dance of sorts that the NZ All Blacks rugby team performs before each game), and consequently get to see all the guys in our group clad in nothing but loin cloths; I still smirk when I think of the humorous and enjoyable sight of them in their authentic native costumes. We also go hiking (known to kiwis as "tramping") in a gorgeous redwood forest, where the airy redwood canopies are filled with mists that drip onto beautiful and outlandish fern trees; it was like a scene from Dr. Seuss morphed into a enigmatic and sparkling world. However, my favorite and by far most daring and uncomfortable adventure was the caving.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
a beautiful and strange vision
As day breaks, the light reveals a beautiful and strange vision. It's English countryside meets Sci-Fi novel; Scandinavia meets California. Clouds flow down the rolling slopes of verdant and rocky hills, and mysterious mists hover in the canopies of outlandish vegetation sporadically dappled on the grassy knolls. Morning vapors drift over lush meadows, and bizarre birds peckishy graze in the dew-drenched grass. The scene is so alien, and yet undeniably magnificent.
Arriving
After a thirteen hour flight, I land in New Zealand and all is dark. I walk out of the airport and feel only a damp and cold mist, refreshingly brisk and new after the dry, scorching heat of the California summer. I pull my overstuffed bags perilously and hopefully look up to see hints of my new landscape. But all that is visible in the fading dark are dim and nebulous silhouettes, slowly materializing in the gaining twilight. It is morning, and the sun is rising on a new world and a new life.
I arrive in New Zealand on July third, the very day of my 21st birthday. While in the US, turning 21 signifies being able to drink and get wasted and party like it ain't nobody's business, in New Zealand turning 21 is much more momentous. When someone turns 21 in New Zealand, it signifies that person has come of age. Their parents are no longer accountable for them; they are responsible for their own success and failure, liable for their mistakes and accomplishments. They are on their own to create their own way in life.
Thus, the world--bright and new in the advancing dawn. As the light gradually reveals the emerging shapes and forms, landscapes and landmasses, the old reality fades away and all is left behind. Everything is left fresh and new, leaving nothing but pristine possibilities in a new beginning.
