The year was 2022 and we had been contemplating shifting to New Zealand for a while. My father had been in New Zealand for almost five years. It was soon going to be the time for me and my mom to join him. It was August when all of a sudden, things materialized and within days we were transported from the sultry and blistering summer of India to the cold winter of New Zealand.
I honestly still can’t decide whether coming to New Zealand was a good decision or not. But when I look back at all the memories of the Spring of 2022, I regret nothing.
Even though I was in my warmest pyjamas with two sweaters on, the sharp wind of Auckland still gave me the chills. Once at the airport, we were greeted by my dad who I was meeting after 5 whole years. From the airport, we went to my Bua’s house who lives very well in Auckland. The days I spent in Auckland with my father were really fun until he flew back to Christchurch, the city where he works. After his departure, we did nothing much other than wait to join up with him in Christchurch.
After about a month, with the coming of the Spring season, we got a call from my father. Spring was beckoning us to Christchurch! Christchurch is really different from any part of India- tall buildings, vibrant flowers, greenery everywhere, no litter on the roads, organised residential areas and so much more. We got a decent house in Christchurch which we made our temporary home. Those were some long nights of hard work- cleaning up the mess, putting together furniture and assembling the house. What I loved most was that I was finally making a HOME with all three of us together after a long time.
After we shifted, my family became really close friends with the neighbours who then suggested my father to enroll me into a primary school before I started high school in the next session. Thus, Spring brought more surprises and I was enrolled in a local school. In school, I met some amazing people and some really arrogant ones. I was really surprised to see what they taught to the students. Name of the topic: NOTHING! I studied ‘nothing’ during that period of time and many people around me were so naive that they did not even know how to multiply two decimals together. Boy! Such a freaky spring I had never witnessed in India.
As we settled down, my grandparents came to New Zealand for the very first time. We made the most of the warm and sunny weather and explored many parts of Christchurch with them. My father might have been too busy to take us places but he couldn’t say no to his elders.
Not only this, spring brought many more interesting things. I tried new cuisines including sushi, and a special drink called Boba which became my favourite and I even saw live dolphins for the first time ever in my life.
It’s been a while since I have been in Christchurch now. I have started High School, where I continuously meet lots of different people. I can say that still there are days when I feel that I am in a different world altogether. Children in Christchurch are very different from Indian children. The culture is more global and you find strangers smiling at you when you pass them.
My journey in New Zealand has just begun. I will forever cherish the spring of 2022 as it was the initiation of this journey, which I hope will turn out to be a memorable one.
Writer : Dia Ochani
Grade : 9 (Year 2023)
Place : Christchurch, New Zealand
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