Janine Krippner
Somewhere during my nearly 16-hour-long flight back from the Canary Islands (flight number three!) it hit me that I was on my way home to New Zealand.
After 11 years overseas when heading “home” from work-based travel meant flying back to a foreign country, I was flooded with gratitude. There have been countless benefits from living overseas and one that I appreciate the most is how I see New Zealand differently having experienced other cultures and living with the challenges that come with living abroad.
Is it even possible to recognise how truly fortunate we are without the perspective gained from being elsewhere? That’s not to say that I am blind to the challenges we have here, some communities and groups much more than others. No country is without its issues or areas where we need to make change, and here we openly talk about these issues without worrying about our lives automatically being at risk. There will always be things that annoy us, things that should anger us so that we progress into a better society, areas where we don’t agree. This is life anywhere. We can do all of those things while taking the time to appreciate the good stuff and view our home country with fresh eyes. What would we think if we had never been here? From the countless conversations I have had around the world, I am confident that we would be impressed by Aotearoa and probably see it as an exotic location we might dream of visiting.
I loved living overseas, yet my final two years in the United States the call for home grew stronger before the pandemic was the deciding factor. I had long missed our beautiful landscape that changes so quickly within a short distance.
Seriously, I could go on about how much I love this land for days. We have mountains (some of which are the volcanic kind!), gorgeous beaches, beautiful blue/green water, rolling green hills, clean air, stunning lakes… I met very few people who didn’t want to visit New Zealand (other than those who mistake us for Australia).
The Waipā is a truly beautiful district – the most effective way to describe home is to tell people to picture The Shire from Lord of the Rings. I missed the relatively relaxed and friendly nature of Kiwis, who are also known abroad as being very hard workers along with the attitude of ‘if you see a problem, fix it’ that I certainly grew up with. Work-life balance isn’t just a myth here. I missed the rich culture we have here, how intertwined the Māori language and world views are with everyday life.
I moved back in late-2020 and a couple of years in I am still deeply grateful that I get to live here, I choose to not take it for granted. This is the lingering gift of all the hard, character-building times in the United States and Australia, and one I am reminded of when I venture abroad. I am so happy to be home.
