Haiku #21 Living Out of My Comfort Zone

I believe everyone should have an "out of country" experience.  My husband served an LDS mission in Brazil and for two years he moved city to city, teaching people about God and living in a new culture. It was eye opening and life changing for him.  Our nephew is going to the same country for his mission and tonight we had an exceptional dinner of Brazilian food.  I beamed as I saw my husband talk all about his experience abroad.

I did not serve an LDS mission, but I chose to leave my home at age 21 and travel to New Zealand to live and go to school.  My best friend and I both went on this study abroad and when got there, everyone kept telling us to be prepared for culture shock.

In New Zealand everything  was different.  It was like Europe but not. The driving, the food, the clothes, the weather, and even the sky at night was different.  But, that is what I fell in love with. I craved the diversity, the different accents and skin tones.  I loved it.  There were times I felt frustrated.  Like when I took a New Zealand history class and the professor kept teaching us all like we already knew these stories or famous names.  I kept thinking, "wait, who??"  Or when my British Literature professor had me read an excerpt out loud and then made fun of me for pronouncing things like an "Yankee."

Plus, I had never lived away from home.  I chose to attend a commuter school and therefore was never responsible to grocery shop or pay bills or find my own transportation...until now.  Living somewhere new was what I needed to change and grow.  But it was scary. However, one things remained, I had a family there.  I was a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (mormon) and I had a ward family that loved me and welcomed me.  My friend and I sang in the choir and took classes at the Institute of Religion near the university.  I never felt alone. We were invited to dinner and taken into loving arms.  Just like my husband's mission, that connection is what made the hard times and the new times,  the best times.

I often think of it there and miss the way things were.  I miss my friends and family there, but I have grown so much.  I wear this ring on my left hand and I have since I was 21.  It is a Maori symbol (indigenous people of New Zealand) called the Koru. It comes from the unfurling of a silver fern which is found in New Zealand.  It was EVERYWHERE when I was there and it stands for a new beginning. It is so bent and scratched up now, but it reminds me of where I have been and where I am going, and that there will always be another day to start over and do my best.

Thank goodness for the chance I had to leave my home and learn more about who I truly am.

Koru
By Kate Cowan

Silver ends open,
unfold across the ocean,
stretch under new stars.