my New Zealand dream
I had a big dream since I was a little kid. That one day I would spread my wings and live abroad.
I still remember the first day I arrived in New Zealand vividly. It was just after the Lunar New Year in Viet Nam, some time mid-Feb. Mum and I arrived at Wellington airport around midnight after a whole day of flying and switching planes. We were exhausted, had carsick on the way to our accommodation, and couldn't sleep well that night due to jet lag. As we lie in bed in the new city where I would be living for the next few years, my excitement before the trip turned to pure anxiety about what the future might hold. As an 18-year-old girl who never lived far away from my parents before, and though I didn't grow up with wealth, my parents never let me go without much. So the thought that from this day on, I would be on my own was scary, to say the least.
That first week in Wellington was tough for both of us. We were immediately homesick and overwhelmed in this strange new city where it turned into a ghost town after 5 pm. It was difficult to find our way around despite everything seeming to be so much more orderly than the hundreds of motorbikes coming at you. And it hurt every time we converted the costs of something here into Vietnam Dong. But at the end of my first week, the night before Mum left for home, she hugged me all night and told me to keep going no matter what and I'll be alright.
The first couple of years at university went by in a blink of an eye. I studied hard, worked two jobs in my free time to pay for my living expenses, but also didn't forget to enjoy my youth by getting stupidly drunk a lot of nights with my friends. There were so many ups and downs, nights where I cried myself to sleep because everything seemed so hard. Yet even if there was a time machine, I still wouldn't go back and change anything about it.
When I went home that summer after the end of my second year, Dad told me my parents had run out of money and they didn't know how they were going to pay for my last year's tuition fees. We all accepted that I would have to "pause" my study indefinitely until we could save up for it, except for Mum. She didn't let me give up on my study when I was almost at the end of my degree. Because she knew if we stopped the momentum right then and there, I might not be able to ever get back to my dream and finish what we had sacrificed so much for. So she hustled hard and managed to get a loan for my tuition fees. I feel like my life is forever indebted to this event. On the plane flying back to Wellington that year, I also carried a heavy bag of pressure and debt. I pushed through my final year at uni and graduated on the Dean's list. Mum saved up to fly over for my graduation day. It is still one of the proudest and happiest moments in my life.
As much as I love my university years, I truly experienced and appreciated New Zealand once I started working full-time. So much has happened in those seven years including four job changes, paying off my student loan, meeting George, and turning my colleagues into lifelong friends. Along the way, I have also learnt how to be myself and what my true values are. New Zealand has given me the freedom to explore who I am and challenged my limiting beliefs growing up.
It was here where I finally embraced my natural curls and wore them out proudly instead of straightening them out so I could look like everyone else.
It was here where I first hiked up a mountain, got lost in a forest, and saw many natural wonders that changed my view on life.
And it was here where I learnt what I am capable of, that being different is welcomed, and peace is the norm.
For all of that, I am so grateful that I am right here right now.
The other day when my New Zealand citizenship application got approved, I was stunned. The funny thing is it doesn't change anything in my day-to-day life yet somehow it still carries such a huge value. As I reflected on my life in New Zealand for the past ten years, I realised why this event means so much to me. It is a prophecy that comes true. I wanted to go abroad since I was a little kid. And when my mum knew that, she did everything she could to make that happen for me. When it comes to my turn to keep going and make the rest of my dream come true, I feel like I have done my mum and myself proud. I listened to her words, kept going and finally made it.
It makes me hopeful for the future phases of my life. Of all the opportunities I can experience and achieve. Of all the little wonders I can continue to enjoy along the way. Because I know if I have a clear goal and keep going, I will make it happen one day.
