Looking back, part two

What I ended up doing were outdoor adventures. I'm known in my family to be the coward when it comes to adventures and rides, so I was really surprised to hear myself say it. But I guess that's what a vacation allows you to do, it gives you the chance to go out of your comfort zone and try something new, something different, however cliched that might sound. And so we ended going snorkling, kayaking, on the cement luge, on a sky-lift and what not. I absolutely loved it. I loved the adventures, especially snorkling, which was scary at first. At a depth of around 20meters, the waters were 5X what I had expected them to be. But after a few minutes, I mustered up the courage and floated. And wow! I completely forgot the fact that I was snorkling, instead, it was like looking at a program on the Discovery channel...the waters were that clear! I loved the sense of adventure, I loved what I saw, and I loved being more daring and adventurous. I think from now on, I'm determined to step out of my comfort zone more often, and not just on vacations. I do want to try some stuff closer to home, like rock climbing, paint-balling and horse riding.

Other than the outdoorsy stuff, I also volunteered at my cousin's work-place. It was great because it gave me a chance to soak in the Kiwi culture. Living in my cousin's home, who is also the same ethnicity as me, I didn't get as much exposure to the Kiwi lifestyle as I had wanted but the work experience filled in that void. I was really impressed by the importance Kiwi's give to Maori culture and health. Maori culture is completely woven into the lifestyle there...from street names, to the law, to everyday life where there is an English and Maori name for everything. Though we do have laws to help Native Americans here, they are not nearly as prevalent as in NZ. What impressed me also was the fact that, as part of the Maori culture, they retained a spiritual aspect to life as well. For example, there was a 'Blessing' session where each of the posters to be put out were 'blessed' by prayer. I was really surprised and humbled by this. Here in the US, you often can't do that, as there will be people from many cultures and religions and you are obliged to stay neutral by taking a non-denominational stand. But I felt like the 'blessing' transcended religion. It was just asking for a simple blessing, irrelevant of who from. I feel like we sometimes get carried away with trying to ensure no one is feeling offended by being secular. Which of course, there is nothing wrong with, but I feel there is a difference between spirituality and religion. And in my humble opinion, spirituality is necessary for general well-being.

But I digress. Let's talk about the 'Land Down Under'.