Coming Full Circle

As one who left her country for higher education, which followed on to years of work experience overseas, the return home naturally came with a strong desire to "give back". Having been here for about six months now, the challenge has been to define what giving back actually looks like, and balancing that with the " why " of our return. The obvious way that I envisaged to give back to the country was to be employed in Samoa, in either the private or public sector. That would mean getting taxed here, and contributing to the development of the country, not only financially but also by contributing my professional skills. This has not been the reality though. The path that God has provided means I still work a New Zealand company, and pay tax to New Zealand. As a remotely working contractor, I sit in my own office and contribute nothing to the development of local knowledge in my professional field. That has been somewhat of a challenge. For someone who is a doer, m...

The most obvious question we get asked about our move from New Zealand back to Samoa is "Why?" There are a multitude of reasons why we had wanted to move back, and our usual response would be to reply with one of them, for example: "We are very homesick" "We want our children to have the same childhood experiences we had" "We want our children to know more of their culture as Samoans" "We want to be with our family back home" "We want out of the rat race" However those reasons by themselves, and even the combination of them, although all true, do not form the complete picture. To understand the real reason, we must start at the beginning. Once upon a time, there was a girl who left her home and family in Samoa to study at the University of Canterbury. There she met a boy who had also left his home and family in Samoa to study at the same university. It was likely they fell in love, although neither of them would ...

The resounding theme amongst Samoans who have migrated to New Zealand is their search for a better life. This usually means better jobs and better education. But what is better? And what is it better than? I have lived all my childhood years in Samoa (until the end of Form 7), and all my adult years in New Zealand, and offer the following observations from my own migration journey. The cost of time What people in Samoa might not appreciate when migrating to countries of Western cultures, is how time-demanding the lifestyle can be in general. All activities are run by the clock, and time is accounted for and given frugally. In Samoa, time is usually seen in a more relative manner, for example using night time instead of 7:35pm. It lends to a more relaxed outlook when it comes to scheduling, but in turn in provides for a generous giving of ones time when needed. I look at how I need to have most days planned out to the hour, weeks in advance. There is not much wiggle ro...

In a way this is a continuation of the previous post, or maybe a spinoff. Another great movement  - and by great I'm referring only to the popularity or amount of attention received - of our time would have to be the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Without going into Googledom, and also to allow you room to apply some quality analysis to my ramblings, the BLM movement seeks to bring awareness to racial discrimination against African Americans in this day and age, long after slavery was legally abolished and equality supposedly established. One of the phrases that has been commonly used in this context is "stay woke", which according to my dictionary means to keep mindful and aware of what is happening around you, not to have the wool pulled over your eyes about the often harsh reality. Side note: My personal stance is pro-BLM. I have seen others well-meaningly say that All Lives Matter, which as a standalone statement is total truth. However, coining the ALM phra...

It seems to be the "thing" of this generation to strive to be different. Which is somewhat confusing to me, considering we are all intrinsically different, so all we really need to do is be ourselves. Or am I over-simplifying something far more complex? One example that comes to mind is the "hipster" movement (I don't know if movement is the right word, but you get the drift): The hipsters I fell down that rabbit hole otherwise known as Urban Dictionary trying to find the definition of hipster. Side note: it's great entertainment, do it. Hipsters to me seem to want to portray an anti-mainstream culture attitude. But in doing so, they create a subculture that is then embraced and followed by those who want to be seen as being of the same mindset. If I put together an outfit which coincidentally matched the vibe of a hipster, do I wear it and accept being perceived as a hipster? How do hipsters feel about non-hipsters who looked and dressed like them...

In the year 2017, I posted not a single post in my old blog. It was not due to the lack of things to say, but more the disconnection I feel from the person who blogged there. I think I'm just getting older. Well, obviously I know I'm getting older, because I'm not Peter Pan or Jennifer Aniston. I'm still as sarcastic as ever. But I've seen more things. Made more mistakes. And hopefully I've come out wiser (well, I think so anyway ha!). So this is more a rebooted me. The blog name is nice and old people friendly - "Coming Full Circle" - because I find myself more often than not reflecting on how, for many things I've journeyed through in life, I've ended up where I started, and not necessarily in a bad way. So get your cups of tea ready, get those rollers set, pop your slippered feet up, and let's get going (in a calm and orderly fashion, obviously).