New Zealand Weekly Update #29

Last updated on Mai 14, 2023

08th of May until 14th of May 2023

Approximate reading time: 8 minutes

Lets get it started

Good morning fellas, time for your weekly sunday newspaper, as some of my friends are used say. It is quite interesting to know, that some of you guys are still reading my updates, every single week. The idea of this weekly blog was to inform you about the adventures here in New Zealand, short and quick. But this blog also turned into a kind of diary, to talk about emotions and thoughts beside and also because of being in New Zealand. About the challenges and the exciting moments. And also to inspire and motivate you. To show you how beautiful this little, remote country is. And which energy it has.
And I am really grateful that you guys still read my blog, give me feedback. And that kind of feedback motivates me to keep going, to inform you, to inspire you and to movitate you. And of course to show you even more footage of Aotearoa!
Of course, since today it is mothers day, to all the mothers a great day, not just today, but every day for your whole life. Since I have a real difficult relationshsip to my „real“ mothe – well, no relationship at all since more than 17 years – it is still a normal but difficult day for me. Since a mother should always take care of you, be interested in you, ask how your week has been, how you feel, which ideas you have. She should be interested in you as a person, love you as a person, just because you are. Because you deserve it, nevertheless what you have done, nevertheless what you will do. But this not applies for me or my „real“ mother, unfortunatelly. But on the other handside, without all those experiences with and also without her I would not be the person I am used to be now. So I am still and always will be grateful for my persnal experiences with a mother. Even though it ended more than 17 years ago.
Anyway, a grandmother is also a mother. Granny – I hope you have a gread day – I wish you a great mothers day – love you – thanks for everything you are and you have been:)

Similarities and differences – are you happy?

Last week, a friend of mine just sent me a message and gave me some feedback about the weekly update. That he woke up on a lovely sunday morning while he was thinking about his work. And that he is thinking about if he is on the right path. He has a really good job, a good relationship and is able to go for adventures from time to time with his friends. So he has almost everything what is necessary to be happy. Viewed from the outside. But what does one need to be happy? Money? A career? Freedom? Adventures? What do we really need to be happy? It depends. On what we need. On what we want. On what we can afford. And of course on our bank account from time to time.
For me, personally, being happy means being healthy. Being able to travel. Being able to say „fuck off, I am gonna do that right now, even though it might be crazy“. Having people around me (and with me, even though they are not around) who are grateful for my company, who share energy and good vibes. Being able to say, that my current me is a better, improved, reflected version of a past me. Of being able to move on even though there are challenges and things that try to stop me. Being able to walk on and being able to be grateful for bad, sad and hard moments, since they made me stronger and better. And being able to smile, support people around me and to be a little crazy from time to time.‘

So what is it that makes you happy? Truly happy? Is it nature? Is it family? Is it career and a lot of money in your bank account? Is it the company of friends and family? Is it watching your kids playing at the beach, the hands full of sand, the skin lightly sun burned?
Whatever it is, being happy is not always easy, it comes sometimes with challenges, with struggles, with hard decisions. It comes sometimes with „leaving something behind“, sometimes it means you have to leave parts of yourself behind, leaving people behind.
And it means to stop comparing yourself with your friends, with your family, with all of the people around you. Because this it what we do every day. We compare. We compare careers. Compare bank accounts. Compare the size of our houses. The power of the engine of our cars. The amount of countries we have been to. We compare and compare and compare. And with this kind of behaviour, we make ourselves unhappy, we put ourselves under even more pressure and we forget what is most important – our own happieness. Think about what we did when we have been young, back in school times or even in kindergarden. We were searching for what we have in common with other people. What connects us. What kind of interests we have in common. And we just did things that made us happy, without any doubt.
If you want to compare, compare to yourself. Ask yourself, if you are a better version of yourself than one year ago. Than ten years ago. Are you able to say to yourself „well done, I am proud of you“ if you look in the mirror? If yes, cheers, well done, I am proud of you. If not, work for it. Work for being proud of yourself. And make things happen. Make yourself happy. And I am still proud of you.

Being happy is not a condition that stays forever all the time. You know that. I know that. Otherwise we would not appreciate it as we should. So if we are happy, we should enjoy it as long and much as possible, And breath all the energy it gives us. And if we are not happy, we should never forget that this time is also not forever. If we work for being happy again. If we know about that things and times change. Since there is one thing in life that will never change – change.

Part of the Pack

Did you know that I have been in Iceland already four times? The first time was in 2017 and I just fell in love with this small, beautiful and powerful island. It seems like that islands are much more interesting to me than the mainland, for whatever reason. Icelands nature is changing every ten minutes when you driving along the roads. Its weather is sometimes unpredictable, fast changing and sometimes people are stuck in their houses for days since it is too crazy outside. And people it island are supportive, welcoming and whenever I am in iceland, I can feel this special energy.
2018, I worked in Iceland for 4 weeks at a husky farm in the south. More than 50 dogs. Cold days. Cold nights. Northern lights in the middle of the night. A lack of sleep. Hard days of working. Annoying dogs, sometimes fighting with each other. And the puppies, gosh they are the worst, fighting for food, biting each other and just dont listening to you 🙂 And I found myself at a frozen lake in the middle of a movie shooting („Amundsen“) where we were part of the movie as well. In just four weeks I learned more about myself that in 28 years before. The time with the huskies and the time at the kennel was incredible and changed a lot for me. It changed me. And since then, I was thinking about immortalizing this memory on my skin.
And this week on Tuesday, the time had come. I went out for an appointment at a tattoo studio here in Wanaka to get my husky tattoo. On the left calf.
Three hours of pain, of ink and of feeling every single stitch on my skin. It was pretty spicy. Compared to the tattoos on my arms this tattoo has been the most painful. If you think about a tattoo at your calf, think twice, it is gonna be spicy 🙂
But it was worth it. The result is just amazing, now I have a part of iceland, a part of the pack, a part of my memories always with me. And I feel as I am part of the pack now.

What else to say?

My job check for Ocula here in Wanaka was approved by the immigration, I am now allowed to apply for a work visa – the way to stay in New Zealand and to work in Wanaka. And this might be the way to apply for a residency, to be allowed to live and work in New Zealand indefinitly. Dobby will be a free elf 🙂
aI’ll keep you updated next week.
Enjoy your week, enjoy the time with friends and family. And if you compare, compare with yourself and look for similarities with others. Build bridges, not walls. And be proud of yourself.

Your DingyInternational
Felix