How grateful am I? I can’t find words to express my gratitude. Why you ask?
Well, to be in this far flung but amazing country. It is a blessing to be here in New Zealand.
what a year!
Not in our wildest, nightmarish dreams would we have considered the global impact of the COVID- 19 pandemics.
Our country responded quickly and decisively with significant lockdown measures. Measures questioned by some, but yet most abided by the rules. We are a country with mainly law-abiding citizens with mutual respect—a country with caring and kind communities.
We will all have different experiences and on how the lockdown has affected us. It also provided a snapshot of how quickly our environment and circumstances can change and how quickly we can adapt. People working remotely is now a real and common occurrence.
The uptake of technology – zoom meetings were no longer for the technological fearless among us.
The significant change in transport patterns–more and more people were walking to escape the confines of home and fight cabin fever.
Distant socialising – yes, catching up with friends over a glass of wine and a video call. Who would have thought of that on 1 January 2020?
The on-going COVID-19 pandemic magnified how great New Zealand is.
The rest of the world is still in turmoil. Infection rates are still increasing in other countries while we have enjoyed an extended period of no community transmission.
Yes, we have just had new cases in Auckland, and the Alert Levels have been raised. But the fact that people have rushed off to buy face masks implies that the general public, the team of 5 million, is taking this seriously and acting quickly and decisively. That is a significant contributor to our success thus far.
New Zealand is the envy of the world.
We all had to make adjustments and suffered because of this pandemic – some more than others, but life has been relatively normal for the past few months.
There is a long road ahead, with many challenges, but also many opportunities and I, for one, are approaching it with immense gratitude.
Please share your thoughts