As the year comes to a close, and we say our goodbyes to people at work 'until next year', I realise that we have been in one place for over one year. This is a new experience for me, as for the five Decembers prior to this one I'd been living in a new house/location. I had grown to expect goodbyes, but in the sense that I was moving on to something new. This December, I find myself in the same home and the same job as last year at this time. As a result of staying put for over a year, I'm also learning another new experience - outlasting people and things. Since we've moved into this neighbourhood, I've seen a Burger King turn into a Mexicali Fresh, an old apartment building torn down and replaced by a modern, taller block. I've adapted to the kiwi way of spelling words such as neighbour and colour and programme, and have to go back to delete the extra letters if I'm writing a blog post or a letter back home. I've said goodbye to 6 close coworkers who have moved on to other jobs and/or cities.This New Year's Eve we stayed put in our little city of Auckland and headed down the street a few kilometres to see the fireworks shot from the Sky Tower. A great way to end a full year in Auckland, and to kick start the next one. It was nice to be home and not have to say any more 'goodbyes' for the year. Here's hoping that 2015 will be the best year yet, and without too many goodbyes (or at least if there are any, it's because I chose to move one, I don't think I can take yet another coworker leaving!).
