Ten to Three Hundred Sixty-Five (Part 6)

Exactly three hundred and sixty-five days ago, I was on my first-ever international flight alone to a country I have never imagined going to. This is so I could fulfill a dream that I have long and silently kept in my heart: getting a postgraduate degree abroad.

For someone who comes from a middle-income family and whose job is just enough to support our household and allow for a reasonable amount of savings, getting a postgraduate degree in another country is a long shot. No matter how hard I work, I knew I would not be able to save enough money to afford it. Hence, going back to the university and becoming a student once again (through the scholarship) were among the most defining things in my one year in New Zealand.

#7: THE UNIVERSITY

Victoria University of Wellington:
Blending in to more than a century of learning!

Anyone who knows me well understand my deep love and faith in our country, including its state universities. The talent and intellectual brilliance of our people make up for the lack in material and financial resources for what could be among the brightest academic institutions in Asia. So why bother studying postgraduate degree abroad when our university back home can give you that?

While others may quickly point to the promise of a gigantic leap in 'professional growth' (which is likely), this is not my main reason for studying outside the country. I have always believed that learning is highly contextual. The information you are given with is couched in a very dynamic political, social, and cultural intricacies that shape how you see and interpret the world. After being subjected to the Philippine educational system (although highly influenced by the Americans) for a good 17 years, I guess it's time to experience a different perspective and hopefully, through it, I will be able to see new possibilities. 

Possibilities. This is what my one year education in Victoria University of Wellington (VUW) has taught me. Keeping to the standards of being New Zealand's top-ranked university in research quality for 2013, I had to change the way I was taught to write. Instead of narrating my way to an argument, I had to start my papers with clear thesis statements. I had to concur, reject, support or refute ideas instead of just merely suggesting them. And unlike back home where there are 'right or wrong' answers, students here are only given the 'whats' so they can figure out for themselves the 'what ifs.'


It really helps to have open and accepting people
like them when you are in a foreign school.

Of course, for you to be able to change the way you write, you first need to change the way you think. This is also another thing I appreciate about studying abroad. VUW is host to international students from over 100 countries. Imagine interacting with a rich, highly-diverse and uniquely creative minds from all walks of life in a learning tradition that started more than a century ago. Truly, this has challenged and stretched me and my long-held beliefs (not to mention having to interact in the English language all throughout). I was exposed to worlds different from my own and because of that, I was braver to visualize a different Philippines.

My preconceptions and perceptions about the 'Westerners' have likewise evolved throughout the process. As I get to know them better (in class and during all-nighters in the postgraduate computer lab, cramming a paper - haha), I realized that they are not so much different from me. While cultural assumptions are still at work, I discovered that it all boils down to the Golden Rule: respect to be respected; love to be loved, and; most importantly, smile to be smiled at.

#8: (Living in a) FLAT

This was home during my first ten months in NZ.

Another wonderful thing that happened to me this year was to experience living in a student accommodation. When I was doing my undergraduate degree back home, our house was a 20-minute drive away from the university. So I never get to experience living with other students in a 'dorm' or a rented private house.

Although my two accommodations here in NZ have been under the university administration, it is still considered as 'flatting.' Flatting, or living in a flat, is renting a private room or a house and sharing the space with other tenants. In my case, I got to live with people I barely know and had to adjust to their ways and habits. I am fortunate because all of my flatmates have been very nice, responsible and easy to get along with (and by that I mean they are not heavy drinkers or smokers, they pay their rent on time, and are not grossly messy). Of course, we have our different standards of what is appropriate and clean, but at least, we communicate and everyone cooperates - two very important values in any relationship, whether among similar or different cultures.

Make-up session with Hailie (left) and Silati (right)

As a matter of fact, my first two flatmates, Silati (who is from Tuvalu, a country in the Pacific which I have never heard before) and Hailie (who is from Vietnam), have become like sisters to me. I lived with them for nine months and you could just imagine the bond that developed from being able to see them from the time they wake up to the time they go to bed. Talk about really close encounter with cultures.


#9: FOOD (a smorgasbord on a budget!)

Sunday market: Wellington's version of our Divisioria.
Cheaper fruits and veggies.

Another important cultural aspect, food has definitely characterized my one year here in NZ. With the independence and freedom of living on your own, I was on a food adventure trying out stuff that we don't have back home while keeping to my budget. (Yes, living on a budget is very important for students, especially those under scholarship. We don't really receive much, especially once the flat rent is taken out from your stipend. Housing here in NZ is ridiculously expensive - like $200/week for a decent room!) I actually do not know how many dishes I have created or modified (recipes from the Internet) just to be able to make use of whatever is in my pantry and to obey what I feel like eating that day.

Truly Asian: taking photos before eating! :)

But since I study in a multicultural environment, foremost in my very own flat, I also get to taste food I only see in travel shows (and some that I haven't even heard of). Nothing beats having authentic Vietnamese, Indonesian or Cambodian food with (and prepared by!) the very people from those countries themselves. Just think of the conversations spurring from that. Who needs an almanac or 'The Lonely Planet' now?

During those times, I would realize that the reason I wanted to study abroad is that I just don't want to know; I want to learn. And by that, I need to be open and vulnerable to things I thought I 'knew.' For until I know, I think there is no more reason for me to go back to the university and learn.

For my classmates and friends from the VUW's Development Studies department. :)