I will never be able to thank Sarah enough for the wonderful hospitality she has given me. She understands what it is like to come to a brand new place, knowing no one, and trying to remain happy while starting a new life. No, I’m not really starting a new life, just one that will only exist while I am in Wellington but one that will forever change who I am. We change everyday, learning and growing from our experiences, developing into who we are met to be.
So why am I so grateful for Sarah? She has been the one who has offered to bring me things when I’m sick (which has happened here, unfortunately) or provide me with ideas of things to do. She has also been the one to go exploring with me on a few weekends while I wait for people to arrive. And even when they do arrive, she will take us places we would not have thought about.
My first weekend that I wasn’t completely jetlagged from my trip here, she and her partner, Colin, explored an unfamiliar part of town as they picked me up at my apartment on a street they had never heard of. From there they took me to their favorite bar, the place where they found home in a new place and the place where they got engaged. It brought hope to me as I watched them hug and kiss the cheeks of their unrelated family. Then I realized the most incredible piece of it all: they were sharing it with me. By the time we left, I was being hugged by a man I’d met only an hour later, a sign of acceptance and of hope.
Unfortunately, Colin had to work that night, so there wasn’t much time to do much else, but that didn’t stop them from finding somewhere to take me. We went to a must-see spot in Wellington, the Mount Victoria Lookout. I had read about the lookout when I was studying Wellington before my visit, but I honestly had no clue when I was going to see it or even how to get there. Turns out, it was only a ten-minute drive up the mountain and rather close to my apartment.
The lookout was a whole new perspective on Wellington. You could see absolutely everything from the buildings to the houses to the boats and the harbors to the many mountains that surround the beautiful city. Words nor pictures could ever do the beauty any justice, though they could try.
The view from Mt. Victoria Lookout of the sun setting behind the mountains.
We didn’t have too long up at the top of the lookout before Colin had to go to work, but that was fine. The timing was perfect and we watched the sun sink behind the mountains and away from Wellington to go visit the other side of the world.
Erynn Franks is a senior marketing major at Ashland University. She is a member of Theta Phi Alpha Fraternity and Enactus.
The Dauch College of Business & Economics 