"Tita, if you were to choose which country to move to and live in the next 10 years, where would it be?" my niece asked curiously during a conversation sometime ago. Her question took me aback. It was unexpected. But my mind was quick, shuffling the very few countries where I had been before. "New Zealand," I replied after some momentary pause.
"Why NZ?" another question came.
"Because I like it there. The people, the lifestyle, the food, the weather, the geography, the diversity. And I felt safe, plus, it is an English-speaking country," I was reminiscing about my real experiences during my visits on two occasions, both of which were work-related.
"Are there thieves?" she inquired further.
"Oh yes. I don't know if there is a place on earth where there are no thieves." I blurted out without even blinking. "Although I haven't encountered any when I was there. So I think it's not as rampant as some other places," I quickly added, realizing what I said might be insinuating an undesirable impression.
"What would you do if you went?" Aah, this young lady is inquisitive! I wondered what she would make out of the questions and my answers. Is it an interview for a school assignment or something? I was a bit curious too.
"I'd probably work part-time so we could go to the beaches, or drive to explore the many beautiful places," I explained. Then it dawned on me that it could take me some time to adjust to the country's left-hand traffic flow. The last time, we almost ran into other vehicles because we were taking their lane, lol! Thinking about it, why are there right-hand and left-hand drives anyway?
"And how about Yongi? Would you bring him with you?" the little girl continued with her inquiry, taking my thoughts back to where we were. Her questions didn't seem to be scripted. Maybe she was just curious.
"In case we can't take him with us, would you like to tend to him?" Can we leave him with you? Because he might not be allowed on the plane," I asked teasingly. Before she could say anything, Dad called us out, saying lunch was ready.
So we got distracted, and the conversation didn't have an ending. We came back to DD that afternoon. I was suddenly reminded of it a little while ago when my goddaughter messaged me asking a similar question (which country would I prefer to go back to and stay for years). She said it's for a school paper. Aah... What are the odds, huh?
Well, what can I say? Among the 6 nations I've set foot into, I would still choose NZ. If I had been to more places, who knows, I might name another. Until then, I'm sticking with the Land of the Sails.😉
Lead image by Leeloo The First via Pexels. No copyright infringement intended. 27082025/21:06ph