Working Travel: Realizing a Dream in a Year

Chapter 10 There Are Countless Possibilities in Life

Homecoming Auckland

The plane landed, the bus was running, and the clothes were wet from the shower. The first thing I did when I returned to New Zealand was to breathe hard.This is the country where I have lived the longest except China, and I cannot deny the intimacy it brings to me.I brought the same money as when I first came, but my mood was completely different.

I got on the Airport Express with ease, transferred to bus No. 955 on Victoria Avenue, and went straight to the North Shore.On the north shore of Auckland, there is my new good friend Xiaozhu's family.

Just because Xiaozhu read my blog log, he thought I was a friend worth making. I was very moved by this sincerity.For sincere kindness, I have always accepted it bluntly, because the transmission of love needs to be given and also needs to be received.

Xiaozhu’s house has a lush backyard, planted with ornamental plants and vegetables. When the weather is fine, we sit on the rocking chairs on the porch, facing the courtyard, and talk about life and ideals.

Since I was writing a script outline, the topic naturally came to literary youth.Many people do not agree with the ideals of literary and artistic youth, and they even cannot agree with their spirit of pursuing ideals, which is stupid and pathetic.Maybe one day they will lament "maybe this is life" and miss "it was so good to be young".

"My ideal for the past few years is to write a book, and then write a script when it's finished," I told Xiaozhu, "Ideals are not such illusory things, are they?"

Summer in New Zealand is coming, even after dinner, the sky is still bright, we wear short-sleeved slippers to go for a walk on the beach, there are many people on Takapuna beach, walking dogs, running, on the sea There are also kayaks in twos and threes.

"This is life!" I couldn't help but sigh.

"Yeah, New Zealanders don't like to stay at home, and the house is also cheap, so there is not much pressure."

How nice it would be to live here!This is the first time I have the idea of ​​staying in New Zealand, but unfortunately, what I want to do has not been completed yet.

I lived and ate at Xiaozhu's house for a week, and finally felt a little sorry, and started planning my next stop.

city ​​of love

Every year in mid-November is the day when many fruits are selected.These fruits, which do not ripen until autumn, have just grown into babies, and only those with red roots can survive the cruel fruit selection operation.

"Choosing fruit is very profitable", I was fooled by my stubbornness, and I returned to Hastings for money - a city that didn't leave much good impression on me.

Introduced by a friend, I stayed with a family on Tomoana Road. The landlord is in the takeaway business and often brings back all kinds of fried chicken.In addition to me, the tenants also have three Chinese girls who are working and vacationing. Like me, they are also struggling to survive.Especially the two Shanghai girls who bought a car when they first arrived in New Zealand, and crashed into a mountain within a few days of driving. The poor girls couldn't find the north before they could appreciate the beauty of New Zealand.They were brought to court by the public security agency, and they had to pay more than 2000 yuan. They had no choice but to apply for installment payment.To make matters worse, their cars were not insured.

Later, the two finally settled down in Hastings, got a job in the pumpkin packing factory, and were fired by the angry boss for being late. It was really unlucky.

I am more experienced than them in the matter of being unemployed.So, I always tell them, don't worry, there will be jobs, there will be bread, everything is under control.

I sometimes take a walk along Tomoana Road, and at those times, my mind is at peace.There is a corn wall park on Tomoana Road. There are people playing cricket or rugby on the vast green space. Two rows of unknown tree species with huge crowns are planted between the green space and the road. Even in the hottest noon of the day, the trees It was still cool in the shade.I look at those young figures running in the sun and imagine why they don't need to work or study today.

There are many wild ducks living near Cornwall Park, and they are not very afraid of people. They walk on the road swaggeringly, or lie motionless on the ground to enjoy the shade.

Further on, there was an architectural style that caught my eye.Upturned eaves and flying corners, pavilions and pillars, roof tiles and ditches, this is clearly an antique Chinese garden!I quickened my pace, and as expected, there was a circular entrance on the white wall, with four Chinese characters "Guilin Park" written on it.There is a sign next to the entrance, which is written in dense small characters. More than 20 years ago, Guilin and Hastings became sister cities, and then the Chinese side designed and built this park with unique Chinese characteristics.

I'm kind of starting to like the city.

The tallest picker in history

It was thought that a lot of labor would be needed during the harvest season, but the job hunting situation is not optimistic.Not only are there fewer jobs, but I heard that the salary level is also much lower than in previous years. The original 7 yuan per fruit tree only costs two or three yuan this year.I contacted some foremen who were either out of work or asked to bring their own car.It is quite inconvenient to find a job in New Zealand without a car. Many orchards are located about 10 kilometers away from the city.

I was rejected several times, and even I was a little anxious.Cherry season is still more than a month away, and I don't want to pass the day by changing places.Unexpectedly, there was a connecting flight. I received a call from an Indian foreman I had contacted before. He said that he had arranged transportation for us and we would get on the bus opposite the KFC restaurant at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning.

"But I haven't been to KFC."

"There is only one KFC in Hastings."

With the last difficult experience of asking for salary, I can be said to be insensitive to the Indian foreman, and I have various worries in my heart.But in the face of the pressure of survival, I have no choice.

The New Zealand morning was bitterly cold, and the next morning the three of us went for a jog to warm ourselves up.A minivan is already waiting for us at the appointed place. The driver is a cute little fat man with a round face and a slightly bulging stomach. He looks like an Indian.

I thought he was the driver, and after introducing himself on the way out of town, I realized he was Biggie, our foreman.This orchard is not far from the city, just 5 minutes by car.

None of us have done the work of sorting berries. Biji will show us that it is not difficult, just pick the berries that are not in the right position and throw them away.Because the nutrients of a tree are limited, if there are too many fruits, each one will get less. If some fruits are not removed, all the fruits will not grow up.The purpose of fruit selection is here to make the fruits grow sparser and each grow bigger, so fruit selection is also called fruit thinning.

The only trouble is climbing the ladder.We picked fruit for the peach tree on the first day. The peach tree is more than 3 meters high, and it may not be possible to reach the peaches by stepping on a ladder. I am tall, my center of gravity is unstable, and I am a little scared.In the afternoon, there was a scream from somewhere nearby. Someone fell from a ladder, but luckily he was not injured.This made me even more nervous. I climbed to the top of the ladder, afraid to stand upright, and the breeze blew over me, making me precarious.

Murphy's Law says that if something goes wrong, no matter how small the possibility, it will happen.Just when I was worried that I might fall from the ladder at any time, this thing actually happened.When the tragedy happened, without any warning, I suddenly felt that the place where I stood was shaking, and then began to move backward at a constant speed that could be detected by the naked eye.I had time to grab a branch, thinking that I wouldn't be able to fall to my death.When I came back to my senses, I patted the mud on my buttocks, and my hands and feet were still agile. It seemed that there was nothing serious, but the peach tree was miserable, and a thick branch was pulled off.

"Such a thick branch will grow for 5 years, 5 years!" The manager ran over and said angrily.

Can't he see that I've grown over 20 years?
The peaches we selected are still some days away from being ripe. Each one is about the size of a walnut, and the color is green. It is easy to mix with the leaves if you don't look carefully.I didn't wear glasses, missed a lot of results, and was nagged by the manager.

Fortunately, it took only two days for the peach trees to be sorted, and we have ushered in a battle with apples.Although the little apples are not big, all of them have lost their greenness, revealing their flushed faces, which are extraordinarily bright against the backdrop of green leaves.Unlike the peach tree, the waste apples cannot be thrown down casually. It doesn’t matter if they hit the flowers and plants, but it will be troublesome if they hit the good apples in the lower places. Once they hit a hole, it is like the surface of the moon.For this matter, I was often criticized by the manager.It can be seen that I have been on his blacklist.

My colleagues are very nice, including Indians and locals, and they took the initiative to teach me how to complete the task quickly and economically.When picking small apples, we attacked each other across the fruit trees, and the apples hit the iron ladder, making a bang bang bang sound.For a time, the orchard was like a rock stage.Amusing ourselves makes us so much happier.

Even Biji, the chubby foreman, is a nice guy.When I was hungry, it was he who reached out and gave away all kinds of desserts in my private stash.When I was leaking fruit, it was his sharp eyes that caught all the bad fruits in the lower places.Every time he passed by me, he always raised his head and asked me in that Indian-style English: "Are you successful? Are you successful?" At this time, I really wanted to throw all the fruits on his round On the face and belly, see if the elasticity in those parts is as cute as his appearance.It's like a bubble bag, no matter who it is, as long as they see it, they will have the urge to pop it and punch it hard.

The most gratifying thing for me is that Biggie has never been in arrears of wages!His good reputation has directly changed our bad impression of Indian foremen, and it is really a major event to promote the friendship of the international people.

This city, which once made me full of bitterness, transformed into a gorgeous city a few months later, which I never expected. Maybe I didn't encounter it at the right time.I told myself, in the future, don't easily label a city indiscriminately.

We worked hard for two weeks under the scorching sun of Eagle's Mouth Bay.One day after get off work, Biggie came over and laughed at me.

"You kid, you are the youngest here, and you don't earn as much as my friends. They are all in their 50s and [-]s."

What he said was right, my daily salary is at most 100 yuan, which cannot be compared with others.Regarding this matter, I was a little brooding at first, but later I figured it out. I am not here to participate in the competition. As long as I am satisfied, it will be fine. 100 yuan per day is not bad.

So I replied very sincerely: "Your friend is really good, I am willing to bow down."

Xuan Guo is my third outdoor seasonal job in New Zealand.The apple tree has a nice fragrance. Whenever my hands and feet get weak, I lean on the tree trunk, bury my face deeply in the luxuriant branches and leaves, and breathe in the smell of the fruit tree slowly.Whenever I climbed to the top of the ladder, I could overlook the vibrant panorama of the whole orchard. When the breeze blew, I saw a green sea gently undulating under the blue sky.Fruit picking isn’t as rewarding as fruit picking or as free as pruning, but having those moments is important to me.This made me enjoy myself in the ordinary time in the orchard.

Yes, the tedious work in the orchard can be maddening at times.

"So working vacations are so boring?"

"Why the hell am I wasting my time in this damn place?"

If I hadn't experienced it myself, I'm afraid I would never have such a feeling.But when you return to the city, the adventures of that time will be deeply missed.Because all the unpleasantness and boredom are stripped away by the memory, leaving only the shining moments.

I thought I'd leave first, having booked a cheap flight to the South Island (Wellington to Christchurch) a few months ago.But the girls are clearly fed up with the cheap jobs - in fact, most of the girls I've met doing note-taking jobs aren't worth it.

At 12:11 p.m. on December 4, I saw off several girls with big and small bags. The scene at this time was very similar to Opotiki’s farewell, and I was left alone in the room.I have been sitting in a chair indifferently, the difference is that my hair has grown to cover my eyes.

It was light as if it had just begun a long day, and it was hot.Summer in New Zealand is long and I love the long days and short nights so much that I can sweat happily.The dark is the real "uninvited" guest, the infinitely beautiful sunset, the long dusk, how pleasant!Maybe I really didn’t know how to enjoy various joys of unknown origin before, but now I always feel that I am being chased by time, and I don’t want to stop easily, even if it’s a working holiday.I thought there was no lack of time spent on working holidays, mornings surrounded and caressed by the sun, and even leisurely enough to capture the color and shape of the air.In the end, I managed to capture the color and shape of the air. My skin gradually darkened, and the molted skin grew like fish scales. The sun was like a sea, and my skin was a beach. They ebbed and flowed in the air.

Lost Burmese
Two days later, I set off for the country's capital, the fabled Windy City and Mountain City - Wellington.Looking at the territory of New Zealand leaving my footprints little by little, I feel a little proud.

It was an exceptionally smooth ride. First, I was sent to Palmerston North by a container truck. A few minutes later, I got into the car of a Burmese driver, Talipi, who took me directly to my destination.

Talippi served in the army in New Zealand. He and his family came to New Zealand 10 years ago.

"It's not easy to come out."

"Yes."

"How did you get out?"

"Application for asylum."

"That's okay? It really isn't easy..."

"Myanmar is too poor. After the military government came to power, the people are living in dire straits. Most of the refugees went to Thailand, and some went to other countries."

I don't care too much about international politics to know anything about what he's talking about.But I believe that Talipi should be more contented than most people now, because all he wants is to leave Myanmar.The simpler a person is, the happier he will live.

This is the end of my car ride in North Island. In addition to being full of gratitude, there are also various stories.It has been said that we cannot enrich our own lives with the experiences of others.Even so, I still like these fleeting encounters. They always make me feel that everyone's life is so different, and there are countless possibilities in life.

(End of this chapter)