People are happy and excited to eat at a restaurant again and be with people outside of their home "bubble." Although life isn't completely back to normal, workers greet customers with a smile. Customers have to provide their names and numbers when entering any store. Everyone is happy to support local businesses and walk around the neighborhood. I finally reconnected my friend, a local Kiwi resident, at a cafe. We were both excited to talk about our lives and felt thankful that the virus was mitigated in the country. We were thankful that New Zealand implemented restrictions early on to prevent an increase in case numbers.
Through this experience, I learned that Kiwis are hopeful. They recognized that the lockdown was for everyone's safety and followed the all the guidelines. They didn't hesitate to help their loved ones. People provided services to their neighbors and helped senior citizens buy groceries during times of need. Hope was everywhere: residents displayed teddy bears on their windows for children, essential workers greeted customers with smiles and locals spreaded positivty to each other through social media platforms. People were selfless and provided acts of kindness for the greater good of the people. I am constantly thankful for the community I have here and am excited to start exploring the country again.
