Nimavenl - Nicole's Random Ramblings

When I arrived in Auckland (New Zealand) as a fresh-faced and innocent 18-year old over a decade ago, I was determined to do everything my way, which means I checked into a backpacker hostel. There was a woman at the desk who welcomed me to the hostel and to the country. I don't remember her exact words, however as people do, we talked briefly. About New Zealand, about my flight, about the facilities at the hostel, about the weather... Yes, I'm very happy to be here...   My flight was fine, thanks...   Yes, I've been here before...   No, I don't need a map, I know the city... What I do remember is that she mentioned that Auckland weather was like four seasons in one day. Seeing I'd lived in Auckland before (and was raised by a Kiwi!), I readily agreed and thought she'd come up with a very clever way to describe Auckland's weather. The words sounded familiar too... What I found out later was that the woman at the hostel didn't come up with those words on...

One only has to turn on the television or read the newspaper to realise our world is full of war, injustice, senseless hatred, racism, discrimination, murder and terrorism. We have brains capable of imagining how others might act, react, think and feel. We have books and movies which give us the opportunity to see the world from another's point of view or even from inside their hearts and minds. We have the internet and free online translation services that allow us to communicate with people from all over the world, no matter their language or home country. Yet even with books, movies and the internet to connect us and our human ability to imagine how others might think and feel, we haven't learned to live together in peace and prosperity, to share our planet together without bloodshed or violence, to coexist without trying to bend others to our will and our ways. Source: "Colour Blind" by Acvelyen | Deviant Art We are all human, yet relatively small differe...