This February is the first time in five years I am not busy with organising international performers at the lantern festival in New Zealand. I still remember vividly the first time I took part of that festival as a volunteer. I was assisting a group of lantern makers from Shanghai to install this 4 meters tall dragon over the street. We worked into midnight and I was shouting loudly in Chinese , translating for the other event organisers of the message they were trying to convey. That night when I got home I was so excited and I could not sleep. I told myself this was exactly the job I want to do. Work for events, to help other people to communicate, use my language skills.
Some say if you wish for something hard enough, the universe will hear you. In this case, it worked for me. 2 years later I got a job at the Asia New Zealand Foundation, and worked closely with Jennifer King. She is the person who started this festival in New Zealand. I could not describe how happy I was when I started working at the Foundation. Every week there were interesting events to attend and people to meet. My world was never the same again. Over the five years working on the festivals, I have made friends with so many performers from different parts of the world. I have been to the emergency room at hospitals too many times, due to performers getting sick or injured. I have “missing performers” after busing them off to sightseeing places. I experienced post earthquake chaos at the airport. I met Prime Minsters, diplomats, culture attache, CEOs and famous artists. I could not ask for a better role than the one I had at the Foundation. Most importantly, I had an an amazing bunch of people to work with. Each one of them have their own personality, unique set of skills to contribute to the work we do. Not only I learnt new skills from my colleagues, most importantly I learnt the value they have towards their work and the people. Respect, kindness, integrity and fairness all these are the things we value dearly at the Foundation.
Now I am in Beijing working at a complete different sector and enviroment. People ask if I miss the last job? Of course I do. I even dreamt of working back in New Zealand. Do I regret of moving to China? No I do not. I believe one thing certain in life is the constant change. I had to leave, for better or for worse, I need to have new challenges and get out of the comfort zone. It is true that new life in Beijing can get very uncomfortable sometime, it can be so frustrating at times, but pain makes me grow. It makes me realise exactly what I want and how to get it.
Tomorrow the festival will be back on again to celebrate the year of the sheep in Auckland. I know it will be enjoyed by so many people in New Zealand. I wish wholeheartedly that the festival will go superbly well. My colleagues will have a great time while doing this meaningful and amazing piece of work .
Nga mihi
Liyang
LIYANG'S THOUGHTS 