As Sri Lanka's longrunning civil war drew to a close in 2009, Kaviesha Abeysinghe Perera used to travel on her high school van and worry that there were bombs about to explode. While she may not have had such fears in 2010 when, aged 18, she arrived in Aotearoa, there were other challenges ahead.
The chance for a good education was one of the main reasons why Kaviesha's parents brought her and younger sisters Raviesha, now 29, and Nethasha, 20, from Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, to make a new home here.
But arriving in Auckland was a huge culture shock, especially seeing so many people from a multitude of different cultures in one sprawling city, having to learn to speak English and acclimatising to winters colder than they'd ever experienced.
"When we started at Kelston Girls' College - I was in Year 12 - I had to learn to speak English and it was quite challenging at the beginning," recalls Kaviesha, now 30. "I didn't understand some of the things that the girls at school were talking about. Everything was different - the environment, the houses and the roads were so much more developed.
"We all came knowing we were moving countries, so we all came with the thought that we had to be able to adapt. Our home in Sri Lanka was built by my dad and was three storeys with a big garden. But we left all that to temporarily stay in a converted garage."
この記事は Woman’s Day Magazine NZ の April 21 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Woman’s Day Magazine NZ の April 21 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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