EP 8 — Home, Heart, and Life Abroad: Karina’s Story

Transcript

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Happy Friday, almost locals. I'm Maria, your host, and today I'm podcasting from a sunny spring day in Auckland, New Zealand. If you are new here, a warm welcome. Almost local is a community for anyone navigating life abroad. Moving abroad is an adventure, but let's be honest, it's also a lot. Life comes with its first share of challenges from making friends to navigating culture shock. We share the ups and downs, we share the stories and honesty of starting over. Let's dive into our first conversation with an almost local very first guest. Today is all about real stories behind life abroad. No filters, no sugar coating, just honest conversation about the highs, the lows, and the hilarious inbetweens. If you want to read more stories, head to our website, almost local.com, and follow our latest updates on Instagram at almost local. Let's dive in. Today I'm really excited because we are hosting, one guest here at the podcast. I'm here with Karina. We are currently in Auckland, New Zealand. I'm really happy, to share with the community her story about her journey, navigating life abroad. She has a long experience traveling, to different countries and, navigating life, abroad since she was a kid. So she's here to tell us and share her story with us. I want to thank you, Karina, for being here. Really appreciate your time and. open to share your story with me and the community. So I would love for you to, tell us a bit about yourself. Well, we know you're currently living in New Zealand, but tell us about your journey. Thanks for having me. I am, Egyptian, quarter Greek, married to a Kiwi and living in Auckland for the last 11 years. I am currently a Pilates, instructor and a nutrition coach focusing on women in their forties and beyond. My passion has always been movement, healthy living, and now more specifically, helping women, in their perimenopause and menopausal years and making them feel great because it's not, all doom and gloom. And so, I have that energy and passion in me that I share with the women and my community. So, yeah, that's what I do. my background, as you said, and you mentioned that I lived in many countries, my parents were expats, they got married in Alexandria. They're both from Alexandria in Egypt, and immediately, left the country. my father was working in Bahrain. Bahrain is a tiny little island in the Gulf, close to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, so it's in the Middle East. So I was born there. I wasn't even born in my own country. And then. We went to Dubai, and this is all in the eighties. and then from then on, kept traveling with my father's work. So we lived in Bahrain, Dubai. Montreal in Canada. That's when I started my schooling years. my parents decided to put me into a French school. I was in a French school in Montreal for my first years of schooling. And then from then on with every country that we continued to travel to, I was placed in a French international school. So my education is French. Wow. This is an amazing, expat journey. As a kid with your family. Exactly. Yes. So after Montreal. We briefly went back to Alexandria and then went back to Cairo for a little bit, and then went to Casablanca in Morocco. Once you're in an international school, the system is the same, which is the beauty of international schools. So, for me, the education was consistent. And then finally when I was 13 years old, my parents at that point wanted to just set roots back home in Cairo for us. And we, decided as a family to go back to Cairo. luckily Cairo had a French international school too, so I just went to the French International School in Cairo as well. Well that, made your life as a kid easier just knowing that you would be going to the same system at the school and language, so that helped, I'm assuming. Correct? Absolutely. And then, yeah, we stayed on in Cairo, till I did my first university year in Cairo and then I have the travel bug in me and I transferred my university credits from Cairo American University to a university in Montreal. And so I went back to Montreal with a group of friends. From Cairo, we all went together. I finished university there. And then after that I went to France for a year and a half, and then Dubai. For another eight or nine years and then moved to Auckland. I have been staying put for the last 11 years. Okay. Wow. So this is probably, destination. This is it now. Okay. Correct. one of the things that I usually, ask is where is home? For you now. What would you say is home for you now, Karina? Yeah, straightforward question, but actually quite complicated for people like us living abroad. And you know, like the saying says, home is where the heart is and my heart is here. My family's here. My beautiful friends that I've made here who are almost like family, pretty much to me are here. So home is here. Mm-hmm. But that doesn't stop me having a part of my heart in Egypt. Yeah. And so I feel like I have two homes. Mm-hmm. I have my main home is here, my day-to-day life, the life that I've created and I love. But, I'll never forget my home and my roots. Because that's who I am and that's what makes me me. That's part of who you are. Yeah. Yeah. So I like that. Home is where your heart is. Yeah. And where you are currently living at the moment. Correct. Which is so geographically and heart. And my heart is kind of split into two. Split into two. Yeah. So as a kid, you moved because of your parents, right? So that was, the reason was family, correct? Yeah. What happened later on? What was the reason why you moved abroad? Yeah. Was it, so to begin with, with my father's job, that's why we moved. My father was. Working for multinational companies would look after a specific region three to four years, and then they'd place him into another region. that's why we moved for my father's job. As an adult, I got my first job in Dubai. that's where I. Started my career, I met my husband there. My New Zealander Kiwi husband, who was at the time working and living there too. Fast forward, we got together, we got married, we had our first child there all in Dubai. Yeah. And then again for his work. And his job similar to my father. But in this case it was coming back home for, for Hamish, my husband. For him, yes. To New Zealand. Yeah. So, so yeah, we moved and we made the decision as a family. To come here mm-hmm. For his work and for a life that we wanted to create here. Yeah. So it was love, love. Can we say it was love. Love. It was love. We can blame love. Yes. For this last mo Yes. And you've been living here in New Zealand for 11 years. 11 years. Okay. Do you think this is your final destination? Karina? Yes. When I first moved here, I would absolutely be terrified of someone telling me, so this is it. This is it. You're gonna stay here forever. I would actually have anxiety around that conversation. It would really scare me. And in fact, I told my husband when we first Moved here. I mean, please don't say the word forever. It's, it really, it scares me. So we're moving here. Just remove the word and we'll see. Just, you know, treat me like a little kid. Don't say the word. It's scary for me. fast forward 11 years later. I am content and comfortable with the idea of staying here forever. I mean, who knows But I have much less fear around it. Yeah.'cause, because of course 11 years later I have made it home and I love it. But of course moving here for the first time. had its challenges and so far, I think the distance, particularly for New Zealand compared to all the other countries I lived in, was relatively close to home base, whereas here is miles away from home base, which made, things. A lot scarier. Which is why the forever term was scary for me. It was overwhelming. Yeah. But yes, now I can say, yeah, I'm happy that this is home and it takes time here to stay. To build a home. It's not something that you do from. One day to the other. It takes time. It takes time for people who are starting this journey because you, although you are an expert child, but it's not the same division you have when you are a kid. Your parents' decision is to move from one place to the other, but then when you grow up, it's your decision, right? Yes. For those who are starting this journey, what would you say like in terms of all this experience that you have now? I think, it takes time. I think we may be, quite impatient with wanting it to be a certain way and have this vision of it being, perfect and feeling like from day one. And, that's just not reality and it's a journey. If I would speak to my younger self or someone who is about to embark on this journey is to be patient and to be open-minded and almost enjoy the process. The challenges that come with that comes with so much growth. That I don't think I would've probably had that growth without going through that journey. You grow and you get to know yourself so much when you are out of your comfort zone and you are put out of your comfort zone when you are. One so far away, two out of your country. Maybe for some, a different language. You are properly out of your comfort zone, but we know that from personal growth as well. If you're out of your comfort zone, that's where the growth happens. Totally. And so I think it's embracing it. And just, yeah, try to have fun with it. I think connecting with people is huge. Connecting with people that you have common ground on or you just connect and have that chemistry and bit by bit you build your community. and again, that community will become almost your little family. So the people. To answer your question as well, the people is what makes it home. Without the people doesn't make it home. You know, you can have the most beautiful house, and the setting is gorgeous, but if the people are not there, then that's just not home. So I think community is key. Absolutely. Community is key. Yeah. When was that moment when you felt, okay, now I can, I don't have this feeling of forever is bad or this anxiety of I feel like I belong here. Do you remember, how long it took or if something happened differently where you said, now I feel like, I am from here, or this is. I'm happy here. Yes. I can pretty much remember it. It was around when our daughter was born, our third child, and that's kind of when it felt like home for us. So that's almost seven years ago. Which also shows you how long it took. Yeah, that's why I ask I agree with you that we, I mean, I just moved back from the Netherlands where I lived three years, it took me three years to get used to the Netherlands. And then we left. at that point I was like, actually I'm quite. Okay. Here it feels like, this is a place where we can build a life. We decided to move anyway, but it took three years. And now it's been two months since we return. So we are in the process of adapting again to this country. So it does take time. It does take time, yeah. Which is why we said, it requires a lot of patience and. Sounds negative, but really set your expectations lower, I think as well. I mean, you have high expectations for yourself because you want the best for yourself and your family. Of course. I'm not saying lower your standards, keep your standards high, but in terms of how long it takes, be realistic that it does take time. So, yes, for me personally, it was when, our daughter was born, we moved, to a different home that probably I felt more home in, in a different area. And that's also, it coincided with our first child going to starting school. So our third child was born and our first child started school and. As a mother, and being connected to a school. And the community that comes with that helped me feel more like this is home. I think prior to that, having kids younger at preschool or kindergarten or daycare, whatever it is, didn't really anchor me as much. Whereas the school, because it's a local school and we walk to school and you get to know your neighborhood and Everything that comes with the beautiful setup that New Zealand has, that every school is part of a little zone. You really start to feel like you belong to this community. To the community. Yes. Our son started school. Our third was born and it was sort of coming all together a little bit for us. Yeah. It all started to make sense. And you mentioned moving houses. So we don't associate the feeling of home with a, with a space, right. Because it feels more like a feeling or like a place. But how much about the house itself, your place, your things, your stuff, how much that also rounds you in a place? Hmm, absolutely. Yeah, because, at that time we were still in Oakland. We just moved from one area to the other. Yeah. I think, you know, there's energy in certain places and it just felt right. I just probably connected a lot more to the house that we're in now. I can't really pinpoint what it was, but it just felt good. of course we were a growing family at that point. We had our third child, and so we're suddenly a family of five and you need a little bit more space that was a big factor too. Of changing our space to accommodate one more child. So you moved here, with your, husband. Kiwi husband, and you had your kids here. I mean, the first was born in, Dubai. Dubai, and the two others were born here. Yes. So for me, I had my kids in Argentina where I'm from. For me, that is super courageous to have kids abroad. I don't know. I feel like you were really brave. I mean, among other women who did the same, right? Yes. So I'm assuming that would've been a huge challenge for you. Yeah, that was the very, very big challenge. Looking back, whenever I have pictures on my phone that pop up, You look at the little babies and you're like, oh, they're cute. But then a part of me is like, oh, that was so tough. You almost just wanna blur it out of your memory, but that you don't wanna delete those beautiful pictures. It's like mixed feelings of how hard it was and how cute it was at the same time. Would you say that was one of the biggest challenges of Yes. Yes. Navigating that? It's very isolating when you have, little babies and all you wanna do is just go to your mother and say, can you make me a cup of tea and hold the baby while I have my cup of tea, or have a shower without any interruptions or without life collapsing or forget all these little things, or just being physically next to your parents. I guess with your mother as a woman, you connect because obviously you've had a baby, but that same thing goes with a father of course, but just physically knowing that they're there, that you can pick up the phone, you can have a hug. You can even call, like just during the day, just being on the same time zone and just saying, ah, it's been a hard day. So, yes. And what did you do? How did you navigate those difficult times that they are difficult for any woman, but I mean, just having the Yeah. To do it in a place where you are not from here. You are starting your life here and then suddenly you are feeling this Well, lonely. Yeah. It's isolating. Yeah, it's isolating. what we all are as women, aren't we? We're fighters. We're not gonna let it put us down. So I. put myself out there. I joined a fitness group class that had a crash for the kids and put the, put at the time our son, the first one, Oliver, in the crash to have a one hour workout. And then eventually you meet different people and go out for coffees. And then, i'm quite confident to just literally approach someone and be like, Hey, do you wanna go out for a coffee now after the class? Let's go. You know, let's do it. Come on with our prams, and then talk and get to know each other, and then off we go. And so I did that a few times. with this one, with that one. Until I built myself a little network of mothers. and coincidentally at the time there were a lot of those mothers that were, on the same boat as us. As in, you know, there was an Australian here with her husband for his work, and then actually another Egyptian But, she was here, an English one. And so coincidentally they were all foreigners. Living here, do you feel like, you were kind of attracted to people who understood you more than I think it was a little bit of that. I think definitely I was sort of, I just, I was fresh from Dubai, where Dubai was, is a proper exp expatriate city Where everybody is coming from everywhere. And so it was very normal for. A Dubai life to just literally come up to someone and say, let's go for a coffee. And so I think probably I felt more comfortable doing that with other foreigners. I probably was feeling like if I did that to true local, they'd be like, okay, well don't you have friends? Go and find your friends. Why are you approaching me and doing that? I probably didn't have the confidence at the time and I felt more comfortable to do that with other foreigners. Yeah.'cause I knew that they'd probably be feeling the same way as me, so it was double was the challenge. Yeah. So you need to put yourself out there, connect with the community, but at the same time Find those people who you would be feeling more comfortable, But then fast forward with your question of when it felt home actually. With our son going to school. That's when I truly connected with beautiful Kiwis And that's another reason why I feel like home. Because as much as I value my friendships with international people, because we will forever have that connection because we're all foreigners here, either married to Kiwis or foreigner and foreigner, and there's that immediate connection of like, okay, we're all this together. But there's so much beauty. And getting to know the people from the country that we live in. Right. Getting to know them, getting to know their culture and their habits and learn from them. There's so much to learn from the Kiwis as well. So I think when I truly connected with Kiwis and had real genuine friendships with Kiwis That really helped to make home. Home. Yeah. And I have beautiful. Kiwi friends and they're truly, truly gorgeous people that I call family. and so that has really helped me make cochlan feel like home for me. For sure. Because if you keep living in that foreign life, like I said, as beautiful as that is, and those friendships are genuine, you kind of feel still a bit isolated. And you're not truly connected to the country that you live in. You need to embrace both basically. You need to embrace the country you're in and honor their everything that comes with that, and also embrace your friendships with your foreign friends. That's, like we said, is a given. There's that automatic connection. I agree. That's also the way for you to truly. Be able to call it home. If you find ways to connect, with the country and the culture and the people. Otherwise, you are here, but you're not, Yes. And then I think what I have learned is, growing up in so many different countries there, No one culture is better than the other. And we can learn so much from each other. And equally they, you know, they love listening to what I have to offer, but I have so much to learn From the culture here so I think it's really important to be open-minded, to embrace it and to honor everybody's differences, and that's what makes it so rich. our experiences and our relationships because you blend it all in and you accept and honor and learn from each other. And You become a different person. So it's also important because I think. Our comfort zone is to stick with our own nationality or our own the people that we connect with, it's easier. Yeah, for sure. And that's a given, like we said, it's not that or that it's everything. Yeah. Exactly. It's not one or the other. It's one and the other. Back to where's home, I think. It's a tricky question because part of me has made me think, oh, do I have to pick one? Is it black or white? No, it's both. Homes here. Homes there. Your foreign friends are just as valuable as your Kiwi friends. You put it all together and it's just the beauty of it and how lucky are we? Foreigners to have that, added advantage of, like, we get to be with friends from all over the world and embrace everything. And see it from a different perspective. It's beautiful. And even have more than one home, right? That could be seen as a good thing, right? It's lovely. So I think it's your mindset as well of when you move here to just have a good mindset. And be positive and excited for all that's to come. And the adventure that comes with it. And also, like you said, there will be moments when you will be feeling. Great. There would sometimes things won't work as you expected, but lower your expectations, not your standards. Keep your standards high, but be realistic maybe with your expectations. Yeah. Don't expect it to be feeling like home from day one. Yeah. And then, you know, friendships is a tricky one. When you first arrive, you, you, you kind of. Desperate to make friends. And then, like I said, you approach people and eventually realize they're not so much like you, and that's okay as well. So it, I think it's something that we teach our children to navigate, but even as adults, when you're making new. Friendships, you navigate it too, and you almost filter through and see what works and what doesn't. And you do it with love. Mm-hmm. And it is not like, again, black and white, but you find your people, that you are on the same page with and Yeah. So it, it's navigating that too, and finding what works for you and your family and your values and everything. What are the favorite parts of living abroad? I mean, you've been living abroad since forever. So what can you say, looking backwards, what were the, favorite things back then when you were a kid and favorite things now you mentioned few, but Yeah. As a child, it's funny in hindsight. I am who I am because of how rich my experience was. I sold so many different cultures and different ways of living, even within the Middle East, like Bahrain in Dubai, Morocco, Egypt, they're all in the Middle East, but they're all so different, as you know, in South America. It doesn't, you all come from South America, but one country is very different to the other. Totally, yeah. Despite the language. So that's in itself for me was a learning, like moving to Casablanca, thinking, oh, they speak Arabic, they'll be like the Egyptians. They were totally not. So you just expand your brain, your horizon, your perspective. You have a tolerance as well for differences. You know, I might not look like you, you might not look like me. We speak different languages, we have different accents and so on, again, we can learn so much from each other. So I think my perspective and how open-minded I am, my experience as a child has made me who I am, although I always say I'm happy my parents stopped at 13 because I think if you do it for too long, you kind of feel a little bit lost. They want, at one point they said, okay, enough is enough. We can't keep moving because. You want to feel rooted somewhere as well. Yeah. It's human nature. We can't be, you know, nomad Moving all the time. Do you remember, Karina, if your parents, I mean, every family's different, but did they talk to you about it? Were you involved in those decisions or do you feel like it was more your parents saying, okay, it's enough, or were you able to I did be very honest. I don't think they asked me. I think it was like more like, right, we're going on a fun adventure and let's go. They almost. Sold it that way, like it's gonna be fun and you're gonna have so much fun and you know, more less, let's sit down and discuss something really important. That might be scary. I think they flipped it around and say, right. Off we go. Let's go. This is an adventure and you're gonna love it. Oh yeah. But what happened after, like when you were 13? Yeah. Were you asking, are we here for good? Are we staying, are we Yeah, because I, my kids are 15 and 12. We moved when they, well, just recently, like I said, so they, they have, they were asking. Are we staying here? Mm-hmm. What's gonna happen? Are we gonna move again? Or so they, they really wanted to know what's going to happen and I mean, they were not so little, no, we, we asked them, yes, that you want to do. I mean, it's fair to ask, but of course at the end of the day, it's parents' decision and in our case it was more of a family decision. I wonder how much your parents. Had your input on that? I think when we moved back, to Egypt when I was 13, I knew that was it. I don't think I had an idea. To be honest, it solidified things a little bit more because they got a divorce as well. So they're like, okay, so obviously they're not gonna move together anymore because they're not even together. and I think they had traveled for so long that they were just happy to stay. Fast forward, my father now lives in Germany, for the last 11 years as well. He moved when we moved to New Zealand. It adds layers of where I'm from. Yes, I am from Egypt, but when we go back and visit, we don't actually go back to Egypt because my father doesn't even live in Egypt and my mother's quite mobile and, flexible to pick up her bags and meet us somewhere else too. So, when you returned to Egypt at 13, you stayed there until you went To university. So I finished school, went to university For one year in Cairo, and then transferred the credits since finished in Univers. So those years were really critical in terms of calling Egypt Home. Yes, it is home. that's where I really. Have made my real friendships, you know, when you're a teenager and beyond, those are such true, beautiful friendships that you develop. But we were lucky enough with every country that we were in for my father's work, it was never too far away from Egypt. Yeah, so we always went back to Egypt for Easter holidays. of course, summer break, Christmas. And so we had almost like a home base. So it's very different to here being so far away. Dubai Takao was a three hour plane ride Easy. Morocco was five hours, even Canada was half of the time that we have here from, it was, I think seven, eight hours. Mm-hmm. Or am I mistaken? I lost track now, but it did not, it, it's not as far as New Zealand, so, yeah. Yeah. So I, so we had our home base in, in Egypt. Yeah. And we would go back, so I, I connected with the country. My grandparents were there. Family friends. We would have our summer holidays with all our family friends every year. Yeah. That, what you're saying is in order to keep those connections. Alive. You need to reconnect. Correct. Quite often. Well, every break it gets lost. We have a lot of families here in New Zealand who are, came from England. That's quite common. It's quite difficult to return to England. New Zealand feels very different to, which is why I probably felt so scared moving here because I, despite all the countries I lived in. This one was different. And I think it's truly the distance that makes the difference. Yes. And the time zone. I mean, in my case I lived in Canada, was opposite to the Middle East, but it's just that distance where you're miles away. so to go back to your question, that's what I learned as a child embracing all the cultures and as an adult moving here, I would say learning more about myself. It's funny, you learn about the culture and the country that you're in, but as an adult. I was 30 when I moved here. it's an interesting age because you're also, becoming a mother, you're growing a little bit, maturing a little bit. And you realize, how strong you can be and how much personal growth you go through, I think. I've developed and have, become a completely different person as a result of moving here. In my adult years. It opens parts of yourself. That maybe they would've never opened and there's challenges and like there comes in waves. It's good, it's bad, it's good. It's bad. I think a big part is. Almost a friend had told me that, and I think it's so true. It's like mourning a life that you're kind of letting go of or letting go of an idea of a life that you had in mind. That won't happen. So me living in the Middle East, in Egypt, is something I need to let go of and that comes with. Personal growth and digging deeper into everything. Mm. And so you, you're sort of letting go of something that you had in your head that Is a thing. Yeah. Does that make sense? Yeah, it does. I suppose it's like, in a way it's like grieving. Grieving is the word. It's like, yeah, that's what she was saying, my friend. And it's so true. It's like you're grieving without knowing. Because this idea of this picture in our heads that we had actually, you know, you already, well by now, you know, it's not that. No. But you, your kids, I mean, even when you try to keep the culture alive. They're not going to grow up in Egypt. They're not growing. No. That's not happening. No, no, exactly. I feel responsible. I don't have Egyptian kids Yes. I don't have Egyptian kids. I think they embrace the culture and they embrace, the little habits that I have at home, or the words or the music or the food that they can connect with, but true, true Egyptians. Of course they're not Egyptians. No, they're Kiwi kids. Yeah. Kiwi kids. but yeah, like I said, there's a part of, I hope selfishly, that they still. Can connect with certain things because of, like I said, my little habits in the home. Or connecting with my parents. music even, or food yeah. It's all these little things that make it home. Like we stayed at my best friend's house in Dubai over the holidays. And, she was calling out her children the same way I called my children or we had a specific food that I make. And, you know, my kids were like, ah, oh, they're doing the same thing. They're saying the same words. So something there's a connection. So even though they don't speak Arabic, my kids. There was this aha moments of like, oh, she calls them the same way you call us, our middle one, we said, you know, mommy, it's weird. I feel like I belong to this part of the world too. And that just made me so happy. That's probably just very selfish of me. But he had a connection. you can't just cut. The culture. No. It is not something, it's not like that. It doesn't happen. this brings me to my other question, about, something that you have kept during this journey. You know, like an item. That was always with you, and it could be like anything that you feel like it's been with you in this, journey. I have tangible things and I have non-tangible things. My faith, is very strong. And in the challenging times, I would literally just sit down and talk it out. pray that everything goes well and that we are guided towards the right direction and despite the challenges, guide us. help us make the right decisions. So my faith is strong and my relationship with my parents they are incredible. I speak with them whenever they're awake, I will speak with them. So I speak with my mother twice a day. I speak with my father. He's a little bit busier because he's working still. So I speak with him probably every two days. And then there are some days where I would speak with him twice a day. When it was really hard, despite him working, he would, him and I would call each other as well, like my mother twice a day. I'm very, very close with them. And the witching hours, as they call it, when the kids were young, the four to seven period, I would call either my father or my mother, put them on Zoom and feed the kids and pretend that my parents are with me because. I needed support or just like I said, physically, they're not actually physically there. But yeah, emotionally, like that's a good thing about, Technology this year, right? Imagine doing this. Oh my goodness. I know, 20, 30 years ago. Yeah. So my parents possible and my faith are, are everything to me. and we have items in our home that are very Egyptian, which I love. I have, middle Eastern carpets. I have a few antique pieces. I have art. And so yeah, you walk in the hallway and you look at the art and you're like, oh, it's a bit of home here too. It's a bit of home. Yeah. Yeah. So those are in terms of tangible that it's art. It's beautiful, but it also reminds me of where I come from and it also. Shows the children and my husband who appreciates those things just as much as I do. that they embrace mommy's culture too. And it's not just a, like any other house, it's different. It's unique to us. Yeah. It's unique to you and it's telling a story as it's telling a story. Yeah. That's very nice. Okay, so we are getting to an end to our chat, Karina, it's been, lovely and I've learned a lot from you as well. What is one thing, a fun fact about you that you'd like to share, and that you feel like the community could also, learn from you and about also what you do and what you're passionate about. Okay. People look at me sometimes and I'm, I have a quiet side that's more reserved, but then I have another side that's really out there. Brave and adventurous, which is another reason, like we said, probably we all have that adventurous side of moving countries and living abroad. how I met my husband was, through a dare that, my best friend dared me at a nightclub to find a guy, give him a kiss, you'll never see him again, Can you do it or can you not? And so I wanted to prove to her that of course I can do it and I'll never see him again. And then of course, it did not turn out to be a random guy. And then the rest is history. yes, I'm very adventurous and i'm a lot bolder than I even give myself credit to. I have two sides of me. There are two sides of you. That's a fun fact. Yeah. Thanks to your friend. Yes, exactly. Of course she takes credit for it. And she said, you know, if it wasn't for me, who knows where you would be? Yes. Where, which country would I be? So my passion actually back to where all the countries we moved in, not only was I in a French international school, but I was in a dance school and every country had, it's a dance school. And I was so passionate about dancing and that's another thing because obviously every dance school had its own method and its own way of doing things. So I got to. Travel and see what every country had to offer in terms of dancing. And then I fast forward later on, it's always been in me. I just love. Moving the body, connecting to the body, feeling the music, it's an arts for me and it's a therapy for me. I love moving, so my classes are quite precise. We use weights, we use resistance bands. It's Pilates focus, but We have cardio, a little bit of cardio burst. A lot of sculpting and strengthening. And I'm also a nutrition coach. Really passionate about healthy living. And that I take it from my mother. She's always been teaching me all these things really Well. That's good. So to give her the credit. Yeah. I like that. Absolutely. Yeah. And you have a beautiful website. Yes. And for those who are in Auckland. You are teaching? Yes. In St. He. So I give group classes in TIUs and Glen and I offer private classes too. So one-on-ones I offer nutrition coaching for women and yeah. I love what's your website and what's your Instagram account? Yep. So, the website is balancing act. All one word.co nz. And the Instagram is balancing act. Nz. So come, come in and have fun. And then obviously the community for me has always been, like I said, key. The community is so much fun. You know, some days women rush off to work right after class, and then on Fridays maybe it's a little bit more relaxed. And if people have time, we go for a coffee. And then they meet each other through there. And it's a really beautiful way to meet like-minded women. Exactly. who have children? it's just a melting pot of gorgeous women. Who live in the community and who just want to get fit together. Find some common ground as well. And that's what really helped me because I was a stay at home mom for a very long time. and I met a lot of women through. joining a group class, like what I offer now. Of course. And like I said, they had the crash and that's how you meet. Thank you for being here with me. I really appreciate. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. I love what you do and it's so helpful. I wish had a podcast like this when I first arrived I'm happy that you like the space and thank you for helping, grow in. Fantastic. I can't wait to see how it evolves. It's beautiful. Well done. Thank you so much. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. Stay tuned for more episodes and guest interviews every Friday, featuring stories from different parts of the world. Perfect for those of us navigating life abroad, or anyone who just gets it. Now I'm off to enjoy my morning coffee. See you next time.