The safest country in the world?

New Zealand is known for being one of the safest countries in the world. What they don’t tell you is that there are some dangers, which are not taken into account when publishing these statistics.

One of the first days at my job, I thought that my colleagues started shaking my desk for fun. Nope! It was my first earthquake. Luckily, that has been the only one I felt so far and it was not very scary. However, at my orientation day I got a special bag to fill up and put under my desk, the so called “grab-bag”. The idea is that you fill this neon-yellow bag with medicines, food, good walking shoes and other things you might need in case of an emergency. Next to that everyone should have a water tank under her or his desk; the place where you hide in case of an earthquake. And afterwards you have to run to the third floor, just in case the earthquake creates a tsunami.

Nevertheless, most Kiwis’ don’t change much in their lives because of this potential threat. And without it they wouldn't have such an amazingly beautiful mountainous country, with so many natural differences. Personally, I live in the middle of the capital on a five minutes’ walk from a beautiful mountain. As long as I am here, I will enjoy the effects of this natural phenomenon as much as possible. And the water tank under my desk? I am enjoying it as a nice footrest.