Essay
Care packages
Chocolate, my mum’s granola and honey from my dad’s beehives. These are just some of the things I might receive when I open a care package from New Zealand. Like many others living overseas, it’s always nice to receive a box of my favourite things from loved ones. For friends and family who have visited me in Japan, the reverse is also true – they enjoy receiving a care package filled with their favourite Japanese snacks and drinks.
People are sometimes surprised by what I ask for from New Zealand. A lot of the biscuits and chocolates I used to eat in the past are just too sweet for me these days. So I’ll often ask for things that are much cheaper in New Zealand, like dental floss or some kinds of stationery. My friends and family like Japanese rice crackers, unusually flavoured chocolates and milk tea mixes.
What’s nice about putting together and receiving a care package is that you know each item is something that reminds one person of the other. The icing on the cake is when the actual delivery of the package is also done with care.
Japan’s efficient and reliable logistics is one thing I really wish the rest of the world would adopt. In all the years I have lived in Japan, I can count on one hand the number of problems I’ve had with deliveries. My only suggestion for improvement is about one word: “Overseas.” A minority of Japan Post delivery workers will write the name of the sender on the redelivery notice. Most of them will either write only the country name, or just “Overseas.” With the amount of time people spend making a care package, it can feel like a chain is broken when the sender is just grouped into “Overseas.” When delivery workers do write the sender’s name, and if those workers are also redelivering the package, then I try to thank them in person.
On my most recent visit to New Zealand, I was able to hand-deliver my care packages. My parents dove into the mackerel fish crackers almost immediately. And as my aunt put her precious bags of royal milk tea powder and rice seasoning packs away, she had a toothy smile on her face. She said my grandmother would call that look “like a dog’s head being boiled.” My grandmother has never actually cooked dog, but that image clearly described my aunt grinning from ear to ear at her spoils.
Hopefully Japan’s borders will open soon to everyone. When that happens, I look forward to friends and family visiting – and to the grins on their faces when they discover new things I can put in their next care package.(Samantha Loong)
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