Firstly, I have to insert a disclaimer (hey, I work for lawyers, what were you expecting) - this is my version of life in my small sphere in Auckland. Other people in other walks of life in the city may not agree with my perspective on things, perhaps having had negative experiences. I'm not here to say that there is no other side to my comments… but seriously get over yourselves – this is a city of possibilities just there for the grabbing!
I guess that I am in a priviledged position in that I have had the luxury of travelling and immersing myself in other people’s lives on the other side of the world and this has made me realise that our lives here in NZ are pretty good. Well done us!
Rather than getting deep and philosophical , I need to talk about the most Important Thing before the euphoria of the last week fades, I need to tell you that last Sunday the All Blacks (the NZ Rugby Team) won the Rugby World Cup!
Which means that we rule the rugby world! We rock! We rock because... our haka is superb and the world loves it (google that word), our rugby guys have the best bodies.. seriously... and... we snuck in by beating the French team in the final. The whole country held its breath for the last two minutes .. and then breathed out in one united breath as the referee blew the final whistle. Whew. That was close.
I was in the city at a party to watch the final game - there were about 200 people at the party and about 6 large screen tv's set up including one huge movie screen - the lawyers whose office we were in had even set up a grand stand in the office complete with fake grass on the seating. Superb.
For me though, the most defining moment was at about 1 in the morning as we took the bus home from the city. We all piled onto the free bus and after about 5 minutes, the guys down the back of the bus started a haka (google it, go on) - the Tongan teenagers next to me were waving their Tongan flag and joking with the guys at the back - and then the very funky Chinese guy at the front of the bus joined in with the joking - all of the people in the bus were singing and joking - and they all belong here and they are all proud to be Kiwis.
Actually, from the photos I have taken showing the houses in streets that I walk to get to the train station in the morning, the whole city was behind the All Blacks – check out the flags! Just about every house was flying the flag – and not just the NZ one, but often another flag or two for those with family connections to other countries. People in the street were all wearing black, and had stickers on their faces of silver ferns, our national symbol. Cars all had one or two flags attached to the windows, flapping out support. Coming back mid way through the tournament, I was filled with an awesome pride at the support that was shown, proud to be a Kiwi.
And if you live here, even if you have only been here for a month or two… you can claim it, fly the flag and be a Kiwi. And you will be welcome.
(this is the stadium were it all happened - it is 5 minutes walk from my house)
