Summer Fling King
Dear Reader,I've been here almost two years now and it's been a time of my life that I will look back upon with mixed emotions. I came to New Zealand eight years after travelling here as a backpacker and having had the most wonderful adventure but inevitably that kind of life experience is hard to live up to, let alone duplicate. I never expected this recent time in the country to match that odyssey though.
I suppose milestones are always useful in that they cause us to look backwards and forwards and I recently had a meeting with my boss - most significantly to seek some vision for the future or at least some possibility of a window of improvement towards a brighter future. It was interesting and good to discuss our viewpoints but it left me with a week of contemplation as I processed my thoughts. The conclusion however from my point of view was that I was to hand my notice in last week as I faced the fact that my future was pretty limited in my present situation, in my job and therefore in this country. So where am I? What's happening? Where am I going? Was it worth it? Please, God - could someone let me know too!!
So that's a summary of my current thoughts.
But as you can imagine, coming to the point where I have to decide whether to go back to live in Britain or stick it out here is a horrible decision. Especially if you take as long as I do to make decisions. I wouldn't have said I was crippled with indecision, more like I was frozen between worry that I was doing something stupid and dread that I was sticking with something that was going nowhere.
Eventually I got to the point where I couldn't bear it any longer and jumped. I'll have to live with it and see if it was right or wrong.
I finish work at the end of June and I've booked myself and my car on the ferry to the south island for a month long jaunt - driving around, camping and basically just going walkabout. After that - if I haven't found anything 'significantly interesting' I'll sell my car, ship my stuff back and buy a one-way flight to the UK via a two month stop in India. That's what I'm thinking right now.
To be continued...
Anyway - let's get on with the news of the last couple of months. Waitangi Day is a public holiday here in New Zealand and commemorates the signing of the Waitangi Treaty in 1840 - the treaty between the British and Māori.
(Like all of these things - it is quite controversial and both sides have differing opinions on quite how fair the agreement was). The day also coincides with Bob Marley's birthday and so there is an open air concert in Wellington called One Love. Bob Marley has nothing to do with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi as far as I'm aware, but there is a big reggae following in NZ and so, why not? Let's have a party.
Another event I went to this summer was to watch England play the Black Caps at cricket. It seems a compulsion in NZ to invent some contrived alternate name for any national sports team. The original is obviously the All Blacks (rugby), other examples are Tall Blacks (NZ basketball team), Silver Ferns (NZ ladies netball), Black Sticks (hockey), Kiwis (rugby league), All Whites (football though they mistakenly call this game 'soccer'), Black Socks (Softball), and it goes on - and on.The most amusing one I've heard is that the national badminton team are called the Black Cocks! I jest not. Anyway - I went to watch the cricket with an old flatmate who lived in the UK for 5 years and who was torn with his loyalty despite being a local! We found ourselves sitting with the legendary Barmy Army and the whole day was a very funny and entertaining experience. The repertoire and humour in the singing was very impressive. Attractive young women who walked past were warmly applauded, a lot of beer was consumed but it was just a lubricant for even more witty comments and jollity. The cricket was really good too, and we won! 
I am now a dedicated fan of Ceroc dancing. I take myself off every week to my classes and 'freestyle' that follows and judging from quite a few comments I've received, I'm no longer entirely incompetent. I am now an Intermediate Plus dancer. Intermediate Plus dancers are so much more skilled and experienced than mere Intermediate dancers. If I wasn't so noble and dignified I'd scoff at those lowly Intermediate dancers ;)When I heard that a friend in Nelson (on the South Island) was having a weekend event I booked myself in and bought a flight on a tiny twin prop plane the size of a small bus that sounded like a motorised kitchen implement and the ride felt like sliding downstairs while seated in a large biscuit tin.
Lovely view of the Marlborough Sounds from the plane.
It was a full weekend of dancing, with workshops and evening events and was topped off with the Sunday night Summer Fling Ball. It turned out to be a very surprising night for me.During the evening we were all invited to pop a note into a pot and vote for our Summer Fling Kind and Queen. I'm not quite sure of the credentials for a Summer Fling King or Queen so I didn't actually vote, but come the end of the evening when the lucky/noble/regal pair of names was announced - I was one of them! (And - NO - I wasn't the Summer Fling Queen!) I was the King. I was the King. Hurray. And my Queen was a gorgeous 21 year old from Palmerston North. I was saddened to hear that I couldn't keep her though. I had to give her back after a couple of dances. Heck - I'm the King - surely I can do what I want?
Summer Fling King trophy
We were both awarded a fine bottle of New Zealand wine, a box of chocolates and this magnificent trophy. I've placed mine next to my cricket club award for 'Most Improved Player - 2007, Team 2CB' that I got last year. They're on my 'glory shelf'. I come into my room and do my Walk of Fame as I visualise the cheering of the crowd while I soak up the adulation from my fans. I don't think it'll change me though - you know - all of this hero worship. I'm still the down-to-earth guy I always was. I won't let it go to my head!
I met up with Shaun and Michelle recently. They're old flatmates of mine and we went to a 'jungle' themed party. I wore my ex-US army Vietnam era helmet and they came as soft toys.Music I've added recently to my ipod's top playlist are:
Snowpatrol - Set the Fire to the Third bar
Julee Christie - Questions in a World of Blue
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
This is not a Breakdown - The Realm
Five out of six of us in the house where I'm living have just moved out because of various reason (not me I think!) and we had a goodbye meal the other day. They're good people and I'll miss them. I've enjoyed living in the house for the last 18 months - despite the lack of heating/insulation/double-glazing etc. I won't miss the cockroaches in the bathroom - fortunately there aren't any in the kitchen though - the mice have eaten all of them!
Some of my ex-flatmates - Sara, Jo and Nik.
Alice and Colin (the only one staying).
Yes, our house can be quite chilly. It actually reminds me of my parents' home in England before they fitted it with central heating. Winter mornings are freezing, condensation on the windows, some days you can see you breath. Yes, to me it feels like the 1970s. Not that NZ is backwards or anything. I'm not saying that it's undeveloped and still catching up with the rest of the modern world! (Well...in terms of heating and insulation it may be).
But despite having chilly, wet winters, an idiosyncrasy of some kiwi folk is perennial bare feet. Not just at home - but out and about. You can be walking around on a dreary, wet day and see the odd person wrapped up in winter jacket and hat...but with short trousers and bare feet! I don't quite understand it because there's often broken glass lying around from the boy-racers (very common in NZ) who once they've finished refreshing themselves with a bottle of Tui (budget beer) obviously tend to decline the use of recycling bins and just lob the empty out of their Subaru window! NZ prides itself on its clean, green image but its like anywhere in the world - you get people who don't give a toss about their environment.
So I'm off to the south island in July - mid-winter and it'll be quite bracing - especially when I'm camping, but it'll also be quite stunning sometimes I'm sure.
I'll try and get some good photos to brighten up my blog - it needs it. Hopefully then I'll also have a better idea of what the future holds.
The other day I flew to Auckland for another Ceroc event (sorry if I seem to go on!) Here's me looking uncharacteristically dapper and the spectacular Auckland Sky Tower.
posted by col @ 8:22 pm
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