my rundown on rugby

Rugby. It's Auckland's dominant focus.
It's a huge deal.

Australian Team arrival

And... I'm still not really sure what the game rules are. I want to blame this one on being American, which I know is a cheap card to play, but... yeah. The closest i've gotten to a real lesson was, last week, watching a game after dinner with my friend's host-father. He dropped a lot of kiwi-isms (for example "have a gander at that bloke's cockup!") and his voice would explode with profanities if the game wasn't going the way he wanted.... yeah so i learned nothing. It was funny though. That man likes his rugby. 

Maori warriors confront the Aussies

  It's been mayhem rugby fever since the day I arrived, with the World Cup taking place here and all. Even my customs papers on the airplane inquired, "Are you here for the Rugby World Cup?" Auckland is flooded with massive billboards, the majority of cars display team flags, there's countdown displays in almost every shop, merch at exorbitant prices (Jerseys $140, ballcaps $40, tshirts $60), and team arrival ceremonies throughout the city. I managed to catch the Aussie's arrival after class one day. Australians are not too popular in New Zealand, so it was a weird crowd. The team was greeted with a haka, a challenge from Maori tribesmen, before they    

even my coffee was celebrating  
with the All Blacks fern

could proceed to the stage and be formally greeted by the city mayor (at least I think that's who he was... I never really know 100% what's going on). 

        Even outside the world cup though, rugby is a regular part of the culture. On my bus route home, every park we drive past, day OR night, is filled with schoolboys or grown men having a rugby game. At my school placement, most boys have a rugby ball in their backpacks and organize quick scrimmages between classes. The All Blacks (men's national team) and the Black Ferns (women's) are absolute heros, and are displayed everywhere. Not to brag or anything, but I am now the proud owner of an All Blacks lunchbox. 

      So it's a good time and a good place to be a sport enthusiast... as for me, I just love all the wild and spontaneous celebrations. Notably, the opening ceremonies on Friday Sep. 9th. From about 2 pm onwards, downtown Auckland was FLOODED with crowds and colors and noise as rugby fans went all out to represent their favorite teams with chants and costume. I'd say 8 out of ten people, including myself naturally, were wearing their team's flag as a cape. Basically, it was superhero day, it was also a time so show off Auckland's diverse culture and become friends with everybody.    

 overall, tongans take the prize as the wildest group


The celebrations kicked off with the arrival of the traditional waka, or canoe fleet. There were... maybe about fifteen ornate boats that arrived stuffed with Maori warriors... It was very very cool but, with the enormous crowds, I ended up pressed against a small tree that was dangerously overweighted with children and adults trying to get a better view. So I had half my mind on the ceremony, and the other half watching the limbs crackle and creak under the enormous weight of these bodies. Some british kid even mistook me for a limb branch and frickin stepped on my head, yeah that didn't make me happy. The 600 Maori warriors proceeded to march from the docks to Queens Wharf to deliever a massive haka.... here's a video of the actual event... my group was like three rows behind whatever person took this.

5 kids, one adult in this little tree.
See the one with black shorts? Yeah that's the
little demon who used me as a stepping block

Waka fleet arriving

Skytower!

That evening was crazy. The city was mobbed with drunken celebrations, every one was happy and shouting and being carted away in ambulances, haha. I struck up conversations with everyone who was adorning USA team gear, YEAHHH AMUUURICAA!! Actually I didn't even wear USA colors, i KNOW, BAD LARA. I was totally rooting for the kiwis in my black garb. A chinese guy actually came up to me at one point and was like, "I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU, you're wearing NZ gear, you've got an american accent, you cheer when Tonga scores a point, and your hair is blue for Wales". So he's right, it's a confusing world. And that's massively embarrassing that I unknowingly cheered with the wrong group of people... good god. To be fair, i was running around doin my own thang and wasn't doing a great job of focusing on the game. Here's some more pictures. 

Bad decisions happening

Tonga vs NZ on the big screen

Fireworks on the Viaduct Harbor

September 19th

OLAY OLAY OLAY!

With some serious luck, I actually scored tickets to a World Cup game this weekend at Eden Park; AUSSIE VS IRELAND!!!! Absolutely wild, such a fun once-in-a-life experience and we decided to side with the leprechauns for this match. Ireland was definitely the underdog while Australia is a huge rival of New Zealand; so you can imagine how insane the stadium was when Ireland destroyed Australia 15 to 6!! The celebrations were like St. Patrick's Day in the USA multiplied by 100, with irish dancing and music blaring, the streets exploded with people dressed as shamrocks or leprechauns - sporting green wigs and flag capes - cheering at the top of their lungs hours and hours after the game was over. The energy was incredible, and after studying some All Blacks games over the past week I actually understood what was going on down on the rugby field, haha! Below i've posted the news report on that game which includes match highlights.

panoramic view from our sears in Eden Park