I first discovered ginger beer back in the Age of Aquarius, my version of it anyway. While a lot of folks were movin' and groovin' on the streets of San Francisco and other places around the U.S. I was a rifleman in the 9th Infantry Division assigned to Alpha Co. 3/47th Infantry to be exact and after one long week in the bush we had finally gotten back to our floating base camp - the USS Benewah, which was anchored in the middle of the Mekong River. I was thirsty as hell and, not to put too fine a point on it, heavily armed so a sailor gave me a ginger beer that was colder than the air around us and I had my first taste. It was great.
Unfortunately, they don't sell much ginger beer in the States - at least I've never seen it on any grocery store shelves - and so a generation passed before I landed here in New Zealand a few weeks ago and was re-acquainted with this marvelous beverage. Since arriving here I've consumed more than my share of it, including some locally brewed ginger beer with actual chunks of ginger floating in the bottle. I'm going to miss it when I go back to Spain in late August.
New Zealand is a delightful place, at least that's been my experience in the short time I've been here.
I like the police cars, for example: They're white with a big checkerboard pattern on the sides. Often that checkerboard is blue and yellow and it's just cool.
I like the fact that people routinely say hello, even if they don't know you. I find it very cool that, when you're just standing around for one reason or another, people you have never met before and will probably never see again will strike up a conversation about anything from the All Blacks to the weather.
I like the fact that people here actually read newspapers and books. There are iPads and other devices all over the country, to be sure, but when I'm on the train from Porirua to Wellington I hear the sound of newspapers being folded and the pages of books being turned. It's a nice sound... I wish I heard it more often in the States and in Spain.
I like the wild scenery. It's true that riding in a car on mountain roads can give me the vapors but that doesn't take away from their raw beauty. I'm a flatlander by birth, and by nature, having grown up along seashores and lakefronts so I find it fascinating that there are such things as mountains to begin with. The fact that the mountains here in New Zealand just rear up without the need for things like foothills to ease your transition from flat land to high ground is equally amazing. According to the folks who know about things like that, there's a reason for this; something to do with plate tectonics and maybe volcanoes. I must admit I don't really care why, I just find it delightful that these mountains are what they are.
I like the sports they play here including rugby and netball (which is a kind of basketball without a backboard and, apparently, you're not allowed to dribble or jump...) Watching rugby is a little like watching a backyard football game where the rules get made up as you go along but, even though I really don't understand what the hell is happening most of the time, it's exciting.
Truly, I'm glad I'm here.
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