My experiences in NZ #27

Hello there.
It has already been more than two weeks past since the last post. Time flies!
I’d love to continue from where I ended last time.

In NZ, I watched the rugby games in person twice. Rugby has been familiar to me since childhood because my big brother played it as a senior high and university student. When he started playing rugby, the TV drama” School Wars,” about a rugby club at a rough high school, was broadcast in Japan. In that drama, sometimes senior students acted violently toward younger students. Then, my grandmother worried that my brother also had been like that from senior students, and she disagreed with him playing rugby. However, it was just the story in TV dramas.

Influenced by my brother, I wanted to be a manager of the rugby club at a senior high, so I read a rule book of rugby in advance. After entering senior high, I visited the teachers’ room and tried to ask the head coach of the rugby club to admit me to be a manager there. Unfortunately, I couldn’t meet him; instead, the head coach of the basketball club told me, “I’d heard they hadn’t adopted a manager this year. Why don’t you become a manager of the basketball club?” And then, I belonged to the basketball club as a manager.

Aside from that, I’ll share the stories of watching rugby games in NZ. I mentioned that I watched it twice above. The first one was the game of the team in Auckland “Blues.” It was my first time watching the rugby game in person. I hung out with my friends from the language school.

I saw many people asking for an autograph, so I thought they might be famous players and took shots, although I didn’t know who they were.

During the game, a man sitting behind us was excited and sometimes jumped with a beer in his hand, and then he poured beer on me. It was also my first experience being flooded something like a champagne fight.
After several times “beer fights,” I saw that "something" was swinging. Finally, I discovered that he pulled down his pants. Holy cow!

My second experience watching a rugby game was with the All Blacks vs. Wales. Looking back now, what a luxury match it was! Then I watched “warcry” called “haka” in person and got goosebumps!

Haka is a variety of ceremonial dances in Maori, indigenous people’s culture. Originally, warriors danced to encourage themselves and incite opponents before the war. Regarding the formal dances, they perform haka in case of someone’s funeral. I’d previously watched the students perform haka at their teacher’s funeral on YouTube and had touched.

The Rugby World Cup has begun, and the Japan National team called “Brave Blossoms” won in the first game last night. I believe they will win and advance to the next round. Go Japan!

That’s all for today, and to be next time.
See you around.