Sorry, a sad post again. It’s been raining and slushing again and I am starting to believe there is no more to this world than cold and wet and lonely and blgh.
Let’s start positive. I got to see a rugby match, the All Blacks against the Wallabies (meaning, NZ against Australia). Better said: we went to see the haka, and afterwards they played rugby.
It was supposedly a very important match, some of us thought that the winner would indeed win the Bledisloe Cup, which is a very important cup in Rugby, and, but, interestingly, curiously, it is solely between NZ and Aussie. This is where Southern Hemisphere Rugby Pride chimes in. Someone tried to explain to me: “Yeah, it’s only 2 countries, but these are the absolute best two countries worldwide. And it is not just a few matches: when NZ and Aussie play against each other in the Tri Nations, that also counts towards their score for the Bledisloe”. Ehm? Tri Nations? You mean, another cup, solely for 3 countries? “Well yeah, the other world class rugby country is South Africa of course, so they’re in the Tri Nations. And there is the Southern Hemisphere Cup.” So, when do they play the Northern Hemisphere? “Oh, the Northern Hemisphere… well you know, that’s not really so much fun, because the difference is just too big. Playing Southern Hemisphere countries can be a challenge, but the North, ah, they’re not really good enough you see. So no, there isn’t much competitions or cups with those countries”.
It was interesting, I understood about 75% of the rules, and it was fun to be in a stadium during a major sports event. The crowd was supportive, but also calm and relaxed. I was seated “alone”, because when the others bought tickets all together I was still in doubt whether I would go to the wedding in the NL. So when I finally got my ticket it was somewhere different of course. But I chatted a bit with the guy next to me who had brought a Brasilian exchange student to see the game, so that was nice.
Which brings me to the wedding and me not being there. Sunday it poured here, so I stayed inside the whole day in pajamas. I didn’t really do anything during the day, but in the evening Thomas was briefly on skype so we talked a bit and then the NZ immigration website was finally online again so I started looking up what Thomas and me are supposed to do about his visa. That did not leave me happy. It is such a horribly hard process, and because we never lived together (how?! Thank you science…) we will have a hard time proving that we actually know each other and consider each other our better half.
And before things are really settled, it’s going to be months. I know we will be together earlier, but it creates this strange feeling of more distance (more! How can there be even more than half the world?!). The whole selection process for a visa just screams in your face “you are a liar, we don’t want you, unless you prove in 1001 ways that you have a Bachelor Diploma and an official partner. And a few million dollars would be nice too”.
So I went to bed feeling miserable and alone, and knowing that the big wedding day for my dear friend was about to start. It is a ghastly feeling to go to sleep while someone important to you is having “the most beautiful day of her life”, or, as I think she sees it, with a little less of the over the top “OMG” down to earth kind of emotion: a very important and beautiful day.
Waking up rain was still pounding down and I briefly considered just calling in sick and staying in bed. But I never do so I went to work. Then I worked while thinking about my friend and her now husband and all other friends at the wedding who were dancing to 90’s music and having a good time. I looked around my office and wondered if I would miss it if I left right now and never came back. I noticed there is nothing in there that I would take with me were I to leave.
I keep reminding myself that I felt like this the whole first year in Freiburg too, and that things will get better and that when I/we leave NZ I will probably miss it like I miss Freiburg now and I missed Amsterdam before.
And spring would be nice. Summer. Surfing and snorkeling, cycling to work and tramping all the great walks. Drinking wine out on the concrete driveway (oh, how romantic it sounds) and wearing my summer dresses that are still at Thomas’ place.
Zomer, zomer, maak me blij
Zomer, zomer, kom nou eens dichterbij
Let’s start positive. I got to see a rugby match, the All Blacks against the Wallabies (meaning, NZ against Australia). Better said: we went to see the haka, and afterwards they played rugby.
It was supposedly a very important match, some of us thought that the winner would indeed win the Bledisloe Cup, which is a very important cup in Rugby, and, but, interestingly, curiously, it is solely between NZ and Aussie. This is where Southern Hemisphere Rugby Pride chimes in. Someone tried to explain to me: “Yeah, it’s only 2 countries, but these are the absolute best two countries worldwide. And it is not just a few matches: when NZ and Aussie play against each other in the Tri Nations, that also counts towards their score for the Bledisloe”. Ehm? Tri Nations? You mean, another cup, solely for 3 countries? “Well yeah, the other world class rugby country is South Africa of course, so they’re in the Tri Nations. And there is the Southern Hemisphere Cup.” So, when do they play the Northern Hemisphere? “Oh, the Northern Hemisphere… well you know, that’s not really so much fun, because the difference is just too big. Playing Southern Hemisphere countries can be a challenge, but the North, ah, they’re not really good enough you see. So no, there isn’t much competitions or cups with those countries”.
It was interesting, I understood about 75% of the rules, and it was fun to be in a stadium during a major sports event. The crowd was supportive, but also calm and relaxed. I was seated “alone”, because when the others bought tickets all together I was still in doubt whether I would go to the wedding in the NL. So when I finally got my ticket it was somewhere different of course. But I chatted a bit with the guy next to me who had brought a Brasilian exchange student to see the game, so that was nice.
Which brings me to the wedding and me not being there. Sunday it poured here, so I stayed inside the whole day in pajamas. I didn’t really do anything during the day, but in the evening Thomas was briefly on skype so we talked a bit and then the NZ immigration website was finally online again so I started looking up what Thomas and me are supposed to do about his visa. That did not leave me happy. It is such a horribly hard process, and because we never lived together (how?! Thank you science…) we will have a hard time proving that we actually know each other and consider each other our better half.
And before things are really settled, it’s going to be months. I know we will be together earlier, but it creates this strange feeling of more distance (more! How can there be even more than half the world?!). The whole selection process for a visa just screams in your face “you are a liar, we don’t want you, unless you prove in 1001 ways that you have a Bachelor Diploma and an official partner. And a few million dollars would be nice too”.
So I went to bed feeling miserable and alone, and knowing that the big wedding day for my dear friend was about to start. It is a ghastly feeling to go to sleep while someone important to you is having “the most beautiful day of her life”, or, as I think she sees it, with a little less of the over the top “OMG” down to earth kind of emotion: a very important and beautiful day.
Waking up rain was still pounding down and I briefly considered just calling in sick and staying in bed. But I never do so I went to work. Then I worked while thinking about my friend and her now husband and all other friends at the wedding who were dancing to 90’s music and having a good time. I looked around my office and wondered if I would miss it if I left right now and never came back. I noticed there is nothing in there that I would take with me were I to leave.
I keep reminding myself that I felt like this the whole first year in Freiburg too, and that things will get better and that when I/we leave NZ I will probably miss it like I miss Freiburg now and I missed Amsterdam before.
And spring would be nice. Summer. Surfing and snorkeling, cycling to work and tramping all the great walks. Drinking wine out on the concrete driveway (oh, how romantic it sounds) and wearing my summer dresses that are still at Thomas’ place.
Zomer, zomer, maak me blij
Zomer, zomer, kom nou eens dichterbij
