Aotea Square market

My talk on Friday went well, it felt good and I received lots of positive comments. I have to rewrite my paper for publication - later. Saturday started my vacation. The next few blogs are the highlights of our weekend in Auckland. We took the train back to the Britomart station, then headed to the Saturday market in Aotea Square.

One thing you learn fast in Auckland - rugby matters very, very much. There is always a rugby game on tv. The New Zealand rugby union team is called the All Blacks (ABs). Members of the team must be at least 1/16 Maori. They lost only 4 games between 1994 and 2004, beat the British and Irish Lions in 2005, beat Ireland, USA and Scotland in 2006. Their colors are black and black. (Thank you, wikipedia.) They perform the haka, a Maori war dance, before each international game. So do the Tall Blacks, the men's basketball team. The haka looks surprisingly like the welcoming ceremony that greeted me on the marae. I think the welcome message must be, "welcome friend. And remember that if you are not in fact the friend you pretend to be, we know what to do."

Appreciating a street clarinet player and his dogs...

on to Aotea Square

The entrance to the square

I am starting to think that New Zealanders are somehow a lot younger and way more cool than Americans. And yet, they seem to have the best of our culture. Can it be? Oh, yes. Donuts and American Styled Hot Dogs!