Culture Bombshell

So this next little blog is supposed to be about something we learned about culture this weekend. Since culture was literally shoved down my throat this weekend, I don’t think I will have a problem regurgitating some. First off, in the US, it is hard to find somebody to rent a house to young people. They are worried it will get destroyed or whatnot. Our group decided to stay on Waiheke Island, and found an incredible house with only three days notice. With my experience of trying to find a place to rent during the summer, this is unheard of.
Fast-forward to the first night, we are barbequing, having a good time, when our neighbour comes over and walks right in. First thought, oh man they are going to tell us to keep it down, or worse yet tell the owners to have us kicked out. Nope, completely wrong. He told us there was a comet that was a once and a lifetime chance to see and he could take some of us to see it from a higher vantage point. I was one of the elected delegates to go, and we made our way to the comet, which was kind of faded but still cool to look at. When we all got back, we were in shock, not about the comet, but out of the pure kindness and generosity of a complete stranger.
The next day I woke up, went out on our front balcony to see the wife of our neighbour outside. I said hello, not really sure what they were thinking because of the volume of the previous night. Well I ended up having a half our conversation with her which was out of this world. She was so kind and friendly, and pretty much offered to drive us everywhere. Awesome.
The next day after they drove us to the fair, we decided to do something in return and invited them out to dinner. I finally had a grasp on their names, Colleen and Boyd. We first had nibblers at their house before we went to the restaurant. They fed us great food and drinks. We headed to the Indian restaurant next, and ate some pretty interesting food. I sat across from Boyd, and we had a great conversation about pretty much everything. We talked about running, New Zealand’s anti-nuclear policy, and his carer in the military. After dinner we returned to their house for dessert and a nice little geography lesson from Boyd. Again we left not really sure what to think. The one thing that stuck in my mind was how flawlessly our interactions were throughout the night. Usually when there is a generation gap of that magnitude, things get a little awkward, but there wasn’t any of that. I think when people are that kind, honest and friendly it is hard not to have a great time.
The next day was kind of a bust because we didn’t get to go skydiving. I was bummed out, and then the rest of the group came back from the wineries. John, Karen, and Ilene asked me if I wanted to stay the night at the wineries with them and with out hesitation I said yes. I know I’ve said it before but this time I really had no idea what to expect. We arrived, and the owner immediately introduced himself to me. His name was Steven, and he was ballin. I was also quickly introduced to Ryan, a former employee of Steven who now surfs and flies helicopters for a living. Steven was the most generous person I’ve met, the wine just kept coming along with some delicious platters of food and such. We pretty much just talked for ten hours straight. I was surprised that people with that status would mingle as easily with us, but we had a great time. They seemed to have no problem with the fact that we were in awe of the whole situation. So after some hot tub time, we slept on the vineyard. So when we woke up, the unrealness of the situation took hold. The level of generosity and understand was dreamlike, and we still couldn’t really believe what happened.
I think a Waiheke bumper sticker sums it all up. Far enough behind to be ahead. That quote pretty much defines the attitude of the island. There aren’t the distractions of the outside world. When you look around, nobody is all wound up using a cell phone and every body seems to be in a good mood. In all honesty, this weekend redefined what I thought was capacity of the human spirit.