Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Eight months to the day

"Day unto day uttereth speech. The clouds change. The seasons pass over our woods and fields in their slow and regular procession, and time is gone before you are aware of it" (Thomas Merton, Seven Story Mountain).

Eight months ago, I was boarding a plane in Boston's Logan Airport, wondering just what in the hell I was getting myself into. Everyone was speaking Icelandic and I was about to arrive in Denmark, which I had to locate on a map two weeks earlier. And now, suddenly, I find myself in New Zealand, the exact opposite side of the world, dealing with a much different kind of ambivalence - torn between not wanting this fantastic journey to end and, at the same time, very much looking forward to getting home to see my friends and loved ones and to eat copious amounts of frozen yogurt at Meola's Wayside Dairy.

Fear not, though, I am still living wholly in the present, truly soaking up everything this marvellous adventure has to offer. In fact, I've been so immersed in life here that I hadn't realized that it has really been just about a month since my last update - I thought it was only a week or two ago! Perhaps this mental lapse is because of how quickly and easily I've gotten into the rhythm of life here:

I'm still with Deb and Sally, who beyond being wonderful, open, warmhearted people, also have some of the most interesting hockey stories to share, since Deb was actually the one who founded the women's league here and has been on every national team and provincial rep team in their histories (beyond that she's a national water skiing champ, and triathlete). My plan was to find my own digs, but it will probably turn out that I will just stay with them, as I'll only actually be in Christchurch for a total of two and a half weeks left, with 17 days of travel planned to start at the beginning of June.

And although I have plenty of time for relaxation and mental activity, I find myself quite busy, which I did not expect. Hockeywise, I am playing in two leagues, including a men's checking league where I feel quite accepted and respected by my teammates, who describe me as "Meghan, the girl who plays in our league and is better than all of us." I am finally at the point where I feel totally comforatble and confident with the men, though I've learned that I am a hopeless checker and its best for me to just ignore the fact that it's an aspect of the game! (I have thrown a decent number of solid hits though, and I always impress the guys when I take some huge ones too). I am, of course, also in the women's league, which consists of 4 teams, though I often play against all the same core players because we usually have trouble getting an entire roster of 10 players to show up for a team's game, so subs are called in from the other teams. I am lucky to be coached by a man named Rob, who has an equally long history with the women here, and who because of his positive coaching style and creative criticism, never has trouble getting most of his players to show. Rob actually began coaching the women 10 years ago when he was reffing the national tournament and saw that the Canterbury Rep Team (ChCh is a part of Canterbury) was hopelessly attempting to play without a coach. Rob basically stepped on the bench and said he was their new coach and he's been with the women ever since then! The level of women's hockey overall has grown quite a bit since then, but they lack the depth of talented players and dedicated players who will make their national team prosper. They are certainly limited by only getting one ice time a week and I am utterly impressed by how well these women do play and how intelligent they are about the game (as women around the world seem to be), despite that lack of ice time. So, although I kind of school everybody and try not to score too much, the games are a blast and filled with laughs and good fun and are not too painful to play with everyone slow AND out of position - just slow.

Beyond my hockey leagues, I have just begun coaching in a weekly HS development league, which is not sponsored by any schools, but is open to all local students to come. They have a few levels, and I am basically workin with the learn to skaters. Learn to skate + teenagers = hard work. My first session was a lot of fun, though, and I am glad to help in any way I can, as their current coach is doing it out of the goodness of his heart but really has a short hockey background and is dying for assistance. I am also about to start helping out coach the Tykes in the youth league, as well as some of the 9-16 yr. old teams, on which about 14 girls are playing at various levels. Unlike SA, the coaches here are volunteering, but I am happy to see that they are not only using the IIHF "Learn to Play" program, but they all exude positive enthusiasm and a real desire to have me help them and give them a few pointers as well.

Hockey-wise I have also been conducting a lot of interviews. They are all much easier to conduct here than anywhere else I've been, since most people live relatively close to the rink, and it is easier to set up with people who not only speak English as a first language, but who also are very open and willing to be interviewed. The girls often just rush in and out of the rink, so it is a great way for me to be meeting everyone since we are only there once a week together. So, basically, the rink is becoming my new home!

I am also doing a lot away from hockey as well. I began volunteering at two places - on Wednesdays I cook lunch at a Church in a low income community, where I am one of three volunteers with a group of people doing it as court-appointed community service, and I am doing casual office work for the Red Cross. I was first adverse to doing Red Cross work, thining office work wouldn't be all that rewarding, but I then recalled how much they did for us after the fire in August, and knew it was the least I could do. And what a good thing i did! I have been helping the marketing manager, who is actually working on a book of personal narratives based on oral interviews much like my own, but his focused on the 75th anniversary of the RC in NZ, so he's been great to shoot ideas off of. Plus, he's offered to help me get TV and Radio spots to talk about my research and promote hockey here, which is quite unknown. And I think I have done less work for them than I have gotten to do fun things, including a trip to the west coast, my first elite rugby game (the Crusaders!), and giong to a Maori "Marai" for a feast with a boatload of Kurdish immigrant families - plus I've even met a few hockey contacts who work there.

Other than that, I've gotten to do a lot of reading and writing, going to the gym and running, and just enjoying life. It's been raining like whoa here, but there has been enough sunshine to keep me smiling. I wouldn't call ChCh my favorite city in the world, but the people and my activities have made it a place I am sincerely loving to be. So, although I am indeed looking forward to my return to SA - and already working on setting up some power skating camps there - and thinking about my eventual return home, I am fully immersed in life here and it will be sad when the end comes, and comes sooner than I know it.

Eight months ago, I was wondering why I didn't propose to go study with a mystical guru, or something "more exciting." As it turns out,though, I have indeed walked the mystical path in a way, realizing through all the connections I am making just how connected we all really are - thus really raffirming my faith in humanity and forcing me to tap into my own "creative void" and write. Plus, as I am realizing, all of the extraordinary women I am encountering are, in fact, my gurus, showing me the kind of women I want to AND can become: creative, atheltic, adventurous, not your typical 9-5 gal! And as I continue to play and my interviews increase and I see my story reflected in theirs, and as I see the end of my playing career perhaps approaching, I am aware of how blessed I am to be able to continue to play the game that really has shaped me into the person that I am today....so if you don't like me, I suppose you can blame hockey.

Oh, and happy mothers day (belated) to all the hockey moms out there, who dragged us to rinks at 6am and sat for hours in the cold, who bought us expensive kit, and who drove us 4 hours and back to a game in the midst of snow storms.

Here's two more to keep you thinking:

"Because there is happiness only where there is coordination with the Truth, the Reality, the Act that underlies and directs all things to their essential and accidental perfections: and that is the Will of God" (Merton).
""In one sense we are always travelling, and travelling as if we did not know where we were going.
In another sense, we have already arrived" (Merton again).
Cheers,
Norm