Adaptation

I woke up this morning to a beautiful bright sunny day - way too bright after all the champagne last night. I made a cup of tea and poured milk on my bowl of cereal – it took all of five minutes – but by the time I got out to the balcony, the sky was solid gray. Went to the bathroom after my last sip of tea, but when I returned to the balcony it was pouring rain. So instead of relaxing with the newspaper, I got dressed – no shower, just threw on some clothes and brushed my teeth – then peaked at the weather again: clear blue sky, no clouds in sight. On my way downstairs I dropped my trash in the rubbish room – it only took a minute – but when I got to the doorway, it was raining cats & dogs. In other words, it was a typical day in Auckland.

The last several weeks, however, have not been typical; instead one gorgeous day has followed another. Not that I had much chance to go out and enjoy the extended summer, since I’ve been working flat out. But Thursday was my last lecture – whew, what a relief to have that over. In spite of all the work, however, it's been a great experience. I’ve learned heaps about NZ law, but also some fun trivia, and a fair amount about speaking to large groups.

To keep myself and, hopefully, the students interested, I tried to get the back story on cases we were learning. Coleman v Myers, for example, is a landmark case here, so I did some googling and found out the defendant’s grandfather had been Mayor of Auckland, and the company he started – which was at issue in the case – eventually became known as Lion Nathan, the largest brewer & liquor company in NZ and a company everyone here knows.

At the heart of the case was a scheme cooked up by the old mayor’s grandson, Doug, that basically ripped off the rest of the family. One of Doug's Aunties sued and won, but she only got $30,000 while Doug had made millions – and went on to become the richest man in NZ. Instead of just talking about cases as dry legal principles, I wound up telling stories about greed & power, fools & connivers, and, of course, money. When I finished on Thursday, the students applauded. It felt really, really good.

Then, on Friday, I was officially “capped.” To American ears, that might sound like I was shot or something, but here the capping ceremony is what they call graduation. It gives that business at Hogwarts, where students get assigned their to their Houses by sitting under an old wizards’ hat, a new flavour, since they’re actually beginning their wizard studies with something like a graduation ritual.

Being a part of the British Commonwealth, not to mention the influence of Maori culture, kiwis certainly know how to do ritual. There were almost 6,000 graduands, witnessed by close to 20,000 friends & rellies. To accommodate everyone, the university conducts 13 ceremonies over four days. Each day begins with a champagne breakfast in a large marquee set up on the Old Government House lawn. (The tent is there for a week and kills the grass, which they promptly replant – twice each year. There will always be an England – even if it’s New Zealand!)

At 9:45 am, the entire group being capped that day marches – in full regalia, and complete with bagpipers and standard-bearers – across campus, down Bowen Ave, up Queen Street, and over to Town Hall. It’s probably three-quarters of a mile, and the parade route is lined with people shouting and cheering. Traffic stops for as long as it takes.


The space at Town Hall – built in high Edwardian Baroque style and beautifully restored a decade ago – provides a grand setting, complete with a full pipe organ. A bonus for me was realizing UoA’s Chancellor resembles Richard Harris in his later years, so it seemed as if the proceedings were conducted by Dumbledore himself.

In typical laid-back kiwi style, I never received any instructions regarding what should be worn under my robe & hood. Most of the pakeha wore suits and dresses, but many others wore ethnic costume. A few Maori had full dress feather capes, and you could spot Pacific Islanders by all their leis – gorgeous tropical flowers, but also candy bars & bright curly ribbons – even if you didn’t notice the woven mat sarongs beneath their gowns. Here and there were stunning silk saris and kimonos, and a few others displayed their clan’s tartan plaid. In the spirit, I decided to wear my native costume also: blue jeans (but my good ones, without any visible rips).

When the ceremony ended I went back to my office, then popped downstairs to fix a quick cuppa. I was surprised so many of my colleagues were still there, since it was almost 5:30 on a Friday. I’d forgotten about the staff meeting earlier. Staff meetings on Fridays include wine. They’d polished off several bottles already, but when I walked in someone went and grabbed a bottle of champagne. The way I felt this morning, I’m sure most of the bottle ended up in my glass.

At one point Marnie, the coordinator for COMLAW 101, announced how eager her daughter was to come visit me in Chicago. That caught me off guard, even though I’d heard Becca loves art and desperately wants to see Seurat’s “Sunday Afternoon” at the Art Institute. Before I could say something Marnie must’ve seen my hesitation, because she asked, “You are still going to Chicago, aren’t you?”

That’s when I had to explain that I'm not; I’ll be moving to Silicon Valley instead. About a month after Ali started, the senior partner at Blair completely changed Ali’s job into something he never would have taken in the first place. Even if with the partnership track. When it became clear that neither Ali nor the other partners were going to be able to stop what the senior partner was doing, Ali made a few calls and – he had another job. (Actually, the same job he almost took in January.) He’s starting in June, so will be moving there before I finish up here.

The speed of events came as a bit of a shock, of course. But the job in Chicago had turned into a big step down for him, and the new position in California looks like a much better career move. While I was looking forward to going to Chicago, I’ve never lived in California. I think that will be a pretty cool experience, too.

Fingers crossed and thumbs pressed (German-style), I’m certainly hoping it’s all for the best. Once you've learned to read the damn wall, it's important to cut bait and play the hand you've got. Or something like that. Besides, after living with NZ’s weather for a few years, I’ve learned to deal with unexpected changes.

Cheers,
Sandie