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Grading:
Tuesday 28th November Venue: Churchill Park School, Glendowie, Entrance off Kinsale Ave (see map) Time: Commences 1830 hrs (6.30pm) Aim to be there by 1800 hrs (6.00pm
Mr Sawden is off up to Thailand later this month for his 3rd Dan under Master Rounthwaite. We all know that luck has little to do with gradings (it’s all just hard work and practice which is reflected in skill!) but, Good Luck anyway Sir.
Friday September 13th 2002 Howdy, Meadowbankers Fall has fallen, and the summer temperatures have quickly given way to pleasantly cool days and falling leaves. The change was so sudden, it was almost as if someone flicked a giant switch and the seasons changed. Today is the 12th, so yesterday was of course the anniversary of that fateful day they call 9/11 here. I'm sure you've all seen an abundance of news about it on TV. I woke up to a heavy fog, so dense you could hardly see 10 feet in front of you, and a foghorn was parping invisibly from out in the harbour; it was eerie. As that cleared, a powerful wind blew all day, which must have played havoc with all the candlelight ceremonies going on in Central Park. I didn't venture in to Manhattan, as they had asked people to stay away if possible, to make room for the relatives who lost family members to attend the ceremonies. It's a beautiful fine day today, and so it was on the 10th. Funny how 9/11 alone had such strange weather, fog and then high winds. You can see the indoctrination of the patriotic spirit being taught in this country - Danielle is staying with us for a year to attend school, she's a 12 year old kiwi kid, my sister-in-law's niece. When "God Bless America" came on the TV, Danielle immediately stood up and placed her hand over her heart, and sang along with the anthem. She then proceeded to tell me some sad anecdotes her teacher had shared with the class that day, about his experiences and feelings one year ago. I never saw any NZ kids stand up and place hand on heart when "God Defend New Zealand" comes on, but it's just what school kids learn to do here. But now to more daily life. I found a small empty room here in the house, and have converted it into my little dojang. It is just big enough to do all the patterns in, except Juche. The room had been too hot to use during the summer, but is now okay. Which is more than I can say for the neglected state of my patterns! Ah well, will have to catch up when I get home, but at least I'm having a go, eh mate. The first photograph is of the polo out at the Hamptons. Anyone who watches "Sex And The City" will know the Hamptons is Long Island's playground for the obscenely wealthy. And at the top end of the scale are people rich enough to own their own polo team. The teams, consisting of four players, are mostly made up of talented (and dashingly handsome of course) Argentinians, whom the owners finance to come to the States for the polo season. Each player is provided with six or more polo ponies, as the riders change to a new horse for each chukka (round). The owner then teams up with a corporate sponsor and lots of wealthy people are invited to go out to the Hamptons to watch the game. They all suck up champagne in the sponsors marquee - only a few of them actually watch the game, the rest watch each other to see who has the best dress, tan or nose job. Plebs like myself are allowed to attend also, but we have to sit on the grass beside the field, not rich enough to gain admission to the tent. To be honest, watching the match from the sidelines is much more entertaining in my book. The match I went to was sponsored by Mercedes and the local plastic surgeon, and in between chukkas the announcer soliloquised on what a great job Doctor whatsisname could do on your nose, chin, cheekbones etc. It was pretty amusing. Let me tell you about the mail delivery in this city - no running down to the post office - you just print your own prepaid envelopes via the Internet, and pop the outgoing mail into your own letterbox before midday. The postie picks it up when he drops off your mail every day. Each letterbox has a red plastic flag attached, so you just raise the flag up when you have mail for pickup. Quite civilised, actually. Finally, there are some photos from my Washington trip (see last newsletter). I was very impressed with the stately Capitol Building, and also the White House. And the last one is a sign which tickled my fancy, commonly seen on platforms along the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) which I use to commute to Manhattan. A new one has just been put up in a similar vein. It says: "Avoid unnecessary trips. (Use the handrail)." Till
next time,
Thursday August 22nd 2002 Dear Meadowbankers Hi, y'all. Another report from the US of A, where the long hot summer continues unabated. Apparently it's the longest heatwave in New York in years, and I've really been enjoying it. Been ages since I can remember a real blue-skied dry summer in Auckland like this one. But as promised, I'm going to talk about Washington D.C., as that's the city I've just been visiting. A very different place from the Big Apple. It was my first visit to Washington, and in contrast I found it to be a very attractive place, with wider, cleaner streets, lots of trees, rather hot but less pollution, and not as crowded. My journey there was by Amtrak train, on the same route which had seen a derailment only a week before, after heat had warped the railway tracks. No such incidents on my journey; the train was smooth and silent, the trip three & a half hours each way, passing Philadelphia. The train arrived at Washington's Union Station, a gloriously majestic building with domed ceilings, statues and shopping centre. Washington DC is of course the capital, and houses such famous buildings as the Capitol Building (equivalent of our Parliament) and the White House. Near the middle of town is an area known collectively as the Mall, which includes the Smithsonian Institute, a series of terrific museums which are all Free admission, thanks to a grant made by a Mr Smith many years ago. I visited the space museum which housed the original Apollo 11 shuttle (now covered in a perspex sheath as so many hands touching it had caused deterioration), and found the largest and entertainingly tacky gift shop I've ever seen in a museum (think freeze-dried space icecream and big pictures of the President waving). Next the Museum of Natural History, where I saw the enormous Hope Diamond, one of the largest ever cut, blue in colour, what a rock. The same museum housed an Insect Zoo with live exhibits of huge and disgusting insects, including an enclosure where kids could pet giant cockroaches - no thanks! The White House had plenty of tourists hanging around, and could be seen away in the distance across a lawn, fenced by an iron railing to keep Mr Bush safe from those unwanted visitors. Behind the fence, a really cool looking security police guy all decked out in black hi-tech gear, but he wouldn't let us photograph him. Because I'm technologically challenged, the other photos I took aren't scanned yet, so they will have to follow next time. Not only were the city buildings lower (height restrictions, unlike New York), but the domestic housing was different too. I stayed in the affluent suburb of Georgetown in a typical terraced apartment house, with a long narrow section and living space on three levels. Another notable thing about Washington is all the monuments, particularly those honouring past presidents. My favourite was the Lincoln memorial which housed a huge statue of Lincoln inside a temple-like marble structure, the whole of which looked back towards the tall obelisk of the Washington Monument and Reflecting Pool. A closer inspection of this much-photographed oblong pool revealed why it wasn't reflecting that day: most of the water had evaporated in the heat of summer. Nearby, a walkway of thousands of cherry blossom trees, a gift from the Japanese government. Back onto the Amtrak after a whiz round the shops in Union. Hard to work out what prices actually are in this country as all price tags only show pre-tax amounts, then sales tax is added at the counter and can vary depending on the state or even the area within the state. But it's about 8.5%, the same as the average expected tip in a restaurant. Back in Pennsylvania Station I had time to spare until my train connection to Long Island, so I rushed outside onto 34th Street and just mingled with the dirt, crowds, cars and heat - an ant down amongst the skyscrapers. This place might not be as pretty as Washington, but it sure has a lifeblood and pulse all of its own! Viv
Holmes Tuesday August 6th 2002 Hello fellow Meadowbankers, Wonders never cease here in the Big Apple, and I have more stories of the crazy lives of the North Americans to tell you this week. First, about the photographs. I spent the whole of last weekend in Manhattan, staying over in my brother's tiny apartment on 22nd Street. I was of course keen to take a look at Ground Zero, which is the former site of the WTC's twin towers, so we took a walk down there Saturday evening. All the rubble has been taken away, and the place now looks like a huge construction site, parked amidst a square of skyscrapers. As you will see from the photos, there is still evidence of the underground floors showing, and to the right (but not photographed) was a huge cross made of two steel girders from the buildings. Three sides of the site were covered with hoardings, but the fourth was left open with just wire netting, and here hundreds of tourists amassed to see the remains. A fine silt of ashy dust covered the pavements in the viewing area. Standing there at ground level it was hard to imagine the site had once been occupied by buildings 110 storeys high. There is now a big public debate going on about what to do with the area. Secondly, the Brooklyn Bridge, where you will see Yours Truly posing with some local chicks. Manhattan is linked to the mainland by a series of bridges, and the Brooklyn Bridge is the oldest. It took 15 years to build and was completed in 1883, which explains its rather English appearance (the English once colonised New York). You can walk right across the bridge on a lovely wooden boardwalk, and from the middle there is a fine view of Manhattan's skyline - but on the day we visited as you can see it was hazy. The other picture is my brother and my baby nephew Axl. OK so it's kinda cutsie but I couldn't resist. This country is so weird. The food is nice but it's all different in some subtle way. The bread is loaded with sugar to make it brown faster. The yoghurt has some kind of thickener added 'cos Americans like it creamy. And the butter? Well it says Butter on the wrapper, but there the similarity ends. I went for a Big Mac in McDonalds and there was some guy in the line sitting on his bicycle, no-one batting an eyelid. I guess it makes for a faster journey to your table if you can ride there. There are no speed cameras (violation of your rights). You cannot be randomly breathalysed (violation of your rights) - the cops can only stop you if your driving is erratic. Actually I'm pleased with how well I have adapted to driving on the right already, as I pop down to the village shops in the Audi, darling. They write the date backwards, all measures are in the old imperial system, and even the light switches are upside down (down is off, up is on). I'm off to Washington next weekend, so my next letter will be about Washington for a change. Keep up the training! Viv
Holmes
Hello fellow Meadowbankers .... Another week in this fine city, and periodically the humidity is broken by sudden thunderstorms which build from nowhere in the early evening and expire just as quickly in a burst of thunder & lightning, rain for an hour, then back to pleasantly cool breezes until the cycle is repeated over several days as the humidity builds again. Some days the sunsets are great, the pollution (not as bad here as Los Angeles by any stretch) allows you to look directly at the sun as it drops in a giant red ball below the horizon. Sea breezes keep the air fresh, but it's a lot warmer in Manhattan. Ah, Manhattan! I ventured there all day last Saturday with a plan to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art ("the Met"). First, a 40 minute train ride on the Long Island Rail Road to Pennsylvania Station. Time to tackle the subway system, the New York Metro. Had to ask directions at three separate information kiosks, each of which directed me a further 100 metres until I reached the correct platform to take me uptown to 42nd Street. The actual trains are airconditioned, but the waiting platforms are not and it was sweltering somewhere around 30+ degrees as I stood in a crowd listening to a recorded voice that trains were delayed and "thank you for your patience" repeated every few minutes. During
this time, an interesting event - a heavy looking black dude (African
American being the correct term) with a hanky on his head pursued
a Jewish businessman thru the turnstile shouting that the man
had "stolen his token" and they broke into an argument
right beside me on the platform. Assume New York accent: "Hey
man, you jus' came thru the turnstile on my token" / "No
I did not" / "Yeah? Well explain how you still got your
ticket - that was MY card you came through on, man, and you better
pay me" / "How could I possibly be on your token? I
was in front of you" / "No you pushed in front of me,
I swiped my card and you used it - man I'm gonna follow you right
uptown to yo' office until you give back my dollar". I got the subway up one stop (red line) to Times Square, found the crosstown Shuttle (grey line), and crossed to Grand Central Station where I caught the number 6 (green line) uptown to 86th. From there, a three-block walk to Fifth Avenue and the Met, which is the size of a small city in itself, a massive edifice. In two hours I managed to take in only one section, European Art, where I saw original works by masters like Monet, van Gogh and Cezanne. Decided to walk back to Penn station rather than have another go at the subway. Began down Fifth Avenue from 86th to 34th (the Manhattan streets are in a perfect grid, very easy to find your way) but it took an hour and a half in sweltering humidity, nearly did me in. Visions of being hauled off by paramedics who wanted to see proof of my medical insurance kept my on my feet however, and I made it home. On the way I saw such strange sights as a soul singer with a microphone singing to entice shoppers into a shoe store, and hotdog stands on every corner. What a country. Viv
Holmes
Hello fellow Meadowbankers, Hope this finds you all well and training hard. While I am swanning around in the New York humidity and enjoying the summer here I sometimes think of you all freezing to death there in the dojang, hahahaha, Why, just this afternoon as I lay in a hammock in the warm afternoon breeze ... nah just kidding. My first week in New York has been action-packed. On my second evening here I was taken to a game of real live American baseball, the New York Mets versus the Phillies (from Philadelphia of course). Naturally the home team won, and yes they did start the match with the American national anthem. In the 8th innings everyone had to stand up to sing a rousing chorus of "God Bless America" - they are very patriotic here in the US since 9/11. Dinner was American hotdogs and beer. On the next night we went to an excellent musical on Broadway, we saw "42nd Street", with great music and terrific tap dancing to a live orchestra. After the show we shopped for tee-shirts in Times Square, then caught the subway uptown at midnight in our party frocks. People everywhere at that hour, so no problems. Mind you, party frock or not I would have been ready for trouble you know, what with Mr Graham's instructions on self-defence the other night. The house where I'm staying is huge but rather crowded as half of it is converted to offices, and there are other guests here, but they go back to NZ tomorrow. So I will finally be able to move into my own room. Up to now I'm been on a mattress in the office! There are huge lawns here as the grounds are five acres (hey and guess who has been nominated to mow the lawns? Ah, but they have a ride-on mower). I went out and did some patterns on the lawn yesterday evening, but it was pretty hot work even at 5 pm. Well that's my first week in the Big Apple. No photos yet, sorry, but working on that one. Viv
Holmes |
