It wouldn’t be New Zealand without a rugby game

The night before we left Jenny and Alastair’s, we all went out to Jade Stadium in Christchurch to watch the Super 12 division team, the Crusaders, play South Africa. What with my Cape Town connections and all, I was mostly cheering for South Africa, but I knew so little about the game that it didn’t really matter whose side I was on. My favorite moment was about a third of the way into the game when I turned to Jenny and asked, “What’s a ‘try’?” As if it were the most acceptable question in the world, Jenny replied, “That’s when they take the ball over the end line and score five points.” (It reminded me of the first time I played frisbee football and as soon as I caught the frisbee, started running.) It was, however, entertaining to watch the men pick up one teammate in the air to catch the ball when it was thrown in. After the game Alastair asked me which I liked better, American football or rugby. “Rugby,” I said without hesitating. “The game is shorter.”