After a wait, which, in my opinion, was way too long, the Tri Nation Rugby finally goes to Cape Town, South Africa this weekend as South Africa takes on New Zealand this Saturday, on green turf!

“I’m getting slightly moist”, said my friend as he quipped in a needlessly graphic way about his excitement for this game.  I can’t tell if he means he’s going to wet himself or whether he’s referring to something more sexual.

Nevertheless (shaking-vivid-image-from-mind), at 1305 GMT this Saturday, 14 Aug, the Springboks come up again their nemesis, the All Blacks, on the green-green grass of the Newlands Stadium.

What? A little history?

Yeah, the history of the Newlands Stadium is interesting, if not colourful.  The actual grounds of the stadium was bought way back in 1888 (which must make it hugely auspicious for the Chinese) and saw the first game played in 1890 in front of a meager 2,400 people.

Today Newlands stadium can seat over 51,000 people in a relatively modern, recently’ish renovated concrete stadium.  It’s still one of South Africa’s most beautiful stadiums, set among the greenery and the slopes of the wet side of Table Mountain.

The stadium is accessible by all modes of transport, but the trains will bring you closest.  Going by car is what many people do though, in spite of the fact that you have to park blocks away and walk your way in.

The walk is often part of the game, as along the way loads of people will be throwing a braai (BBQ) and having a tipple before moving on to the stadium for some serious rugby.

Future of Newlands Stadium

Now is the time to enjoy the rugby games, especially the international ones, that are being hosted in the historic stadium of Newlands, because soon it might not be used so often anymore.

Currently in progress, and hopefully completed before the 2010 soccer world cup in South Africa, is the Greenpoint Stadium.

Until recently, possibly one of the most neglected stadiums around, the Greenpoint Stadium actually occupied some prime property in Cape Town and, to be fair, hosted some epic concerts and sporting events.

It was an obvious venue for the high-profile football matches scheduled for the 2010 world cup, but the stadium was ill equipped for the hordes of people expected and, besides, was in serious disrepair.

Somebody somewhere made the decision that it would in fact be easier to virtually rebuild the stadium instead of the substantial upgrades it would require.  The future Greenpoint Stadium is slated to be able to house 68,000 people.

Not living in Cape Town I’m not up to date with the latest goss of its progress, but I would love to know if it will be done in time for 2010 and what will be done regarding parking, access and traffic in general, as it’s literally pushed into a corner of Cape Town which isn’t traffic friendly at all.

Back to the Rugby

But I digress.  Back in Rugby land not only do the Springboks have their work cut out for them this weekend as they meet the All Blacks on their home turf, but the poor Springbok coach Pieter De Villiers does too.

There is forever an issue with colour balance in the Springbok team and I read, nearly chocking on my coffee, that black and coloured people of Cape Town traditionally support the All Blacks!  Race, I tell you, is one of those nasty dividers equaled only by religion.

Why can’t we all just see each other as human and practice a unifying religion like, say, rugby?

What I would like to see is the entire crowd at Newlands Stadium dressed in green, the way the staunch All Black supporters at the Dunedin Stadium were dressed in black when they met the Bokke there.

And no boo’ing or hissing when the All Blacks do something good or bad, just nothing but a deafening silence.  Or not, as the Bokke did break a nearly 100 year old record that day at Dunedin, but still, an all green crowd would be amazing.

The Springboks doesn’t have an easy ride either way.  They played 3 games so far and lost 2 of those, so they’re a little behind in the standings.  Check out the standings table for the dire picture.

But Bokke to the end! If it can be done, they can do it.  Go Bokke, I don’t mind what colour my Bok is, as long as he’s green!

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I’ve missed several weeks. Several weeks. Lots have happened. First on the time line, I met a lady. Some call her Zee, and although I love her full name, I will stick to Zee to protect the innocent.

We met online, and she took a fat chance first to reply my email, and after knowing me for about a week, to meet up with me for a coffee. It was at the same time the most wonderful and dumbest occurrence ever.

Most wonderful why? Because of the type of person she is, easy to talk to, open, approachable, comfortable… she really coaxed me out of this black hole I had been finding myself in. You know, closed of between 4 walls, picking up the shards of my life in post-separation-pre-divorce stage and generally feeling very sorry for myself. She’s a ray of sunshine, no, she is the sun - I really find it difficult to be depressed when even I only think about her.

We chatted daily for the week before we met. She’s a very interesting person from a large and loving family, and herself has had many experiences, some good, some bad, but all which have contributed to the first class character that she is today.

Dumbest why? Well, at the same time as I met her, I also applied for and gained employment in China.

You see, my little boy from my recently wrecked marriage stays in Malaysia and he’s growing up with English as a 3rd language, so although he can communicate relatively well, it’s not as good as is in Hakka, a Chinese dialect, the language of his primary care giver.

So I seeked employment in Asia to be a) closer to him for visiting, and b) to be able to learn at least one of his primary languages. I would have done this before if only I could find someone that would employ me without a University degree. But that has never happened before, until of course, I met Zee.

I continued befriending her anyway, because I never thought I would fall for her as I did. It happened while we chatted really, some time before we met. The afternoon we did meet for a coffee in a crowded place the way they recommend you should meet your internet acquaintances, I was well and truly smitten. Our coffee lasted for 2 hours, mainly due to this blabber mouth being dumb-struck and Zee just being her usual comfortable self, coaxing conversation.

We had 3 more dates after that and lots of chats in between. The last time I saw her, and when I had to say goodbye for the last time, it was well and truly difficult… and that was after a mere 2 weeks.

Alas, distance is a killer. This I know.

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It was Wednesday, and faced with another day of sitting in front of the computer waiting for the damn phone to ring or someone to visit my website, I decided it is time to perk myself up.

Something I’ve always wanted to do was teach English in Asia, like Japan or China, but I’ve always been hampered by the fact that I don’t have a university degree - because that is usually the minimum requirement.

So I read up about TEFL courses (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and it only takes a month to complete a quality course. I surfed onto some jobsites to see what is out there, and one site linked me to a company that specialises in placing teachers in China without Uni or TEFL. Of course, the pay is alot less, but your accommodation is still covered and that is the biggest expense really.

So on Wednesday I sent off an email explaining my background and experience, asking if I qualify, Thursday they replied and here am today, Friday, with a contract to go work in China by the middle of next month. I just need to hand back my medical reports, gain my visa then bon voyage.

It’s incredible how my life has suddenly gone in a different direction. This I can truly say has been a life long ambition. Teaching others to speak English, a different culture, different country, getting paid for it. Another big bonus for me is the opportunity to learn Chinese - this will broaden my horisons even further, but most importantly will enable me to communicate with my little boy who is growing up not speaking all the much English.

My life has always been very unpredictable, until I got married. Then it HAD to be predictable for the sake of my family. Luck has always happened to me, or I have always been prepared for lucky opportunities, which ever way you choose to look at it. So here I am again - on the bring of an excellent adventure….

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I’ve just slurped down a bowl of noodles with two egg whites. It’s 11:32am and that was breakfast. This is the state of my life. I should have started this blog ions ago, then I would have been updated with my thoughts.

As it is, the voices in my head are starting to become louder than the voice of reason, a very dangerous situation. I’ve hated this year so far. I had personal stresses that actually dates back to last year already, but in January this year I snapped, abandoned my wife and son in Malaysia, return to work in my previous job here in Cape Town, where I was successful before, only to learn that the success has burnt brightly and fused with ancient history. So I quit and put my meager savings into starting my own business.

So this is where I’m at, living with / sponging off my mom (thanks mom), trying to convince people to go on tour with me so that I can share my passion for Asia with them, my wife from whom I’m now separated is dating another man sending me a clear message, and my son of age 2 and a half can speak in 3 languages non of which I’m capable.

It’s a sad state of affairs and I’ve been thinking of suicide, if only people would weep and mourn and bemoan my loss until eternity, it would be worth it, but people don’t - and when you’re gone you’re gone, no more experiences, no more hugging your son, no more emotions, be they good or bad or terrible. So suicide obviously is a one time indulgence with absolutely no benefit to anybody, most notably one self. So ponder I can ponder it all I like, but it is even more cowardly, senseless and stupid than abandoning my family.

So even though it seems pretty low, there are deeper levels of low than this. I’ve not personally been there (yet), but I’ve seen it. I think this level is quite torturous enough, thank you, and I have no desire of sinking any lower. So my head is turned skyward and I can only go up from here. It’s a matter of time.

I like to think that I’m one of those people that make things happen - and often I do, but by far most of the things in my life has happened to me, not because of me. Not to say it in a poor-me kind of way, what a life I’ve had so far. Co-incidence, lucky breaks, fabulous opportunities, right places at right times, you name it, I’ve had it. They say luck befalls the prepared mind, so I guess my mind is super prepared.

Lets leave it there for now, I always go on a rant and write 10 pages and then never submit it.

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