ULTIMATE!

Real Ultimate Ninjas, you ask? Why, no! Ultimate Frisbee! When I first arrived in Wellington in November of '06, my co-worker Kevin and I went to check out a flat over in Seatoun, owned by a very nice fellow co-worker at Weta. It was a pretty windy day (nigh uncommon in these waters), but I upon gazing at Seatoun (a suburb in Wellington, pronounced "C-TOON") from his deck, I spotted a rectangular green field in the middle. Immediately, I thought of my buddies back home and our Sunday ultimate frisbee games. I then asked our hospitable Seatounian co-worker (who was more than accomodating and cooked cheese and bread for lunch for us) if anybody at work played Ultimate Frisbee. He kind of grinned and pointed at the air, which had some good 30 mile per hour gusts. And I kind of nodded in disappointment but smiled, as I always do. For those unfamiliar with the game, it's super-addictive and kind of like soccer, except with a frisbee, and you can't run with the frisbee in your hand. Wikipedia link.

Fast-forward to, oh, I don't know, a couple weeks later, and one of my flatmates, Sarah, mentioned that she was going to play Ultimate Frisbee! I was like "what the hey...," but then I told her that I used to play back in the States and she was pretty excited, so she told her teammates and they were all excited...except, silly ol' me, forgot to get/bring running shoes! By this time, they were on their last games of the 2006, so I told them that I would play with them in the new year.

Tonight was the first game of the new year and I brought a co-worker, Arun, with me to have a go at it...and it was loads of fun. Same rules as in the States and some really good players. One of them caught the frisbee so high in the air that I dubbed him the "human dog." It was insane. The only difference this time was that they kind of play in an organized league-type fashion, where team captains organize who plays who on that day, and there are 3 levels: A team, B team, and you guessed it, C team. However, like the games I played in the States, everyone has a great, laid-back attitude. Not to say that there wasn't any competitive spirit. Au Contraire (or however the French spell that). There was some good running. Our team (called "The Scissors", because we "cut" so well), lost by 1 point (9-10), but it was a great game. We were extremely lucky as well because there was no wind (whodathunk??), but the grass was a little damp from some light mist early on. Despite slipping and falling on my left knee and bruising it a little, I'll be back next Tuesday, for sure.