Chapter 4

Two weeks have passed and I have started to find my way around. The library, such as it is, is located on the first floor of the main building. Electronic access to journals and e-books is pretty good but the absence of significant numbers of physical volumes, while understandable in a new university, feels like a let down. I am getting on with preparing my two courses for the first semester; the academic year follows the calendar year in the Southern Hemisphere. Aroha has invited me for the weekend to her house in Tuakau, a place in the country, south of Auckland. Aroha often stays with her sister near the university during the week, but the country place is the family home.

I meet Aroha at 4 pm on Friday to drive me down to Tuakau. She will bring me back on Sunday evening. There is a fair bit of traffic but eventually we work our way out of the city and into some rolling country with some small scale farming in evidence. Aroha seems to uncoil the further we go. “Let me tell you about my whanau. I have three children all living at home,” she tells me, “Hemi, my eldest son, who is 30, Ngahuia who is 28 and her daughter Roimata, who is 7, and Mikaere, my youngest son, who is 22. My own mother, Kuini, also lives there. It was where I grew up.”

“You must have a big house,” I say.

“Not really, but there is a sleep-out, where Ngahuia and Roimata live; we added a bathroom last year, and Mikaere lives in the garage.”

This is going to be interesting. We pull off the road into a rough driveway and in the overgrown garden is an elegant old weatherboard house in need of paint with an attractive porch whose corrugated iron roof curves over at the front. There is a newer double garage which, in place of garage doors, has a new front panel with a sliding glass door. I catch sight of another building at the back, which must be Ngahuia and Roimata’s sleep out. Several cars of different ages are parked on the gravel.

Chickens are scratching and pecking around the garden. As we get out of the car a large Great Dane bounds up and leaps up at Aroha. She says, “Down,” but then he turns his attention to me. Having had warning, I brace myself and find this huge dog has placed its front paws on my shoulders and, after a moment’s careful reflection, gives my face a big lick. I manage to grab his paws and persuade him to get down.

“That is Tāne Paraone, Mr. Brown.”

“I think I have been welcomed,” I say.

Aroha apologises, “I’m sorry, he is a little too friendly.”

“He must know I am a Finn.”

Aroha shows me into a comfortable bedroom with an old double bed. It contains lots of personal items including academic books and I realise it must be her room. I apologize for taking her room, but she says she has a bed in her office. Aroha and her mother start making dinner and Aroha suggests I could take a bath if I would like to fill in the time. Maybe the bathroom will be busy later, so I follow the suggestion. “And do close the door firmly!” I wonder what that is about. There isn’t a lock on the door but, of course, I do close it. There isn’t a shower but there is an old claw-footed cast iron bath. The hot water is plentiful and I add some bubble bath. I settle in for a relaxing soak when suddenly the door bursts open and Tane Paraone leaps into the room and takes a flying leap and lands on top of me. I let out a huge scream, which I regret. Tāne Paraone is having the time of his life.

A strong looking young man, whom I take to be Hemi, rushes in laughing, but apologizes, and hauls Tāne Paraone off me. The bubbles were scattered by Tāne Paraone and Hemi quickly eyes me up. What is he thinking? “What, no breasts?” But he gives me a cheeky grin and shepherds Tāne Paraone out of the room and closes the door behind them. I don’t linger and get dried and dressed.

When I go into the kitchen Aroha hands me a glass of red wine and says, “I am sorry you had to share your bath.”

“That’s alright, it just took me by surprise.”

Kuini and Hemi are in the kitchen along with Aroha. Hemi is busy laying the table in the kitchen. Aroha introduces me to Kuini, who doesn’t say much.

Aroha then says, “Of course you have met Hemi.”

“Yes, thank you for rescuing me. I am sorry to give such a scream, but I did need help.” Hemi just smiles.

Ngahuia and little Roimata then come in. Ngahuia is cheerful and asks how I am settling into New Zealand. But it is Roimata who is most interested in me. She asks where I come from?

“Finland.”

“Are you an Eskimo?”

“No, but in the northern part of Finland and nearby countries there is a people called the ‘Sami’, a little like Eskimos, (I don’t go into the difficulties with that word) who herd reindeer.”

“Oh are reindeer real? I thought they were just part of silly Father Christmas stories.”

“Oh yes, reindeer are real, but there aren’t as many as there used to be.”

“Is that because of colonization?”

Clever one, this little girl. “That is part of it.”

Roimata insists on sitting next to me, but first Aroha sends her out to fetch Mikaere. When he arrives, we all cram round the kitchen table. Aroha is at one end and Kuini is at the other. I am at Aroha’s right hand and Roimata squeezes in between me and her mother, Ngahuia. Mikaere sits opposite me. He seems shy. And next to him, at Kuini’s right, is Hemi. I am pleased that, for the moment, I am not directly across from Hemi. Hemi is designated to give the karakia kai, which ends with ‘Amene’. It is an interesting meal, with lots of chat about this and that, interspersed with Roimata interrogating me. They give Hemi a hard time for us having to squeeze around the kitchen table. I had noticed that there was a larger dining table in what would be a dining area leading into the living room, but that table is covered with an old sheet and has parts of what must be some kind of engine scattered over it. Hemi tells me he is rebuilding a 1960’s Lambretta scooter. I think this is a highly unusual family. I feel, in a way, out of place but still embraced by this extended family. I have not had such a family experience for a long time.