Things to like about Auckland

Just so readers don’t think I’m a mountain of misery, here are some of Auckland’s finer qualities:

1. It rains a lot. As someone who grew up on the driest inhabitable continent on the planet, I have come to appreciate water. I love it when it rains. I love the smell; I love the cool freshness; I love green and lush landscapes over dry and arid; I love that I don’t have to water the garden. Water is precious.
2. Auckland is very multicultural. The myriad of cultures here adds to my interest in the place. There are interesting people to talk to and interesting cultures to observe and learn something from and most importantly, lots of interesting foods to sample. 
3. Trees. Auckland has lots of trees and native bush in the most unexpected of places. I love trees. They are aesthetically pleasing, they provide shade for people and habitats for birds and other animals and they give us fresh air. What’s not to like?

Anyway, I don’t want to overdo it. Auckland still sucks, so I’ll leave it at 3.

Daniel’s teacher told me last week that he spends his lunch break sitting on the seats outside his classroom, all alone. She has tried encouraging him to join the other kids in the playground but he would rather go back inside the classroom to play, only they are not allowed to. I talked to him about this and he said there are too many kids on the playground equipment and they get in his way. I completely understand. The library is still shut as it is unfortunately one of Auckland’s notorious leaky buildings. But when it opens again, he can go in there to play.