9/11 in Another Country

My Friday started out like any other day. Sometimes on Fridays I will go to the Film Archive for the Friday Soup and a Seat. For $8 you get soup, which I love, and a viewing of a New Zealand documentary. I have learned that Wellington is also referred to as Welly-Wood and is the hub for the New Zealand film industry. Thus, they created the Film Archive which houses every film ever produced by a New Zealander or in New Zealand itself. It is a great place. Yesterday, the featured lunch time film was Flight of the Concords, A Texan Odyssey. This was my first encounter with FLOC, as they call it. Flight of the Concords are 2 guys, Brett McKenzie and Jemaine Clement from New Zealand who are considered "New Zealand's 4th Most Popular Fold Parody Duo." They are absolutely hilarious. I knew they had a series on HBO but I never watched it. I won't go too much further into this show but I do recommend you either watch the series on HBO or rent the DVD's. I have season one for this weekend.

As I was on a FLOC high with tears in my eyes from all the laughter, I noticed the date, 9/11. I just stopped for second and couldn't believe it was 1:00 in the afternoon and I didn't realize what day it was. My mood completely shifted. I hadn't seen any reminders of that day, no yellow ribbons, no American flags, and no moments of silence. It was odd to me because if I were in America, I would be completely immersed in reliving that day via TV, Internet, and Radio. I was even talking to someone about America and the war on terror earlier in the day and neither of us noticed. Now, I am not saying that they do not recognize what day it is. Garnett heard some stuff on the radio and the movie Flight 93 played at some point this week. But being in another country on this day was different. There wasn't something reminding me everywhere I turned.

So, I did some conversational investigation. I went back to work and began to ask how Kiwi's viewed 9/11. I was amazed to see how much it impacted the world. I knew where I was on that day but didn't realized that people in other parts of the world would look at it the same way. Each person I talked to remembered exactly where they were and commented on how frightened they were to fly post 9/11. And this was not just Kiwi's but people from the UK and other parts of the world. It opened my eyes to see for myself the global impact that day actually had on people. Even though that day happened in America it was still felt all across the globe. This is something you can't get from watching CNN or Fox News.

On this day, let us reflect on those whose lives were touched in some way by that day. And no matter what differences America has let us be thankful that we are Americans and for all the blessings and opportunities that brings.