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If you arrived at Wellington Airport on a direct flight from Mars this afternoon, and saw the bashful shaven headed man in a tracksuit taking the cheers of the waiting crowd, you'd think it was the first time he had ever been in that situation.
In fact David Beckham will have done the same thing hundreds, if not thousands, of times across the globe.
But he actually looked embarrassed, as if, despite this having been his life for more than decade, he still can't quite believe that people turn up to see him and ask him to scribble his name on a piece of paper for them.
When someone in the 500-strong crowd at the airport shouted out "I love you, David", he even looked down at the ground like a coy teenager.
An act, the cynic might say. But he doesn't seem like a man capable of putting on an act. He just is what he is, and if he happens to be world famous and adored from London to Wellington and many points in between, then so be it, but he doesn't appear to have fully got used to it yet.
He does seem to enjoy the attention though, smiling at the autograph hunters, posing with the girls for pictures and generally lapping up the attention.
Something that definitely was new to him, however, was the powhiri that greeted him and his LA Galaxy teammates at the airport.
He, and some of his colleagues, looked somewhat bemused and seemed to need persuasion to switch from a handshake to a hongi with the men. (Some of the hongis with the females mutated into kisses.)
But club president Alexi Lalas eased any protocol blushes by pronouncing the welcome the "most interesting, unique, and moving welcome we have had anywhere".
And when a chorus of "Ole, ole, ole" broke out, Beckham might have felt like he was back in front of a crowd from his Manchester United or Real Madrid days.
Or maybe not quite. But it's a good start in building what Wellington's mayor Kerry Prendergast declared "New Zealand's capital of football".
Paul Smith is in Wellington for David Beckham's flying visit, the buildup to Saturday night's LA Galaxy clash with Phoenix and the match itself.
