Footy& First Day of Uni

Oh, the stories I have to tell.

 DAY 15

Saturday was spent ever so eventfully. After watching TDKR I returned to the Unilodge with Shayna and walked by the lounge to see what was on t.v. (since we don’t have the convenience of having one in our room.) Surprisingly enough, I walked in just as another movie was starting. Of course, it was filmed in Australia and was titled, “The Hunter.” If you’re looking for a good movie to watch, please don’t watch this one. Not only was it an old movie, but the ending made no sense. What a letdown.

But hey, the point of my story was not to share with you what movies not to add to your queue, but rather the atmosphere of Unilodge. While trying to watch this movie, which I was actually intrigued in until the ending, a guy comes by and randomly sits beside me. Though you wouldn’t think movies are the best place to start chatting someone up, or at least I wouldn’t, I ended up randomly meeting an Indian guy from Dubai. He studies at RMIT and was most friendly. I was able to put my frustrations at not being able to understand anything the actors were saying (almost comparable to TDKR, come to think of it) because of his chatter and reveled in the fact that I was slowly coming to know more faces in my building. We hadn’t been talking for more than half an hour when two other guys came up with bottles of whisky in hand. Now, you have to realize, this is completely normal at Unilodge, actually, it’s completely normal everywhere in Australia, including campus buildings.

I quickly learned that the first guy’s name was Mario and that he was from Mexico and the other guy, Collin, was from Australia. Of course, our conversation quickly drifted toward Batman and we were all suddenly movie critics, all assured that our positions were firmest. It was quite fun and actually go me invited to a party being hosted by Mario in Unilodge on Saturday night. Overall, Friday and Saturday passed with me meeting a lot of cool people who are all staying in the same building. The greatest thing is that everyone is so friendly.

There is also what is called a Community Spirit program at Unilodge where events are put on at low group rates. I just recently signed up for what is called a Mystery Dinner for five bucks where a three course meal will be served at an unknown restaurant on Lygon Street. I’m pretty excited to go and hang out with the people in my building and have fantastic food at that.

Now, that I’ve skimmed through the boring part of my weekend where I happened to pick up groceries from Aldi’s, it’s time to talk about something I’ve taken quite a liking to. Yes, you’ve guessed it. AFL. Footy in a nutshell.

DAY 16

So, we got to the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) around 2:45 on Sunday to meet up with other people from the week of welcome program. Funnily enough, we must’ve mistimed because we ended up sitting with people we’d collected along the way. There was Shayna, Wendy (from Holland), Daniel (from Miami), and one of Wendy’s friends from Germany. We had general admission tickets to the Richmond vs. North Melbourne game, so we were sitting pretty far back. But it was a good enough view to see the whole field and the people battling beneath us.

Let me start off by saying it was an AMAZING experience. There are just so many sights, smells and voices that’s it’s all a bit overwhelming to try to explain. Imagine a huge green oval in front of you and a whole ring of fans encircling the stadium. Huge light posts are erected over each gate. Richmond Tiger supporters are wearing black and yellow, waving signs like “Eat ‘em alive,” while North Melbourne kangaroo supporters are in royal blue and white with signs like “We’re the north end.”

While in such a primarily Australian environment, I decided to do the Australian thing and order my first 4n20 meatpie. It was amazing. I don’t know if it was just the overall shepherd’s pie taste, or the fact that it was so warm when every other part of my body was freezing. Whatever it was, the thing was delicious enough to melt in my mouth. I definitely recommend getting one if you ever get the chance.

Now, a note on Australian sports culture. They are some of the most enthusiastic, coordinated group of people you can imagine. The cheers and jeers are so perfectly coordinated you could swear they were receiving cues. But honestly, they are all so well attuned to what is going on on the field that each blow, punch and kick is their own. Honestly, they would bleed and die for their team. YET. To my astonishment, I gazed across the fans adorning the stadium and could not fail to notice that yellow and blue alike were sitting next to each other all throughout the stands. The fans were so intermingled.

Now of course, there was mostly a sea of blue behind N Melbourne’s goal posts and a sea of yellow behind Richmond’s. (Funnily enough, these were the fans that brought out huge colored pompoms to wave behind the posts when they didn’t want the opposing team to score. It was almost like they were trying to ward off bad spirits, ha.) But the majority of Australians were sitting beside their mates who were cheering for the opposite teams. It was an amazing thing to witness, such passion for a sport, yet just as much loyalty to a sense of sportsmanship. It was all in good fun. At the end of the day, no matter who won or lost, it was good footy that was played and your mate is still your mate, no matter how poor their choice in who to barrack for is.

 

It’s not so on the field. I counted four fights. And that’s just the ones that involved the whole team. There were plenty of side skirmishes, or players just clocking one another in the face, that were completely ignored by the cameras and referees. It was brutal and fantastic to watch. But again, the best part of watching these freakishly muscled men run around in odd uniforms and tiny shorts was the crowd.

I was lucky enough to have two Aussie ten year olds behind me who kept up a running commentary of the game. I didn’t mind one bit. They even helped clear up a few of the fuzzy moments. Like what the 50 line meant exactly, and why the refs were stopping to bounce the ball from the ground into the air. It’s funny how strongly stated they were. Like when there was absolutely no way in the world their comment, “Well, that was a shithouse kick” or “Oh yea, he’s going to shank it” could ever be wrong. They had quite the colorful expressions.

I found it funny that the louder of the two brothers was the only one barracking for Richmond in his family. Poor guy. But he definitely wasn’t shy about it. I think the best comment I heard from him all day was when he leaned over to his brother and says, “Yea, that’s the difference between soccer and footy. Soccer players pretend to be hurt while footy players pretend they’re not.” I laughed at that one. The kid had a point.

Though the rules are a whole different world from NFL or rugby, I think with one more game I’ll have all the rules down. It was definitely an experience worth having. I think what made it even better was that it was such a close game. I really think each team was leading about the same amount of time through the whole thing. They were usually within 1 or 5 points of each other. But, all in all, I’m glad I chose to stick with North Melbourne, even if they were the underdogs, because they pulled it off at the very last moment. Honestly, Richmond had more skill, it was obvious. But North Melbourne put more heart into and it was a good day with the refs.

Oh, the unlikelihood of sports. I love it.

Just another day in Australia.

DAY 17

So, I started classes today at Melbourne Uni. Even though it’s such a big campus, I had no problem finding my way around. Everything is just so beautiful. I’m sure I looked like such a fool walking around with a happygolucky smile on my face. I don’t know, I suppose I just feel lucky to be here. It’s an amazing Uni and the atmosphere is so friendly.

My first class was Biology and I walked into a lecture hall of around 200 people. I was one of 6 exchange students in the whole class. Everyone else was from Australia. I’m telling you, it made me appreciate what exchange students go through at UNC. I’m going to be sure to check into programs when I get back to help their transitions go smoother, ha.

Now, here is where being charismatic and making friends comes in handy. I ended up striking up a conversation with the girl beside me who is from a town an hour away from Melbourne. Apparently she commutes every day to the Uni and back, so she’s still living with her parents. She’s a science major. I also sat beside one of the guys from the Unilodge party on Saturday night, so I was comfortable during the lecture even when surrounded by so many other people. I also liked the fact that my professor was a botanist wearing a flowery shirt (who would’ve guessed) and muttonchops. So by the time we were beginning with what all biology classes begin with, Pangea, I was feeling right at home.

I then meandered around campus for a few hours just taking in the sites. Honestly, I know I keep saying the campus is beautiful, but my words are failing me to describe it any other way. I stumbled across so many different pieces of art and new buildings with interesting architectural designs. I even checked out my first book. I checked it out from the Microbiology Library, which is only a building down from the main library. They have these nifty kiosks where students can scan their own cards and check out and desensitize their own books. It was a pretty advanced idea for a campus library, but as a librarian, I couldn’t help but wonder if they had problems with books disappearing since it looks like students could just desensitize their books without scanning their cards. But maybe there are security precautions set in place that I’m not aware of. Who knows. I just know I’m the proud renter of a biology textbook for the next seven days while I catch up on all of the notes.

I had my first creative writing class today, as well. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as exciting as my biology class. Maybe it was because they weren’t showing me cuddly animals and breathtaking plants (or breathgiving) that can only be found in Australia, but that’s just a guess. They seem to take creative writing very serious here; not that it shouldn’t be. Language should be respected, as should any form of effective communication. But there is a difference between being lectured on what the key elements of a story are, and actually seeing for yourself those elements in a creation of your own or through the works of others. We will see how it goes. I just know I’m going to have a lot more homework than I bargained for, darn.

But there you have it. More friends and a better grasp on Australian culture.

Have questions? Blow up my blog, I’m happy to answer. If not, just let me know you’re out there and reading!

Good on ya!