An Overdue Entry: Melbourne Welcome

Salutations to my dedicated fan base. This entry is long overdue (hence the aptly named title) and will be a bit lengthy. And my thoughts are now percolating forth...

On 2/12: We (being some of my American compatriots) went to our first footy (Australian Rules Football) game. It was the Bushfire Charity Match (to raise money for victims of the recent bushfires in Victoria) played between the Essendon Bombers and the Western Bulldogs. Now most people from the States have never heard of footy and with good cause because it is only played in Australia. The quickest explanation would be to look up the rules online (a bit of a cop out I know). Basically people here love there footy, on par, if not more than Europeans love their futbol clubs.

When we got to the gate, we asked where to buy tickets and the gate man asked if we were American. We said yes and he ushered through the gates. It took me a minute to realize it but we had just gotten into the game for free. (I would later buy a beer to go towards the cause).

It is really hard to appreciate the intricacies of a game when you do not know the basic rules. At half time, I asked a pair of girls for a basic explanation and the result was not too good. One of them was from New Zealand and only approved of rugby and thought wimps played footy. The other was a self-proclaimed girly girly who really didn't know too much about the game. Despite these setbacks by the end of the match, we could infer some basic rules but still had a long way to go for real comprehension.

2/13: The First Day of the Melbourne Welcome program (basically a pre-orientation for international students)... Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to be a bit late to things (most of the time I try to be respectful of other peoples' time but sometimes I drop the ball). That being said, I was only about 40 minutes late to check in (my bad). We had a large group welcome (which I missed most of) and then we broke up into pre-assigned small groups. We chatted for a bit then we went on first real activity, a spin around the city. Let me preface this part by saying that it was wicked hot (even for a Texas boy). We hopped on the tram and trekked around the city for about 3 hours going to different checkpoints. It was a good way to get a basic outlay of the city. We came back and had dinner in the dining hall. The dining hall was a part of Ormand College which is basically a self-contained residence hall where we stayed during our Welcome program.

The dining hall was straight out of the pages of Harry Potter (Hogwarts to the max). I think that is the single best description that I can give of our dining hall. Throughout the rest of the program I would try to sit with new people at meal times and strike up a conversation (something which comes fairly naturally).

The first night we went out to a local pub and had a fairly good time. Then we had to be up at 8:30 am to snag breakfast and begin the next days festivities... THE BEACH.

2/15: We hopped on the bus and began the hour and a half drive to the beach. There are closer beaches to the city, in fact you can take a 35 min tram ride from our apartments and get to a bay area. We went to the further away beach for two reasons: 1) you didn't not have to worry so much about stepping on drug needles (always wear your flip-flops) 2) we were going surfing and needed some more wave action.

Once we got to the beach, I learned the proper technique for a handpass and kick (footy). Practiced that for awhile, and then the scene changed to beach cricket. I needed a quick briefing on the rules, then I was able to hop in. Let me say that Aussies are fairly laid back, and when you put Aussies on a beach they become even more laid back. My first time at bat, I took a few whiffs and hit nothing but air. Then I smacked the next bowl (pitch) and started sprinting to where the first base line should have been. That was a party foul, because in cricket you run straight ahead. So everyone had a good laugh at that one(including me). I went to waves and did some wave riding and flipping (necessities when you are at the beach).

When I came back onto shore it was time for lunch, good ole fried deliciousness: fish and chips. After wolfing down my food, I laid down to get a bit of sun. A bit later, it was time for my group to go surfing (I had never been before). So we get our wetsuits and I hop in mine. It was my first time ever in a wetsuit and feels like under armour to the extreme. My first thought was how many people had worn this suit before me an decided to pee in it (such comforting thoughts).

We got a crash course on different surfing techniques and then we were turned loose on the water. My most successful run (defined as being on my feet) lasted two seconds. I attribute this to two factors: 1) I don't think I was ever ready for the wave I jumped on. I wold grab it too late, force it, and be out of position. 2) I would always try to go from prone to feet without using my knees. This is a more advanced move and I thought hey, I am an advanced type of guy, why not. So yeah, not the most successful day on the waves, but had a ton of fun on my first surfing experience. Got back home, had dinner and a nap and then we went out again. Another night of partying and not enough sleep. 8:30am came early again...

2/16: At this point, I have learned a good life lesson. Be careful when you party with Australians because they grew up doing this (getting minimal sleep and cramming in a full day before going out again), and you have not. The first half of the day, we went to the Melbourne Museum which was actually really cool. They had expansive displays on the mind, history of the city, aboriginal culture, and wildlife in Australia. I spent the most time in the mind display and the history of Melbourne display. After a few hours, we headed back for lunch.

Once we finished lunch, it was time to go the zoo. It was a good thirty minute walk to the zoo but it was worth the trek. While at the zoo, I saw my first roo (that is shorthand for a kangaroo). At this point I went to take a picture but my battery was dead (I was able to snap a good shot of a giraffe>see second picture). We spent a few hours at the zoo and then headed back for dinner. After dinner and a much needed nap, it was time for our Australian themed dance party. I chose to be an Australian outdoors man so I wore some camping clothes and an Australian hat.

So a lot of the Aussies said Americans couldn't dance and all we knew how to do was grind on the dance floor. For those not up with the lingo, grinding is basically like having sex on the dance floor and I don't categorize it as dancing either. Nevertheless, I took it upon myself to prove that Americans could dance. After a few hard hours on the dance floor and a few buckets of sweat, I do believe that I accomplished my mission. Once again, not enough sleep and an early 8:30am wake-up call.

2/17: The last real day of the program. We went down to the G (that is right i already have a stadium named after me...) The G is shorthand for the MCG which is a massive stadium where they play cricket and the largest footy games. We caught a few hours of the cricket match (see first picture) and then went to the Australian Sports Museum. Now this was a pretty sweet place that had in-depth histories of cricket as well as footy. One of the coolest parts was the hologram shows. There was a famous footy player and famous cricket player who were recorded as holograms and these were played for the guests. After we finished at the museum, we headed back to Ormand College for a barbie (aka BBQ or grill-out). I had a leisurely afternoon just chilling with people and then took a long nap before dinner (yes napping was a common theme which was necessary for survival). It was our closing night of the program and they went all out for it. We wore cocktail attire and had a formal three-course dinner. After dinner, we went out again and had a fairly good night. Then 8:30am rolled around again...

2/18: I rolled out of bed and grabbed our final Welcome breakfast. We had a picture slideshow and chilled for a bit. Then it was time to pack out and leave Ormand College. I made it back to my apartment and crashed for a good period of time.

I will conclude this entry because it takes you, my gracious reader, through my experiences at the Welcome program. Biggest take aways: 1) Meet tons of people whom I have seen around campus a lot/ chilled with since then 2) between my first few nights in Melbourne and the Welcome I partied enough for a long stretch of time (i.e. a few months). Anyone who knows me knows that I am not averse to having a good time every once in a while but I just went crazy my first week and half in town. Now I settling back down and reigning things in.

I will soon post another entry to recap some of the things I have done in the past week...