Aussie Aussie Aussie

August 15, 2009

My Jail Cell

This post isn't very exciting but I thought some of you might want to see where I am living. Currie Hall is one of the 5 residential colleges on campus and I am very fortunate that I am able to live here. Many of the other exchange students had to find their own accommodations after coming to Australia. These students don't have meals provided and some of them have to take the bus to campus. It is very convenient living on the outskirts of UWA because I can walk to class. I especially enjoy living on campus because it is how I have met so many different people. Every weekend there are different social events planned which keeps us very busy. These are pictures I took of my room and Currie Hall.

This is the front of Currie Hall. On the left bottom floor is the office, front desk, and mail room. On the second floor is the dining hall. To the right on the first floor is the games room and on the second floor is the "blue room" which is where we watch movies.

Doors to the front desk.

The quad where we play volleyball. Also in the pic is A house and B house.

This is the games room. There are 3 pool tables, a ping pong table, and a TV. Many of us come here after dinner to watch sports and play a few games of pool.

I live in D house.

This is the shower that is directly across from my room. There are five of us who share this shower. Most of the time I have no problem sharing one shower but on Monday mornings, there is somebody who seems to always want to take a shower at the same time as me. I've tried setting my alarm clock for different times but every time they get in just as I'm picking up my shower bag.

This is the D100's kitchen. I have not yet used the any of the appliances but now that I have some soup from home I will start.

My closet/"getting ready" area.

My bed with my $50 blanket I bought from Target.

My desk. I had a baseball game on (:

This is my view on one side of my window.

The view on the other side.

They think we are fat in America....

This was an advertisement in one of the "toilets" in the city. At first I was a little offended but it's actually pretty funny. It's ironic because Australia is actually more obese than the U.S. I thought everyone would enjoy this.

August 13, 2009

Currie Hall River Cruise

This post is a little out of order but it took me a few days to get all the pictures from everyone. Last Friday, Currie Hall held it's annual River Cruise. This was an opportunity for everyone in Currie Hall to dress up and have a formal night. The theme was "Gangsters and Flappers", so Jaime, Alaina, and I did our best to look like 1920's flapper girls. It was very difficult to find an affordable flapper dress so instead of spending the money on a dress we played up the hair, makeup, and jewelry to match the era. Luckily, I was able to wear a dress that I brought with me so I didn't have to spend very much money. I was very jealous of the guys because to dress like a gangster you just need a suit (and maybe a toy gun). We had a lot of fun looking for our costumes and had an even better time getting ready. Jaime did our hair and in the end I think the 3 of us looked great. Even without "flapper" dresses, I think we followed the theme pretty well.

There was a DJ so almost everyone was on the dance floor the entire time. Everybody knows I can't dance but I have a lot of fun trying anyways. I think the highlight of the night was when the DJ played "I'm on a Boat" from Saturday Night Live. That song is very popular here. I guess last year, the boat didn't even leave the dock because of mechanical issues so everyone was very excited to circle Swan River. We got some great views of the city at night and had a blast with everyone from our college.

Jaime and I after getting ready

Alaina!

All ready to go

TD and Jake on the boat

Alex

The city and ferris wheel at night

Freo vs. Port Adelaide

I am determined to catch up on blogging. I have at least 5 posts I need to write. Keeping checking... eventually I will have time.

On Sunday, I went to my first AFL "footie" or Australian rules football game. The game was against Fremantle and visitors, Port Adelaide. Jaime, Alaina, and I went with our study abroad group and had a really great time. None of us knew any of the rules to begin with (I hardly even know NFL rules) but by the end of the game I think we got the basic idea. The game started at 2:30 and was only a 15 minute train ride from campus. I played volleyball for Currie Hall the same morning so as soon as the games were done we hopped on the train and went to the footie game.

I haven't talked about the public transportation here in Perth at all. It is definitely very different from home. Everybody that I have talked to can't believe that I have never taken a bus or train anywhere. They think it is such a waste that we actually drive everywhere we go. Unlike the buses at home, public transportation here is safe, clean, and timely. You can always count on the buses to be on time and no matter where you want to go, TransPerth can get you there. At first, the routes were very confusing and we weren't sure which buses went where but now, 4 weeks into Uni, we are very comfortable taking public transportation. As students of UWA, we get a pretty decent discount which makes traveling affordable. We are given "Smartrider" cards that we add money to and when we tag on and off the bus it charges us. It's like a pay as you go deal.

So back to the footie game. The train stopped directly at the stadium, Subiaco Oval. We knew exactly where to go because everyone on the train was wearing purple, red, and green, the colors of Freo. Here, it is very big to wear a team scarf. I really want to buy a scarf before I leave but I think I'm going to buy one with the colors I like the best. Maybe a Port Adelaide scarf...their colors are turquoise, black, and white. It was just like going to any sports game in the States and reminded me of going to a Giants game, which is one of my favourite things to do. There were definitely so die hard Freo fans.

When we met our group, our advisor told us we needed to make a bet to see who could guess the point difference the closest at the end of the game. I guessed Freo was going to win by 20 points (honestly I had no clue, at this point I didn't even know how many points each goal was). We ended up having really great seats. We were by the goal posts, 3rd row from the field. I ended up taking over 150 pictures of the game itself. With the camera my mom bought, I am able to take almost professional looking photos and it's very easy to use. I took quite a few "action" shots where I even got the ball in the picture. I will post the best ones I took.

I will do my best to explain the rules of footie I learned. Basically, there is a field goal just like in NFL, but in footie the field goal is 4 posts. If you kick or pass the ball in between the middle 2 posts, you score 6 points. It doesn't matter if the ball touches the ground before it goes between, you score as long as the ball crosses the the posts. If you kick or pass the ball between the outside posts, you score 1 point. The ball is still considered "live" even when it is fumbled or touches the ground. The players are not allowed to hold the ball when being tackled. Many of the players bounce the ball when running with it and underhand pass it to each other, similar to a volleyball. Basically it is a "free for all" after the ref. tosses the ball... Not many rules the players have to follow. Hm..I'm sure I'm leaving many more rules out, but that is the basic idea. I realized that Australian rules football makes American football look like a sissy sport. The players wear the smallest shorts I have ever seen men wear and they wear absolutely no padding or helmets. It was very impressive. The players are ruthless and tackle as hard as they can. Fortunately, I didn't see anybody get hurt at this game.

We ended up having a blast and we learned a lot about the game of footie. Freo killed Port Adelaide and I didn't come close to winning the prizes. Next I will have to go to a cricket game...too bad it takes 5 days to play 1 game.

The train station in the city

The parking lot dedicated to Nic

The sign, the Freo team ran through before the game

These are the 4 goal posts I wrote about. The middle section is worth 6 points and the outer sections are worth 1 point.

This was the hotdog I ordered during the game. It's red! The entire this is red, it's not just the casing. This would have shocked me more but just the day before, Currie Hall served hotdogs for lunch and they were red too. It must be an Australian thing. Wierd.

This is my new favourite soda. It's sparkling lemonade. I wish I they had this at home.

It's true, they do not have real ketchup here. It's always called "tomato sauce". It tastes just the same as ketchup so I don't really care what it is called.

This was a really neat dispenser at the game. I have not seen ketchup packets in Au yet but these are much cooler. You just squeeze the ends together and the top snaps to create your own ketchup dispenser that doesn't get ketchup everywhere.