Touch UM at Sale

Okay, the honest reason I joined was the name of the club: “Touch UM.” It doesn’t get much better than that. [UM stands for University of Melbourne, but its convenient placement at the end of the team name allows for way more jokes.] But wait, it does get better. Here are just a few phrases common to the Touch field:

"Pick up the dump."

"Go deeper."

"Wanna ruck?"

In my four practices prior to this comp, I went from “What do you call that round thing you throw around?” to “Sorry, Australia National Touch team, I’m only here for a few more months, I can’t play on your team.”

Saturday's Touch UM boys v. Touch UM boys. At least they look like they know what they're doing.

Fine, maybe I’m not that good yet. But we played in our first competition over the weekend in a tiny town called Sale (road trip!), and I definitely learned a lot about the game:

1. “Touch” is short for “touch rugby.”
2. You’re only allowed to throw the ball backwards.
3. Crashing into a large male moving towards you at high speed doesn’t hurt as bad as it sounds. Hitting the ground post-crash, on the other hand, can induce severe body soreness.
4. Catch the ball and run fast.
5. Catch the ball.

It’s been a long time since I’ve started something so foreign to me. Being completely clueless on the field, let alone not being the best (I’m trying hard to avoid sounding cocky here..), is uncharted territory for me. I’ll admit I can get a little competitive. Surprisingly though, even our 0-8 overall record didn’t crush my spirits.

Sunday's team - we scored three tries! (A try is a touchdown.)

What really kept me going was the people. My teams were awesome and even the refs seemed to enjoy laughing at us rookies. I’ll leave you with a quote from a fellow teammate:

“I rucked all weekend long but I didn’t score once.” -D

AFL Season Opener: Carlton v. Richmond

I was barracking for the underdog, the Richmond Tigers. They even held a decent lead for a large part of the third quarter, until they keeled over and died in the last five minutes of the game.

The AFL has got the whole package - very fit players on the field and loud obnoxious fans in the stands.

Aside from the disappointment of a losing, watching a real footy game at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (the 2nd largest stadium in the southern hemisphere, it can hold 100,000 fans) was awesome, even better than my first pre-season game at Etihad.

If you're a senior (translated: old) Melbourne Cricket Club member dressed properly (translated: how you might look in your casket), you can sit in the historical Long Room of the MCG, with beautiful leather couches and your own private bar. Am I bitter? Nah.

Too boring for me though, I want to be where the action is!

I did go with a (non-senior) Melbourne Cricket Club member (thanks Tim!), and even then there was a dress code for us. I think I managed to pull off "smart casual," which I took to mean "no flip flops."

I'm sorry I'm so awkward...

Quote of the Day: Say What?

"Get the torch out of the boot. It's next to the esky."

-Fiona, a real Australian

Song of the Day

We belong in the modern era. A six-hour hike feels a lot longer when there is no television, internet, or iPod to distract you. After about minute 45, we start running out of things to say, creating the perfect opportunity to compose a song.

Sung to the tune of the military march chant, "I don't know but I've been told..":

(Note: this is a repeat after me song.)

Mount Cradle is a bitch to climb,

I would fancy a glass of wine,

Not even halfway to the top,

Don't trip your shoe on a rock.

-Lyrics, courtesy Sjors

Tasmania: Team America vs. the World

Tasmania was absolutely incredible (and surprisingly large too). As the only American on a 21-person trip through western Taz, my very creative trip-mates nicknamed me, "America," "Team America," or simply "Oh my God!"

We covered over ten nations, with big representation from the UK, Germany, and Japan.

Coming back to mainland Australia and the big city life of Melbourne after five days in the wilderness of Tazzy has been the biggest culture shock that I've experienced so far. I could rave forever about the amazing time I had, but I don't want to make you too jealous, so here's my four favorite parts of the weekend:

1. The sights: the landscapes were gorgeous and so diverse. One minute we'd be driving through open pastures and suddenly we'd be entering a temperate rainforest. From climbing giant rock slab mountains to trudging through kilometres of sand dunes, I couldn’t believe I experienced so many different environments on one tiny island.

2. Okay, so there were times when I was the typical tourist in a bus. Sit sleep for a few hours, groggily file out of the bus, snap a few pictures, and repeat. BUT we also went on tons of walks (Australian for "hikes") to explore the island, and were able to see waterfalls, wombats, wallabies, and so much more.

Wombats: just as cute and cuddly as a koala bear. Plus, they're slightly more active; you can't tell by looking at him, but this guy can sprint up to 40 km/hour!

3. The people: I entered this trip on my own, but I left with so many wonderful new mates. Spending every waking hour for almost 4 days with the 20 others on my tour may have quickened the bonding, but people in Tazzy are just so friendly - I knew Brett, my 60-year-old airplane seat-partner, for exactly 10 minutes before he offered me a ride to my hostel!

Dutchie, America, and Mexico.

4. My favorite part of the trip by far was Saturday's 6-hour hike that took us to the top of Cradle Mountain. Most of the hike had no path; instead, we scrambled over loads of huge boulders, with nothing but a tight grip on the rocks and shoes with minimal tread to prevent us from tumbling to our death below. It was exhilarating, especially when we six survivors finally reached the peak. The mist had just burned away, giving us a clear 360-degree view of the beauties all over Tasmania.

We climbed up this..

..through this...

..to get to the top of this!

I was going to leak a clip of my first documentary, but the internet here moves slower than a sleeping koala bear, so you'll have to wait until its big debut on the Discovery Channel :).

J'aime Australia!

The Melbourne French Film Festival ends this week, so I caught a showing of Un Balcon sur la mer yesterday. Thank God for subtitles, though I did pick up a few phrases, such as "lundi" (Monday) and "Comment appelles-tu?" (What is your name?). Yay for Beginners French!

Big update on my best weekend ever coming soon!

Picture of the Day

Brighton Beach, Melbourne.

Never Have I Ever..

..felt so uncoordinated.

I attempted a "RopeBurn" class at the gym on Friday. It is just as terrible as it sounds. Imagine a solid hour of INTENSE jump-roping (toe-heel touching, soldier legs, double jumps, side twists.. I suffered more than a few whips on my legs) interrupted by dynamic weight lifting. Hopefully my body will be functioning again in time for tomorrow's Cardio Box class :)

Thought of the Day

As provoked by my Aboriginal Culture class:

What makes aboriginal art "aboriginal"? If I make a dot painting (see below), is that aboriginal art? And if an aboriginal person paints a city landscape, what would you call it?

My first aboriginal (or not) painting. This is the incomplete version, but you can tell it's headed somewhere great.

And that is why I study computer science - everything is either right or wrong, no shades of gray and no endless contemplation using weak words that cannot describe the complexity of the clash of two cultures.

MGMT Concert

Really small venue, got two tickets for free, and landed perfect standing room on the balcony. (No thank you, mosh pit, I saw enough of you in Sydney.)

The concert was so cool, it didn't matter that I only knew two songs!

60 Hours in Sydney

A few friends and I dominated Sydney last weekend. Let me explain.

Transportation: A 12-hour night bus trip was half the price of a flight (which would have been just over an hour long), so we pounced on the deal. Note that we booked our tickets less than 48 hours before leaving Melbourne; we probably could have planned that one better.

Housing: My first time staying in a hostel! We were so tired each night, we wouldn’t have noticed if we were sleeping on a bed made of rock. But luckily for us, the hostel had surprisingly nice accommodations, a free city tour, and even its own dance club downstairs!

The schedule of events for the weekend. Hostels don't lie.

So, as I said, we saw it all: the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, the Rocks (oldest town with the oldest bars in Sydney, also holding the oldest people in Sydney), Queen Victoria Shopping Center (she's really made a name for herself in Australia), Bondi Beach, and the Bondi Beach lifeguards, just to name a few.

Fun fact: the architecture of the Sydney Opera House was inspired by stacks of orange slices.

Eating ice cream at the beach on a hot day. I'm never going home. (It's funny, because you think I'm joking.)

But the real reason we booked this last minute trip was Saturday night - the annual Sydney Gay Pride Mardi Gras Parade. I saw some pretty fabulous costumes (and lack of costumes too, if you know what I mean).

No words.

But in the end, 60 hours in Sydney just wasn’t enough. There’s still so much I’d like to do: hike the Blue Mountains, go on the Ferris Wheel at Luna Park, climb the Harbour Bridge. Don’t worry Sydney, I’ll be back.

On the Road Again: Traveling the GOR

There’s a first time for everything, and I had quite a few this weekend (these are unrelated to the beautiful sights I've already talked about):

1. I contacted a stranger (John) on Gumtree.com.au (Australia’s Craig’s List).

2. I agreed to travel the GOR with him, plus two people neither of us knew.

3. The four of us began our roadtrip less than 36 hours after my first email to John.

4. John had never driven a car in Australia before.

John only drove on the wrong side of the road once the whole weekend!

5. We ate dinner on the side of the road.

6. I brushed my teeth in the bathroom of Hungry Jack’s (Australian Burger King).

We might be homeless, but we've still got good hygiene.

7. The four of us slept in one tiny car...

8. ... in a dark corner of a car park (parking lot) for Coles (grocery store) and Hungry Jack’s.

That's the view by day. Notice "Brekky."

9. We handwashed our rental car using the windshield washer thing and lots of paper towels at the gas station (somehow dozens of large bugs got caught in our grill as we were driving, it was pretty gross).

10. I ate a pineapple muffin for breakfast.

This is definitely one of the more spontaneous, "don't-travel-by-yourself-and-don't-get-in-a-car-with-strangers" dangerous things I've done. A lot of things could have gone wrong, but I'm alive and I had a great time traveling with my new friends. I wouldn't change a thing.

My international travel crew: Lisa from Germany, John from France, and Chris from England. Cheers, mates!

Kangaroos, Koalas, and Emus, Oh My!

I trekked down the Great Ocean Road over the weekend! That’s GOR for short. The GOR is a 250 km long road leading west from just outside Melbourne, and continues along the southern coast of Australia. The road was lined with long stretches of beautiful beaches and dense rainforest (where we saw several of Australia's national wild animals, including koalas, penguins, and parrots), and ended at a site called the Twelve Apostles, an incredible collection of rock stacks on the beach.

Not quite Niagara Falls, but this waterfall in the rainforest was definitely stunning.

We made it to the Twelve Apostles just in time for sunset, without even trying! What a perfect way to end a perfect day.

We completed the roadtrip to the end of the GOR in one day, leisurely stopping at all the scenic views and eagerly snapping pictures of the lush scenery.

On the way back the next day, we drove through Grampians National Park, completing our mission to see the remainder of Australia’s famous wild animals (kangaroos, emus, giant ants...).

The kangaroos wouldn't stop staring. I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled cameras out of their pouches and started taking pictures of us!

Some koala species are known as "drop bears" in Australia because of their tendency to drop out of trees and attack passersby. Good thing this one wasn't a drop bear.

It was such a relaxing adventure; even being lost in the mountains with no cars in sight and less than a quarter tank of petrol didn’t bother me. Something about being surrounded by endless oceans and wide open fields ignited an inner peace in me, sort of like Gandhi :).

Australian Rules Football

I went to my first footy (Australian Rules Football) game on Thursday, and it was a blast! The action on the field never stops. It was just a preseason game, so the stands weren't packed, but the energy in the stadium was unbeatable.

People were going CRAZY. I'm not gonna lie, I joined more than a few "Let's go Demons!" chants.

Here's a few basics about footy to get you rookies started:

• Push and shove
• Yell at the ref

Okay, but actually, there isn't a good parallel in America. It's definitely not American football (known as "gridiron" here) but the two sports do have a few things in common, as well as similarities to soccer and even basketball:

• Kick the ball between the posts to score
• Bounce the ball every 15 steps
• Pass the ball by handballing, tossing, or kicking

It makes more sense when you watch it, but I promise, it's fun.

They wear short shorts and high socks. What's not to love?

And on the walk back, we were pleasantly surprised by two big-eyed possums staring down at us from a tree in the park.

They're not koalas, but they're still pretty cute.