As promised, my post will begin with a recounting of Duch Bowls. This was a much-hyped event where all the girls in my college dress in white granny outfits and go lawn bowling. The Op-shops were closed, so we ended up having to make a run to K-mart (good thing I came all the way to Australia for that,
huh?). I ended up finding a dress that was kind-of granny like, but at the same time was trying to be trendy in a tragic sort of way. I wore it with my “joggers” (sneakers) and my glasses, and the end result was that I mostly just looked awkward. Of course, the Aussie girls went all out with costumes, as usual, and it was really funny to watch everyone stare at us as we walked through campus on the way to the St. Lucia Lawn Bowling Club. Lawn Bowling turned out to be a lot like Bocce Ball, except that the balls weren’t perfect spheres, so you had to take into account how they would curve. I’m proud to report that I’ve found yet another sport I completely suck at.
All in all it was a successful afternoon, only to be topped by the fact that the entire college went straight from bowling to a night on the city- in costume!
Duch girls in costume.
Claire and I on the walk over.
Stephanie, my bowls partner, in her fabulous outfit drinking $2 wine (classy!).
More duch girls.
The bowlers.
Action shot!
Maybe we need some more practice...
On Friday, Mandy and I decided we wanted to see a rugby game. We were going to go with some Aussie boys who we were going to force to explain the game to us. Suddenly, 8 more people wanted to come- so it turned into quite the party! Of course, the Aussie boys missed the train, but luckily we had some Duch girls with us who knew the ropes. Rugby is a lot like football (“grid iron” here), except with more downs (“tackles”), no forward passing, and no pads. The Australians are especially keen on pointing out how the Rugby players aren’t “wusses” like the Americans since they don’t use helmets, shoulder pads etc. I was especially keen to point out that maybe the Americans had a point, considering the amount of brain damage/injuries rugby players sustain, but nobody really listened to me. We saw the Brisbane Broncos, who are a "Rugby League" team, as opposed to the Queensland Reds who are a "Rubgy Union" team. Apparently, "League" isn't as popular as "Union" is in Brisbane, which explains why our tickets were so cheap. People I've talked to here are very loyal to either "Union" or "League," but when I've asked what the difference is between them, people have been very vague in their answers. I'm not sure if this is because any explanation would be lost on me because I don't understand rugby in general, or because there really isn't much of a difference. It seems suspiciously to me like the difference between the American and National Leagues in baseball (ie. none, as far as I am concerned).
The game turned out to be very exciting- double overtime! Then, we loss. Of course, I had no idea what was going on, so I ended up cheering at then end until somebody pointed out that the other team had scored the goal. Oops.
Suncorp Stadium. Strategically located (I noticed) next to the XXXX beer factory.
Caroline and I in our suprisingly good seats. Nobody is at the stadium yet, because apparently games don't actually start until an hour after the ticket says they will (we missed the memo).
Rugby players not being wusses.
Later this weekend, I went with a friend I made in my Marine Biology class, Casey, to the botanic gardens on Mt. Coot-tha, (only about a 20 min bus ride from the city). It was a really nice day (as usual), and it was nice to go walking in a new area. The gardens were very tree and bush oriented- nothing like the flowery, manicured Chicago Botanic Gardens. They had a really cool Bonsai exhibit which we spent a lot of time in. Also, we saw a lot of wild life including water dragons (lizard-ish creatures) and funny turkey-like birds that ran away every time I tried to take a picture. Mostly, there were just a lot of very strange trees. We saw a “lookout point” labeled on the map and set out for it. 45 minutes of convoluted trails later, we arrived- and wow! We could see the whole skyline of Brisbane! Very cool. Later, while we were waiting for the bus back to campus, we decided to step into the little planetarium near the gardens, where we watched a silent animation of the Mars Rover landing. Thus, the day ended up being a slightly bizarre mixture of terrestrial and extra-terrestrial.
River Dragon Island.
I'm excited because I'm as tall as a tree.
Casey demonstrating the shear monstrosity of the the leaves on the tree.
I picked the biggest tree to hug in the whole forest.
My new favorite plant.
My other new favorite plant.
Overlooking the gardens to Brisbane.
Well, that’s all for the next couple of weeks- I’m off to New Zealand for the Easter Break. Many photos to come. Chag Sameach to all my friends and family!
Love, Anna
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