Student Bloggers
The Past Two Weeks
Date
April 4, 2017
In the midst of adventuring around the Gold Coast of Australia, I became so distracted in finding new places that I forgot how demanding school can be. Despite spending much of the last two weeks completing midterm exams and assignments, I have still managed to find just enough time to check out some new things. The first new experience I encountered was last Saturday night at a “footy” match. I had heard that this sport was similar to American football and soccer, but at first glance, I couldn’t seem to find a similarity except for running, kicking, throwing, and catching a somewhat round ball. After spending the significant part of the first half trying to determine what the rules and objectives of the game were, I just couldn’t seem to fully grasp the rules. I wasn’t even able to tell who on the field was a player, coach, or official. This was nothing like the sports I watch at home.
After struggling to understand what was happening in front of me, I decided to just take in the game and enjoy it in all its confusion. And what I realized after giving the game a little more time was that it really wasn’t all that different from sports at home. The entire stadium was packed with cheering fans covered in memorabilia of the team they were supporting: hats, jerseys, scarfs, everything. There were lines for hot dogs (even bigger than the ones at baseball games at home) and cotton candy. There was music and yelling, excitement and anticipation. Whether or not I could comprehend the game became irrelevant because I was having such a good time just being part of the crowd.
The following weekend, my friends and I decided to go check out Brisbane. For how close the city was to us, we hadn’t seemed to manage a trip up to visit. Since I hadn’t spent any time around this area, I decided to sign up for a half marathon, to get a tour of the city by foot. The run ended up being outside of the city in Sandgate, an area I had never heard of before. Although the race was long, it was all worth it to run by the beach while the run was coming up. This excuse to go visit Brisbane proved to be successful, and I’m already planning to go back for another weekend to see everything else the city has to offer.