Footie!

When in Rome, do like the Romans, when in Melbourne, don't miss the footie as it is called by the Aussies. Australian Rules football is something unique to Southern Australia.

On Friday the 7th of August, a big bunch of MUSEX members (Melbourne University Student Exchange) invaded the Melbourne Cricket Ground stadium. The 50 of us met up at the corner of Flinders Street and Swanston, in front of the Transport Bar at 6pm.

Here's the concession ticket we got, $12.80 for students! Much cheaper than other places in the world. No wonder Australians love their sports.


We took a short walk to the MCG, on of Melbournes two 100,000 seater stadium, which was filled to the brim with eager Aussies. The seats below, are only open to members and the membership list is currently at 50years waiting. The people tell me that fathers buy memberships for their unborn children! Today's game was Geelong Cats vs Carlton and it promised to be a tight match.



The aerial view of the stadium. Trust me, it is huge.

Okay, the Australian Rules Football is really different from other football and here are some key differences for newbies in case anyone asks:

1. The field is the shape of a baseball. Fits into round stadiums!!
2. The are 4 sticks as goals, two short ones beside 2 tall ones. Scoring into the centre space gives most points. No keepers.
3. There are at least 4 umpires, 6 waterboys, 1 guy in flouroscent running around for the most obscure reason.
4. It is started by throwing the ball at the ground!
5. In football, a throw in requires the thrower to throw forward with 2 feet on the ground. In footie, the umpire throws the ball facing backwards with one leg flying up!
6. You pass like rugby but have to dribble like football every 15 metres.
7. It is a very gentle game, tackling is like hugging and the players fall down like men. They get up and don't squeal like lil girls.
8. There are 3 scores, 1 is the total.
9. There are quaters each 30 minutes long, hence 2 hours of play.
10. There are 18 players and hundreds of tiny rules that must be adhered to.

Daylight in the night, 4 ten storey floodlights illuminating every move the players made. The moon was full and the crowd was howling like wolves in the cold. There was also a short fireworks display from the Yarra river nearby. The players were mostly skinheads. These were real men, wearing only their uniforms and muscles n the playing field, they seem to have an inexhaustable source of energy. Kicking, punching, scoring, passing, and tackling was the highlight of the night. What an atmosphere it was, and it would have been greater in the summer warmth.

It was intense and Geelong was a formidable foe. Yet in the end, both teams played well and Carlton emerged champions and will proceed to the next stage. Cheers!

I'm leaving on a jet plane..

It seems that my summer break back at home has come to an end. Four blissful weeks have went by in a blink of an eye. Such an eventful four weeks it has been marked with so many events, joyful and tragic, spent with family and friends. Especially so was my idol, the King of Pop who is irritatingly, more famous after kicking the bucket.

Even though this was one of the shortest summer holidays I had in a long time, it turned out to be one of the most happening. More importantly, I spent a great deal of my time with my babe who I will be missing in this four months time. Be it going on an adventurous holiday, shopping or just staring and talking to each other, everyone can agree that it feels good to be loved and love. Times have definitely changed but somethings in our hearts will remain. Makes me wonder why do so many people love so little.

One thing I relearnt, in a short life span of a human being, life is uncertain, but death is. Some people know when they are going to expire but some don't. In light of this, we should spend everyday doing something fruitful, taking our given day as a bonus. Now is a gift, that is why its called the present. Instead of mulling over something we don't have now or complaining why we have so little, we can make the best of our everyday like there is no tomorrow and invest in ourselves the time and the knowledge the world has to offer.

Safe to say, even as I am gearing up to trek on a new foreign soil, I am glad that I don't have to spend a third year in the confines of IC Chem Eng Department for another year. Variety is the spice of life, so going down under won't be such a bad thing, and with a GMT of +10.00, me and my babe's time zone won't be so far apart!
Indeed, the main reason why I chose to go to Melbourne is so I could be closer to my dearest.

Many people ask me why didn't I chose the US, and they are probably thinking of the lower standards at Aussie. Well, 14.7 million unemployed in the US is not too bad given the current economic situation.
But what the heck, doesn't really matter where you are, only thing that matters is how you got there and no naysayers are gonna stop me from making the most out of my life and my time!

Many people say life is fair, that all your suffering and anguish now will be reimbursed in the future. So, just take a make a little more effort and pull through this uni life. In fact, enjoy it while you still can, because whats to come in a working life is boredom.

PS: To my lovely, understanding and exceedingly cute babe, I hope you had a good holiday too babe! I know I'll miss the moments. I'll be home soon!