American Gridiron

This past weekend was the weekend of Aussie Rules Football, otherwise known as the greatest game of all time. After having seen several footy matches since I've been here, the opportunity was presented for me to actually get to play the game. After sever frustrating training sessions and much confusion, game day presented itself this past Saturday. Moderately hung over from the house warming party the night before and exhausted from Grease rehearsals/general madness, the first match of Girls' footy was not my shining moment. Yet despite my lack of talent, I was so pumped. The Whitley girls were all given footy nicknames, mine being "Chains" (the sheer brilliance of nicknames here continues to astound me). Rumor had gone round to other colleges that Whitley had two "American gridirons" on its team- namely myself and Carissa. We got all geared up and got ready to "put the bitches down" as they say here in Australia. Here we are in our footy attire, completely with war paint:

The actual games themselves did not go so well- we lost all three. However, I had a personal win in that I learned how to kick correctly, which boosted my confidence well enough that in the second match I was about to get a mark (a catch) and a free kick. It was pretty awesome actually, and I'm excited to possibly play some sort of organized sport once I get back to Bryn Mawr (maybe rugby?) A couple of the girls got some injuries- I actually tripped on the way to the oval and got a bloody lip. Carissa got some really nice bruises. One of the girls popped her knee and another got a minor concussion. But seriously, it was the most fun I have had in a LONG time and I will really miss playing it back home. Here is a shot of the team goofing off after a long day of hard playing:

While the girls may not have fared so well, the Whitley boys did us proud. It was the Boys' footy grand final this weekend against St. Mary's, and we SLAUGHTERED THEM. I was so proud to be from Whitley, and despite the fact two of the boys got really bad black eyes, one of them has a messed up ankle now, and basically all of them got bruised and bloody knees, Whitley morale was at an extreme high. We all put on Whitley gear and went to Bridie's for celebratory drinks. Today the team even got to sit at high table for hall. It's a big deal, and I couldn't be happier to be at Whitley. Here are a couple shots of the team/Bridie's:

In other news, I spent some time this weekend hanging out with Antonio and Sneha. The house warming party on Friday was a lot of fun, and I saw a ton of people I haven't seen since I got to Melbourne. I also met this absolutely delightful British boy named Andy, whom I went out with last night on a rather spontaneous date for dinner on Lygon street. He is definitely at the top of my "list of potential boyfriends" right now, so hopefully there will be updates concerning this matter. Otherwise things have been pretty much the same- getting ready for Grease to open this weekend, writing some assignments, attempting to stay motivated to do work, waiting to see whether or not I'm going anywhere for break, looking for just the right person to come see silverchair with me, etc. I am experiencing a bit of nostalgia for Bryn Mawr since people are beginning to put pictures up on facebook from Customs Week. Have a great Parade night girls- I miss you and I'll see you all soon!!!