Status Update

It’s been a long time since I’ve updated this blog so I apologize if you’ve been holding your breath. It seems that I am still having trouble finding the time to sit down and write because I've been keeping busy with so many things. Even now I'm a little embarassed to see that my last updated was for the Gold Coast Hinterlands, the trip organized by QUEST, since I've been able to see many other things since then. But, I will try to keep the chronology of this blog consistent so as to keep a good record of what actually went on down here in Australia. This blog will cover a few events that happened since GCH.

In the weekend following GCH, I participated in a 4’s volleyball tournament and another QUEST Event, an NRL football game.

The volleyball tournament was being put on by the UQBVC and the basic premise was to get there early, randomly assemble four person teams and play volleyball for the rest of the day. And for the most part, we did exactly that. People brought some beer or wine which helped make it a really relaxing day. Most people had shown up by 9:30 and we began the pool play by 10am, which is still really early for a Saturday in my book. There were eight pools and four teams in each pool. Once each pool winner had been determined, we set up a bracket and played single-elimination until the end. Although this may sound like we were taking volleyball seriously, the clubs main focus was on the social aspect. Since only four teams could be playing at any one time, most people were just hanging out, talking, and making new friends. We kept ourselves busy by practicing on high jump equipment that was just behind the volleyball courts, by playing Frisbee, and by kicking around the soccer ball. University students have such short attention oh look a bird! They even had this gigantic volleyball that we thought would be really fun to play with until we realize that it was much heavier than we had anticipated and had almost broke our arms trying to hit it like a normal volleyball. Anyways, my team won all three of its pool play games and continued on through the quarterfinals to lose in the semifinals. It was really a heartbreaking loss since we were about to win, lost a point and the serve to a technicality, and then ended up losing the game. But, like I said, it was a very social event and we had forgotten about the loss by the time we were off the court. We also played a game where everyone got in a single court and we played the game with normal rules. Except in this game, if it’s your fault for losing a point, you have to leave the court. Slowly, the number of people that are on the court becomes just one, who is declared the winner. That was a surprisingly really fun game, especially when the really good people were the first people to get out. When all the games had been played and food consumed, the sun was setting and it was time to go home. My feet and back were scorched, but the day had been really well spent. It was time to get some sleep before the NRL game the next day.

The NRL (National Rugby League) football game was a match between the Brisbane Broncos and the New Zealand Warriors. But before the game, we met at a sports bar up the road to have a few drinks, eat appetizer food, and learn a little bit about Australian sports (NRL, NRU, and AFL). After that, we all walked down to the SunCorp Stadium, took our seats, and began roasting under the midday sun. I had been told that the Broncos were the winningest team in the league, so I was expecting a blow-out. And that’s exactly what we got. The Warriors killed the Broncos, 48-16. Of course I don’t really hold allegiance to any team, but the game also wasn’t particularly interesting to watch. NRL rules are a bit different than the rugby that I’m used to watching and it wasn’t a close match. I guess you could say it was like watching an indoor American football game somewhere in southern California, except it was being played outdoors. The Kiwis made a lot of noise during the game though. They were having a great time. It was almost more interesting to watch them than it was to see the match itself.

The next weekend was the beginning of our Easter Holiday, which means that we didn’t have class on Friday or the rest of the following week. (I'm still not sure how the entire country shuts down for a religious holiday. If you ask an Aussie's about it, they're either quite proud that the reason for the holiday is Easter, or they don't care as long as they don't have to work. If Easter is the reason for the holiday, it automatically becomes sacred to them. I guess I can't blame 'em for that.) It also marked the beginning of my trip to Cairns where I had planned a 3-day/2-night scuba diving liveaboard. You’ll hear more about that in the next post.
Cheers