A Mexican Fiesta and Meeting an Australian Celebrity

After a normal week here at Bond Uni, with the pressures of midterms over and the latter projects beginning to pile up, I figured nothing would do me better than a little fun at the Mid-Semester Bash: Mexican Fiesta style. So, on Thursday, me and my fellow mates decided to witness the USA vs. Rest Of the World basketball game, which was quite an interesting sight. As most of USAs team were white boys, the other team had a wide variety of color, size, and nationality on their team....and were killing us in the beginning of the game. As time went on, and the crowd, myself included, got more into it (did I mention beer was only $2?) USA came back for the win. We were quite proud of ourselves and all decided to go out in style that evening, with our best Mexican attempts possible.

Going with the Mexican theme, I personally adorned the party with a Mexican Stash, my moccasins, and a self-made poncho that said "Donde esta' el Taco Bell?" Let's just say...I was a riot!

After a long night of speaking Spanish, and some attempted Italian, we called it a night before things got too out of hand.

The next morning, forgetting I had a Child Molester Mustache (it is only Mexican if it is at night and with a poncho), I went to breakfast and walked through campus. Let's just say...I got a lot of awkward stares and at first didn't know why. I apologize general public for looking like such a fool.

That Saturday, it was a friend's 21st birthday so we all went out to celebrate like good American mates we are. We made our rounds at the two bars, both equally lame, around campus and ended up at Varsit Tavern with a small group of people. While standing and chatting over a couple brewskis, someone mentioned to me "Hey, see that guy over there? Yeah, he is the captain of the Gold Coast Titan's Rugby team." At first I didn't believe him, but I was the only one with the courage to go and talk to him and find out. So I walk over there, beer in hand and 21st birthday party at on and sit down in front of a well dressed man and his friend.
"Word on the street is you are a pretty important guy here tonight? Are you the captain of the Gold Coast Rugby team?" I ask. He slightly chuckles and just says "Yeah. I am." Still not believing him, we turn to the rugby game that is on TV and he goes "Watch this play. I totally blow this kick." And sure enough, he did. So, I shake his hand and he says "Scott Prince, #7 and I'm the captain." Likewise, I ran to get a pen and anything he could write his name down on (a Varsity Tavern business card...classy I know!) and got his autograph. It is even made out to me...be jealous!
Once everyone else figured out it was really him, they all wanted to storm in and meet him too. Me, being the fly kid I am, sat right next to him and when I attempted to get a picture with him...everyone joined in! Sad moment, but hey...he was famous so I didn't mind.

So yes, I got to sit and have a beer with the captain of the Gold Coast Titans Rugby team (sorry ladies...he is married and has children), and went to their game last night. It was very exciting, yet slightly confusing to watch. I may or may not have yelled "We want a touchdown!" a few times. I give those boys credit for running full speed at other men doing the same with no one to block for them. Times are still grand here Down Under. Let's see what other excitement I can find.

Until Then,

Wilson

Mardi Gras in Sydney!

We left the glorious Bond University at 9pm Thursday night and headed to Sydney in New South Wales. The 12 hour bus ride was anything but marvelous, but we survived. After arriving at our hostel, The Wake Up, we set our stuff down in the down stairs bar, had a bit of brekkie and got ready for our day.

We walked all around the city, seeing the touristy sights and some of the local secrets. We walked through the Botanical Gardens that were full of fruit bats, by the Art Museum that had lots of famous artists and what not (naturally), lots of statues and other stuff.

Dodgeball inspired statue,

                                                                                      or statue inspired by Dodgeball?

We also saw the ANZAC Memorial, which is the Australia New Zealand Army Corps Memorial, which I will be celebrating this April in a local pub playing some form of Australian drinking game. Hey, it is what we were told to do!

We also saw St. Mary's Cathedral, which is one of the biggest churches in Australia and was absolutely beautiful, inside and out. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but a few lucky characters decided to sneak some. I was not one of the, as I wanted to keep my limbs.

We continued our walk and finally got to see what we had all waited for, and expected.....

The lovely Sydney Opera House. It is just as beautiful in person as it is in pictures, and gives you a rush when you think that this is the image you saw every single day during the Olympics of 2000. Behind the Opera House is the Sydney Harbor Bridge, which we got to go to the first look out and see over it. (It costs almost $200 to climb it)
After our tour of the city, we returned to our hostel and went out on our 3 hour booze cruise on Sydney Harbor. A 3 level boat with an open bar, pizza, a dance floor, and heaps of good times! After the boat docked we wandered back home and called it a night.

The next morning we awoke for another brekkie in the bar down stairs, and headed out to see The Blue Mountains. These were lovely sights, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend them to everyone. It is something to see, but one of those "I came. I saw it. I won't need to see it again" kind of things. After a full day of mountainous sight seeing, we came back and started prepping for the Mardi Gras parade. We put on our neon clothing, acted a fool, and walked in a giant pack with other people down to the parade. Asian photograpehrs thought we were quite the sight and were snapping pictures of us, but there were some dressed a lot more crazy than we were. I won't go into details of this night, mainly because I don't remember most of them or am too embarrassed to say so!

Sunday, we took a ride on Manly Ferry around Sydney Harbor again to head to Manly and Shelly Beach. If anyone has seen the Amazing Race this season, yes this is where they were for their first leg of the race! It was so crazy to see the spot that Phil was standing, and all of the other parts of that leg of the race. Can't wait to do it when I get on the show!
We then headed to Bondi Beach, one of the most famous beaches in Australia and spent the day there. The water was a beautiful blue and crystal clear, the sand was soft and white, and everyone had a great time. We had a quick dinner and then had to head back to the bus for another long trip back to Bond Uni. We arrived home at around 6am and immediately crashed on top of our beds, dying to stretch out after cramming behind a bus seat. (Thanks a lot Kendall and Leeann for putting your seats back so far!)

So my weekend to remember at Sydney Mardi Gras was rememberd for the most part, just a little blurry at times. Oh well, we will see where my next adventure takes me!

Until Then,

Wilson