Week 3

8.16.10

Well,

I have actually been doing a lot recently. Last week I essentially had a 5 day weekend. I had regular days on Monday and Tuesday and then Wednesday was the Ekka. The Ekka is “The Exhibition.” This agricultural showcase started in 1876. It has turned into a public holiday and was basically a state fair on steroids. There were tons of exhibition halls with different types of conventions in them. One was boats, RV’s, and campers; another was quilts; they had one for community service and joining; and one with food. It was ridiculous. That’s only the indoor part. Outside they had tons of tents with food or pamphlets. And on top of that they had livestock ranging from cows (including a show on milking), birds, llamas, reptiles. And they had horse racing, horse jumping, a monster truck show, wool shearing contests, size contests…it was ridiculous. That was only half of it. The other half consisted of an amusement park. And not just a small one with a few rides, but a regular sized amusement park with roller coasters, a log ride, carnival games, and more food. The entire park had like four Ferris wheels, too. I was absolutely shocked at how much stuff this place had. While there, I had to get food so I got a Dagwood Dog. This is basically a huge corn dog covered in tomato sauce; it was good.

Then Thursday came and that was the day I was having lunch at the head table with the Head Master of King’s. There were 7 international students, the Head Master and two other guys from the office at King’s. We were served a two course meal consisting of some kind of soup and salmon. The food was delicious. It was strange sitting at the high table while everyone else was eating at the regular tables in the dining hall. But once we started eating and talking I didn’t really notice.

Saturday, John and I headed down to the Gold Coast. Being the tourists we are, we took huge backpacks that could carry all of our stuff like sunscreen, towels, flip-flops, etc. Once we got there, after an hour and a half train and bus ride, we realized that having the backpacks were a bad idea. The gold coast is a very large city that sits on the coast. The place we went, specifically, was Surfer’s Paradise. They had areas on the beach for swimming and surfing and it was fairly packed but not as packed as it will be as the weather gets warmer. We also went to the top of the Q1 building. This is the tallest residential building and 20^th tallest building in the world. We were on the “Q-Deck” which was the 77^th floor of the building. Thankfully, it was a clear day so we could see from one end of the beach to the other and miles into Queensland; I think I took a picture of Brisbane but I am not sure. They also had a bar up there and I would love to go back at night but I would have to be dressed a little better than t-shirt and cargo shirts, along with a massive backpack. Before heading back o the beach, we walked around all the shops and mall type area that they have right at the beach. I was upset right when we arrived because I puller my sunglasses out and they broke upon being opened. Thus I was in search of new sunglasses, and what better place than the beach. After finding sun glasses, it was time for the beach. The water was still fairly chilly but swimmable. We didn’t swim but did walk so our feet got wet which was entertaining and scary when random high waves would come and freak us out. And after sitting for a bit we headed back to Brisbane.

Then, on Sunday, I headed to an AFL (Australian Football League) game. There is an international group on campus called QUEST (Queensland University Exchange Student Society). They organized a group to go to the AFL game. I sat 12 rows from the field and one section off to the side of the posts. The game was between the Brisbane Lions and the Adelaide Crows. I didn’t realize how fast paced AFL games are. I had seen rugby games on TV before, but this is nothing like that. I am not going to go into detail since I am still not completely sure about rules but I am getting there. Unfortunately, Brisbane lost 97-104. After the game, the field becomes open to the public and there is a mad dash out to it. Everyone seems to be kicked or handballing back and forth. It seemed hectic and I was afraid of getting hit in the head with a rogue ball. Luckily, I did not. While there, I did buy myself a football since I don’t know if I will be going back to a game. I hope I do, I had a lot of fun.