Army Party and Auto Day

Well, it looks like it's about time for me to update again if I'm to keep up with my weekly schedule.

Last Wednesday (student night, for those of you who've forgotten) there was a party for my roommate Nat and a guy from upstairs called Timmy. It was kind of a joint birthday party even though their birthdays were awhile ago. The theme of the party was Camo or Army, so that afternoon we went to look for some army gear. We went to an army disposal shop, kind of like Army Surplus in Seattle, but everything there was too expensive. We did get some dog tags there for a few bucks. Then we went to Big W and found some cheap camo pants for $10 (score!). Nat had made her own little outfit from camo fabric and there was heaps left so we all made headbands.

Here's a picture of all my roommates except for David. From left, it goes Nat, Boom, Telly, Sally, Sam, Laura, Beth, then in the front is myself and Ryan.

Friday was a big day. It was Autonomy Day. Autonomy Day is... shall we say, INSANE. Technically, it marks the date that Newcastle became an independent university, as before it was a branch of the University of New South Wales. Autonomy Day is a pretty big deal here on campus. I had heard about what goes on this day for a week or so leading up to Auto Day. Basically, everybody gets up extremely early (about 3am) and starts drinking. Then everyone proceeds to drink for most of the day. Now, being from America where most campuses are dry, you'd think that the Uni would look down upon this. However, here at Newcastle, the Uni doesn't look down upon it. Quite the opposite! They provided lots of activities and events at the Bar on the Hill on campus, where thousands gathered throughout the day to eat, drink, meet up with friends, and play human foosball or jump in those inflatable castles. Everyone from International House bought these custom bright yellow teeshirts so we could easily identify each other in the crowd. The motto on the back reads, "Early rising is no pleasure. Early drinking's just the measure." Anyway, we had a nice big unit breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast at about 5, then headed out to the courtyard where most everyone was gathering and having a good time. It was quite odd to be a little inebriated as the sun was rising, and then 12 hours later suddenly realize the sun was gone again. Time had little meaning that day. In any event, it was a fun day and we saw lots of friends and met lots of new ones.

Saturday was basically a repeat of the previous Saturday, which was my birthday. This time it was more of a celebration for Mike's birthday. We headed downtown to the park, which was very busy, but as luck would have it, the same two grills we used the week before were open. This time, we came prepared. Last week all we had was the meat, two forks, a plate, and a bottle of BBQ sauce. This week, I brought paper plates, forks, knives, a spatula, tongs, no-stick spray-- the whole nine yards. Mike and I had bought a couple packs of kangaroo meat the night before. We had been keen to try it since we had a little sample at the Uni BBQ. Everyone loved the kangaroo meat. I still can't tell if I like it. It's different than your standard steak; more gamey and chewey I guess, but it definitely is very lean with almost no fat and is very high in protein. After the BBQ, we headed over to the beach again. We played with a frisbee, a football, and a soccer ball there for quite awhile and it was loads of fun. The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxed and I mainly just stayed in the unit with the roommates and watched TV or played games.

Mike with the kangaroo.

I've had a bit of a cold almost since we got to Newcastle, and I realized that everyone is spreading it to each other. Almost everyone in our house and all my friends have gotten some degree of sickness since we've been here. I'm just getting over mine, though today it rained like it was nobody's business, so it might set me back a day or two. I hope to start looking for a job in the coming week. I've been a little slack in that, and I can see my financial reserves starting to dwindle. I don't mind it though, because most of it is going towards travel and exciting adventures. This weekend, a bunch of Australearn kids are heading down to Sydney for the weekend. We booked a real cheap $13 a night hostel right by the Central Station downtown. Some people are heading down on Thursday, others and myself are going down Friday on the train. The plan is to meet up and explore as much as possible during the weekend. I'm sure there will be more trips, as it's fairly inexpensive for transportation and accommodation. I'll have to do some reading in my guidebook and check out hot spots to visit.

I hope you have enjoyed the second installment of Evan in Oz. Until next time...