The last of the midterms and newfound loves

Hello All!

I've surfaced for a bit of air in between the end of my midterm exams and the upcoming 3 major projects which are all due next week within days of each other. I've decided to write about a couple things - my last midterm in bio, as well as my night out last weekend where I had the pleasure of attending my first ever live rugby game.

I'll start with the boring bit - the midterm. It actually went quite well I think, but I probably have to attribute that to actually studying. Unlike Anatomy, I had some time to prepare, and got together with a group over the weekend to review key concepts. The only area where I had difficulty was the timing - I had 4 short answer questions left with only 15 minutes to go in the exam...not so good. Apparently, I like to write lots down! I also struggled with one question about the origin of possums in North America, since they apparently originated in China and never was China attached to NA for them to "walk" over. I made up some bull**** answer about them drifting across the sea on oceanic debris and colonizing North America....I even drew a nice little picture, so perhaps I will get pity marks??!!?

Anyways, onto the better part of the post, which was the rugby game I went to last Saturday. It was Rugby Union - one of 3 types of rugby that is played in Australia, and the teams playing were the Queensland Reds vs. the South African Blue Bulls (I think. Everyone kept calling them the bulls, and fans told me they were from SA....). It was a riot. Serious fun was had by all, especially in our section. Can you believe that $20 got me a seat, just off the center line and only 20 rows from the field? Yeah, Oz knows how to sell game tickets! Our section was also really awesome - we had some hardcore bulls fans right in front of us, and hardcore Reds fans a row in front of them, so between the banter we had no problem with a lack of entertainment!

                            The hardcore Reds fans with their facepaint

I've never been to a rugby game before, nor do I know/understand the rules and so I had to follow the crowds reaction and just cheer when everyone else did. I laughed pretty hard at the various penalties that were shown on the jumbo-tron, things like "tackling line out man in the air." To me, they sounded like random words strung together, but the true fans seemed to understand. At one point, I tried to get the Bulls fan in front of me to explain what had happened, but he was too engrossed in my friend's pink hair to answer.

    Reenacting the kicker's position before he kicks the ball. This was after a couple drinks, obviously.

The Reds managed to win 19-12, despite falling behind in the first couple minutes 0-7.....apparently, these two teams have quite the history and rivalry, which helped to explain the heated conversations between the rows in front of us!

After the game finished, we headed back into the City to hit up a couple pubs, drink some beers and dance the night away. I was pretty tired after the first couple places, so left the crew as they ventured on to hopefully find karaoke. All in all, it was a blast and I can't wait until the next game! I may have found a new sport to love....but I think I need to learn the rules better first!

Speaking of karaoke, I'm celebrating my 21st birthday in a couple days. Tomorrow night, I'm hitting the town with a whole crew of mates, and it will probably get pretty messy. My cousins are back from their tours of Aussie and will be joining as well, which naturally means disaster. I'll be sure to document the entire evening on my camera, but I have to warn you that some photos may not be internet/family-worthy! (Sorry Dad and Gma - have to leave some things to the imagination!!)

I have to run to my french class now, but I'll be back to write about my birthday extravaganza in a few days!

xoxo Danielle