Picture #1--Kelly and I waiting for the game to start. You can see the Rabbitahs in the background. It was taken by a very nice man who did his best to explain the game to us.
Picture #2--The Knights. Player 4 is the oldest on the team (well into his 30s) and plays better than most of the young guys. He was the star of the game, scoring 12 points (two touchdowns). He is called 'Mad Dog.'
Picture #3--A scrum. It was a penalty against the Knights so the guy standing to the side is about to the throw the ball into the scrum toward is team mates in order to regain possession.
Yesterday a group of us went to see the local rugby league (the Knights) play the South Sydney Rabbitahs. We kicked the bunnies tails!
I don't think most of the girls enjoyed the game or wish to repeat it. However, Kelly and I were thrilled. It was my second live game and Kelly's first. We had a very nice man sitting next to us who explained the rules to us. Rugby looks complicated, but isn't.
The captain rejoined the team for the first time in three weeks--since being injured in the Origins game (NSW vs. Queensland). The crowed really went wild for him. It was like Michael Jordan was on the field.
I intend to watch the next three games and will also see a Rugby Union game (England vs. New Zealand) in October. I'm so excited. After all, when will I ever be able to watch it again?
Today was my first Australian Popular Culture class. It was mainly an introduction to the course, but we did have to discuss a few questions we had been given. Like "What is Australian?" It was no surprise that everyone answered drinking (which is one of THE popular past-times here), nor was "sporty" a big surprise as 80% of their media consists of it. I was surprised at the self deprecation, though!
It isn't that Australians don't think highly of themselves. They just don't think of themselves very grandly. For example, one of the stories that came up was of an Australian speed skater who won a gold medal in one of the winter Olympics. The skater was dead last and then everyone else fell down and that's how he won. He wasn't very fast, he just didn't fall down. The Australians in the class explained that it was better winning a medal that way than if he had been faster than everyone else. Winning that way is more Australian. Even the 100 Years film I had to watch for my Australian history class showed that Australians still don't want to be truly independent of Britain. They call themselves weak and feel that they need Britain for protection. The people refuse to become a republic even though England has had nothing to do with Australian law for 40 years!
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