Greetings! Welcome back to another update for those of you who have visited before and welcome to those of you that are first time readers. It has been another fantastic week in Kal and it is just beginning to hit me how fast time truly flies by. It has already been over a month and it is now April! It has been fun; it has been amazing; and there is still so much more excitement on the horizon.
Well this week I had an unusual experience. It was more a realization or awakening. I will sum it up the message at the end of my blog. I continue to work at the local college and I am having a great time there with the students and learning more about their culture and more about our “American” culture as well! My experiences so far at the school could actually warrant a blog in itself, one that might be more interesting than this. I have found that every American carries a gun, lives in a ghetto, has to avoid gangsters to go out, lives in either Los Angeles or New York (but nowhere in between), and is friends with many celebrities and frequently sees movie stars out and about. This was all news to me! Whenever we have free time in class the students want to know about “the States.” Many of the students are in an English class and are working a project where they write a persuasive article supporting a conspiracy theory. News flash, of the top ten conspiracy theories 8 originate in the USA.
I also am amazed by the political opinions of the Australians and their attitudes towards American politics. Their perception of the current President is tremendous; and they are actually devastatingly surprised when I express my opinion (you can guess what that is). They also are surprised at how long it took for healthcare reform in the US and think that it is wonderful. I remind them that there are 20 million people in Australia and 320 million in the United States, that they have automated deduction from their paychecks to cover health care, and also have a much lower unemployment rate. I frequently talk politics with the father of the home I stayed at. He is a Member of Parliament in Australia and more on the liberal side of the spectrum (our liberal side). In Australia, our democrats are referred to as the “Labor Party” and our republicans are ironically called “Liberals.” I continue to agree to disagree with him, but hope that some of his liberal values may make me a better person and my conservative values rub off on him.
Now I guess it is time for an update on the game this weekend. This weekend the good guys prevailed in front of a very nice home crowd. We defeated the Perth Redbacks (in reference to the spider) by approximately 10 points. It was another high scoring affair as both teams topped 100 points. It was a slow start for the Giants, as has been the case the previous two outings despite our first two games jumping out to large leads in the early quarters. We trailed by double digits at the end of the first frame and then picked up the defense and trailed by 3 going into the break. The Redbacks had both their import players, a center and a forward, but both were limited in minutes played due to foul trouble. Going into the break our “imports,” Mike and I, only had 1 foul each, but we both quickly picked up numbers 3 and 4 with approximately 4 minutes left in the third quarter. I think we both felt that the way they were calling the game had changed from the first half. The team continued the improvement from each quarter and we entered the 4th leading by a couple points. Our captain, Ryan Hulme, took over by hitting 5 three’s in the final stanza. The game became quite comfortable early in the fourth as we led by 15 or so 4 minutes in.
I had an unusual experience take place during the game. Our guards were being harassed while bringing the ball up the court, so as I love to do, I went and set a back screen on the defender and laid him out. The crowd loves that here. I have actually hit a couple players and knocked them out of the games temporarily. After drilling this particular guard multiple times, he fell to the ground and proceeded to grab my shorts and pull them to my ankles. Now here I am at half court with a player holding my shorts down, spandex out and exposed, and me standing there with my legs as wide as possible so the shorts do not come completely off and my arms in the air wondering what had just happened. One might think, and I expressed this to the official as he ran by, that there would be a foul called. A player might not be allowed to prevent another player from moving by not only holding their uniform, but pulling it off. Anyways, the official had a different opinion and allowed the play to continue and he kindly told me to get dressed and deal with it. Oh well, that was definitely a first for me and I am still looking for pictures from any person in attendance. It is amazing, however, what an event like that does to conversations later in the night… everyone has something to say to you all of a sudden.
I finished the game as the runner-up MVP having recorded 23 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and my favorite stat: 3 charges taken! I have a keen ability to take a charge despite my size. I usually can draw at least one a game despite some people’s opinions that I am too big to flop on a guard and that no one should call that. To them I say it does not matter how big you are, or how small they are as long as you are in position.
After the game we all congregated to one of the player’s brother’s house for a “dance party” before hitting up the town. I had a bet with a friend that for every foul I had fewer than 6 he would buy me a shot. I have had a bit of foul trouble in the first couple games and it was to the point where Sam was convinced he would be on the receiving end no problem. Well I ended with 5, but since I did not foul out he provided me with 2 shots. The two shots just happened to be Absinthe. This was the first time I had ever tried Absinthe; it was not as potent as the European version, but it is still illegal back home. Hannan Street was pretty hopping. This is where all the bars (pubs) are located. Again it ended with a fairly late night, but once again it did not prevent me from attending Palm Sunday.
The game was a lot of fun for me on Saturday because several of my co-workers came to the game. Mary, my Midwestern friend from Wisconsin came to her first basketball game since High School. A couple weeks ago she had invited Seth, another American friend of mine at the school, and I to dinner at her house to gang up on Darelle and let her know how great America is. Darelle is from South Africa and likes to push buttons and stereotype Americans. It is all in good fun and we enjoy her sense of humor, but this night we were ganging up on her. It was a lovely dinner as Mary cooked a lovely roast and potatoes! She shared slides of all her travels through Australia and even a bit of Wisconsin! Last night Seth and I were the benefactors again of a lovely meal from a different co-worker. Sam (a former chef and home economics teacher) had us over with Claire and Amy. She served incredible chicken parmesan, salad, bread, appetizers, and a chocolate desert that was unbelievable! It was fantastic and a lot of fun.
I mentioned above that I have a friend named Seth. Seth is from Kentucky and basically hooked me up with my job. He is a super nice guy and absolutely a blast to hang out with. The kid is hilarious. Unfortunately he is leaving this week to go home for a couple months, but when new friends leave, old friends arrive! Next week Brandon Wood and Cole Strilzuk are venturing over for a bit! Looking forward to some familiar faces and conversations!
This week has been holy week and unfortunately we will be playing on the road on Good Friday, but it is better than playing on Easter Sunday. The games are not unfortunate at all, I am actually excited to get out and play a couple games this weekend to get our schedule back on track. I am really excited to get to Perth and spend some time with some good “mates” of mine for the holiday. My AIA friends Ben Beran, Bobby Kempf, and Trey Clarkson will all be in town and we have big plans to celebrate the holiday and spend some quality time together. It will be really nice to spend time with these guys and hear about their experiences and how they are living their lives and maintaining their faith. The faith aspect was one of the neatest experiences I had with AIA. It was an incredible time and these individuals are great people.
I will end things here and will try to get another post out a little sooner next week with some fun facts and observations of life here in Australia! I will leave you with this: Love your family. Love your friends. Do things you enjoy. Surround yourself with people that enhance your life. Enhance other people’s lives. Be safe.
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