St. George Down Under

Alcoholic Firsts and Nightclubs

February 14, 2009 at 1:44 pm (Uncategorized)

Well, after last nite, today is a chill day, so I have some time to write about the happenings here. A couple nights ago I went to a lil party in Macquarie Village, where most of the international students are. It was with all Americans, but still fun. I met my friend Ryan there, as well as his roommate and his girlfriend from Milwaukie, Wisconsin. There was also a girl from New Jersey, a guy from Kansas and a girl from Missouri. It was many of our first days in Oz, and because of the drinking age of 18, everyone seemed compelled to bring alcohol. It’s interesting, here cheap beer is WAAAAY more expensive than cheap wine. Because of this we played wine pong, which was quite fun!

For those of you who don’t know, the game Beer Pong is HUGE in popularity in college all across the United States. But only the United States; they don’t know about it in Europe or Australia…pretty interesting. What it consists of two teams of two standing at opposite sides of a rectangular table. In front of each team is a pyramid of red SOLO cups partially filled with beer (but that night it was wine). Each team throws ping pong balls across the table, (but can’t lean over the table), and if they get it into their opponents cup, the opponent must drink the cup. The team that hits all the opponents cups wins. Now, I don’t want you all to be afraid that I’m an alcoholic or that I’m getting drunk all the time or whatever, that wine pong game was my first beer pong game EVER (believe me, i got a lil crap!).

Aight, well, yesterday was quite fun. At around 930 pm we met back at the village, at a different apt. (Stephanie’s place, the girl from Jersey). We were there for a bit, then got rides from her Aussie friend to a bus stop. We then took that into downtown, and I saw my first view of the Sydney Opera House! It was lit up, and looked just stunning! Saw it while we were crossin’ the Sydney Harbour Bridge, I do believe… We then took a taxi to a nightclub he recommended, called Bungalow 8. It was directly on the Sydney Harbour. Literally ON it, the club backed up to the wharf. It was pretty cool having them check ID at the door and being approved, kinda a first, ya kno? 

There was a dance floor by the bar, then it opened up onto the actual wharf, with some overhangs and umbrellas (which was good because it was pooring, but still about 68 degrees.) Outside they had really cool chic 3/4 of a square couches with paper lanterns above, and a bunch of tables. The atmosphere was awesome!

We got there, and the guys ordered a round of tequila shots. I’d never had any before, so Iwas kinda nervous, but I actually enjoyed it. Ryan tought me the technique of licking the back of your hand and putting salt on it. Then, you lick the salt, throw back the shot, and suck on the lime. It tasted good and went down VERY smoothly. My first shot. I was kinda nervous about the effects and all, so that was all I had that night, but it was a good memory.

The night started off a lil weird, standing around, but soon we all got into it, and the dancing got CRAZY! All of us Americans were just dancin together and watchin the Aussies, it was pretty cool. The music and DJs were INSANE! They would do AWESOME mashups (on the fly! i think…) One of my favs was Kanye’s Stronger along with the Beastie Boys Intergalactic. Worked SO WELL!  

Well, we all danced from about 12-230am or so, then tried our hardest to find a taxi. (thank goodness it had stopped raining by this time!) A few members of our group were pretty hammered, and taxis don’t pick you up if they think you’re drunk, so it was pretty hard to hail one. After a while some of us sober and mostly-sober ones broke away from the group and flagged down a taxi. It took about 15 minutes to get back to our neighborhood, whereas the bus took about an hour…(its not cost effective tho unless you have a full taxi…cost about 45 AUD). It was a great nite tho! I got home at about 3, ate a bit, and was asleep by 4..! jeeeeeeeze!

Today I woke up at about 1230 or one, skyped a few peeps, and cleaned up my room. Then I headed towards the shopping center to pick some stuff up. I got there at about 630 or 7pm, and nearly every place was closed! On a SATURDAY! It was the weirdest thing! I got McDonalds (I like to see the differences of McDonalds across the globe. I wouldn’t say that I’m a McDonald’s conisseur, because I would lose respect for myself, but I DO like to see the differences in a pretty standardized chain…) and man was it good! The burger was quite a bit smaller, but the fries tasted like they were cooked in a different kind of oil than they are in the states. They weren’t as crispy as some, but also not as soggy as others…they were just perfect! The hamburger patty was  also made from Aussie beef, without steriods or anything like that,  and it said that the beef was from the same cuts that you would get in a supermarket. It was GOOD!

Alright, I just want to give kinda a disclaimer or whatever. I hope none of you are disappointed in me or are thinking that I am losing my way because I am trying alcohol. For some reason I feel that some of you may feel this way, but just know that I…how do I say this without sounding cocky…that I am smart, i guess. I’m just trying new things, and drinking is legal here, so I feel that it is acceptable to try out this different aspect of culture. There is HUGE stigma attached to drinking in the states by people under 21 (which is understandable, its the law) but please don’t apply that stigma to me here. Alright, thats it for my disclaimer or whatever. I’m off to the supermarket!