Union Welcome Party

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore: ide-er, medi-er

I'm just going for broke today! Let's see how many entries I can write during Law and Order SVU, double episodes.

Thursday the 22nd started out with running some errands. I wanted a mobile phone so people could actually get a hold of me with my unpredictable schedule and I could make/receive calls when somebody was on the internet. I had an ad from orientation for a Vodaphone and SIM card with $30 credit for only $49. It was a special offer for international students. The lady at the campus store informed me that the offer was starting on Monday and I should come back then.

That evening was the Union Welcome Party for international students. The ticket said it was 7:00 until late. Late. Right. Helpful. Ching and I met up with Triona, Vikki and Heidi and we headed over to the Manning Bar, the campus pub. We were running late of course but we figured that 7:30 would be right on time. Not quite fashionably late, but not so early that we'd be the first to arrive. Apparently international students take start times literally. The place was packed. We swung by the bar and were a little thrown off when a Canadian student we'd all met earlier was bartending. Apparently he works at the Manning Bar. What floored me was the fact that he asked me "hey, Guelph girl, what would you like?" I guess it's a bartender's job to remember people and details even after just a quick introduction and limited small talk so they can be friendly and sell more drinks.

Somehow we managed to claim a couple of couches and then Ching and I realised we were absolutely starving and joined the rather long line up for the free BBQ. The DJ was playing terrible music terribly loud. My jaw dropped open when one of the people running the party actually turned DOWN the volume. Of course by that time we were standing directly in front of the speakers. The music was getting much better by the time we reached the front of the line. I was holding my paper plate when suddenly a steak was on it. I got some garlic shrimp as well. Ching followed. We looked around for cutlery and were told that some was coming. Plastic knives and forks. We wove our way back to the couches and I pulled my napkins out from under the plate. They were soaked in juices from the steak. Ching went and grabbed a mini stack of plates and we sawed steaks sitting on 4 layers of paper plates on our knees. Using plastic knives. It's very difficult to mingle when it takes all your concentration just to eat. The steak, however, was cooked beautifully and quite good.

The Vodaphone representives were on the prowl. The big screen was a giant ad for their special offer. They announced that there were ten free phones being given away that evening. Just pick up a flyer with a number on the back. We had nothing to lose so we all grabbed one.

Somehow, through people we'd met stopping to chat and their friends coming by, we ended up with a guy named David, from France, sitting with us. "Us" at this point was me, Ching and Vikki since Heidi and Triona had gone for a smoke. I think that every girl needs to have a French guy flirt with her at least once. Even if his looks don't rate a 10 it's definately an experience. It was funny. I was very aware of his limited English so I was being careful to speak slowly, clearly, and loud enough that he could hear me over the blasting music. And yet I kept having to stop and translate myself when he'd look at me with was was clearly incomprehension. I wasn't using slang or unique expressions. It's amazing how many words that seem completely ordinary and common to us are entirely unknown to someone with English as a second (or third, or fourth, or fifth) language. I was my own thesaurus. Even funnier was seeing Vikki try to talk to him. To begin with, she has a pretty broad Scottish accent. Add to that the fact that when she's nervous and/or having fun she starts speaking really quickly and her voice rises. Put her in a room with loud music and even I was having trouble catching what she was saying. And she was trying to speak slowly and clearly! Vikki asked David a question, and he leaned forward in intense concentration. I was anticipating a problem so I was paying careful attention. David looked at Vikki for a second and then glanced at me. I repeated the question. He answered Vikki. This happened repeatedly during the evening and I could tell that Vikki was getting frustrated. She'd never realised how difficult her accent can be to understand.

Eventually the Vodaphone guys got up on stage, the music stopped, and the winning numbers were announced. They called out about six before anyone claimed a prize. We were all sitting with our flyers complaining every time the numbers didn't match. Another number was called. I jumped up. "That's mine!" I won a free phone with a $30 credit! So now I have a mobile. Only five people ended up claiming phones, so they had a dance-off for the other five. That was pretty funny. Especially the belt guy. Enough said.

Later on in the evening, the group of people on our couches had rotated. We ended up talking to a girl named Katie who's from... Canada! What's with all the Canadians??? She's from Vancouver and a little older than us. We told her about the Coogee Beach BBQ the next day and she said she'd join us.

The party died pretty early and we headed home to sleep. Who's brilliant idea was it to schedule a beach BBQ the morning after a party that's supposed to run until "late"?

PHOTOS! (added 10 Aug)