On Saturday a few of us went into Freo (Fremantle) again. We ate at Cicerello’s, which boasts being the best fish and chips in Western Australia. So I ordered a hamburger…. Just kidding, I got fish and chips. They were quite good. Then we saw St. Matthew the sword swallower (mentioned before) doing a performance on the street. Before he attempted a sword, he swallowed a long balloon (picture what clowns use to make balloon animals) about a yard long. And I mean swallowed, he did not bring it back up. He did a few other things and displayed his rather crude sense of humor. Then, for his final act, I was (involuntarily) picked to be his assistant. Basically he climbed this tall pole that had a platform on the top of it. He stood on that platform, and I had to hand his sword up to him. Clearly I was not the best person for the job, because I almost couldn’t reach. Then I had to throw up a rag to him. I got to display my fine hand-eye coordination, as it took me 3 tries to throw it up to him. The whole time he’s making comments about how he’s enjoying the view (i.e. looking down my shirt, which was not low cut, so this was not possible) and about how I should stand in front of the pole so he would “have something soft and cuddly to land on.” It was pretty ridiculous.
At night a few of us walked to King’s Park, a huge park a few blocks away from our apartment. At night, they light up the trees different colors, and it was so cool. It also offered a great view of Perth at night. As an added bonus, fireworks started going off over the Swan River (for Chinese New Year, I found out later). It was a very lovely night.
Today, I got to see an Eagles game! Sadly, it was the West Coast Eagles instead of the Philly Eagles and the AFL (Australian Football League) instead of the NFL. But, it was pretty awesome. So what is Aussie Rules Football, you may ask? I’ll try to describe it as best I can.
Aussie Rules Football (according to Ashley):
*Logistics: There’s 18 players on a side and the field is about as long as a soccer field, but much wider, and in an ovular shape. The ball is an oblong football.
*How to move the ball: Run, but you have to bounce it on the ground every 5 (I think) yards or so (like dribbling a basketball). Pass, but you can’t just throw it, you have to punch it out of one hand (like serving a volleyball). Kick it. Punt it.
*How to score: There are 4 tall poles at both ends (if the picture is too small, imagine Quidditch goals without the hoop). A score between the outer poles is worth 1 point. Hitting the poles is worth 1 point. A score between the inner poles is worth 6 points and is called a goal. If you score a goal from beyond the 50 (meter? yard?) line, it’s a “super goal” and you get 9 points.
Overall, it’s a fun and fast paced game to watch. Strategically it was most like soccer, but a lot faster and a lot more goals scored. Most of the passes were so quick, it reminded me of an NFL play when the time runs out and the players just lateral it to anyone and everyone around them. Except that was almost all the plays. The final score was 90 something to 50 something (Fremantle totally upset the Eagles). And as a bonus, we got to see this spectacular sunset over the side of the stadium.
I still prefer American football.
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