Elizabeth Fogarty is a student at Point Loma Nazarene University and an ISA Featured Blogger. She is studying abroad with ISA in Sydney, Australia.
There are lots of sports to be enjoyed here in Australia, the top three being AFL, NRL and cricket. AFL stands for Australian Footie League and is essentially rugby and basketball combined. In other words, there is no way I could ever fully understand the game. Cricket is similar to baseball, though the sport uses a very different bat, some very different rules, and a very different scoring system. And it can last for days only to end in a draw. Then there is NRL (National Rugby League), which I have been surrounded by for the past couple weeks. This past weekend was the NRL Grand Final, which is essentially Australia’s Super Bowl, without all the wonderful commercials.
I was invited over to my friend’s house to watch the Grand Final and had the chance to experience the culture of the event with native Aussies. The day started with a family trip to Costco. Yes, there is Costco here, and yes, it is exactly like the Costco back in America, just in case you were wondering. After buying all the necessary food for the day, plus some extra, because after all it is Costco, we went back to the house and started cooking. Before long, there were tables and tables filled with finger foods that were by no means healthy, but they were delicious, so does it really matter?
Once the game started, all the men hovered around the television, with no chance of getting their attention for the rest of the night. The girls checked the screen every once in awhile to check out the hunks on the field. Both teams playing were from Queensland, the Cowboys from Townsville and the Broncos from Brisbane. The game lasted for eighty minutes, but in the last second, things got intense. The Cowboys tied it up, and the game went into overtime. Now, I am not a huge sports person, especially with games I have never seen before, but overtime gets me. I get into any sport as soon as the game goes into overtime. So now, I have joined the guys, watching a game that in reality, I have no preference on who wins. The Broncos were so close to winning but dropped the ball at the last second, giving it to the Cowboys. The Cowboys took the ball and kicked it through the goal post, and just like in the Super Bowl XLVIII, the Broncos were defeated.
The World Awaits…Discover It.