These stories do appear in any order beside the order that I can remember them. Usually as I type these blog entries, I just let my mind wander and let whatever pops in weave it's way into my narrative, and not look back. As Karl Pilkington says "If you keep on talking, the mouth will eventually come out with something" but Karl has also said stuff like "Am I in control of my brain or is my brain in control of me?" so meh, that's Karl.
And so on with the story,
The first minor thing that comes to mind is that there is a player for the Braves called Jason Heyward. That's pretty damn close to my last name. Most of the time when it's spelled differently, it's generally Haywood so in a way, it's refreshing to see it misspelled different for a change. But in a social context, I am claiming it. And it helps that he is one of the better players in the team, well naturally, he's a He(a)yward! So for all intensive purposes, he's my brother from another mother as they say and hence, the funny. Jason Heyward, is of African American descent. So when I said to someone, he's "my brother from another mother" because I'm that gangsta (read white), they just laughed and replied "Yes...definitely another mother I would believe". Not overly amusing but at the time when a few beers had been consumed, chuckle worthy at least. I'll have to get a Heyward shirt/jersey soon in case I see another Braves game, or as just a good souvenir.
Anyhow, onwards with my memory bank. The circumstances that put me at the baseball game came to me via one of the friends I have made here. Some time ago, I received an email asking if I'd like to join the "Mates @ Tech" program. Essentially they pair you up with someone to help you settle in to college and just be a contact for you. The person I was paired up with actually just returned from an exchange stint at UNSW in sydney last semester so it was good to have someone that understood a bit of Australian culture. More to the point, is he is apart and involved in the running of one of the fraternities (frat because I'm lazy typing) on campus to which he has invited me to come along and join in for some of their events throughout the semester. Their frat organised the baseball trip.
From this preface, a natural occurrence at these sort of events, or it seems at every sports event is tailgating. Let me give you the google definition of the word tailgating.
tail·gate
ˈtālˌgāt/
verb
informal
gerund or present participle: tailgating
- 1.drive too closely behind another vehicle."he started tailgating the car in front"
- 2.eat an informal meal served from the back of a parked vehicle."Lot 16E is reserved for alumni who wish to tailgate before the game"
Clearly in this context, I am referring to the latter. Tailgating is a lot of fun, a whole group of friends, having a BBQ sharing a few beers before the game. And the best thing, is you're right there at the field already so when you're ready you just head over. Now I knew what tailgating was and I assumed that everyone knew the two definitions of the word. So when my mother messages me asking how the game is and I reply that we're "tailgating atm!", I had no reason to know why this would be a problem. I put my phone away and went back to socialising with everyone. Several minutes later and a missed call later, I answer my ringing phone to my mother asking me in a worried and urgent voice, "should I be worried?!" In hindsight, apparently none of my family knew the latter meaning of tailgating and automatically assumed the worst. Classic family, right?
One thing that I didn't realise is commonplace is that it wasn't just the frat going to the game. It's common for the guys to invite "dates" along as well to the game and so a bus of about 70 odd containing the frat and a whole heap of sorority girls head off to the game. Everyone that I spoke to was very friendly, usually more so once you mention "Oh I'm actually from Australia"
"Oh wow really?" ("No, I'm an actor and just practicing my accents.")
"Yeah, just here for the semester on exchange".
"Whereabouts in Australia?"
"Brisbane.....it's about 600 miles north of Sydney" (Yes, I had to learn that conversion, it's closer to 620 miles I think). This is where the conversation becomes a choose your own adventure story:
Option A: "I've always wanted to go to Australia. Lots of people want to go to Europe and stuff but no, I want to go to Australia. It's definitely up there!"
Option B: "Oh, yeah I know Sydney. I went there for 2,3 weeks. I went to Mel-born and Sydney. I really enjoyed there. I'd love to go back."
Option C: "Oh yeah, I know <insert relative, friend, someone they met once 5 years ago> who's <working, been to, has family> in <Sydney, Melbourne, Perth>. Is that <close to you?>or<have you heard/met them?>"
Despite meeting a lot of people, I spoke to my mate@tech partner and the girl that with him the most. As the night went on, she made it a special effort to highlight whenever I said or did something that is uniquely Australian. So here is the list on things I now know to be uniquely Australian:
- Heaps. As in something is heaps good. The american equivalent is loads I am told.
- Parking Lot = Garage
- The Village People. Apparently no one around me knew they were gay and they all proudly sung YMCA.
- The Navy. In Australia, there are jokes about homosexuality in the Navy, particularly when you bring up the song "In the Navy" by the Village people (read above). This is a no no. The American Navy is the most "badass" section of the military and are the best division compared to the Air Force, Army or Marines.
- "How you doing?" = "How you going?"
- American Beer is commonly "Light" beer....egh taste like water flavoured beer. But you can get a 24 oz can (709 ml) for $10 at a sports event which is pretty cheap for a sports event.
- Expensive alcohol in general. I brought a six pack of Stellas for $10. They're easily $20,25 in Australia. Guess that makes up for the light beer rubbish.
The final thing I remember that amused me, is that most Americans, don't believe/know of the Boxing Kangaroo. I love to say to Americans the fact that I can go 3 blocks (slight exaggeration, depends if I'm going towards the river or towards wacol, either way it's pretty close) from my house and see kangaroos. This is usually followed up by having to say "Yeah, you gotta be careful at night time so you don't drive into them" to confirm the fact that the're close. A common reply to this is "oh that's like deer here". No I'm sorry. I've never heard of a deer punching you in the face. Yes deers with the huge antlers can do some damage but deer generally retreat rather than fight. Kangaroos are known to fight when annoyed and can do some serious damage. Their face when you bring this up is always hilarious. Which I realise after typing this paragraph doesn't transfer to the written form at all. But I remember it being amusing and it's staying...in honor of Karl.
The final highlight that I'll shed light on is a personal victory. After the game, a few of us went back to one of the guys house and kept the night going. One of the guys was choosing the music and I noticed that he was keen for the "drop". For those who don't know, in dance music the drop is when it builds up and the bass drops in and usually mayhem ensues on the dfloor. The south is generally known for Hip Hop and so hearing the guy's choice in Dubstep/Trap/Bass music wasn't unexpected as all these sub genres of dance music borrow elements from Hip Hop. Plus the american dance scene, or as they affectionately dub it, EDM (electronic dance music) is known be "noisier" than it's UK/European cousin where smoother house lines are appreciated as well. Anyhow, after one or two of his songs and hearing him say to a friend "oh wait for the drop", the Australian loving dance fan came out and told him to put Holdin' On by Flume. Oh Flume, pride of Australian dance music, better than NERVO, Tommy Trash or anyone else internationally currently. Holdin' On came in at 4th in the 2012 Triple J Hottest 100. If you haven't heard it, seriously go listen to it.
It's one 2 and half minutes so at least get a vibe.
As soon as the bass line kicked into the chorus of Holdin' On, the universal sign of approval, the head nod in time with the music with sounds of "Oh yeah" was seen from everyone that was listening. They loved Flume. Repping Australia always :D
Well this ends my Friday night recount. It was much longer than I expected. I had expected to do one post about the Baseball on Friday and College Football on Saturday but my mind wandered a fair bit on this one so if you're still reading, I do apologize. I'll try to do a post about the football game asap.
Oh one more thing I just remembered. Apparently Turner Field, where the Braves play, has the biggest TV in the whole world. It's pretty big but I'm not sure if it's really the biggest in the world....Oh and the during the ball game, the crowd loves to do the "Braves Tommerhawk" which is just the chop but pretty cool rename given the context and it looks awesome when a whole crowd does it!
Ok, I'll actually stop now. Fin
Ok, I'll actually stop now. Fin
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