The Greatest Sport of All Time

Disclaimer: For those of you that received my emails last time I was here, you'll remember how long winded I can be. I apologize in advance. We are using this somewhat like a journal though, so the longer, sometimes (!), the better.

After work last Friday, we headed home, changed clothes and headed to the pub for a drink and snack before getting on the Footy Express. We had Ellyn’s old favourite – chips (aka fries) with sweet chilli sauce and sour cream for dipping. Ellyn admitted it wasn’t as good as she remembered it but nonetheless, it was tasty and hit the spot. John was more concerned that we down a few beers quickly because really, who can go to an Australian Rules Footy game sober? We run (literally, as our one beer turned into two, we were close to missing the bus Ellyn wanted to take) to the bus stop to get on the free shuttle from town out to the stadium. We arrive with just a few minutes to spare, but instead of going straight to our seats so we can see “kickoff”, we went straight to the bar. We noticed there was a “limit” of 4 beers per person per trip to the bar. That’s right…FOUR beers, per person, per trip. Don’t know about you, but that doesn’t seem like much of a limit to us – this should be interesting. As we were waiting in line, John talks to the guy behind us who informs us we should get the premixed Whiskey and Coke in a can as opposed to any of the beer options as they are all “rubbish”. When we got to the front of the line and actually placed our order (for beer), the guy behind us said, “Oh yeah, go ahead and drink the rubbish, don’t listen to the local. You’ll be back at halftime for some whiskey and Coke.” We went back at half time and though the beer was not that great, we still opted for more beer. (And we each only got two beers at a time – it’s a bit difficult to carry four beers. Although, smart Australians – they provide lids for your beer! So there was no splashing or spilling of the beer as we made our way to our seats.)

We arrived at our seats, not having missed much of the game, and proceed to get VERY into the game. John knew a fair amount of the rules and for those he didn’t know, he asked the guy next to him, who happened to pull for the opponent. The woman next to Ellyn was a bit annoying and seemingly disoriented as she was yelling for both teams and at moments when yelling wasn’t really warranted. But you would never have been able to tell we were newbies to the game of Footy…we joined in on chants and enjoyed a classic Footy experience – beer and meat pies. (See pictures.) At half time, Ellyn went and got meat pies while John went and got beers. However, when we met at the entrance back into our section, we were told Ellyn needed to carry 2 beers and John the other 2 (as opposed to John carrying all 4). So apparently Aussies don’t care if you BUY 4 beers at a time, but you better drink 2 of them before making your way to your seat. Nonetheless, the game was awesome with the Adelaide Crows (ranked #12) defeating the Geelong Cats (ranked #1). We made our way back to the bus into the City (very efficient process) and by the time we were back to the City, we were so pumped up about the win, we walked down the street singing the Adelaide Crows fight song: “We are the pride of South Australia, we are the mighty Adelaide Crows!” NOTE: the fight song is actually a bit longer but that’s all we could get from the screaming mobs. NOTE 2: to supplement the missing verses, we added our own verse – the “CAW CAW” we imagine a crow would make. Fabulous! John declared Australian Rules Football "The Greatest Sport of All Time".

Saturday, we were picked up by Hillary, another American working in the office, to head to Hahndorf for a breakfast and a secondee (other rotationals) soccer match. We picked up some breakfast at a local bakery in Hahndorf and went to the Schmutz’s (Greenville family) to eat and wait for the remaining secondees. After finishing our breakfast, we headed to “The Cage”. Not really sure what we were expecting, but this DEFINITELY wasn’t it. Think of a basketball court, with a sturdy chain-link like fence around it and the goals are more chain link, just jutting out of the sides. Given Ellyn’s history of soccer skills (attempting to stop a ball with her elbow, which is apparently illegal), she opted to sit out of the game with a few of the other girls. The US and Czech Republic were against the Brits and South Africans. The game went on for quite a while. So long in fact when Ellyn saw John “swat” at a Brit to try to distract him and it reminded her of a 12-year-old prissy girl, she said she thought their time might be up. The game was called shortly after with the Brits/South Africans winning in the last minute. We headed back to town and to a pub for beers and burgers. Did a bit of shopping before heading home for a nap.

Saturday evening, we ventured to North Adelaide. John injured his foot in the soccer game (it was purple and swollen and he looked like a gangster with “swagger” walking through the street of Adelaide), so we took a cab over to North Adelaide. We looked around at various restaurants and finally decided on Indian. John had never been to an Indian restaurant and after one bite, he was hooked. We had a delicious meal and great drinks. When we got back to the City, we headed straight to Cocolat, a fabulous dessert place. When we walked in the door and it was packed and Ellyn was searching for a table, she saw the look on John’s face that she’d seen in the market – apparently, he does not enjoy fighting for a table! So we got dessert to go and went home.

Sunday was lazy with sleeping in, a bit more shopping and a movie (Twilight – Eclipse), that cost $34 to see…for just the tickets. That’s right - $17 a person. Ridiculous. That maybe the last movie we see!

The rest of the week has been relatively uneventful with getting settled at work and going out to our clients a bit. On Wednesday, we did go to a Belgium Beer Garden that is right behind our apartment and always packed. We decided on two different beers that were on tab. We didn’t know what a process it was to get a Belgian beer!! After ordering, the guy selected the glasses from the breweries we’d ordered. He dunked the glasses into a sink of soapy water a few times. Then into another sink with clean water. Next, they were placed over a spout with water shooting out of it. He poured the beer out of the tap and the foam (there has to be a more technical word than foam…) was scraped off a few times. But, the Belgians apparently wouldn’t dare serve you their beer in a sticky glass where beer may have dripped down the side because the glass is then re-dunked in water and dried off before being handed to you. When we say it took approximately 5 minutes to get 2 beers, we aren’t kidding. Luckily, we ordered bottled beers the next time and Ellyn sat at the table while John waited on them at the bar. (You rarely have a server come to your table at any restaurant in Australia – you go to the bar and order and pay each time you order (no tabs).) Obviously the Belgians think highly of their beer too…4 Belgian beers and an appetizer = $61. Maybe we just aren’t used to “city living”…