Spring has officially arrived in Australia and it is very apparent from the weather. Beautiful sunny blue skies and temperatures into the mid 20s. It's shorts and t-shirts for me but if this is the only the end of winter, I don't know how I'll survive the summer.
On that note, I should mention that it looks like I'll be Down Under for the summer. I have 2 pretty good jobs going, ACTTAB and Cafe Pronto, and unless something drastic happens in Canada, I'll just stick around here. On the one hand, it would be nice to go home for the winter but on the other hand, it will be quite an experience to see an Australian summer. I just have to get used to thinking of December, January and February as summer months. Christmas, New Year's and my birthday in the summer will be interesting.
Over the week, there have been several events which I think are worthy of mention. I've taken to writing a list so that come post time, I shan't forget them. The first of these was a storm on Saturday night with fresh winds. I went to the roof of Fenner Hall and watched the lightning as it made its way across from the west. It was quite the show and I was greatly pleased since it has been some time since I've seen a proper thunderstorm.
Sunday I went to Grand Final Day being held at Manuka Oval. The Under-18s, Division 2 and Division 1 Grand Finals were being played that day. I stopped by for the last one as the Umpires' Association had struck a deal that we would get free food and drink and I took advantage of the offer. The game was exciting with scores close and in the last few minutes the score remained tied 69-69. In the dying seconds, a player from Sydney (it was Sydney v Belconnen) took a mark about 30 meters from goal and then the siren blew to end the game. However, in aussie rules, if you have taken a mark before the siren, you are entitled to take a shot. The player lined up and the ball sailed through for a 1-point behind, giving Sydney the win.
On Tuesday, the last training session for the umpires happened in Queanbeyan (KWEEN-byen), a small city in New South Wales just outside Canberra. It was the annual Fieldies-Goalies v Boundaries game and I managed to play for both teams. In the first quarter, I played with the Boundaries as they required a few players to even out the numbers. For the last 3 quarters, though, I played with the Fieldies-Goalies as other boundary umpires came to fill up their ranks. The Boundaries ended up winning by 7 points but a good time was had by all. Some people even mentioned that I played very well.
On Wednesday, I was supposed to have training at Canberra Racecourse for ACTTAB. Unfortunately, the powers that be had forgotten that there was a training session. To be fair, there were only 3 of us there and the week before it had only been myself and one other guy. After getting in touch with HQ, we were sent to various branches across the city and I went to the one in Dickson, a suburb about 15 minutes walk from Fenner Hall. It is perhaps the busiest TAB in the ACT and I learned quite a lot while working there. It gave me a sense of the pace at which things move on a busy day. In the end, I balanced my cash to the cent and walked away ready to take on anything.
On Friday, I went to the Racecourse again for training. The races were on and we had the opportunity to observe the real deal at work. It was kind of exciting and I had a bit of fun picking horses, without actually betting of course. In the first race, which was a maiden (none of the horses had ever raced before), I actually managed to pick the winner which would have paid 5.10 to 1. I then picked another horse in the next race but it cam dead last after a bad start. I guess that's why they call it "gambling". It's kind of fun to try and pick winners without the pressure of having money riding on it.
That night, I went to the end of year function for the Umpires' Association at the Canberra Club. There were many people there and the night consisted of awards and roasts, a free 3 course meal and free drinks. I managed to collect 3 awards that night though one of them was for officiating in a women's grand final. The others were "Least Outstanding Performance" and "Best First Year Goal Umpire". The first award isn't as bad as it may sound and refers to a single bonehead call or play made throughout the year. I was given the award for passing out The Record magazine at AFL games in Canberra and heckling the goal umpire. The presenters took a lot of poetic licence when describing what I'd done. I am pretty proud of winning the "Best First Year Goal Umpire" which means that I'm doing something right. I didn't win, unfortunately, the Bachelor of the Year award. I'll try again next year.
Yesterday, I also had a busy day officiating the last game of the season, an Under-12s Grand Final at Kingston Oval. It was actually quite exciting and with this, the season really does come to a close (I asked). I don't know what I'll do in the off-season, but I'll try to stay fit. After that I went to a BBQ at a friend's place in Duffy, a southwestern suburb. I arrived at 13:00 but had to leave a few hours later for Cafe Pronto to work, which turned into a disaster. The restaurant was so busy, orders piled up and I was overwhelmed. In the end, I was happy to leave and it's a day I care not to repeat. I returned to the BBQ later that night and finished off a very busy day.
Finally, I'll mention a few new things I've learned about Australia: "goog" means egg, Tic-Tac-Toe is called "naughts and crosses" and the football in aussie rules is called by one commentator (Rex Hunt) the "aerial conveyance". I'll never get used to this country.
On that note, I should mention that it looks like I'll be Down Under for the summer. I have 2 pretty good jobs going, ACTTAB and Cafe Pronto, and unless something drastic happens in Canada, I'll just stick around here. On the one hand, it would be nice to go home for the winter but on the other hand, it will be quite an experience to see an Australian summer. I just have to get used to thinking of December, January and February as summer months. Christmas, New Year's and my birthday in the summer will be interesting.
Over the week, there have been several events which I think are worthy of mention. I've taken to writing a list so that come post time, I shan't forget them. The first of these was a storm on Saturday night with fresh winds. I went to the roof of Fenner Hall and watched the lightning as it made its way across from the west. It was quite the show and I was greatly pleased since it has been some time since I've seen a proper thunderstorm.
Sunday I went to Grand Final Day being held at Manuka Oval. The Under-18s, Division 2 and Division 1 Grand Finals were being played that day. I stopped by for the last one as the Umpires' Association had struck a deal that we would get free food and drink and I took advantage of the offer. The game was exciting with scores close and in the last few minutes the score remained tied 69-69. In the dying seconds, a player from Sydney (it was Sydney v Belconnen) took a mark about 30 meters from goal and then the siren blew to end the game. However, in aussie rules, if you have taken a mark before the siren, you are entitled to take a shot. The player lined up and the ball sailed through for a 1-point behind, giving Sydney the win.
On Tuesday, the last training session for the umpires happened in Queanbeyan (KWEEN-byen), a small city in New South Wales just outside Canberra. It was the annual Fieldies-Goalies v Boundaries game and I managed to play for both teams. In the first quarter, I played with the Boundaries as they required a few players to even out the numbers. For the last 3 quarters, though, I played with the Fieldies-Goalies as other boundary umpires came to fill up their ranks. The Boundaries ended up winning by 7 points but a good time was had by all. Some people even mentioned that I played very well.
On Wednesday, I was supposed to have training at Canberra Racecourse for ACTTAB. Unfortunately, the powers that be had forgotten that there was a training session. To be fair, there were only 3 of us there and the week before it had only been myself and one other guy. After getting in touch with HQ, we were sent to various branches across the city and I went to the one in Dickson, a suburb about 15 minutes walk from Fenner Hall. It is perhaps the busiest TAB in the ACT and I learned quite a lot while working there. It gave me a sense of the pace at which things move on a busy day. In the end, I balanced my cash to the cent and walked away ready to take on anything.
On Friday, I went to the Racecourse again for training. The races were on and we had the opportunity to observe the real deal at work. It was kind of exciting and I had a bit of fun picking horses, without actually betting of course. In the first race, which was a maiden (none of the horses had ever raced before), I actually managed to pick the winner which would have paid 5.10 to 1. I then picked another horse in the next race but it cam dead last after a bad start. I guess that's why they call it "gambling". It's kind of fun to try and pick winners without the pressure of having money riding on it.
That night, I went to the end of year function for the Umpires' Association at the Canberra Club. There were many people there and the night consisted of awards and roasts, a free 3 course meal and free drinks. I managed to collect 3 awards that night though one of them was for officiating in a women's grand final. The others were "Least Outstanding Performance" and "Best First Year Goal Umpire". The first award isn't as bad as it may sound and refers to a single bonehead call or play made throughout the year. I was given the award for passing out The Record magazine at AFL games in Canberra and heckling the goal umpire. The presenters took a lot of poetic licence when describing what I'd done. I am pretty proud of winning the "Best First Year Goal Umpire" which means that I'm doing something right. I didn't win, unfortunately, the Bachelor of the Year award. I'll try again next year.
Yesterday, I also had a busy day officiating the last game of the season, an Under-12s Grand Final at Kingston Oval. It was actually quite exciting and with this, the season really does come to a close (I asked). I don't know what I'll do in the off-season, but I'll try to stay fit. After that I went to a BBQ at a friend's place in Duffy, a southwestern suburb. I arrived at 13:00 but had to leave a few hours later for Cafe Pronto to work, which turned into a disaster. The restaurant was so busy, orders piled up and I was overwhelmed. In the end, I was happy to leave and it's a day I care not to repeat. I returned to the BBQ later that night and finished off a very busy day.
Finally, I'll mention a few new things I've learned about Australia: "goog" means egg, Tic-Tac-Toe is called "naughts and crosses" and the football in aussie rules is called by one commentator (Rex Hunt) the "aerial conveyance". I'll never get used to this country.
1 comment:
Poetic Licence! I take offence to that. Everything was as it happened Roman. Don't fool your loyal readers into believing otherwise!
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