New Zealand Plans, Touch Rugby, and the 40 Hour Famine

After our adventurous Sydney trip I’ve had to focus on schoolwork for a while. I had a few assessments due plus I’m also signed up to take the GMAT this Thursday, so I’ve been pretty boring. I did sign up for the Sydney Half Marathon on September 18^th though. About five of us are running it together. Plus there’s a group call Wee-Runner that runs twice a week, so it seems like there is always someone to run with. I definitely won’t be setting any PRs but it’ll be a really fun race.

I also figured out what I’ll be doing for mid-session break. Amy, Andy, and I are going to New Zealand! We booked everything a few days ago, and I can’t wait for it to get here! We’ll fly into Wellington where we’ll watch a World Cup (Rugby) game and then take the ferry across to the south island. We’ll rent a car and road trip around the whole island. Queenstown is considered the adventure capital of the world, so hopefully we’ll get to do some exciting things there! The only issue is that I am the only one who is old enough to rent the car, but I’m also the only one who usually drives on the right hand side of the road! Amy and Andy are both from England, so they promised to help make sure I stay on the left side, but it might be a bit interesting at first. Either way, we’re there for a week, and I cannot wait to see everything! It’s going to be an incredible trip!

This past weekend was a double-header for Weerona. First, there was the 40-hour Famine, a fundraiser meant to raise awareness about world hunger. It was a good cause, but all of us were so hungry/ grumpy/ non-responsive by halfway that we were seriously questioning what we were thinking. The second event of the weekend was inter-college rugby. The girls played touch and the guys played AFL (Aussie Rules Football). About half the people who signed up were Americans, so the Aussies had to give us a crash course in rules, strategy, and even how to throw a rugby ball. We warmed up and got the hang of it pretty quickly, and once we started playing it was so fun! All of us were really excited and, apart from going on 30+ hours with no food, did really well. There were three games between Weerona, Campus East, and I-House, and Weerona won every game! We decided that we would have enjoyed playing much more if we hadn’t been delirious with hunger, so we all voted to play again next Sunday after the weekly barbeque.

We stayed a little while after our games to watch the boys play, and I can honestly say I have never seen anything like it. It just looked like a free for all. I have no idea how many guys were on the field, but a lot, and it seemed like there were no rules other than “take out the guy beside you at all costs.” When one guy got his knee blown out, most of the girls decided it was time to call it a day. Quite satisfied with ourselves, we came back to Weerona tired but happy. Although, nothing compared to how excited we were when we got to eat dinner that night. I don’t know if the food was especially good or the hunger just made it taste better, but all of us left dinner extremely stuffed and so happy that the famine was over!