O-Week Comes To An End

So I am writing this to you all in confidence that you will not judge me for this past weeks performance. Ha but really orientation week was an incredible time with lots of drinking, socializing, and of course partying. I think the last time I updated you on my life, O-Week had just begun, and now it is just coming to an end. I have decided to give up drinking for at least a week after all the chaotic things that happened previously. The toga party was an amazing time with everyone dressed up in their costumes :) It was really neat to see the creativity of some individuals. The pre-party was a good time with all the R.A.s shouting out, "FRESHERS, DRINK!" I don't really think that happens in America, and if it does, I'm not aware of it. We headed to the Uni Club after the party at our hall and it was a hot mess in there. There was lots of dancing, sweating from the heat, and singing in the bar. There were over 2,000 people that came out for this event. It is the biggest event of the year so of course I had to be there. The club has an inside and an outside bar with plenty of space for everyone. The "sex police" were there giving out free condoms to the public. There were two ladies that dressed up in nurses costumes and handed out condoms to everyone they saw, it was quite odd but humorous. That night was lots of fun, to say the least.

I woke up early the next morning to go to the Reef HQ (the largest aquarium in Queensland). As JCU students, we were able to go behind the scenes which was incredible! They took us on a tour of the entire aquarium and showed us how they care for all the animals. We got to see a 2 week old leopard shark and some rehabiliation centers for the sea turtles they have at the aquarium. It was a very good day! After Toga night, no one was really up for anything so I had a movie night with some of the girls I have met here. Leesa, Hannah, and Mel are my three close Aussie friends I have met. We all got together on Wednesday night and we watched "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and it was a good time to just relax and hang out with the girls. I knew I needed the relaxation in preparation for the next night's activities, Fresher Keg.

Fresher Keg started at 2:30 in the afternoon on Thursday and lasted until 7:30 at night. It was a ridiculous event with ridiculous amounts of alcohol. It was held at the Ross Island Hotel downtown and it was all inclusive. It was an outdoor bar with plenty of picnic tables and large bins of "goon juice" or cheap wine mixed with other sorts of alcohol. It is comparable to our "jungle juice." Anyway, they underestimated how much "us freshers" could drink so they had to make more goon for us half way through the afternoon. The R.A.s would come around to the tables and clip clothes pins to our shirts and count down from 10 to see if we would notice. If you didn't notice, you had to "skull" or chug your drink. At about 5 pm, they had us form a circle around 4 bins of goon and it was called "The ring of fire." I knew it didn't sound good but we all had to participate. The ring of fire consisted of all the freshers walking around in a circle with a cup in our hands and when we reached a bin, we had to fill our drink and have it skulled by the time we got to the next one. We are talking about chugging a drink in about 6 steps. There were plenty of people puking and all the R.A.s thought it was entertaining. I made it through two rounds and quit. It was a fun time, but too much for me. After that everyone was good and drunk and ready for the bus ride home.

When we returned to campus, I was ready for bed at around 8 pm. It was the most outrageous event I have ever experienced, but it is tradition around here to make freshers drink until they cannot drink anymore. They are surprised if you make it through the week. Now I know what they mean.

The next night of O-Week, which was Friday, was our graduation! It is called "Op-Shop Formal" where you pick out the craziest close from discount stores and wear them to the event. I brought a shirt with me that had an octopus on it and I found 8 legs that you attach to yourself, so I became a creature! Some of the guys had 80's dresses on with high heels and others had the most random pieces of clothing I have ever seen. It was held just outside our dining hall with a "sausage sizzle" and free beer and wine. At the end of the night, they gathered all the freshers together for a photo and of course as soon as they snapped the picture, all the R.A.s dumped flour and water all over us. It was humiliating and hilarious at the same time. One of the other halls got fish guts dumped all over them so I wasn't that angry about getting floured. That concludes my O-Week experience and I am so glad I survived.

I will be adding pictures for all who want to see my costumes for the week! Until next time, G'Day!