O Week, Part II (Tuesday-Saturday)

Thankfully there was no repeat of the early morning wake up call on Tuesday or any other morning. Tuesday saw the start of University O week activities, some of which were entertaining (such as the trivia hunt on Thursday morning) but most of which were simply academic (read: boring.) But I did see most of my friends around Tuesday lunch time, which was pretty funny, because we all managed to run into each other on South Lawn and have a “reunion” of sorts. Bumped into many other people from school throughout the day, and would continue to do so during the week.

That night the college went out for dinner on Lygon St at a pizza joint (where else would we go on Lygon St?) which was loud, funny and delicious. Afterwards we split up; the majority of freshers went on a tour of local establishments pub crawl (about 5 in total, I believe, none of which are very far from college) whilst the “minors” (i.e. 16 or 17 years olds)/sick and on antibiotics/people who didn’t want to drink themselves silly (all in all around 15 of us) went laser shooting/bowling/gaming instead at Crown Casino. It’s only the second time I’ve been laser shooting (the first was a year 10 outing with my boarding house) and I sucked just as much as I ever did, but it was terrific fun. I’m not too flash at bowling, either, but with the bumpers on I wasn’t too bad. I’ve not done much gaming before, at least in a games arcade, so it was quite a new experience that involved air hockey (which I have played before), a dance off, a “drum off” and more than one “shoot off.” We didn’t finish until late – around 11 – so we stopped for ice cream on the way back and walked quickly back to catch the last tram, wondering if our counterparts were still conscious and what time they would stumble back to college. We all agreed that at least we’d be able to remember our night of fun!

Wednesday was Host Day, where we met up with older students in our faculties who would take us around campus, answer any questions and help us meet other first year students in our faculties through our groups. That afternoon was the Student Services Carnival, essentially a free stuff festival. There was free popcorn, free fairy floss, free snow cones (but only for student union members, so I suppose they came at a price), free “show bags” from the Commonwealth Bank, the student union, and various other groups, free stationary, pamphlets, key rings, Frisbees and so on and so forth. Met up with Sara, who got rolled over by two fat people people in blow up suits, which was pretty funny.

As we had our rubix cube party that night, I went to Savers (an op shop) with a bunch of other freshers to buy appropriately tacky, cheap and colourful clothing. 6 items of clothing (skirt, singlet, t-shirt, long sleeved shirt, bandana and scarf) cost me about $25. The idea of the party was thus: whenever the Captain Planet theme song was played, we had to swap one item of clothing so that by the end of the night we’d be dressed in one colour. I was mostly successful, but by the final swap I couldn’t trade my red t-shirt for anything purple. It was all hilarious though, especially the outfits/accessories we all turned up in (old coats with shoulder pads, straw hats, large shirts, boys in skirts – or one, anyway, manbags, lunch boxes, vests, hard hats, helmets), and all the ugly things we ended up keeping (and re-donating) at the end of the night.

Thursday was the “Crash Course to Uni” day, which involved a trivia/scavenger hunt around campus in our host groups. I was the only person from my group to show up (perhaps it was the miserable/cold/wet weather), but thankfully my host showed up too, so we joined with several other “lost” groups/hosts/people. It was pretty enjoyable, as we had to walk around campus, striking stupid poses all over the place (having photos taken). It really helped me find my way around campus (I was really worried about getting lost, as it’s a huuuuuge campus) and meet people.

Lunch time saw another Carnival (and Collection of Free Stuff) – the Clubs and Societies. I joined MUDS (Melbourne University Debating Society) and the Film Society. I didn’t stick around though, as we – the college – went rock climbing around 3 on the Verve wall on Swanson St. The last time I rock climbed was in year 9, at Mount Buller. These walls were something else, with so many different levels (from beginner to mega-advanced) side by side, and walls that stretched oh so high. It was incredibly scary to look down when you reached the top (even more so whilst you were climbing), so the adrenalin was pumping something fierce, which made it all the more thrilling. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to enjoy it as long as everyone else because that was the night of the IB Awards Ceremony (i.e. nerd fest) which I attended with my parents and actually wasn’t as boring as might have been expected. It was good to catch up with a lot of friends I’d only briefly seen during the week.

Friday was the final Clubs and Societies day, which I didn’t attend as the college had better plans; St Kilda Beach or the NGV. Being that it was cloudy, cool, and I enjoy that kind of thing, it was an easy choice; I went to the NGV and wandered through several free exhibitions; portrait photography, mourning fashions and European paintings of the 17th century. Again, this was cut short due to a dentist appointment that simply confirmed I would have to have all four wisdom teeth extracted removed, which is to happen next Wednesday.

Friday night was “disco ice skating,” at a temporary rink in Docklands. I haven’t ice skated since I was 10, maybe, when we used to often go to a rink in the city, which unfortunately closed. After a couple of times around the rink and holding onto the rail, I found my feet skates, more or less, but being the uncoordinated person/klutz that I am, my balance was more than off, and I’m surprised that I only fell over once (there were quite a few near misses, and I was a hazard to several people.) We even performed the fresher dance on ice, which was quite a feat (and earned us more than a few curious looks). The true embarrassment, though, would come outside, when we had to do it in the amphitheatre. But all was well again when we stopped at Hot Chocolate, a chocolate bar nearby which is absolutely divine.

The funniest thing about the tram ride home (not that late) was three drunk Irish guys who came up to myself and another girl and began telling us (in heavy accents) how “fucking great” our city was, with it’s “free drinks on every corner,” but how “fucking easy” it was to get lost. “Fucking great city, though.”

Saturday morning was the “O week closing ceremony,” and involved a “twister off” – a competition of Twister between the teams (in which I came 4th) – and an eating competition by one representative from each team; a bowl of custard powder, m’n’ms, two weetbix, a glass of milk, a glass of water and a glass of baked beans. Of course, when you mix it all together, it was just as hard to watch as it was to eat. We were all given awards for our various stand out characteristics, sayings or activities during O week; mine was the Shamrock award (for the three drunk Irishmen who were so friendly on the tram).

Of course, O week couldn’t finish without some form of sadism, and we were all arranged to have a photo taken underneath the veranda of the college when...buckets of ice cold water were dumped on us by student leaders on the roof. Suckered into posing for “the actual photo this time!” it happened again, but I’m thankful they didn’t throw flour on us the second time.

And so O week finished the way it began; with a whistle piercing the air, student leaders calling “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Superman!” and us lying on the ground, beating our arms and legs, crying “whoosh! Whoosh!”

x
Just a girl