Experiencing new things
From surfing to eating blue cheese, there's nothing more fun than trying new things!
With AUU鈥檚 campaign happening this week (Tuesday, 5th 鈥 Friday, 8th), I thought I would share with you all the exhilarating and not-so-exhilarating experiences that I鈥檝e had the pleasure of dipping my toes into since living in Adelaide. As an international student, travelling and studying abroad is already a major new experience. I could go on and on about my adventure, but I鈥檝e already written a handful of blogs about it so let鈥檚 talk about the smaller 鈥榝irsts鈥 that are equally as exciting instead.聽
One of my favourite experiences was learning French in my first year of uni. I鈥檝e always loved learning new languages, so I chose to do French because, well, I was also obsessed with Timoth茅e Chalamet at the time.聽It was very nerve-wrecking walking into that Napier classroom for the first time. Mind you, the closest thing to French I could say was 鈥渂onjour鈥 and 鈥渃roissant鈥. But I ended up enjoying it so much that I might鈥檝e put too much focus on it and neglected my law subjects for a bit鈥 oops. Now I can proudly say that I can read a piece of French literature and string one or two sentences en francais.
The next greatest experience was when my friend and I learnt how to surf for the first time! My friend鈥檚 car couldn鈥檛 contain the burst of excitement we had as we made our way to Middleton Beach that morning. I will never forget the euphoric feeling I felt slipping into those uncomfortably tight wetsuits and successfully riding the waves (albeit a small one) for the first time.聽Our dingy Victor Harbour hotel room heard us talk about the falls, the stands, and the muscle aches we got from our lesson all night that night.
Speaking of surfing and the importance of balance, I鈥檓 reminded of the first time I roller-skated. It was at a free event held by the university called Roller-Palooza.聽I was feeling confident as I laced up my skates but that confidence quickly evaporated as I struggled to walk from the seats to the rink. Thank God I had my friend to cling on to! Making laps around the rink was definitely not going to be any easier. I held onto the fences barricading the rink for dear life as I slowly made my way around the smooth, white surface. We tripped and slipped and laughed but by the end of the night, we finally got the hang of it and freed our hands from the fences!聽
Finally, I couldn鈥檛 forget all the food I鈥檝e had the chance of tasting from the famous Fringe profitjes to Fruchocs to Quandong ice creams. Little old picky eater me would鈥檝e been surprised at how adventurous I鈥檝e been with my food since I got here.聽My most daring gastronomical experience to date has been blue cheese and kangaroo meat. The smell oozing from that piece of cheese should鈥檝e been enough to repel me from it but I took a bite anyway鈥 and immediately spat it out onto the serviette. Hats off to all the blue cheese lovers out there. I truly don鈥檛 know how you get past the pungent smell and salty taste.聽
The kangaroo sausages were a lot better! I tried them last year at uni鈥檚 Native Food Market and was delighted and surprised by how good it tasted. I was just not a huge fan of how chewy it was, though.聽
While the thought of jumping into new things can be a bit daunting at first, you鈥檇 be surprised by how fun it could actually be once you鈥檝e done it. You might hate, you might love it but I like to think that either way, it鈥檒l be a good story to tell in the years to come. So step out of your comfort zone this week and make your way to the Barr Smith Lawns to challenge yourself to something new!