TOGA

26th: This day started out with an early morning and a slow, compulsory engineering orientation that lasted from 8 am to 3 pm! Not much of it was worth my time. Most of the compulsory tutorials I have attended were meant for the benefit of freshman engineers more that focusing towards the needs of study abroad students.

The day got much better from there! This was Toga Night!

Toga Night is the one annual, hall-run event that granted the permission to socially drink during the event. But first we had Souvlaki for dinner. I have never had traditional Greek food. I never realized that until tonight. It was a pretty decent meal. It was a wrap with onions, some sort of stuffing base, tomatoes, lettuce, etc. I didn't prefer the after taste, but I took two more from the veggie platter because there aren't many of use, and I would have it for leftovers. Me and leftovers from free food events have become good friends!

I got ready. Most people wore white sheets. I heard one year in the past that because most of the other halls have a similar event some of the local stores ran out of sheets from all the purchases. I personally didn't want to purchase anything I was going to only use once (unless it's food). I planned ahead and bought a purple sarong. 

The group I went with was almost every color of the rainbow, unlike the majority of everyone else. Yvonne wore green, Alice was in blue, Saffron had a black and white design, Tali adorned her white sheet with a red sash and Amy adorned hers with a leafy, golden necklace.

We were allowed three standard drinks, and we had to log them in for security reasons, since this was hall run. I was entirely sober, though I did try my dad's going away present an hour earlier, during dinner. It was a bottle of Rekorderlig and the flavor was strawberry lime. As soon as I opened it I knew I would like it. It smelt of strawberries! The only sad part is I will most likely not be purchasing that one again, since it is on the expensive side, which is saying something since all alcohol in Australia is pricy.

I let loose after the crowd started to flow, and when a group formed a circle, I even jumped in the middle a few times to get "Whoops" from the surrounding crowd. I even got a couple of the girls to do the 1900's tap and kick routine some!

The strobe lights created a great affect slowing everything down. And the music was a combination of raw, bar music and pop culture favorites with a twist. I found out a friend of mine, Ben, had never heard of "The Fresh Prince of Bel Aire" when the theme song came on. I remedied that a few days later by showing him a Youtube video of one of the episodes. 

I left early after my feet began to tire, and my mouth began to thirst for water. However, I knew it would do me no good if I tried going to bed while the party was still going on, so I chatted with Icha and Nad from the bowling night,  Gabriel and Clarissa (yes, Big sister! I have met the rarity that is a Clarissa!). We talked the maturity that occurs with just a few years, since Gabriel is probably the oldest of all of us (25), and he expressed that he would prefer going to eat and chatting over a few drinks than dancing around. I do agree with him for the most part, but Toga night was a much more positive experience than the Abroad Orientation Evening Event to Cheers.