Just for variety’s sake, I post a series of short stories which documents my two-year stay in Australia.
I quickly wiped the tears off my cheeks when someone knocked on the door. Paul, an engineering student at the University, was my dorm block’s resident fellow. He gave me the warmest of welcomes by touring me around the place, introducing me to the other residents, and offering me my first bottle of Australian beer, XXXX (four X). Before dinner at six, he drove me to the nearest bottle shop so I could get a six pack. Most of the brands were Australian. I opted for the more familiar…BudWeiser…or bottled water in other words.
“There will be a party at the club tonight. Are you going?” he asked.
“I heard about it earlier. Yes, I think I will be going.”
“cool.”
We went back to our college and rushed to the dining hall. I was surprised to see a lot of people. The dorm didn’t look that big but the mess area was packed. I sat down at a table nearest to the buffet area with senior students…that would be the first and the last I would be sitting with them.
After dinner, I went back to my room, unpacked my suitcase and settled my belongings on to their rightful place, then hit the showers for my first ever bath in Australia. 24 residents within that block shared two common toilets and showers, one each for males and females.
At 9pm, I went outside with Paul to socialize with the other residents. Everyone was dressed up and looking swell for the first ever party at the club for the school year. Mist swelled in our midst. It was cold. And the rain slowly made its presence felt again.
Before 10pm, I was picked up by JP and Yanz for an initial boozing at the former’s house.
There are three types of accommodations available for students; on-campus residential colleges, off-campus shared accommodations, and homestay (with a local family). I have experienced all three, to some extent, in my 24-month stint in Australia.
I met mostly Malaysian students at JP’s place…and they looked awfully similar to my friends from the Philippines, although, I noticed that Filipinos have a hint of foreign incursion in their bloodlines. The ethnic Malays I met in Australia were evidently…purely…Malay.
We started the night with cans after cans of UDL, a mix of hard alocohol (rum, vodka) and assorted flavors (cola, grapes, lemon). Rain poured in to the night. At passed 12, we decided to go to the club, inebriated and all. The walk from JP’s place at Uni Village to the campus, where the club is, took 15 minutes. It was cold, damp, and dark. But we cared less. We were a happy bunch, all eight of us.
The Uni Club is the university’s only night spot run by the USQ student organization. Everyone who works there are students or staff at the university, from bartenders to the manager.
The place was packed–filled to the brim that it took us minutes to get inside. The club played the most bizarre line up of songs and genres I have ever heard in my life. One moment you’re grooving to the latest R&B, and then you dance to house music the next. But the weird part is that they play alternative and funk with the upbeat dance songs, an aural concoction fit for one to sit it out from time to time.
However, nothing else mattered. I had in front of me the smiles and laughter of new acquaintances, and I should try to ride the merriment with them. It proved successful.
The people I was dancing with reminded me of friends back home. It was a sad affair in that respect. But I was, no doubt, enjoying every minute of the night. And at the end of it all, I decided to cherish the moment…for two years might be a long while…but it would definitely come.
That night sits at the very top of my 10 bests in the land down under.
Next… Chapter 3: Kabayan
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