A Day of Firsts

Alas, I had many "firsts" on Tuesday, February 23rd.

1. I had my first day of class since December 9th of 2009. The title of the class is Australian People: An Introduction to the Social Sciences. Meh. It was okay; about 190 students in a crowded lecture hall. The lecturer was very genuine and although the introduction to the introductory course was a tad drawn out, I think I shall enjoy the class. Well, let us just say that I best enjoy the class because I am in it until June. Cheers to that.

2. I went swimming (as in watching the bottom of the pool swimming, not "hey, let's go fun swimming" swimming) for the first time in ___ years. The actual amount of time eludes me. The last time I raced I think I was 15 or 16 so it has been awhile. Nonetheless, the reason for my reentry into the world of chlorine, lane lines, and bathing caps is because this upcoming Saturday is the Swimming Carnival here at James Cook University. Basically it is the first event where the colleges (remember, dorms) compete for points that will count towards the Fisher Shield (the James Cook equivalent to the Hogwart's House Cup). Although anyone can swim, the fossils make the freshers do it. I signed up (mind you, before I swam today), for six events. Without going into great detail about how my lap swimming went at the pool, let's just keep it at I am going to try and pawn some of those events off to, what should I call them, little 17 year old freshers who are intimidated by social interactions. Golden.

3. My first margarita. Toxic in my mouth. We went to some place called "Cactus Jacks." Now, you would think that being from the States I would be accepting of a Tex-Mex restaurant because you can practically find one in every town in America. I am in Australia, many a thousand miles away from the land of the burrito, yet, going to a place that sells them. Sketch. Turns out, the experience was not half bad. I didn't have anything to eat but I ordered what the waitress called a "manly margarita..." I thought she meant like the color of it wasn't neon purple or the glass was not shaped like a beta fish bowl. No, she meant that rather than being fruity and like a child's-smoothie-treat, it tasted as though a horse had drank a gallon of lemonade, downed it with a handle of tequila and then promptly pissed it into my ice cold glass. Apparently this makes a drink manly; that and it was in a regular glass and didn't hurt my retina. I am exaggerating a tad. I was able to finish the drink so it couldn't have been that bad, right?

We will just end with my "Day of Firsts" saying I don't plan on having seconds anytime soon...except for class...maybe.