Every year, there is a large rugby league even between New South Wales and Queensland. The best players from each state, not where they play, but where they are born, hence the name State of Origin, compete for one year of bragging rights. It is a big deal in the two rugby states. The other states pay attention, but they don't really care; they're too busy with their silly AFL.
I was sitting the hostel's TV lounge when I found out that it was happening that very night! I suggested to the group lounging around that we go out and watch at some local pub, expose ourselves to this great cultural experience. I only had two takers: a British bloke from the town of Rugby and a young Flemish dude.
This angered me. Not this specific act of experience laziness, but the general attitude of many travelers I meet. Maybe I'm a bit of a snob. After hosting so many exchange students, it has become so obvious to me that only way to experience a country is to dive right in and meet the locals. Admittedly, my Australian experience is quite a bit different than that of a typical backpacker's. I dated an Aussie woman for nearly two years, lived with her family in a small Outback town for four months and became a part of the community before I hit the road. I'm even to the point where I conceptualize myself as just a little bit Australian. No, I don't like Vegemite, but I know all the words to "Eagle Rock", "G'day, mate. How ya goin' "slides off my tongue without thought, and my diet consists muchly of meat pies. Given my excessive immersion in the culture, I'm able to bond with Aussie easily; I get what they are talking about. Much of this comes from my relationship with Jess, but this is also the product of not being lazy when it comes experiencing the heart of the culture. I've not been content sitting in a hostel in Sydney or Byron Bay, drinking and only mingling with fellow backpackers. I've been going to small towns, hitting up pubs, and approaching locals to "strike a light".
Most travelers don't. They ignore the Aussies in the hostels, especially the older ones. Befriending Sandy in Cairns opened me to many great experiences in Victoria, thrusting me into the heart of the hippy/Bohemian culture and has linked me up with many new Aussie friends. Everybody else missed this opportunity because they ignored Sandy; she's a fifty year old Australian woman, not some blonde German chick with big tits.
I've been preaching annoyingly to the travelers of the hostels to get out the normal routes an see the small towns and meet the "true Australians". If you spend a year in a country and leave with no concept of the place and its people, you've failed at travelling! All it takes is something as simple as watching a rugby game at pub.
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