The Emerald City (continued from previous page)
I liked Mike even before I met him! I could tell the moment I entered his house and sat down on the most comfortable recliner couch. This was a house I could feel right at home in. Nothing stuffy about Mike’s place; it’s overflowing with character! Mike is a nice guy – an attentive father of two sons with a great sense of humor.
And boy, can he order Thai cuisine! I swear he ordered one of each from the menu at the restaurant that evening! We had enough food to feed the country; the waitress kept trying to leave the table to put our order in but Mike kept adding one more thing! Gotta love it!
We shared a fabulous feast of soup with coconut milk, orange chicken, monkey on a stick (I don’t know what it was really called…!) with peanut sauce, spicy noodles with pork, and chicken/spinach salad. All that – for three of us!
Again, the food and company were terrific! If only real life could be this way!
Back “home” I changed into my footy gear and we headed to the Aussie & Kiwi pub in Greenlake for the Australian Rules Football Grand Final! I assumed there would be an OK turnout at the pub, after all, it was an Aussie pub and this was the Super Bowl of Aussie Rules. I was not prepared for the wall-to-wall, standing-room-only scene! It was loud, it was packed, and it was fun!
We met up with Pat at the pub, who had driven in from Idaho that evening. Of the four of us who stood together, only Karyn and I had prior knowledge of the sport! I found it amusing that the girls were the footy fans in our group!
The crowd was a mix of ex-pats and yanks who knew the game, plenty of first-timers who had never seen a game, and a lot of people who wondered in without a clue as to what they were there for! For those who were new and voices their shock and surprise at, well, the shocking and surprising things that Aussie Rules brings to the table, I just had to laugh. I was there once, when the shorts seemed shockingly short, when the goal umpire signals were good for mimic after mimic, and the violent action (with no pads!) calling for a whistle, a flag, and a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty! Oh, I remember all too well my first AFL match!!
The crowd appeared to have a fantastic time, half barracking for Brisbane and half for Port Adelaide, nearly all for John Kerry, very few for Guy Sebastian! By the end of the game, Port had won a few fans over. Guy wasn’t as lucky!
I had to laugh at my new friend, Mike, who wasn’t sure what was happening through most of the first half. We finally worked out an arrangement: two taps on his shoulder meant he should turn around to clap and cheer!! He was a good little AFL monkey! (Just teasing, Mike! I loved getting to share the game with you, and I’m so glad you got a night out!)
We stayed until the final siren and then headed out. Speaking only for myself, I was exhausted from the fun and from standing for nearly 3 ½-4 hours. I did sit down for a while on Karyn’s barstool but even then it wasn’t very comfortable. We’d arrived at the pub late so we were standing just under the big screen television, crooking our necks to watch the game. Still, it was worth every minute! What a great time it was! Pat and I hitched a ride with Karyn and Mike back to the hotel where I collapsed, happy and, well, happy. Just happy. What a great day it had been. Seattle had been good to me.
More! More! I want to keep reading!
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