the first time i heard this question was at a family dinner on my second day in melbourne. sure, i knew football is a big huge thing here in australia but what i didn’t know was that it was also some kind of religion or something where the faithful followers flock to stadiums in droves. if you’re familiar with every team’s color, you could probably tell what team some stranger on the train is rooting for. many people literally wear their favorite teams here — from scarves to beanies, all the way to their jumpers (i’m learning my aussie words now, thank you very much).

one of my favorite educators said, “you gotta pick a team. it doesn’t matter what team you rally for as long as you have one. it doesn’t even matter if you understand the game or not. you just go out there and scream your frustrations out.”

so we did. (well, except for the screaming part.) but only because an aunt gave me 7 tickets to watch the game at etihad stadium — north melbourne kangaroos vs brisbane lions.

i guess you can say it was a pretty good game even though i understood nothing. rooted for the kangaroos because, obviously, that was the side we were on. most of the time i was just looking at the entire stadium and marveling at how big it was and how many people it could accommodate at any given time. beside me, trina marveled at the players’ rock-solid thighs and well-formed muscles.

apparently, these poles play a role in the scoring system too. (well, they have to otherwise they wouldn’t be there, right?) but then again, everything was confusing to me. too many players running around the field at the same time. it was dizzying.

which is why i decided to just focus on one subject. lol.

oh, and the kangaroos won. in case you’re wondering.