Melbourne: My First Australian Football Match at Etihad Stadium

It's out of character to be attending a football match, yes, especially to support a team which I don't know a single member. But when opportunity appears in the form of university-sponsored free tickets, I guess I just take it and see how it goes, yeah? You know, why not since football is a major part of Melbourne's culture and I'm all about new experiences so let's go:

To be honest, I've been racking my brains how to get into Etihad Stadium by hook or by crook since I first saw it. It is this massive sports stadium that sits prominently at one of my favourite corners of the city, Docklands, and yet entry seems so heavily guarded all the time. Etihad is an open-air stadium and we soon learnt the hard way that it'll be freezing cold even in the beginning of winter in the audience seats.

Every game is supported by massive throngs of each team's fans, and this time - North Melbourne (my suburb! /waves frantically) vs. Brisbane Lions is no exception... but the Brisbane Lions' fans were obviously much lesser as they are playing away from their home ground.

As the game begun, it was soon evident that violence is an integral part of it! It was surely exciting (and a lot of wincing on their behalf) to watch as the players constantly try to outrun, and/or outmuscle each other while wrestling for the ball. It took me a long while before I understood the basic mechanics of the game, how they score, what is considered fouls... it was a good run as it was really educational. North Melbourne won by a huge margin but we left before the game was over because it got too unbearably cold. And we had to do groceries. #ExchangeStudents