Toight Tuesday

6am: "WAKE UP FRESHERRRRRRRS!"

The deep sick feeling in one's gut is one I can empathise with when the lights and music rang out through college. Yes, another morning, another wake-up. (We're so ruthless, aren't we ;) ?) 6am should be a decent hour to get up, but after my 2 hrs of sleep before hand it was made possible only by a bottle of that new energy drink they call 'Mother'. I was to learn it's powerful effects! Aerobics/dancing and showering in the courtyard preceeded an obstacle course all around campus. For those familiar with UNSW you would have been amused to see Uniwalk set up like a run-the-gauntlet type of thing with the oldies armed and dangerous with pillows, paint, limbo ropes, tyres and detergent. Having to set the example I copped it pretty badly from my oldies (i'm still a fresher to them!) but overall it was lots of fun and not too painful at all.

Tuesday morning was spent jet boating on the stunning harbour that is Darling. This is always a highlight and for only $15 a bargain. Thanks to Oz Jet Boating for the group discount! Such a thrilling ride, and we are sooo used to getting wet by now we loved the multiple faceplants the driver pulled.

Above: Half of the girls group posing by the wharf at Circular Quay

Below: Who wants to get wet?

Toight Tuesday lived up to its infamous name when we all went out op-shopping for the night's Harbour Cruise, (theme: Pirates and Wenches). Supre outlets at Eastgardens and Bondi Junction were ravaged with over-sized males ("Does this mini come in a large?") and embarrassed females ("I'd actually wear that out!") *shivers*

2GH: 2 Get Hot (or 2 Get Humiliated!)

I thought I'd join my group in the shopping fun instead of taking time out to sleep (all the O week leaders bought their costumes from the Supre outlet in Prep week at a whopping price of $13 each!) To beat the rush, we bused it to Bondi Junction and bought matching skull-and-cross bones tops, and left them to fnd their own bottoms (a bad idea for some). The awkward part was seeing the guys fit into my shorts and skirts and wearing them on the cruise. Oh dear.

Entertaining Anzac Parade: Thommohawk, Birdie, Jaydog, Kawoman, Mal-practice, T-Burg

(Identities have been hidden to prevent embarrassment.)

For the first time all week I had a stress attack, after leaving one of my freshers back in Westfield, Bondi, us oldies felt terrible and tried to navigate them back. Also, the buses refused to pick up 200 freaks from the bus stop (can't think why, we weren't all in drag!) so it took us 45 mins to get a bus. Also, the Queen Mary or some other such famous vessel was docked in the harbour which brought swarms of crowds and police. Normally the walk from Circular Quay bus stop to the wharf would be a breeze, but this was a nightmare. Trying to usher 200 pirates/wenches when you're dressed in a sailor suit is not fun, especially when you're boxed in by hundreds of normal people giving you strange looks.

3B girls decked out in Kazakhstan's national colours. hmmm... Nice choice?

Eventually we arrived on the boat, having left 6 people behind (it turned out they didn't want to come anyway, phew!) but had issues with under-agers and the bar staff accepting our wristbands as ID plus a few other issues. It was certainly a hiccup to what was a smooth week, and a test of our patience and mental strength as we were all very tired and keen to make Harbour Cruise the best night yet. And by God's grace it turned out to be just that. Thanks to Queen Mary for providing complimentary fireworks ... we're glad you stopped by after all :)

Bek, Chrissy & Sally rocked this party, and the boat, in their pirate finery.

disOrientation Week 2007

I know I'm behind the times talking about O week as it's now mid-session break, but this is something I had to blog about, the most seriously massive holy-moly kowabunga of a PUMPin' good time.

Why such fun you ask? What is this O week you speak of? There's nothing quite like the rush of 84 new freshers all bright-eyed and innocent descending into the hallowed halls of college... and you getting to initiate them into the crazyfun that is college life.

We're thrilled the freshers had a ball of a week and the joy you experienced was felt by us many times over. Much respect to all the freshers, this is your week...

Sweetness Sunday

The much anticipated arrival. All the oldies are bouncing off the walls trying to do everything they can to assist in the moving-in process.
I'm thrilled to meet my 10 adorable freshers who will be living withing close-proximity to me all year in our group, (9 guys and 9 girls who share a common room. Our 'group' is 2GH, ie 2nd floor, on the 'GH' side of college with a stunning panoramic view of Anzac Parade, incorporating the Golden Arches and Warrane men's college)
For some bizarre reason which I'm yet to work out, we've been allocated 10 freshers when most other groups have from 5-8. But already see how fun-loving and ridiculously awesome they all are and so I'm in debt to our Dean for the life they bring to college. and that we can call them our own! (so proud hehehe...)

2GH 2007 (minus Bek and Cam). We scrub up all right
...except Fards who is wearing but a blazer and towell (note his strategic positioning in the middle row)

The first Sunday was pretty cruisy and the whole college put on a bit of a show, with a delicious buffet lunch (eat up freshers, it all declines from here!) and then introductions from the Dean, Master, Resident Advisors, President Dreamy and us cabbages.
Following that was sports and drinks but mainly get-to-know-you chat time on the beloved Village Green (VG). After dinner a very decent-sized posse trooped up to Unichurch that night which was highly encouraging. All the green-shirted freshers were made to feel very welcome, so thanks Grimmo and the congregation! Afterwards we boot-scooted back for a bushdance, a la bogan style. The Currency Lads band were hugely popular with everyone as they played so many fun songs.

Then was the much anticipated introduction of the annual Fresher Dance... all the oldies had been waiting to see the dance which we would all learn of love and fumble through at every social event where music was played. It's a tradition. This year Bob Sinclar's 'Rock this Party' was the chosen track. Jay, Thommo and I had a ball making it up, teaching it to the other leaders (and laughing at my lankiness, Jay's pouts, Tim's thriller moves and everyone else's interpretive dancing.) Everybody dance now!
My night ended at Churchies but for many hard core freshers their morning just began. I snuck back early to get some sleep before the notorious ...

5:30am "WAKE UP FRESHERRRRRRS!!!"

Mullet Monday

Machine guns, helichoppers and Despi's pterodachtyl squeals are enough to send shivers down anyone's spine but when mixed by DJ Jez and played at 5:30 when it's still dark outside with your oldies pounding on your door, these poor freshers wouldn't have known what's hit them. Until the buckets came and they knew all too well!

Down in the courtyard, surrounded by 3 balconies of oldies armed with buckets, they followed us O week leaders in a strict aeorobic regimen coupled with 'Pump it' beats and the increasingly-popular fresher dance. For us it was such a rush no amount of Red Bull could provide. We were conscious of the fact that this could be a potentially humiliating and highly terrifying activity, but generally the freshers had fun... in the broadest sense of the word!
Then we ran to Coogee, where NCCF (New College Christian Fellowship) hit the hunger pangs with a much-appreciated pancake breakky to watch the sun rise. God is an mind-blowing artist.

Roger, Chrissy and Thomas putting all their faith into Bek, me, and Birdie. I'm not sure if that was warranted, if out bobby-pin frullets are anything to go by.

That was the last of the long hair. As tradition has it, Monday is Mullet/Mohawks Monday, or anything dirty really. Not even the pies and sausage rolls of lunch could out-dirty the dirtiness of the haircuts that followed. Armed with clippers the oldies waged war on normal haircuts and hardly any were left unscathed. Even the chicks sported bobby-pin frullets (though much respect goes to Max, the only female to go for the chop!).

Above: Tiny Tim & The Flamous Flame sported the most massif mohawks in the history of wood glue.

Below: 500 bobby pins turned the chicks into bogans.

That arvo was time for a bit of group bonding, with skit preparation before the Inaugural Kenso Bowlo Skit Night! Woo hoo. I wish i could tell you what our group's skit was but it was a postmodern configuration of nonsense vaguely involving the head chef of Scolarest spiking everyone's meals with ice, surf-life savers, a funeral director and a cowboy hat. Not my concept I assure you! We just have random old boys. We had fun. Though not as much as everyone laughing at us. I think we placed last. A sweaty night of disco dancing and moshing followed. And another chance to bust out with 'Rock this Party' of course.

Calories burned: too many (Barker Street hill killed me)
Alcohol units: none
Caffeine units: zilch
Sleep (hrs): 2
Pulse rate: off the charts
Fun factor: chicki-chowing-awesome

...stay tuned for photos and the rest of the week...

(thanks for your patience!) xox

Bean Sprouts and Cabbage Heads (aka Prep Week)

Backtracking a bit to when I arrived back to the hallowed halls of college on the 11th of February, in time for Prep Week. For the benefit of non-collegians Prep week is the week of prep before the 84 freshers (1st years) arrive for O week. Normally it's an intensively stressful week but for us it was a breeze as so much correspondence had been done in the holidays (still trying to clear out my inboxes now, actually!)

The O week team consists of 6 second years, all are scrumptious legends and I have had a ball working with them all. Especially the bonding over 39 daily emails over summer, bleaching in the courtyard, bus trips to the Supre factory outlet, early mornings (2am) and early mornings (5:30am) spent doing ... stuff (wait and see!). You're such champions who are servant-hearted and willing to pick up the pieces. Massif respects to Alex (aka Birdie), Jaydog (aka Jaydog), Timburgers (aka Tim), Mal-Practice and Kyle (Thommohawk).

Above: Thommo and Tim aren't cats when it comes to going for the surf rat look.

Below: Never trust 3 guys with a bucket of bleach and 8 inches of your hair.

It's tradition for the O week leaders to dye their hair the same colour of the fresher shirts. Beautiful green, synonomous with slime and all things Kermit. Watch the transformation of these conservative brunettes into Pumped-up and psycho cabbage heads and bean sprouts. Whose idea was it for green fresher shirts anyway?

Poor Mal's hair didn't take kindly the bleach, but after the 3rd treatment it looked a delightful shade of ... marigold?

More on O week to come!

To my faithful readers...

The amount of blogging I've done has been inversely correlational to the hectic-ness of my past month... does that make sense? Ummm, basically this past month has been insane!!! Since moving back to Sydney it's been the most ridiculous amount of mind-blowing fun, plus the stress and responsibility of O Week at college, starting a new degree, being an old chook (ie, looking after freshers at college), starting exec, continuing CBS, Unichurch, my new age group at Wild St Youth and adjusting to life in the fast lane after a most amazingly relaxing time at home.
Thanks go to God for sustaining me in one of the most testing periods of my life thus far. Surviving on pitifully few hours of sleep away from the healthiness of home I was pretty susceptible but miraculously haven't caught the notorious college bugs (yet) and have been in good spirits. Yay for prayer and intercession, thanks dear brothers and sisters :)

Please bear with me as I try to recount the weeks that were...

Arend & Samantha - Feb 10th, 2007

Mr & Mrs Boog

There's something particularly special about Christian weddings. In fact, many very special things that culminate to provide a most beautiful day, but one most important of all.

Yes, when Arend and Sam got married there was joyful praises (thanks to the New College boys, kinda like a rehash of MYC!), an evangelistic sermon by Dominic Steele of Christians in the Media and blessings from the families.

But what is particularly unique is the Lord who binds the two together, the assurance that He is the centre of what should be a firm and grounded marriage.

Arend, may your love for Sam model Christ's self-sacrificial love for His church.
It will be strange not living 5 doors down, we'll miss the 14-year-old girl beats pumpin' down the corridor but I'm sure Sam will appreciate it more than we did ;p It's been an insane year with you as an old boy, I'm sure I can vouch for Chrissy, Hug, Mike and Birdie too.

Plenty of 2CD love: Kat, Chrissy, Boog, Hug

From your doting freshers and freshers-in-law (just for Sam!), we wish you every happiness in the world! Please know that our prayers will be with you. Don't forget to have us all round for coffee and donuts sometime. (I assume you've opened your presents by now...)

Been bitten by the blogging bug

Welcome to the first installment of Butters' Spread,
'Butters' being me, K.E. Butterworth, and 'Spread' being the noun used to describe an article of writing, eg, a two-page spread.

So for better or for worse, Katherine now has a blog!
...Actually, I think it will be for the better. Because as I'm savouring my last week at home, I hope it'll be a way of keeping my friends far and wide in the loop of my exciting (or otherwise) comings and goings... the possibilities are endless! Until the novelty wears off I suppose.

So leave a comment even if it's just a few hellos when you are bored!

Peace out peoples,
katty*B xox