Hello, I'm Vijay Khurana.
Welcome to My Australia, the show about people from overseas having Australian experiences.
Coming up today
Weiping joins a local Aussie Rules football cheer squad,
Nimit learns to sail on Sydney Harbour
and a bunch of the My Australia guests get together for a barbecue.
Aussie Rules Football is a big part of Australian life and it's not just the players who get
involved.
The people on the sidelines play a big part too.
Weiping joins a cheer squad to experience footy first hand.
My name is Weiping.
Back home I live in Ningbo which is two hour drive distance from Shanghai, China.
I have been living in Adelaide for three years.
At Adelaide Uni I studied law and accounting.
Adelaide is a little, cosy place and it's handy.
You always know where you go and not very cramped.
You know, you always, you have the Parklands.
People are very nice and friendly.
Thank you.
See you later.
See ya.
I think Australians normally they are very outgoing, like sports.
My understanding is.
I think that's part of the culture as well.
I'm really excited about finding out what's going on in footy and why people are so mad
and so crazy about footy.
Hello.
Hi.
Weiping.
Ay.
Tom, nice to meet you.
Welcome.
Nice to meet you too.
Welcome to the football club.
What we are doing today here?
Ah, we're making a banner that the players run through on the game day, before the game.
Uh huh.
They run through it.
It has a little message because we won a premiership in 1940 and 1970,
Uh huh.
so it's celebrating the champions from the past.
Uh huh.
And the champions that we have now.
I thought it was soccer ...
Soccer, yeah.
because back home it's like soccer, you know.
Yeah we kick a lot more goals than soccer.
It's a little bit more exciting.
So how we are going to make use of the banner, on Saturday?
We lift it up with ropes and all the people go out on the field with us.
Uh huh.
Then the players run through it.
Uh huh.
They use it as a motivation for the game sorta thing, read the message and hopefully it makes
'em, play better.
This message is massive.
Yeah.
Today is Saturday and it's a big footy day and I don't know what to expect but I am very
excited to find out what's going on.
Craig will be lifting by the poles.
Weiping, when the pole comes up
Uh huh.
You grab hold as well and you support it ...
So I stand on this right?
Yeah.
You'll be standing on that side of it.
Okay.
So that way the players don't run into you as well.
Okay, yep.
Good.
You're not the only one holdin' it.
Don't worry.
Yes, I can't do I myself.
We're big strong boys Weiping.
You don't have to worry.
Thank you very much.
The fans of the club wants the team to do well, so they put their hope up as a banner
so in some way it does encourage players to play well today.
So when we get a goal
Uh huh.
You wave the flag with everybody else.
Okay.
But if they don't, if they don't get a goal what we are going to do?
Ah, we yell at them.
Okay.
Crowd cheer!
Cheer!
Crowd roar.
Roar.
That was disappointing.
Come on you Double Blues.
Oh that's nice.
I love this.
S-T-U-R-T Sturt, Sturt S-T-U-R-T
Oh, I can't hear anything.
Sturt.
Double Blues.
Cheers.
You'll see a lot of the supporters, when they're frustrated they yell at the men in white who
are the umpires.
They take frustration out to them so you see a lot of people yelling at those men in the
white.
Oh, okay.
So what's so special about Aussie footy?
Some of the camaraderie, all of our friends watch the football and it's good to watch
your team play and win.
Lots of drinking, it's just ...
you probably noticed Australians like a drink so
Yes, that's what ... yeah.
Yeah, When the big siren goes, you'll hear that in about two minute's time, and then
we can go over there and kick the football.
Have shots for the big goals yourself and everything.
I never do that, I mean in my life.
How are you mate?
Good mate, yourself?
Good, good.
Watch out, lots of footballs flying around.
They were very patient with me and basically they told me how to kick the ball and I did
it, and it was not that hard,
I mean it was easier than I imagined so um, it has been a new experience for me.
They spend time together and the kids they come along as well so every one is immersed
in, you know, a very sporty atmosphere.
It is a very healthy attitude towards life and, you know, also it's a good way to bond
with friends and families.
Back home, especially for kids, they are trained to ... like they are very keen to win, like
in terms of competition
but here people are more relaxed and you can have big fun, and from what I have experienced
there, you know, fun comes first in Australia, yeah.
Get in there Toby.
Well done.
So, next time we get a goal we'll do Double Blues,
Okay.
and then clap three times.
Yeah!
Sturt!
Louder!
Sturt!
Louder!
Sturt!
Spell it out
S-T-U-R-T Sturt!
Double Blues
Cheers.
S-T-U-R-T Sturt!
Double Blues.
I'm not very good at, you know, singing or, you know.
It made me feel that I was not good enough to be part of it but they, I can feel their
enthusiasm towards their sport and how passionate they are.
We're from Unley.
Mighty, mighty Unley.
Everywhere we go
People wanna know
who we are.
These guys in the cheer squad, they are mad.
Being the community based club that we are,
Yes.
We like to come back here after the game.
As you can see there's quite a few people here
Yes.
And we like to have a drink and chat about the game and it's always a lot better when
we've actually won, as you can tell.
People are very happy.
And you do get supporters from the opposition club.
They like to come over and just have a chat about the game, have a drink and possibly
meet a couple of the players.
So yeah, just enjoy the night from here on.
And it's a lot better when we actually do win.
Oh yes.
It's our first win for the season so we might bring you back for every game because you
might be our lucky charm.
They made me feel part of the cheer squad and I enjoyed it.
Here's to you Weiping, and here's to a great win by Sturt tonight.
Thank you very much.
I hope you guys have a wonderful season ahead of you, yeah?
Thank you.
Great stuff Weiping.
Now, Sydney has one of the most beautiful harbours in the world and a sailing boat is
one of the best ways to see it.
Let's join Nimit as he learns to sail.