The Misfits (Or Killers. Not quite sure yet.)

Well, it's official now. I'm a member of a Cricket team. And so far, I'm NOT the worst player in the history of the universe. 

However, we've only played one match…

        How I got into it though, was not in any conventional way. At first, I was to be the team statistician/accountant, but the coach pulled me into our first game, and I just went with it.

Anyways, the team and I actually haven't done that much. We're suppose to play every Saturday, but the weather hasn't been ideal cricket weather. Aside from that, I'm not doing that bad. My usual fielding position is Gully. And when I bat, the chances of me hitting the ball is about 31%. Although that's low, I'm still not the worst batter apparently.  

For some weird reason, every time I field, the ball always seems to move away from me. I also have a nickname now, and it's "Leather" (I had no say in choosing it.)

The uniform too, is actually pretty nice. It's a dark yellow jersey and black pants. The jersey is a shade of yellow that's actually pretty cool. I'm not entirely sure what the team name is, at first it was "The Misfits" but then it was "The Killers" I don't think we've officially decided on a name yet. Either that, or the coach was messing with our minds. 

One problem is the fact that the vehicle we use is half a van (Seriously.) It looks like a fat Smart Car. And that has to drive 10 people around the island over and over again. While being stuffed with cricket gear. If it was legal, and if we had several bungee cords, I would've tied myself to the roof. When we all get out of it, it looks like one of those tiny clown cars that has 26 clowns walk out of the boot. It's hilarious, and painful at the same time. And it doesn't help that I'm almost 6ft tall. 

To be honest here, I've never had this much fun in sports before.

I help Olympians with their homework

2012, year of the London Summer Olympics! Normally the George family is quite the avid participant in Olympic television spectating-- every TV set would be set on a different Olympic channel, and sporting events were like background music to homework, chores, and suppertime. We were into it! It was some disappointment this year to discover that our TV couldn't get a decent signal, and we had to rely on the newspaper to try to keep up with the scores. It really isn't the same, and from the sounds of things it looks like we really missed out on some mean stuff this year. I was especially miffed at our lack of information, because this year the Olympics had a much more personal connection to the class of 2012 at Tereora.

Team Cook Islands' two sprinters, Patricia Taea and Patrick Tuara (or Patty and Patty), are both senior students at Tereora College. Patrick, in fact, is in my maths class; Patricia is in a few of my classes, and one of the new mates I made when I came to TC last year. We're all immensely proud of our Olympic classmates, and were more than happy to support their campaign in London. Who wouldn't want to be able to say that they were familiar with Olympians? I feel pretty darn special myself, because as said in the title, I can say that I've helped Olympians with their schoolwork.

My time at TC won't be very long, so I feel lucky that I was able to leave some sort of impression there, tiny as it is. The little rep I've established is the one who helps popular or famous people with their schoolwork; my help-list is stacked with student councillors, prefects, and athletes. Patrick even came to me one time asking for help with a maths assessment (maths, of all topics! My worst subject! Wow!), and, on account of sports interfering with school attendance, Patricia needs all the help she can get to catch up with her academics. I do my best :) I told one of my mates that my plan is that when these people are successful and even more famous, they'll remember little Alina George who helped them succeed in school.... hahaha yeah I wish! Still, my mate said that it's great that I can help these fellas, and it certainly makes me feel good. This year isn't looking too bad so far..... if only we could have caught the Olympics!