Vietnam Swannies...they're alright!!!

This weekend I experienced a lot of firsts. My first Cannon ball run*, my first live AFL game, my first fine session**,  skulling a whole can of beer out of a trophy cup***, seeing my man in short short AFL shorts, eating a meat pie in Asia and most of all seeing Tuan debut in an Australian Football Tournament and scoring...twice!!!

Thanks all to the Vietnam Swans!

The Vietnam Swans, an Australian Rules Football club represented by a bunch of top Aussie blokes, a Frenchmen (wannabe Aussie), Canadian and now an American, celebrate their tenth year in Vietnam. For more information visit the club's website here.

The club regularly tours throughout Asia and this weekend they played and won their fourth consecutive annual AFL Indochina Cup at the Navy Sports Ground in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The tournament included great comradery from the Laos Elephants, Thailand Tigers, Cambodian Eagles and Vietnam Swans.

Tuan recently joined the club to train and very quickly got to play in his first tournament. I had the privilege to join these guys on their tour. It was an intense match and crazy weekend which I surprisingly enjoyed. Well done to a great win and ending the season on a high!

Go you Swannies!

The Swans Song

Footnotes:
* Cannonball run - A bus ride to play a footy game, this run consisted of 15 cases of beer and 5 bottles of liquor, only for the ride back of course. (the funnest and rowdiest 6 hr bus ride ever! plus interesting moments getting these larikans through the Vietnam and Cambodia borders.)
** Fine session - on the bus ride a fine or two which consists of skulling a beer is allocated to each person for random things on tour. e.g. jumping from the 2nd floor balcony into the hotel pool...and surviving, having an American lead the huddle chants....
*** Skulling beer out of the trophy cup - a tradition for each player to do after winning a tournament.

The team and their Cup!