SUPANOVA!!! (SIL-VI-YAHHH)

     As I have mentioned before, I am slightly introverted. Gatherings and throngs of people make me recoil and flee in terror.
     So what was I doing in a pop culture expo last week?
     It was Chung’s fault. He’s obsessed with anime and there would be an autograph session with the Japanese and English voice actors of Asuka from Evangelion.
     But looking at the event guide, I saw nothing to interest me and almost refused to go: I’m a poor student trying to scrape by. However, I’m also a student trying not to lose her social life. So I gave in to temptation and went.

     Public transport was terrible. It seemed everyone was trying to get to Supanova. The tram was packed and the tram driver growled over the intercom, “Please get off, there’s something wrong with the tram. Take the next one, the mechanic will be here shortly.”
     Grumbling, half the tram evacuated when all of a sudden the doors snapped shut and the tram moved off!
     Everyone was in a bad mood. Why wouldn’t metro (our public transport system) send more trams when they knew it would be busy today? No wonder most Australians have cars. I’m environmentally friendly but a lot of the time, I’m tempted to just ask my mum for a goddamned ride.
     “We’ll walk to one of the earlier stops, it should be less packed,” Chung suggested. So we began the long trek. It seemed to be never ending and I was glad I wasn’t wearing a costume- or heels for that matter.
     A tram pulled up and the lady driver waves… the tram was completely empty. Even better, it was special- it went directly to the showgrounds and would save us time.
     “Yes!” we shouted and bounded onto vacant seats. “Hooray!”
     After driving a short while and picking up more commuters, a voice booms around the tram, “GET ME OUT OF HEEEEERE!”
     Everybody cracks up and tries to get a look at the guy in the back with a microphone. But he didn’t do it again 😛
     After a while, the driver speaks over the intercom. “Alright, I’m not stopping at any other stops. This tram will go directly to the showgrounds!”
     A cheer rose from us commuters and everyone was left in a jolly mood. An unpacked tram and a friendly driver. Who could ask for more?
     When we finally arrive, the lady driver speaks again. “Last stop, showgrounds! Everybody have a nice day!”
     “Thank you!” the entire tram choruses. Don’t you love it when that happens?

     Lining up in the relatively short line for Evangelion autographs, I wondered what the heck I would do with mine. The poster was huge and I had no space left for it on my walls.
     After getting the first autograph from Yuko Miyamura, I handed my poster to Tiffany Grant.
     She smiled and said, “Hi, your name is Silvia? Oh, wow, I love your hentai shirt!”

     I was gobsmacked. She knew what my chicken shirt meant!
     Yuko looked puzzled and the translator, dressed as Jasmine from Aladdin, explained that in English, a female chicken was a hen and the thing around its neck was a tie. In Japanese, the word ‘hentai’ means ‘pervert’ and in the industry, it also means ‘porn’. So when I wear my chicken shirt, I am advocating animated pornography. But I do it so subtly no-one notices 😉
     “I met the designers in a convention in Americam” Tiffany chattered as she signed my poster. “If I see them again, I’ll have to tell them I saw the shirt in Australia!”
     Tiffany, Yuki and Jasmine were laughing and I couldn’t help but feel giddy and high. They would definitely remember me- the girl with the cute shirt that had carnal implications.
     “Oh my God,” I said feverishly, “they liked my shirt! They probably think I’m a freak, but they’re going to remember me!”
     It made my day. It’s probably going to make my month.
     FAMOUS VOICE ACTORS LIKED MY SHIRT. THEY GAVE ME A PERSONAL COMPLIMENT!!!

     To keep this content-related (ie. Uni), I have a physics assignment: seven hundred and fifty words on ABS anti-lock brakes. I could probably only do a sentence on that…
     But I’m sure whoever designed those brakes wrote an entire thesis on it. So all I have to do is find a copy of that thesis and I’m set.

     ~Silvia

     PS. I don’t watch hentai. Just clarifying for horrified people 😀 I bought the shirt because it was cute and realised what it meant afterwards.
     PPS. To the girl who stuck her head out of the tram window and laughed at us, SUCK EGGS coz I got a better tram and a way better driver XP
     PPPS. Credit to Chung for the photos 😀