Day 104: Guy Fawkes Day!

It's a little after midnight, and I am just filled with a sense of satisfaction from a day well lived. I'll rewrite this blog entry to put it in a bit more detail, but basically, I was productive during the day and then had a surprisingly awesome evening.

I met up with Claire to go to what we anticipated might be a slightly awkward workplace barbecue at Te Papa, only to find that it was actually a full-on Event. Given that I was expecting a rained-out barbecue and maybe a free can of Coke, I was completely astonished to find ushers at the door insisting that everyone have tickets because Te Papa was closed for a private function. When we special ticket-holders were weeded from the less worthy, we were admitted into an alternate universe, where women all wore wearing dresses and men wore ties. and everyone was drinking free wine and eating tiny gourmet burgers. (Plebes, like me, also ate hotdogs.) It was such a pleasant surprise!

After a few hours of schmoozing, we were ushered to another place, which, Claire realized, was actually a hallway that we had seen from the outside and, for the past three months, had wondered how to access. It turns out that the mysterious hallway leads to a little balcony from which you get an amazing view of the waterfront and, if it happens to be Guy Fawkes Day, the fireworks display.

The fireworks were really wonderful. The display wasn't as ostentatious as some I've seen (and Claire harkens from a city that hosts an international fireworks festival and could watch half-hour displays twice a week if she so desired), but it was possibly the most fun I've ever had. Everyone was super into the display, and some older ladies next to me were genuinely cheering the fireworks, saying appreciative little comments like, "Ooh, that was quite a nice one, eh?" or "That's a lovely sight." There were also children pressed up against the balcony edge, just bouncing with excitement. After a sufficient amount of ooh-ing and aah-ing (and some on-off hijinks with the music speakers blaring Queen), the fireworks display finished and we reconvened with the rest of our little group.

We chatted with our friends, and somehow it devolved into an impromptu swing dancing lesson. I can now say with some authority that there are few places more suited to learn the twenties Charleston than in the lobby of a national museum. Try it out, kids, you won't regret it.

As it was pushing ten, we then split up, because L has work tomorrow, and I wanted to cast my eye on the festivities along the waterfront. Claire and I seriously considered going on some rides, but we ended up not doing it because tickets turned out to be a bit more than we were anticipating. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun seeing everyone really into the spirit of the evening. It felt a lot like the Fourth of July, except that there weren't actual barbecues and I didn't see a single beer can. (A part of me kept being surprised that no one had sung the national anthem and that people weren't waving little flags. Yes, yes, ethno- and egocentric. What can I say? I am American.)

Then off we went to the Watusi for Gangbusters Night. Full Swing was hosting an evening of dancing, and it was just a ton of fun. They had cleared out a little dance space, which was small enough to be comfortable but large enough to fit everyone who wanted to dance, and most people were familiar faces. I was filled with a pleasant amount of wine and tiny gourmet burgers, and I spent the rest of the evening being twirled around by ridiculously adept dancers. My version of swing dancing is to basically fumble around until someone stops me, and I didn't stop fumbling for about two hours. I was literally the least experienced dancer in the room, but the calibre of the leads was such that I could be my fumble-footed self and they would just roll with it. Swing dancing, you guys! It is so great!

Once we had our fill of good times, Claire and I walked back to our car in the light drizzle and made our way back to our humble abode. Tomorrow, we are going to the Porirua Early Morning Market (which apparently isn't kidding about being early morning as it starts at midnight and ends at 10 am) and then we are adventuring to Napier.

And now, sleep beckons, my friends. Good night!

PS. And look at that! We have made it to over a hundred days in New Zealand!