Saturday, June 14, 2008

Oh Say Can You See?

We are sure you had the slightly off-key opening stanza in your head as if we were actually singing the anthem.

Last night we went to the Americans-in-Darwin party. Apparently there are at least 15 Americans here. The party, complete with red-white-and-blue balloons, petite American flags and sparklers, was hosted by Georgetown's former city planner. We met a guy from Florida who grew up in Fort Collins on Mountain Avenue and went to Irish Elementary. About every part (East, West, Middle square states) of the U.S. was represented. There was even a Minnesotan who talked just like Carl Kasell. Yup, it was that exciting.

We ended up making a 5-layer bean dip (recipe from David's Mom), and it seemed to be enjoyed by most people, as there was not much left. One little girl decided the top cheese layer was the best and her regular grabbing of cheesy handfuls made it a 4-layer bean dip for late arrivals. For some reason when everyone heard that we needed to bring American style food, they brought a dessert: rice crispy treats, apple pie, cheesecake, 5-cup marshmallow salad, etc... Some people were a bit cheeky and brought KFC (we didn't think of bringing McDonalds -- next time). There were also ribs and the coup de grace chili-cheese-dogs. All the kind of stuff we ate on a regular basis back in the States, so it really felt like home.

For us the main topics of conversation were: Where are you from? Why are you here? and What do you do? Nothing regarding the primaries or upcoming presidential election, Austral-US relation changes since the Rudd government, how the Broncos will do next season...Luckily there were enough people that these questions sustained us through the evening, and we did meet some very nice people. And if the conversation lulled, we had two aces up our sleeves - How long have you been here? and Can you believe the cost of housing? I'm sure, after leaving early in an abrupt Mary Wolgemuth style exit, they remarked to one another, "Well, there goes the life of the party."

We spent the drive home convincing ourselves it's not us who is boring, really. It's just that we are very selective about our friends and it takes a special group of people and the right context to bring out our charm.


...So, how 'bout them Broncos?

1 comment:

David S. Lamb said...

Just to clarify, since it was mentioned that the blog entry was misinterpreted. We didn't find the party or anyone at the party boring, we were talking about ourselves. The "life of the party" line was meant to be sarcastic.