Halloween and Auction Night

Australians don’t really celebrate Halloween, but that wasn’t about to stop my American friends and I from doing it!! Wednesday we all got dressed up in the best costumes that could be found, made or dug up in Manly and we headed out on the town. Sam, Ali and I started off by going to our German friend’s house to play SingStar. It’s a play station karaoke game and I am in love with it!!! Jan and I are the only two that get intense about it, but it is a lot of fun. After the singing party I we were pumped up and ready to go out. The Halloween environment was like nothing at home. People knew that it was Halloween and all, but no-one was really dressed up except for us, and those that were dressed up stuck to the very traditional witch or vampire costumes. At least I heard my Marilyn get up was great. Lot’s of compliments on that one- probably because most people here haven’t seen anything like it.

Thursday night Ali and I were in an auction at school. Let me start by saying that it was originally just Ali who was suppose to be in it, but last week as she was in my room complaining about not having a costume, song, or dance and how difficult it was to come up with an act, I decided to shut her up by saying “It’s really not that hard, I’m sure you can come up with something.” To which she responded by telling me that if it was so easy then I should sign up for it, too I told her I would have but they probably had all the spots filled and didn’t need anyone else. Five minutes later she had talked to the RA and had my name on the auction list…..oh goodie!!! NOT!
So, I was very nervous, but the auction money that was raised went to BearCottage which is right down the road from our school. It’s a hospital for dying kids with cancer. So, I felt compelled to go through with this little shindig. I attempted to dress up like a country/cowgirl and do a line dance to “Play Something Country” by Brooks and Dunn. The only problem with this attire was that I couldn’t find any cowboy boots or a good outfit. I ended up in some heels, a skirt, my Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey shirt and a cowboy hat- YeeeeHaw!!!!
When we got to the auction there were a lot of people and I started getting nervous because I realized that no one here listens to country—not even most of these northern Americans! Much less would anyone actually know my song or get excited to hear it. BUT, I hear I ended up putting on quite a show! I only got auctioned for $100, but I think that isn’t too bad. At least I nailed my question-answer session after I performed. The hosts asked me about bull-riding and I nailed my answers. I guess if I become anorexic and get into beauty pageants then I know I’d do better than that stupid girl this year in the Miss America Pageant who couldn’t even answer the question about why Americans have a hard time locating our own country on a map- she was an idiot!
So, after the auction last night, when I went to class today people were saying, “Hey Texas girl!” TEXAS??? No, no. Let’s have a little chat about the south, country music, and the difference between Tennessee and Texas.

Speaking of the south, it reminded me of one last thing. Today Dr. McRae was talking about leadership and ended up spending 2 hours teaching the students about LBJ, the Civil Rights Act, the March on Selma, Martin Luther King and Gov Wallace. It was probably the best US History class I’ve ever sat through. She made it much more interesting than how we learned it in high school, nothing against Coach Chapman of course. Either that or I was just more interested myself, especially considering Dr. McRae would look to me for answers, or maybe approval about the conversation, and I kind of liked that. Although the issue may have given a negative appearance to the south she proceeded to tell about how great the south was when she visited it during her time in the states. She said she loves the southern hospitality and the southern dialect and went on to say that it is probably the best part of the United States. It made me proud to be a southerner.