Surfin', safari and bbq

So far you know what it's like to drive on the left and what our house looks like, and by now you're probably asking yourself "but what are Kiwi birthday parties like?" Perfect timing! Jake and I just attended our first yesterday to celebrate birthdays for Stephanie and Greg, both KPMGers.

This is Stephanie in the brown safari dress. She's on a tw0-year assignment from Philly, and she's been here about nine months. She organized the party and picked the theme, "surfin' safari," and folks came in a range of dressed-upedness. One guy even wore a full lion costume even though it was 80-something degrees. I just noticed the guys trying to squeeze into our shot.

Here's Brett, the guy from Atlanta we mentioned before. Notice the American flag hat he's wearing, as though no one could tell he's an American. Way to represent! :)

And just like home, guys stand around in circles talking about cars and sports and barbecue.

And just in case you're not tired of seeing pics of us, here's another for you. This lei (look famaliar, Katherine?) is one of the little things I brought over to remind me of home, and it sure came in handy at the party. Some other little things we brought over included our fish magnets on the fridge from Jeromy, a water color from Emily and Ella, some silverware we got from Grandma Dolores, a stuffed lion from Kara and lots of photos. I had to sneak most of it into our luggage because I was getting that "how much are we paying to bring all your silly knick knacks?" look from Jake, but I'm sure he's happy we have it now. My folks were nice enough to send over a Boulevard Beer coaster. I have yet to see an American beer here, but we're not looking too hard, as we've found the beers to be just fine. 

Jake has rounded up a few Americans and some agreeable Kiwis to watch the SuperBowl at a bar near the harbourfront called "Chicagos" tomorrow. It'll be Monday here, and he's taking the afternoon off in preparation for the kickoff which is around noon, I think. Should be fun. We'll keep you posted.