I've been in the company of Australians on Aussie day several times. My first such experience with the infamous Australia Day was in Italy. There were Australian flags worn as capes and bars crawled around. In general, the Aussies obviously know how to party, so on their independence day, it's no surprise that they go all out.
So when an Australian co-worker got stranded in the US on January 26th, I felt the need to facilitate debauchery.
Fortunately, I happen to have a BFF who lived in Australia for almost 2 years and she was more than happy to help me party plan. Inclusive of baking goods, printing off pictures of koalas and flip flops and dressing as insanely as I was.
Really, my only goal was to get Anthony sloshed and to make it feel as Australian as possible inside my freezing Chicago apartment. We played the entire JJJ Hot 100 countdown from start to finish. Leah baked the shit out of some traditional Lamington's and non-traditional Rice Krispy Treats. We fired up the Barbie in 24 degree (farenheit) heat and about 6 inches of snow (ok let's be real, I did not participate in the outdoor BBQ, rather like a good neighbor, Matt stood out there in his flippy floppy's and fried the burgers up). There were decorations, beer pong, racehorses, and a bunch of Aussie games we couldn't keep track of. Oh and slap the goon. So glad a great tradition like slapping a bag of boxed wine is something that we share culturally.
All in all, the day/night was a huge success. And although I passed out at approximately 10 PM before we even made it to the official Australia Day bar down the street, I have plenty of photos that prove that Anthony got sloppy.
And that's all I wanted.
PPS - graffiti was inevitably drawn on my chalkboard, and I can't decide whether my favorite drawing was the Sydney Opera House with a cowboy hat wearing penis coming out of it saying "OMG I <3 OZ DAY" or the picture of the dingo eating the baby. You decide.
