Australia Day Party

One of the nice things about living in an Expat community is that we get to meet many people from other countries and learn about and experience their different cultures.

This past Saturday evening there was a really fantastic Australia Day Party at the Hub, which is the local community center .  Australia Day is similar to the Fourth of July in the US.  It is an official national day of Australia, celebrated on January 26 and commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and the proclamation at that time of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of New Holland.  (From Wikipedia)

The party was really well organized and one of the biggest events we've had since I've been here.  The guy who planned everything had banners made and had many Australian decorations that he or other Australians brought back with them when they were home during the holidays.

Folks were encouraged to dress in some type of Australian costume.  Max and I didn't have anything Australian or really even anything red, white and blue (their national colors), so we went as American tourists.  In this photo, we are standing in front of one of the many banners that were made for this party.

There was a lot of good food, dancing, a random drawing door prize, and a prize for the best costume.  We didn't win that one.  There was a questionnaire about Australia  and a prize for who got the most answers.  (Who knew ACDC was an Australian band?). We didn't win that one either.

I really didn't take that many pictures, but here are a few.  Not sure about the significance of the tree hat:

A good friend of Max's is a Malaysian guy who was dressed up like a Japanese tourist.  He really looked great:

It was a very fun party.  I think this party will become an annual event.  I'll have to think of something different to wear next year.

Love to you all,
Karen