Saturday night I went to Pip's going away party at Old Colonial Inn on Brunswick St in Fitzroy (close to my new digs!). I met Pip at Cassie's birthday party at our flat about a month ago and we clicked right away. She is moving to Japan to teach English for a year (she has a Japanese degree from uni). She's the one in the center of most of these pictures. In the last picture is Beck, Pip, Chris, and Nathan - the people I talked to for most of the night. Chris is Pip's boyfriend and the lead singer of CWQ, the band whose EP launch (CD release) we went to in the CBD a few weeks ago. Beck and Nathan actually live just down the road from Phill and me in St Kilda. It was a very diverse group of people, but I really enjoyed it. One guy I met at the party, Mark, is already excited about his upcoming visit throughout the U.S. with the first stop in Austin for SXSW. I'm amazed at all the people in Australia who know of SXSW when I didn't even know about it until I moved to Austin. One of Pip's friends, Brooke Batsan (nicknamed "Bats") adopted me as her new foreign friend. She lived in Europe for a few years and is determined to give me the full local experience. I exchanged numbers with a few people, so more friends and social activities to come! Yay!
It was one of the coldest nights of the year so far, 2 degrees Celsius. It's hard to get motivated to go places when it's so cold. It helps that my flat is so cold that I thought I may be warmer walking outside than sitting in my living room. In any case, it took some walking and waiting to get a tram to get to the party. The bar was cosy and warm, but wouldn't you know much of the party ended up settled in the courtyard outside - in the FREEZING cold. What is wrong with these people?!
Phill has a tendency to get really excited when he drinks, then crash completely with no notice. He was literally sleeping at the party, and begged me to take him home. I was having fun but decided to do the honorable flatmate thing. Cassie, Phill, and I left the party around 3 AM but somewhere between Fitzroy and home, Cassie convinced Phill to go to some bars in Pahran. How/if he remained standing and awake, I have no idea. I was unpersuaded and continued the taxi ride home.
