Each of the 22 tables (of 10 players each) had to buy into the game to play and were given a country to represent. The team that we played for was Russia. One of my host families good friends, who also happen to be hosting a student from HWS made us team shirts. On the front it had the company logo of N-Compass (started by Brett and a few of his mates in 2002) as well as the Russian rugby team logo. On the back there were nicknames such as Kriskov, GI Joe-Ski, Pop-ski, Jack-ski and so on. Underneath our new identities followed an image of the country of Russia with a Russian flag color theme overlaying it. The best part of the image was that it said "Fueled by Vodka." So naturally, during the event we drank vodka because in Soviet Russia you have vodka for breakfast, lunch, dinner and for a midnight snack!
As the event began, there were 4 main categories: Geography, Music, Sports, and Pictures. With your collective team, you were allowed to pick one category to count for double points. After the 4 rounds of 10 questions each, many of which I did not know the answers due to the relatively little I know about Rugby history, it came down to 2 teams. Ourselves as Russia and Georgia. It had been neck and neck the entire game, Georgia leading by 1 point. Unfortunately at the end of the night we came in second place. Overall I had a great time, getting to see parents act like little kids again, dressing up to support their countries. One of the best parts had to be the the gifts on the table. Each table had a basket of cheese and crackers as well as small nerf footballs that said Rugby World Cup 2011. As the drinking began, one could only assume these gifts would later turn into bombs against other tables/countries. Every so often you would see one flying though the air, the sound of glass clinking and someone standing up and yelling "Whooo!" It was quite hilarious to say the least.
Brett is to my left and Jackie, my host mother is the woman on the right side.
So Close!
The following day, I awoke to what seemed like a searingly painful stream of light placed perfectly in-line with my eyes. On top of my night of pretending to be comrade Kriskov and the Absolute, it was not a good combination. As I gathered myself, I prepared for a relatively restful day. I took a nap and did some reading. Later that I would have yet another adventure with my host dad and his bros.
To watch the All Blacks vs. France (Rugby Union) game, as well as the Warriors vs. Storm (Rugby League) game we went into the city. Brett and I set off into the city at about 6:30pm to catch the end of the merciless beating England was giving Namibia as well as to met up with a few of his bros. Most of Brett's good mates are polynesian/pacific islanders so instead of saying bro, they refer to each other as Cuz. At the beginning of the night, I was told "Because you are connected to Brett, you are part of our family and one of my Cuzs. Welcome to the pack!" We went to two bars prior to the start of NZ vs. France game. There we had a few pints and I got to know the guys I'd be spending the majority of the night celebrating New Zealand's two major rugby wins.
We were having trouble finding a suitable place for 8 guys to watch the game. Luckily one of my new Cuzs is a bar/club owner so we went there and watched it. After the stunning victory of the All Blacks as well as the Warriors, we hopped from bar to bar, having pint after pint after pint. By about 1am, half of the pack was lagging behind while me a 3 of my Cuzs were keeping our composure. Beers eventually evolved into shots and mixed drinks of coke and bourbon. All in all after countless drinks, I got know some of Brett's great friends and had a blast.
Eventually making my way home around 4am, I quickly hopped into bed and fell asleep, only to be woken up by their host dog Lizzy several hours later, jumping into my bed and licking my face on this very lovely, very rainy, and very lazy sunday morning.
Lazy Sunday Video
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