As noted, i have skipped the trip for now, so we shall say it is monday the 30th of october. I am a little disheartened because i have not prepared at all for Halloween, which is very unlike me. I did however very much enjoy the package sent to me from the parents. Not only was there candy, but a stuffed ghost, a shirt, a photo of dog, and some cobwebs and spiders which i used to decorate my desk. I was a bit more in the Halloween spirit after all of this, but i was not pleased because i needed to go to a play for class. Therefore, i could not attend the pumpkin carving competition of the halloween party.
The played was coincidentally entitled Bones, but there are no Halloween-y things involved. It was actually about the horrible abuse that goes on in South African townships. I went into it thinking i would dislike it, but looking back on it i discovered it was actually very good and very well done. There were only two female actors accompanied by a fantastic percussionist/singer who played authentic tribal music. I enjoyed him. He had some nice sandals too. I am amazed by people with musical talent; and i have been luckily enough to see many talented people lately.
After the play, i watched a little bit of The Nightmare Before Christmas, and went to sleep. I probably did some boring homework things as well. Halloween was generally a not very good day. In fact, it was the worst Halloween ever, but i still managed to have fun. Two friends and i walked to nearby Camden Market to acquire some sort of costume, since we all had nothing. We found this store called Escapades that William the awesome Scottish receptionist man had told us about. We walked past this large crowd of people, and i eventually noticed the store name above our heads. My eyes drop down to the doorway and then follow the line of people that are actually queuing to get into the store. The costume store had a bouncer, just in case things got rowdy i suppose. So we waited in line for about ten minutes until two people came out, and he granted us the right to go into the store. There were three of us too! Two for three. He could probably get fired for that.
Inside the store was general chaos. People, costumes, hats, wigs, makeup, props everywhere. I had decided that i was going to be a mime since i had black clothes and shoes already. And i am cheap. I went straight to the makeup and bought the equivalent of a tub of white makeup, since all the small ones were sold out. It was only 3.50 so it isnt quite a tub...its just much more white make-up then i would ever need. I purchased some white gloves and i was set. My friends successfully found costumes as well. By the time i get back, it is about 6oclock, so i join people for dinner and then run upstairs to get ready before 7. They had all gotten dressed and such already because they are crazy...and prepared. I changed into my sombre black clothes and brought my make-up downstairs. A bunch of my friends had signed up for the big screen tv so they could play the Rocky Horror Picture Show and shout things at the telly. Which they did. I missed the first half hour or so, because despite being "everyone's favourite make-up" or some silly slogan like that, this makeup was not very easy to put on. I finally applied it all, hoping that i looked like a mime, since i had based it all on an image of a mime that came up when i googled the word "mime." Google is pretty convenient.
Everyone seemed to like the costume, and i frightened some people. Apparently some people don't like mimes. I think mimes are fantastic; i would be a mime. However, i quickly realized i should have actually practiced some miming before i chose this costume since most of my friends demanded i mime for the rest of the night. I did that for about 2 hours. No talking. Just miming. It got kind of confusing, and by the time we were ready to go to the pub, i had decided to speak again.
I was actually quite excited for this pub trip, because our destination was the Marlborough Head which is a somewhat gothic themed pub. Perfect for Halloween. The architecture is set up in a very old victorian haunted house type way. It was fully decorated for Halloween and they were hosting a fancy dress party, so most of the people there were in some form of costume. My favourite part about this pub are the loos. They are actually hidden within a wall that is painted to look like bookcases, so you have to know where to push. It is quite amusing to sit near the door and watch the drunk people try to figure it out. Inside the bathroom is actually quite frightening because it is poorly lit and some sort of eerie music plays in the background.
Many of my friends worked their way through "The Seven Deadly Sins"- seven different mixed drinks. If you do all seven at any point in life, you earn a free pitcher. However, you have just wasted 25 pounds on alcohol. This is why i stuck to one. Another option people chose was the Addams Family, which are 7 different shots of alcohol mixed with a tiny bit of juice. Some people had seven of these. I had one. This is why some people became ill, and i did not. I had the job of guiding the imbibers home with another of my sober friends. This is a bad job for me because i am not very sympathetic to drunk people. Sorry champs.
Whilst at the pub, we saw many good costumes including a FANTASTIC Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Carribbean). We have decided that he must be an actor of some sort, because he stayed in character the entire night and he was spot-on. Quite a good costume as well. Though he seemed to think i was the character from the movie The Crow. I have never seen the Crow, but i just smiled and nodded, which works wonders in situations like this.
When we moved onto another bar/club, i ran into another one of my friends who thought i was a member of the band KISS. So i just made the "rock on" symbol, stuck out my tongue, shook my head around and went on my way. It is much easier to just go along with it than try to explain that i am a mime, so you can all think of me as whatever you want me to be.
The club thing which is always full of americans, and which my friends have been trying to get me to go forever, was beyond terrible. I left shortly after arrival. I did have an overall great time at the Marlborough Head though, so Halloween was not bad. There were some fun people, good music, and the atmosphere was perfect for Halloween. It just is not the same as being at home, carving pumpkins, decorating and eating candy. But i have gotten through one of my favourite holidays, now i just have to get through thanksgiving and there will be no more problems. Holidays are the main things that make me want to come home, other than that, i would like to move here right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment