Hello Dear Readers,
Well. Here we are. A few short posts into my Australia trip and already we’ve come to an excellent example of how cool I am.
I hopped my flight from Sydney to Brisbane pretty late in the afternoon, which meant that I arrived to my hostel in Brisbane fairly late, (9pm? 10pm?)
Upon check in, I found out that:
1. I was going to be alone in my dorm for the length of my trip. (Yesssss)
2. The guy working the front desk was from Wisconsin, and he high-fived me upon learning that I was an American.
And 3. It was Harry Potter trivia night.
Now if you guys have been following my blog, you will have noticed that in approximately 40% of my photos I am wearing something Gryffindor related.
Do I even own other clothing?
Ok, yes, I like Harry Potter, but also I really just love those shirts…and that sweater.
The point is that I’m exactly who you want on your team during Harry Potter trivia night.
Thus, I dumped my stuff in my room. (Solitary bliss!), and headed straight to the in-hostel bar to kick some trivia ass.
Sadly, I arrived near the end, so I wasn’t able to put in for a win, but a few moments after getting there I managed to impress a few people enough (with my knowledge!) that they invited me to hang out with them.
I agreed readily, and we went over to a table, forming our very own team, which Adam (1 of the 2) cleverly named “You’re a Quizard, Harry.” Get it? Get it?
It was then down to business, and as they rattled off questions, I gave the answers, feeling smugger and smugger at all of my really excellent and cool knowledge.
It was about twenty questions in that I noticed that Adam and Robbo (the other guy) were staring at me in slack-jawed fascination and I realized that perhaps answering literally every question in the trivia contest correctly was maybe not the way to establish my cool credentials.
Too late!
After the trivia ended, I bade farewell to my new friends and made my way back to my room.
Just kidding. In truth, I told them goodbye, then stood around clutching my drink and chatting until I eventually gave in and headed out to a bar with a huge group of backpackers. Peer pressure, amirite?
Since it was like, a Tuesday, the place wasn’t exactly jamming, but we brought the party and I had an absolute blast dancing around and making a fool of myself.
I especially loved when the Cha Cha Slide came on and I danced the whole dance alone at my table since apparently that’s not a thing in Australia.
We closed the bar down and I headed happily back to my hostel, ready to enjoy a roommate-free experience.
Which was interrupted rudely at 8am the next morning when a girl came in and dropped all her stuff off before heading back out. And then again at 9am when the next girl came in, dropped her things off, and slammed the door when leaving. And again at 10am when the girl who cleans the dorms came in and vacuumed around my huddled form as I tried to pray the hangover away.
It was after this that I packed my bag, dragged on last night’s clothes, and slunk out with my sunglasses on to the Holiday Inn down the street.
Better luck next time?
-Carissa “Harry Potter’s Queen” Rawson
Just Plane Points 