Tea Party

Settle down class, our class on University of Canterbury Culture brings us to today's lecture on: The Tea Party.
I'm slightly confused on the name, being that I did not drink or even see Tea at this party. The Tea Party, is an annual celebration at UC for the end of the academic year. The only difference this year, was that from the earthquake, classes were pushed back a week. But although we had classes next week that didn't stop us from our partying. Let me start you off from the beginning of the day.



4am: Wake Up. Start Drinking
Waking up way too early, and drinking beer with pancakes is not my ideal morning. But the Tea Party is an event I've been hearing about since my first week in New Zealand. Here are the unofficial requirements for the Tea Party, and you have to pick one.
1. Six Before Six (Six alcoholic drinks before 6am, the one I picked)
2. Eight Before Eight
3. Goon Before Noon (Bag of wine about 28 drinks before Noon)
4. Crate before Eight (Crate of Beer before 8pm)
and a bunch of other ridiculous rhyming requirements.
Because we were waking up early, I decided to stay at Mark's flat the night before along with a few other friends who would partake in the festivities.

6am: Finished the six beers, off to get ready for the Party
At the Tea Party, everyone dresses up, as anything. I decided to be a hobo. Gloves missing fingers, flannel shirt, wool sweater, messed up jeans, and a cardboard sign that says : "Family kidnapped by ninjas; Need $$$ 4 Karate Lessons"


10am: Try to enter the Party.
You can see while waiting on line who continued drinking after their requirements, or who was still desperately trying to finish right on line. I got in with the Security guard if Ive been drinking, and after telling him I have a little, he said " You don't look like you've had a little". Well, sir, that's because its part of the costume, I'm a drunk hobo." And sure enough, he let me in.



11am-6pm Dance
Once I got in, there was probably over 2,000 drunk, dressed up students all over the UCSA building amphitheatre. There were some great costumes. Lego men, The Beatles crossing Abbey Road, Hulk Hogan, Duff Man, Goon-man, etc.




During the party there was about 10 bands playing over the course of nine hours. Some great artists played, such as Kids of 88 and The Naked and Famous. You don't know them of course, they're only famous to the four million people on this tiny island.










Also, as the organizers are students themselves, they know of the drinking tradition for the Tea Party. Therefore they had all the free food you could take. Spring Rolls, Rice Balls, Pizza, Meat Pies, Fries etc. The ticket cost about 40$ for nine hours of entertainment, But I made sure I got 40$ worth of food.


Also, remember how i wore my flannel shirt and wool sweater as my costume? Well that Mr.Sun decided to turn the day to about 80 degrees. I was dying!



Anyway, Great costumes, great music, hilarious drunk acts made another successful Tea Party. Most people passed out by 8pm that night, after waking up at 4am to start drinking. But my flatmates and I decided to continue the festivities at my flat, and then proceeded to go downtown to dance some more. I got back around 5am that night, which meant I was up for over 24 hours that day. There are some great photos from the flat party, which I hope to post soon.