Pint on Punt

Dave is staying at the hostel above a pub, Pint on Punt. Now that's a serious business strategy, is it not? It's karaoke night and the place is packed. Jacqueline and I are signed up to do "Paradise By the Dashboard Light," but it's not looking like we'll get in for at least an hour.

I'm standing near a young guy who is the spitting image of my cousin Mat, right down to the dimples. He seems to know all the words to every song. His friend looks considerably ill at ease.

The next group up starts "Summer Nights." Cousin Mat grabs my elbow and I am instantly Sandy. Despite watching Grease upwards of two hundred times between the ages of 13 and 16, I occasionally consult the screen for lyrics. Mat doesn't waiver once.

Up next: "I Feel Like a Woman." Oh, Shania!
Mat launches into the song. He even has moves.

His friend leans over to me, "And this is where it starts to go terribly wrong..."

***

There are so many characters here:

Moz, who was seriously arguing that sirloin is so named because the cut of meat was so good, it was knighted: Sir Loin. [At first, I thought he was kidding. No.] He also has a phobia of tomato sauce (Aussie speak for ketchup) and hates Queen. How can you hate Queen?!

James, who went to school with Moz but has a very proper British accent. He pretends not to understand a word Moz says.

Josie, Dave's travel buddy, a pint-sized drummer who's constantly tormenting him and enjoys scandalizing him with stories about boys ("Oh now, Josie, don't say that! No, you don't mean it. Go on, girl.")

Aiden, who everyone has taken to calling Elijah, due to his similarity in appearance to Elijah Wood. Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, mind you. He's been in Australia for 2 months. Two months of hostel living. He tells me in hushed tones, "You may think I'm the worst Irish person ever, but at this point, I'm sick of drinking."

***

Whenever people ask where I'm from, I go broad and start with Canada.
"Oh, where in Canada?"
The East Coast.

After that, the two most common responses are:
1) "Like, Vancouver."
2) "Ah, Québec!"